He sat on the stern of the beautiful fifty five foot motor yacht in a deck chair soaking up some rays. He wore nothing but a pair of ragged cut off jeans and deck shoes. A battered camo field hat was pulled low over the brown eyes. He watched as they walked down the dock. They had caught his eye when they exited the waterside restaurant and stood looking down the docks at the boats. He was surprised when they came down the steps and walked slowly down the docks. From a distance he could see they were very attractive. Their little summer dresses fluttered around their legs as their high heeled sandals clicked on the wooden dock. He did not move as they neared the yacht. They looked at him as they passed and whispered to each other as they went on down the dock. They were both in their low to mid thirties he guessed. The yacht was in a slip moored with it's stern to the dock.
When they were well past he rose from the chair and entered the cabin. He walked forward and climbed into the wheel house. He picked up a pair of powerful binoculars and watched the women move up the dock. They were almost to the end of the dock. They stood and appeared to talk for a moment, then turned and started back. He put down the binoculars and went down through the cabin to the stern. Before he stepped out he reached down and pulled down on the crotch of his cut-offs. They had gotten a little snug as he watched the pretty women.
He was back in his chair when he heard their heels on the dock. He heard them stop and he could not resist looking up.
They stood looking at him. He smiled, tipped his hat, and said, "Good afternoon ladies." They smiled back and one asked if they could come aboard and talk to him.
"Of course, Welcome aboard! Here give me your hand. He reached and steadied the first girl down the steps to the deck. The next girl put her purse over her shoulder and gave him both hands. When she was safely down he looked down at them from his six foot two inch advantage and grinned at them. "I love your high heels, but they mark the teak decks and it takes many hours of hand sanding to get the marks out. So please remove them. I see neither of you are wearing hose, I have some flip flops you can wear if you like."
"I think we will be fine bare footed. It really feels good after several hours in these heels."
"Would you ladies like to step in the salon and have something to drink while we talk? The air conditioning is on in there."
"Oh, yes that sounds great, we are perspiring a little. It must be in the high eighties."
They entered the salon and found a large tastefully furnished room. He motioned them to a seating arrangement and asked, "Water, Pop or Bud?" The girls both asked for beers. He opened a refrigerator and withdrew three Buds. He turned and handed them each one. He sat beside the brunette and smiled, "What can I do to help you ladies?"
The girl in the blue sun dress, smiled at him and said, "We came by here yesterday and there was an older gentleman here and we asked about chartering the boat for a day or evening. He said he couldn't help us but to come back today and the owner would be here. Is he aboard?"
"Yes, he is. It might be hard to persuade him to move this old tub though. He is mighty cantankerous and cranky when he is disturbed."
"You call this beautiful boat an old tub? I have been around boats all my life and I know a well maintained and loved boat when I see one. I'll bet it would pass a white glove inspection even in the bilges."
"Sweetheart, you are right about that. They call me "PD". What are your names?"
The woman with the light brown hair smiled and said "I am Amy and my beautiful friend is Martha. We are in town for a class reunion at UM. We wanted to charter a boat to take a bunch of our sorority sisters out in Biscayne Bay for a cruise and maybe a simple dinner. Do you think the owner would be interested?"
"He might be persuaded by two such lovely girls, the problem is that he has no crew. The older man you talked to yesterday was the Captain and he just left on a months vacation. The owner is here alone. He would have to really hump to run the boat, cook a meal and serve it, then clean up afterwards. A crew would be hard to find this time of year. Most are busy."
"We could crew for him, Martha and I both have experience on boats, and we would cater the meal so there would be no preparation and we will clean up. Could we come back and talk to the owner?"
"Where are you staying?"
"We are staying at my parents' home in the Grove."
"I'll tell you what. If the two of you will find time to take a test cruise with the old grouch, to see how handy you are on a boat, he might be persuaded to go for it. Would that work for you?"
"Oh! Yes, Tell us when, we will be here."
"What are you doing the rest of the day today?"
"Well, nothing important, but by the time we go home and change it will be late."
"Not a problem, come with me." He rose and they followed him to a smaller cabin. It was the master stateroom. He opened a drawer and removed several bathing suits. He placed them on the queen sized bunk, there were bikinis and one piece suits. He opened another drawer and pulled out a number of T-shirts and shorts.
"Try these on and see if anything fits, there are some Terry robes in that hanging locker you can use if you need them." He walked out and closed the door. The girls looked at each other. "Wow, what a hunk, did you see the size of the bulge in his shorts. He is yummie."
"I hope the owner is that good looking, then I know we could persuade him to let us crew."
"Look at these suits, they are cute, I think they are one size fits all. These one piece jobs are the ones you tan through, they are all sexy. I am going to put on a bikini, this little yellow one is darling. Maybe I can get him to bulge those cutoffs a little more. I'll wear a T-shirt and try these little shorts too. I will see if there is a hanger or two for our dresses in this locker. Oh! Look at this." She pointed to a uniform in the locker, it was a Marine uniform with several rows of ribbons and flyers wings above the breast pocket. There were gold oak leaves on the shoulders.
"Wonder who that belongs to. Let's go meet the owner."
When they reached the salon they heard the engines rumble to life. They heard them growl as someone gave them a burst of throttle then let them idle. The found their way forward and up to the pilot house. PD stood at the controls.
"Here we are," piped Amy, "we are ready, where is the owner?"
PD smiled and said, "What you see, is what you get. I am the owner, the old grouch. Now we will see what you know. Single up all the lines."
He was pleasantly surprised to see them go down on deck and undo the lines that held the vessel in the slip. They removed all the doubled lines and looked to him for further instructions. He called for them to take in the spring lines that kept the boat from moving back and forward in the slip. They responded perfectly.
"Place the bow lines on the hooks on the bow pilings," he yelled. "Now the stern lines," he called. The girls felt the boat move slowly forward and glide out of the slip. They heard the engines rumble as he maneuvered the tight turn by backing one engine and going forward on the other as they cleared the dock. He turned and smiled at each of them and yelled "Come on up." They hurried up and stood beside him. He grinned. "You guys are good. I think we can go back now." He laughed at the disappointed looks on their faces.
