The Boat
Chapter one: Beginnings
Despite scraping the last boat for fire wood Jethro Gibbs had no doubts that he would eventually find a replacement project, and he had. It had been a painfully slow find, but it had been found in the form of the plans for a sexy little ketch rig. He had been at a wooden boat show. There had been all kinds of people at the show: boat owners and enthusiast, boat schools showing off their apprentice's skills, carpenters, riggers, sail makers, and the just plain curios.
Wandering threw the lanes of people selling their wares he stopped the stall of a grizzled old boat builder. Lifting the collar of his windbreaker against the chill of the Atlantic winds he begins to sort through the odds and ends of the table. This would be the last would be the last show before winter set in and he planed on making the most of it.
They chatted as Gibbs inspected the tools of the old mans trade all the while eyeing the tubes that held the plans of various boat he had built. The quality was high the boat builder had been at this many years and knew his tools. There more then a few that he wanted, but he needed to be patient. One just does not rush a deal.
Casually he asked about the rolled up plans that were off too one side. Looking at Gibbs the man questioned him on the purpose of the vessel. How far he would travel with it? How many would he be sailing with and the like? Picking the three that he though most fit the answers his client gave he laid them out on the table for him too compare. Gibbs did not like the lines on the first, and the third he felt that if he was on his own he might have trouble in a squall. The second was a little ketch that blended beauty with functionality, and completely prefect for his needs.
A few people had stopped to listen to the two men haggle. It is rare theses days to see a good deal being hashed out and people stopped to enjoy the sight. As always the barging ended up some were in the middle of what both men had wanted. Gibbs walked away with better quality tools then he had at home and a set of plans to guide them for a better price then what he would have gotten at a store. The boat builder had not done to shabby him self. A second hand place would not have given him any were near the price he wanted and he knew that they had gone to someone who would enjoy them.
After a hand shake had been given and money exchanged the old carpenter had admitted that he was heading south on the very same boat that he had just bought the plans for. The children were grown and gone, and his bones just did not stand up to the winter winds the way they use to. So, he was paring down and would sail south on the trade winds, when the sea allowed him the conditions to do so.
Smiling Gibbs headed back to the car arms full of new toys. Silently sending a pray to whatever saints and angles who guarded the sea to watch over the old man and his ketch.