Authors Note: This will be my thirteenth (published) story.
This story belongs in my Forsaken universe and uses characters and events from that story. The story is set between Chapters 163 and 164 of the current Forsaken story and acts as a sequel to my other story Knife Edge. Dave is twenty-two, Mindy is seventeen, and their friend Erika is twenty-one. Josh and Chloe are both fourteen, while Curtis and Megan are both ten. Various other existing characters from Forsaken may feature in this story, along with some new Characters and maybe some crossovers with other TV and Movie characters.
As usual, I look forward, with some trepidation, to any reviews. I promise to accept all criticism. In addition, I am still British so my spelling and grammar may look and seem strange to some.
Please be warned that this chapter may include smut and behaviour that could be seen as indecent and salacious, including words or insinuations of a dubious, unseemly or suggestive nature.
City of Chicago
Burnham Harbor Marina
Monday morning
"Mindy, you're all tanked up and ready to go – two hundred and eighty gallons of fresh water, plus one thousand, one hundred, and fifty gallons of diesel."
"Thanks Marty!"
We were sorting out the final arrangements before getting underway. We had all unpacked our personal gear. Dave and I were in the master stateroom; Curtis and Megan were sharing the port cabin, with twin bunks. Erika was supposed to have had the guest stateroom in the bow, but she had insisted on giving it to Chloe and Josh! Therefore, Erika had the starboard cabin, but with the twin bunks pushed together to form a single, larger bunk.
The galley, with its large fridge and freezer were well stocked. The lazarette, beneath the after cockpit was stuffed with tinned and dried foodstuffs and other supplies that we might need. In addition, unlike the last cruise, we were carrying a tender, which was stowed on mountings that fitted onto the hydraulic swim platform at the stern.
The tender was a 4.3-metre, Avon Seasport Jet 430, which could carry six to eight passengers, and had jet pump propulsion for a top speed of over thirty-five knots or forty miles per hour. The tender was designed with a deep-V hull, which would allow the tender to travel through heavy seas and it was finished in white and grey. This tender would allow us to anchor, or moor to a buoy, and travel ashore, as some ports that we were intending on visiting had no alongside facilities for a vessel the size of the 'Salty Swallow' – not to mention that mooring alongside was expensive.
The tender also had a name – 'Always Wet'.
Day 1, Monday
Burnham Harbor to Saugatuck
"You little rats ready?"
"Aye, aye, Captain!" Megan announced from her position on the bow sun pad.
Megan was wearing a revealing two-piece bikini – at least it would have been revealing if she had anything to reveal. She lay on the bow sun pad, with an equally revealing, bikini-clad Erika – who did have things to reveal! I noticed that Josh was covertly gazing at Erika and that Chloe was glaring at Josh. The two of them were lying on the sun pad, on the flying bridge, to the right of me, while I sat at the helm. Curtis was standing behind me, sipping a cold can of Coke.
"Thank you, Megan!" I laughed back, as I engaged the bow and stern thrusters. Marty threw the last line aboard and we moved away from the pontoon. Once a few feet away, I moved the joystick ahead, which automatically stopped the thrusters and engaged the twin main propellers and we edged forwards, out of the marina.
..._...
Our first leg of the trip was on a course of fifty-one degrees, for a distance of seventy-nine miles. That course would take us to our first port of call, Saugatuck. This leg would take approximately six and a half hours at twelve knots.
"Why can't we go faster?" Josh demanded.
"Diesel costs money, boy – we run out of diesel and you're rowing, kid!" I replied. "This tub is kinda thirsty."
"I can live with that!" Josh confessed and went back to enjoying his scantily clad girlfriend.
..._...
We made good progress and were soon well away from Chicago. There were plenty of other pleasure craft about and we exchanged polite waves as we passed each other.
I allowed both Curtis and Megan to take the helm; both youngsters enjoyed that greatly. I allowed them to push the combined power of the twin diesel engines, all two-thousand, three hundred horsepower, to full speed for a few minutes each and we sped over the waves leaving a large white wake spreading behind us.
Lunch was a light affair consisting of bread and cold meat with plenty of cold soft drinks. I was waiting for somebody to show signs of seasickness, but annoyingly nobody chucked everything up!
Position: 42°28.6'N 86°33.3'W
Around three, we stopped and we prepared to test 'Always Wet'.
The tender was launched by lowering the aft hydraulic swim platform until the tender floated free. For the first test, I went out with Josh in the bow, as ballast. Dave untied the painter and threw it onto the bow, as I went astern to clear the chocks that the tender had been resting on. We were both wearing inflatable buoyancy aids in case of problems.
I first made a few lazy circles around the 'Salty Swallow' before heading off at speed, building up over a couple of miles to the tender's full speed of over thirty-five knots. I had tested the tender in the marina, but this was the first opportunity for a full power test. 'Always Wet' turned perfectly and lived up to her name – both Josh and I were soaked very quickly, thanks to the spray.
We then returned, back to the yacht and I took out Curtis, Megan and Chloe. Erika decided that she was perfectly happy staying on the yacht. After an hour of messing about, we stowed 'Always Wet' on the swim platform and got underway for our destination.
It was actually good to see the land again, as we approached our destination for the night. Next came the fun evolution of anchoring.
At anchor, Saugatuck
By six that evening, we were resting at a single anchor, two miles off the port of Saugatuck.
I had secured the diesels and set the anchor lights. I secured the control console on the flying bridge before joining Dave in the galley where he was getting everything together for the evening meal.
"Where is everybody?" I asked, looking around the salon where I could only see Erika, who was watching a movie. The place was worryingly quiet and empty.
However, before Dave could answer, there was a scream and Chloe came flying up the steps from below; she was being chased by Curtis, who rapidly caught up and shoved Chloe onto the couch across from Erika. Curtis then proceeded to tickle Chloe, which had her rolling around the couch screaming with laughter.
"Never mind!" I sighed to Dave, who just laughed and shook his head as Megan and Josh appeared from below soon after.
"She started tickling Curtis, but he managed to put Chloe in an arm lock, which Chloe broke out of before running up here," Josh explained.
"Never a dull moment around here!" Dave quipped.
"Can I help?" Megan asked with uncharacteristic helpfulness.
I looked at Megan for a minute before looking up at Dave, who shrugged.
"Who are you and what have you done with Megan?" I demanded with a scowl.
Megan scowled back. "Funny bitch!" She hissed.
"You think that I'll go soft on little Megan if she helps out?"
Megan's expression said exactly that.
I smiled. "We'll see! Go set the table."
..._...
That evening everybody gathered in the salon.
We were all very hungry, after the day's activities – must have been all the salt air! We were also looking forward to a good meal. It was warm, but there was a nice cooling breeze coming in over the stern and into the salon. Everybody showered and changed before eating – I had insisted that the evening meal, while it would not be formal, it would not be a free for all, either!
For our first night, I had decided on double cheeseburgers, cooked on the grill in the cockpit, by Dave. With the burgers, we had salad and plenty of cold drinks. For dessert, we had the very finest New York cheesecake.
After all the troubles of the past couple of weeks, it just felt so normal to be able to sit around a table and enjoy each other's company. The food was good – everybody was actually pleased that I was not cooking! It was well after dark and we were still exchanging crude jokes – mostly from Megan; the rest were from me – Daddy had passed on some very, very crude jokes!
"Try this one on for size," Megan continued, once the laughter from my joke had simmered down. "Three guys go to a hotel; however there ain't enough rooms, so they had to share a bed. In the middle of the night, the guy on the right wakes up and says, 'I had this wild, vivid dream of getting a hand job.' The guy on the left wakes up, and guess what? He has had the same dream, too. Then the guy in the middle wakes up and says, 'That's funny, I dreamed I was skiing!'"
My sides were actually starting to hurt with all the laughter and Josh looked like he was in agony. Finally, when this latest wave of laughter had calmed down, Megan then looked over at Chloe – with an evil smirk.
"Got one for you Chloe: What do you do when a blonde throws a grenade at you?"
"Are you serious?" Chloe demanded, pushing her blonde hair back, over her right ear. "A blonde joke?"
"Pull the pin and throw it back –!" Megan finished, laughing and jumping up to run aft to the cockpit.
"You fucking little cow!" Chloe shouted and ran after her.
Josh and Dave, along with Curtis were pissing themselves. Erika was laughing hard, fit to burst and to be honest, I was not much better, so I decided that Megan would have to fend for herself!
Author's Note: The jokes are not of my invention and full credit goes to the original writers.