Sailing
I came into some money a while back. Quite a lot of money, actually. Enough that I could quit my job and fulfill a lifelong dream. Ever since childhood, when my parents took me and my sisters sailing on our thirty foot Catalina sailboat, I've wanted my own boat. I just love sailing. Now I live full time on my thirty-four footer.
She's about as much boat as a single person can handle on their own. Especially if you're a girl, like me. But, as wonderful a boat as she is, there is one glaring flaw. It's a lonely place. Though, I do have lots of friends in the marina where she's docked.
And, I've met many fascinating people on trips I've taken on my boat, like to the Florida keys and the Bahamas. I'm hoping to get down to the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean soon, but I would need a sailing companion - it wouldn't be safe to do such a long trip on my own.
Here at home, I enjoy sunbathing on the foredeck of Swell - that's the name of my boat. Ripple is the name of my dinghy - sailing humor, sorry 'bout that, I thought it was kinda clever, myself, when I named them both.
One day I was sunbathing on the foredeck while Swell was tied up at my slip in the marina. I had untied the strings of my bikini top while lying on my tummy on deck, when I felt Swell rock. Someone was boarding my boat.
"Joan? Are you here?" a woman's voice called out, then came a knocking sound. Whoever it was, was knocking on the companionway hatch as if it were a front door.
"Up here," I called back, "take your shoes off first."
On fiberglass boats, street shoes scratch the gelcoat (i.e., the smooth shiny finish), the adage "boat shoes or no shoes" applies on my vessel, as it does on most pleasure boats.
A moment later a familiar face appeared above the cabin top as she walked forward to me in her bare feet. She held onto the grabrail on the cabin top and onto the side stays as she made her way forward to me, not appearing terribly comfortable on a boat. It was Gretchen from work, or rather, from where I used to work. She'd been my best buddy there before I quit. As soon as I saw her, I felt bad that I hadn't kept in touch.
"Gretchen! What a delightful surprise ... it's so good to see you again," I said as I jumped up and gave her a big hug.
"Talk about a wonderful surprise," she said, looking down at my naked breasts pressing into her.
"Oops, sorry about that," I said.
"Not at all, they're beautiful - and they feel sorta nice against me, too. But, don't you worry about people seeing you naked?" She said, indicating the surrounding boats.
"Just topless, and it's legal in Texas. Plus, all my neighbors have seen me and are cool with it," I said. "The old guy two boats over was a little weird about it at first, he complained it was obscene. But then, I walked over to his boat one day, topless of course, and we talked. Well, more like I fucked his brains out. He's been very nice about it ever since," I told Gretchen. We both laughed.
"So, what brings you down to the marina?" I asked. "Shouldn't you be at work?"
"Ahhh ... yeah, about that ... I got fired," she told me.
"Oh no," I exclaimed. "What happened?"
"I don't know exactly. There was this big meeting a couple weeks ago about the company being in financial trouble. Then, this week, they started firing people. I was one of them, which is crazy, because I was the best coder they had."
"And likely paid the most, which explains why they let you go," I told her.
"Oh yeah, I didn't think of that ... so they'd save more money," she said.
"So, it wasn't personal, it wasn't something you did," I reassured her.
"And then I lost my apartment and now I can't find a new one because every landlord runs a credit report, and I'm unemployed. So no one will rent to me. I don't know what to do," Gretchen said, with tears welling up in her eyes.
I put my arms around her and held her tight. When she'd settled down I gave her some good news.
"Okay, on the apartment front, I have a solution for you," I told her. "You can move in with me. Live on the boat with me."
"Oh my god, really? That would be wonderful, but, how much would the rent be?"
"Nothing, just move in with me, keep me company. I get lonely," I said.
"But I couldn't accept charity," she said.
"Hmmm ... alright then, how much were you paying before and how big was your place?" I asked.
"It was a one bedroom, with an extra room I used as an office/workout room. I paid twelve hundred a month. It was about a thousand square feet, I think."
"Okay, this boat has maybe four hundred square feet, it's hard to tell for sure because there's no straight lines to measure. It would take a Phd in math to figure it out. But, believe me it's tiny. Maybe you've seen that Tiny House show on TV? This is worse. It has a shower so small that when you close the shower curtain, it wraps around you and sticks to your wet body and you feel like a head of lettuce. The water heater is so small, you have to wet your body, turn off the water, lather up and wash, then turn the water back on to rinse, or you will run out of hot water. It takes some getting used to."
"Wow," she said.
"So, in fairness, even half your old rent would be too much. How about two hundred a month?" I offered.
"I could manage that," she said with a big smile, "thank you so much, how can I ever thank you?"
"You can wash the dinner dishes. And if you run off at the first opportunity to get a real apartment, I won't be insulted," I told her. "By the way, where are you living in the meantime?"
"In my car," she said sheepishly.
"Okay, that settles it, lets get your stuff out of your car," I told her, "and I'm not taking 'no' for an answer,"
We walked out to the parking lot.
"Get your things, I'm going over to the marina office to get you an overnight parking sticker so you don't get towed," I told her, "be back in a minute."
When I returned, Gretchen had a pile of stuff ready to carry out to the boat.
"Okay, when you unpack your clothes, the empty suitcase has to go back in your trunk. There's no place to store it on the boat."
We carried her stuff out to my boat. I showed her places where she could put her clothes, there weren't many. So some things had to stay in her suitcase and go back to her car.
"I have a storage unit a couple blocks from here where I store my dresses and most of my street shoes. If I need to dress up, I just zip over there and get dressed in the storage unit. Like I said, it takes some getting used to."
"I'm sure I'll get the hang of it," she said.
"Oh, by the way, to get you the parking sticker I had to do a little fibbing," I told Gretchen.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, only spouses can get a second parking sticker, so I told them I got married, and you're my wife. If people congratulate you, play along, okay?"
"Oh, okay... yes dear," she said, playing along. We both laughed.
"We might even have to act like newly weds if we run into any neighbors or my friends, okay?" I suggested.
"Sure, I'm just so happy to have a place to stay. My back has been so sore from having to cram into the back seat to sleep."
"Good, now it's time for your 'How to Use a Marine Toilet' class," I said.
"Really?"
After I got Gretchen settled in, I gave her the 'introduction to sailboats' tour, with an emphasis on safety precautions, like, where life vests are stored ... and the flare gun.
By dinner time, we decided to order in. Indian cuisine, my favorite ... chicken masala, yum. As we ate dinner, I told her about another idea I had.
"I had a thought, first thing tomorrow we have to go out and buy wedding rings," I told her, "cheap ones ... well, not too cheap."
"Oh shit, you're right ... married, I forgot," she said.
"So how's your job search coming along?" I asked her.
"Not so good," Gretchen admitted.
