Anthology of Sailing - Story 1: Stowaway
I had been prepping the boat for the past hour to take it out on the big lake for a day sail. It was a quiet day at the marina with a couple of people working on their boats, some people walking around looking at the boats and 3 young ladies perhaps in their early 20's just laughing and general horsing around.
I didn't pay much attention to the people around me, I had a couple of things to do before I could leave and I had a full day of sailing in front of me. I quickly readied the lines, started the engine and backed the boat out of the slip. I noticed 2 of the girls watching intently as I pulled away from the marina. I thought it was curious but perhaps they just liked watching boats.
When I got out beyond the breakwater, I put up the sails and stopped the engine. I turned the wheel and the sailboat did exactly what I expected, the sails filled with the wind and the boat surged forward. I was on a close hulled tack, cutting through the waves, going about 6 knots with the shore getting further and further away.
I sailed on this heading for about 10 minutes and decided to tack back on the port side. I tacked quickly and the boat lost speed swung around about 60 degrees and listed back in the other direction. The boat quickly picked up speed and I distinctly heard a thunk and thought I heard a tiny scream. I quickly dismissed the scream because the sails can sometimes make weird sounds with the wind so I began a mental list of things in the saloon that could be loose and flopping around.
I set the boat on autopilot and started to go below when I realized there was someone down there. I crouched low just above the stairs thinking it would be a good idea to know where that person was before I went down there. Suddenly a blond head with a ponytail appeared right below me and in a flash I grabbed the ponytail and hung on.
"Ow"
"Come on up here. Who are you?" I barked, hanging on to the hair with all my might.
She turned and started climbing the stairs. I immediately recognized her as one of the girls from the marina. Realizing she was probably harmless I released her hair and watched her slowly climb the stairs. She had her head hung low and it was clear she knew she was in a lot of trouble.
"Sit!" I pointed to the bench on the port side of the boat.
I took a moment to collect my thoughts.
"Okay, what's your name and why are you on my boat?" I asked.
Still looking down. "Lorie, Lorie Jones."
"Well Lorie, you are in a lot of trouble. Stowing away on a boat is a serious offense." I said, not having a clue if it was or wasn't.
"It was a dare. My friends dared me to go on your boat and below and get off before you saw me."
Contemplating my next move, "okay Lorie, how old are you?"
"19."
At least she was a legal adult and I had witnesses that I hadn't kidnapped her. I started to feel like this might just be a harmless prank. "Lorie, do you still live with your parents?" I asked.
"My mom." She still hadn't looked up at me and I still hadn't got a very good look at her face.
"Well, we need to call your mom," I said.
"NO! Please no! Please, please, please, please don't. I'll do anything. I'll scrub the deck, wash the windows,... teach me to sail and I'll help you run the boat. Just don't call my mom." Lorie began to sob.
I sat quietly for a moment contemplating my next move. I didn't want to get Lorie in a lot of trouble with her mother. However, on the other hand, as an adult, she needed to accept responsibility for her actions and getting on a strangers boat could have been a huge mistake especially if she gotten on the wrong boat.
"Look, what you did was really stupid and could have been very very dangerous. I want you to promise me you will never do anything like this again and you will never get on someone's boat unless you know them and know they are a good person. It is probably more dangerous than getting into a strangers car. You would never do that, right?" I scolded Lorie.
Lorie looked down at the deck and nodded her head.
"Get your phone out and call your mother," I said as Lorie began to panic.
"What do you want me to tell her?" Lorie reached into her pocket for her phone.
"Tell her you met me and I've asked you to go out sailing with me. If she says no, we'll turn around and go back in. If she says yes, we'll stay out and do some sailing. Is that okay with you?" I asked.
Lorie looked up at me and smiled for the first time. She then looked back at her phone and hit a couple of buttons.
"Hi mom. Hey I met this guy and he invited me to go sailing on his boat. Is it okay if I go?"
I shook my head in disbelief and motioned Lorie to hand me the phone. "Hi Mrs. Jones. This is Tom Wheeler. Look I ran into your daughter and she started asking me questions about the boat and how to sail it. My plan today was to take it out and do a little sailing and thought it might be fun to teach her a bit about sailing and put her to work. I'm not sure what she had planned for the day but spending time on the boat might be better than wandering around town getting in trouble. .... Nope, she is all by herself. Look, I know this is weird but feel free to call George at the marina... or you could call Jim the mayor - we were college roommates. They'll both vouch for me ... Yes, I'll bring her back hungry and tired. Oh wait, I have a kitchen on board, I'll let her do the cooking. She'll be tired. ... If you need to get a hold of us, you have Lorie's number and mine is 313-555-1873. We'll try to stay in cell range but if it is an emergency the marina can get me on the VHF. ... Sure, I'll hand it back to her."
I handed Lorie back her phone and listened in on the rest of the conversation.
"Yes, mom. I will do everything Tom tells me to do. Yes, there are lifejackets. Mom, it is a huge boat it can't possibly tip over. ... Yes, mom. ... Yes, mom. ... Yes, mom. ... Yes, mom! ... Bye."
Lorie rolled her eyes and put her phone away.
"Your mother seems like a nice person." I said, smiling at Lorie.
"Ya, maybe, when she isn't being my mother." Lorie groused.
"Well, today I am the lucky one. It is a wonderful day for sailing and I have a beautiful young woman to do all the things I don't like to do." I thought for a second. "Actually there isn't anything on a sailboat I don't like doing except maybe going up the mast." I smiled at Lorie.
"You think I'm beautiful?" Lorie beamed.
I paused for a second. "Do you not own a mirror?" I smiled at her. "I see the most wonderful shade of blonde hair. Eyes that are bluer than this water. A pretty face. A smile that is electrifying when it actually appears. A personality that is kind and cares for the people around her. Someone I would like to get to know better."
Lorie was beaming.
"Well miss beautiful, time to teach you some sailing and put you to work." I pointed at her.
We spent the next hour identifying and naming things on the boat, showing her the process of tacking and jibing and the various fundamentals of sailing. When we were done I pointed to things on the boat and she gave me the correct name and what it was used for. She got everything correct.
"Smart lady." I smiled at her.
"I have a really good teacher." she came over to me and gave me a hug.
"Now we are going to put all that information to work." I said.
I showed her how to work the winches and where to be during various points of a tack. We did the first one really slowly and I talked Lorie through each step as she worked the winches. It is always better to learn on a smaller boat where mistakes are easier to identify and easier to correct but she did really good.
We did it again, this time a little faster, and again and again. On around the 7th time I saw she was looking at the sail and not me to get her clue on when she should release the sheet and winch on the other side. I knew at that point she was getting it.
"Want to take the wheel?" I asked.
"Am I ready?"
"Sure." I smiled back at her.
We were on a port tack and I stepped back and allowed her to step in front of me and take the wheel. I showed her what happens to the boat and the sails when you steer closer into the wind and what happens when you fall off the wind. I put us in irons causing the boat to stop and how to get out of it safely and back on course. I was really enjoying myself with my arms wrapped around this young lady, smelling her and feeling her occasionally bump back against me.
I stepped back. "All yours. Do you want something to drink?" I asked as I headed down below into the galley.
"Do you have beer?" I heard coming from the cockpit.
I turned at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at Lorie. "Yes I do and no you can't." I smiled back at her. "You screwed up and told me you were 19. Nothing we can do about that now." I turned back to the refrigerator and got us each a bottle of water.
I handed the water to Lorie who replied in a somber and unenthusiastic "thanks".
"Do you mind if I take some of these clothes off? It is starting to get warm out here." Lorie said.
"No problem. On my boat you can take off as many clothes as you want." I smiled back.
Lorie started to take off her sweatshirt. "What is that supposed to mean?"