CH 44

Setting up four hour helm watches, Inari had the helm early morning when Ron came up to check their position. They were on track, just around the bend onto the west coast of France. He plotted the course into Brest and told Inari the course to take. They closed on the shore and Ron got the sail down. They were back on engine power for more control going into port.

Coming up to the dock, this time Inari and Nana stood ready to leap over to the dock, Jeff and Mayu were to tie the lines down once they were in place.

Instead of coming in slow, Rob ran them at the dock at 12 knots. The people at the sidewalk café they were charging towards looked nervous as the boat didn't szlow down on it's way in.

"Ron, what are you doing?" Kaede asked nervously.

"Just remember, timing is everything," he said. Charging close, people ran to the sides, sure the boat was about to crash into the dock, Ron spun the wheel and reversed the engine. The Sea Witch turned sideways, barely missing the dock, and stopped right next to it, rocking with the waves it made. Ron killed the engine. He stepped off the boat onto the dock and said, "tie'er up!"

Nana's heart had been in her throat. Seeing them stopped right next to the dock, she cried, "YES, that was awesome!"

Kaede breathed a sigh of relief. Her boat wasn't wrecked.

.

The fuel level was barely down, so they has breakfast at the café, Inari and Kaede did a little shopping then they got back on board and headed back out to sea.

Going down the coast to take advantage of the land breeze, Inari was at the helm, Duncan next to her. Coming south, the weather was warming. They ran into a rain squall which picked up the wind some, giving them a speed of 12 knots. The waves picked up some too, causing the boat to fall and rise gently. Every now and then, a wave would crash against the bow to spray up. Duncan had the forward hatch closed so water wouldn't get inside.

The wind shifted, Duncan saw the boom coming at them. "Duck!" he yelled. They dropped, the boom flew over them.

"It won't last, stay low!" Ron announced.

The wind shifted again and the boom flew back over them. The spring cylinder in the crank mechanism slowed the boom to a stop. The boat tipped to the side briefly.

"That could take someone's head off!" Inari stated.

"That's why you duck," Ron told her.

Inari frowned at the boom. She decided to keep an eye on it. They charged along in the storm for a while, and the boom came back again as the sail lost wind. Inari shot a mind hand out and slowed the boom down to stop over them. The sail fluttered, then picked up wind again. Inari let it go.

Ron stared at the boom. He'd never see that before.

In the storm, they were making good time, plowing along at up to 14 knots. They made it most of the way down the French coast by the time they got out of the storm. Ron figured they had gained fifty miles ahead of schedule.

Thankful for the calmer seas when it was time for dinner, Mayu asked, "If we're only doing eight or ten miles an hour, How can we get so far?"

Duncan told her. "In a car you might drive eight, maybe ten hours in a day. On a boat, we're moving 24 hours a day. A nautical mile is also longer than a land mile. Twice as long as a kilometer. We also don't make turns in a boat like a car does on the road."

"Yeah, I git it," Nana said. "A boat is slower, but goes straight and for over twice as long as a car. We don't need to stop for the night either!"

"That's right," Kouta agreed.

"If all goes well, tomorrow we will reach Portugal. Stop for fuel and groceries, and we're heading across the ocean," Duncan said.

That night, Kouta had the 'midwatch' Although she didn't have to, Kaede got up with him to keep him company and run drinks if he wanted. Kaede fell asleep in the seat next to Kouta. That was OK with him, her heart was in the right place.

.

Coming down to Portugal, the weather was more than warm, it was getting hot. Sweaters and pants were doft for light shirts and shorts. With the sun beating down on them, the girls shed those for bikinis and laid out on the foredeck. At the helm, Duncan kept track of the time they were sprawled out, so they wouldn't sun themselves too long and get sunburn.

Coming into port, they passed a cabin cruiser. Pictures were taken and waved exchanged. Another party boat heading out was full of young men who whistled and made cat calls as they took pictures.

Ron pulled up to a refueling dock. They were down to ¾ of a tank. Inari, Kaede and Nana went out to refill the grocery stocks with light wraps over their bikinis. Kaene was watching something over the front of the boat. Duncan went go see what.

"See somthin intrestin?" he asked.

Kaene pointed down. "What's that?"

She was looking down on a jellyfish. Duncan explained, "That's a jellyfish. They look harmless but they got long, thin tentacles that are hard ta see, and can sting ya badly. Ya wanna stay away from them."

"Look, but no touch, right Grampa?"

"Right. They can be fun to watch."

Looking up at him, she asked, "Is that where jelly comes from?"

Duncan grinned at her. "No, we doan eat jellyfish. The jelly ya eat comes from berries and fruit."

"Does anything eat jellyfish?"

"Sea turtles."

Turning back to watch the jellyfish float away, she said, "I wonder if he'll git eatin?"

Kouta came up to them to announce, "Fuel tank's full, we're just waiting on groceries."

Kaene pointed and said, "Daddy look! I found a jellyfish! But doan touch'im!"

Kouta went over to see the jellyfish.

The shopping party came back and the food was put away. Inari and Nana untied the boat and leaped back over. Heading back out, Duncan called home and talked to Roberta. Things there were going fine. John wanted to make a cabin in the woods, Duncan OK'd it.

Leaving port, they got a good tail wind, and a new thing to watch. Hearing splashes to the side in front, Mayu became curious and saw a dolphin race up the side of the boat and leap over the front. Her face opened in joy. "Mom! Nana, everyone, come look at this!"

Duncan took the helm as the entire family stood along the rails, watching the dolphins play alongside the boat. Kouta got the camera and captured a couple mid-leap. In the longer swells and clear water, they watched the show for quite a while until the dolphins swam away.

Two days later, they heard their first whale. The low, moaning sound at night first scared Kaene. She dropped down from her hammock and shook her parents awake. "Mom, Dad, something's out there!" she cried.

"Huh?" Kouta asked, struggling awake.

"Listen, somethin's out there!" Kaene insisted.

Another long, low moan sounded. Kouta perked up.

"Whales," Ron said from his hammock. "They're talking to each other. Nothing to be scared of."

"Whale?" Kouta asked.

Wanting to see a whale, Kaene ran up topside. She looked around and huffed. "It's dark, I can't see any!" she complained.

"Kaene, you can see them tomorrow," Inari called from back at the helm. "I think they're too far out to see anyway."

"Ohhh!" Kaene complained and stomped a foot.

"Go back to bed, hon, you can still listen to them."

"OK, Gramma," Kaene went back down and climbed back into her hammock. She lay listening for the next low moan, and found the noise soothing. She fell asleep to whale song.

Out on the open ocean, Ron showed them how to rig the fore'sle. It did pick them up some speed. The sea Witch sailed along at 13 Knots. A trim of the sails got them up to 14. Having a following sea, the waves were going slightly faster than they were, lifting and lowering them gently.

Having heard whales, Kaene spent the day by the main mast looking for one. Lunch time, she ran down, got a sandwich and ran back up to sit and eat, searching for whales.

.

Kaede was enjoying their trip. Now in warm weather, it was an absolute joy to be out on the ocean. She also found that when Kouta came back down from his night watch, they could sneak some sex in. Sitting on the foredeck, searching for whales with Kaene, this had to be the most peaceful place she'd ever been. It was late afternoon and they'd yet to find a whale, but looking for them was fun.

Ron called out, "Whale off the aft port quarter!"

Kaede looked, Kaene shot to her feet. What looked like about a hundred yards away, a huge tail slipped back into the water.

"A Whale!" Kaene cried.

Another long hump back rose up and shot a tall spout of water. The long body rolled then the tail came up and dipped back down.

Soon, everyone was up on deck, watching a group of whales off to the side. The whales slowly faded back and went behind them. Kouta did get a few pictures of the breaches.

The rest of the day, they talked about the whales they'd seen.

In a few days, the long swells smoothed out and the wind died down. The ocean was all but glass smooth. Dropping down below five knots, Ron had the sails lowered and engaged the engine, running them back up to ten knots.

The waves smoothed out even more and the wind was very little. Captain Ron changed course to head straight for Charleston. If the wind didn't pick up, they were going to use a lot of fuel.

On the fourth day of chugging along on the engine, Kaede saw Captain Ron studying a chart and checking their position. "Ron, do we have enough fuel to get there?"

"It's going to be tight unless we get some wind," he said. "I do have a question, with a blown motor and no mast, how did you get this boat across the Channel?"

"I paddled it."

"What?" he asked in a giggle. "You paddled it? Like, with your hands?"

"Want me to show you?"

.

A new crew was formed, the rowing crew. To one side of the mast, Captain Ron stood in a pair of shorts holding up the short broom they used to clean with. Up near the bow, Kaene sat, ahead of her Inari, and closer was Kaede. "Now sailorettes! We're going to do it the old, old fashion way," Ron announced. "Long ago, long before engines and before good sails, sailors rowed their boats from place to place. So! Here's what we're going to do. To keep all the rowers rowing together, a time setter, which will be me, will make the motions and you copy them. When I swing down like this you push your long arms through the water to the back of the boat., then up and out and back up to the front. Ready?"

"Aye!" all three called.

Turning back, Captain Ron said, "Duncan, lower the engine to idle, disengage the screw."

At the helm Duncan did. "We're in unpowered now."

"Remember, long smooth strokes," Captain Ron coaxed. He held the broom straight out. "Arms out, just above the water…" He waited briefly then said, "Now stroke!" and pushed the broom down behind him.

The boat lurched ahead.

He brought the broom ahead of him and pushed it down and up to the side back in front of him again. "Stroke!"

Another lurch.

"We're doing it!" Kaene beamed happily.

"Again …. Stroke!" Captain Ron called.

"Those Romans had nothing on you girls… stroke!"

In a short time, they had a rhythm going. Captain Ron made up a song as they rowed the boat.

"We're gonna make our way …. Stroke!"

"We're gonna go an see the crabs…. Stroke!"

"No wind ain't gonna stop us now…. Stroke!"

"And yer momma showed us how …. Stroke!"

Ron then made a little dance as he swung his broom around. "We are doing it the Roman way…Stroke!"

"Row our asses though the day …Stroke"

Kaene had a giggling fit, but kept rowing in time.

At them helm, Duncan was grinning. He also noted the speed indicator was bouncing round ten knots.

Soon, Nana wanted to row too.

"Now we got miss Nana here …Stroke!"

"Maybe we will with pick up speed…Stroke!"

"Anybody wanna water ski? … Stroke!"

That caused another fit of laughter.

"Look's like Nana's havin fun …"Stroke!"

"The sun gets low and we'll be done,… Stroke!"

"Tomorrow we will have more fun … Stroke!"

"Now you'll have a tale to tell…Stroke!"

"Not many people that can say … Stroke!"

"I crossed the ocean today … Stroke"

"I rowed my ass nearly half way … Stroke!"

It was work rowing the boat, but with her family here, and Captain Ron making up his silly song as he guided them, Kaede was having fun. It didn't seem nearly as hard as doing by herself.

By the time they were getting tired, Ron had them stop and had the engine engaged again.

"Very good girls! We made another thirty miles if we made an inch! Duncan, how far'd they go?"

Duncan looked at their position and said, "Forty six miles."

Captain Ron raised a thumps up and cried, "Yeah, now THAT'S teamwork!"

"YAY!" Kaene cried. They all clapped.

Captain Ron took the midnight shift this time. A breeze came up, so he hoisted the sails and gave the engine a rest. It wasn't a large wind, but enough to raise some waves and push them along at nine knots.

Down in her hammock Kaene was dreaming about rowing the boat while whales swam off to the sides.

.

They made Charleston harbor under sail. Spending the last few weeks crossing the ocean, everyone was ready for some 'land time'. It was cool enough here for shirts and pants, and the all important life jackets. Coming up to the dock, the sails were lowered, the line handlers were ready and Kaene was at her post in front of the main mast to watch in case anyone fell off. A couple men were on the dock, ready to assist tying them up. The men were shocked when Inari and Nana jumped over to the dock to do it themselves.

Kaede was glad, they had made the US coast and still had a half tank of fuel. They planned on staying the night, so she had 'shore power' hooked up, and shut the engine down then locked the boat up. At the dockmaster's office, there were pamphlets on things to see in Charleston.

One thing Inari heard about and wanted to go see was Market Street. The entire street was blocked off to traffic. Shops lined the middle of the street as well as along the sides. Nearly anything could be bought on Market Street. Splitting up, they went browsing through the shops. Kouta, Kaede and Kaene wandered along together, Jeff, Nana and Mayu checked things out together, Duncan and Inari roamed the street. Captain Ron found someplace to go.

Gathering back to the dock after their Market Street shopping adventures, Everyone had things to bring back. Besides her glitter face paint, Kaene had a stuffed bear with a sailor hat on. Kouta had found nice silver necklace for Kaede and carried her clothes back for her. Kaede carried a gold colored mermaid form to put on the front of the boat. Nana and Jeff carried a stereo and speakers, Mayu had a gotten a small rack of CD's. Inari bought some clothes, Duncan carried some of Inari's clothes for her.

Noting Kaede eye the stereo, Nana explained, "We got some rowing music Mom!"

Kaede grinned. "Can't wait to do that again, huh?"

"That was fun," Nana beamed.

Taking all their purchases down on board, they went back out for a tour of old Charleston. After the tour of seeing the old houses and civil war memorabilia, they had dinner at a nice restaurant. One thing Kaede noticed was that here, there weren't' many 'pretenders' at all. She'd only seen a couple young women with pink haired wigs with horns. Kaede and her family were being noticed more than usual. From some of the looks, Kaede was glad no one approached them. It kept those people healthy. They got back to the boat without any confrontations.

.

In the morning, Kaede and Kouta put the bow mermaid on underneath the forward mast where the mast met the bow. Kaene stood by to ensure no one fell off the boat, working at the tip. Kouta connected the fastenings on the mast as Kaede hung underneath holding it in place. Nana, Mayu and Jeff stood on the dock watching them.

"That looks pretty," Nana noted.

"It does," Jeff agreed. "It's like the ones the old sailing ships had."

"It's on," Kouta announced.

Kaede lowered herself clear, then gave the mermaid a tug and tried gently to move it. "Looks good, doan move atall." She rose back up on the bow, Kouta gave her a hand up over the rail.

"Let's set the stereo and speakers up next!" Nana said.

"Go get'em," Kouta told her.

Jeff had a plan for setting the stereo up. In the upper forward starboard storage space, Jeff worked at putting the stereo in, it fit perfect. A speaker by the forward hatch, one over the kitchen area, and another on the back deck. The fourth was set in front of the center front porthole of the cabin so the window there would put music out on the forward deck. Nana, Mayu and Kaede ran the lines so they stayed tight to the boat structure and didn't hang down. Kouta wired the stereo into the 120v breaker box so it had it's own breaker.

Kaede was expecting Captain Ron to show up soon. What she didn't expect was Kaene coming down to say, "Mom, there's a guy up on the dock that wants ta see ya."

Kaede went topside to see a police officer waiting by the brow.

"Yes, Officer?" she asked.

He explained, "Ma'am, we have a guy in the cooler says he's your Captain. He's only got one eye, black eye patch."

Kaede huffed. "What'd he do?"

"Drunk and disorderly. Not a big deal, but he's got a fine to pay and he has no money. Someone has to cover the fine and come get him, he has no ID either. Probably got robbed when he was passed out on the sidewalk."

"What's up?" Duncan asked as he came up on deck.

Kaede motioned to the cop. "Captain Ron got arrested. Someone has to get him and pay his fine."

"I'll go," Duncan said in a grumble. "Make sure we're ready to sail."

Duncan went with the Officer. He got a ride up to the police station a few blocks away. They had a Justice of the Peace there. Duncan paid the hundred dollar fine, then went back to the cell Ron was sacked out in.

"This one's yours?" the Officer asked.

"That's him." Duncan said, then called, "Ron, wake up! Time to go!"

Ron let out a groan and looked at him, then looked around. He waved a finger at Duncan, "If you see a chick with long dark hair, nice figure, kinda Hispanic looking, don't trust her! Her buddy waylaid me when I was grabbin a feel. Didn't even get any!"

"Your fine's been paid, let's go," the officer stated and opened the door.

"Didn't see who it was," Ron said as he came out, "But I can spot her! Nice set of fun bags on her."

"You owe me a hundred bucks," Duncan said, and turned around and left.

Ron went on. "I gottta say, she was good, I had no idea that guy was anywhere near us. I was getting ready for a major liplock, then bang! Swore I saw stars, then found myself getting looked at by medics."

"We're leaving," Duncan said curtly.

"I want to file a complain," Ron insisted.

The Officer said, "We have some mug shots you can go through."

Duncan sat nearby as Ron looked through a few pages of mug shots. He leafed through them the did it again. "Not seeing her, got any more?"

"Sorry, that's all we got. Can you give us a description?"

"Oh yeah, dark eyes, black hair, I'd say D cups, a little belly, not much…"

"Her face," the Officer stressed. "How tall was she?"

Ron stood up and mimicked holding her cheek, then raise his hand up. "About that high. Soft puffy cheeks, but not pudgy, her eyebrows were painted on, I think. This dark purple eye shadow. Low forehead …. Maybe that was her hair …"

The officer wrote the description down as Ron told him questionable facts. After Ron tried to describe her hips and legs, The Officer nodded. "OK, we'll keep a lookout for her."

"Thanks, if you find my wallet, my phone number's in it." Ron explained.

"We'll keep that in mind. Most times, wallet are thrown away by these people."

"Just in case, you know." Ron said.

Duncan walked back to the boat with Ron, not happy he'd been waylaid by a hooker.

"Some things just don't go as planned," Ron said in a huff.

"Doan play with the hookers, an ye'll have better luck," Duncan told him.

"This isn't like the Philippines," Ron complained. "There, you make the deal, take them back to the boat and party."

Casting Ron a tight grin, Duncan growled in warning, "You bring a hooker around my kids, and we're gonna have a big problem."

"I'm talking there, not here." Ron said defensively. "There, it's all upright and legal. I'd never do that around Munchkin either."

"Any of my kids, even the older ones," Duncan stated.

"Yeah, I got ya."

Back at the boat, Ron only said he was robbed. Everyone was ready to leave. Ron complimented Kaede on the bowsprite. Once they were underway, Ron climbed up in his hammock and took a nap.

Duncan made sure they got out of the bay and were on track.

.

Looking at the weather reports, a band of rain was heading off land for the cost. Watching the sky and noting the winds were picking up some, Ron showed Duncan, Inari and Kede the latest radar weather map for the area. "If you follow what's happening here, inland, you can see the rain's headed this way. Moderate winds from the southwest, which is good for us. Give it about five hours, and we'll be into it. After lunch, we batten down the hatches, fore and aft. No one out on deck unless they have to be."

"Moderate winds?" Inari asked.

"Twenty, thirty miles an hour. With full sail and a good trim, we might squeezed out 18 to 20 knots. The ride may get a little rough," Ron explained. He pulled out what looked like a seat belt from under the control panel. "Helm, make sure you got your raincoat and safety belt on."

"Safety belt?" Kaede asked.

"Yeah, so a rouge wave doesn't wash you overboard. Getting washed overboard during a storm can suck big time. You might not be found."

"Shouldn't we pull into a port?' Duncan asked.

Ron waved him off. "Naw. Out here, we got room to maneuver. If I'm right, we'll be hitting that storm close to shore if we try to go in. You don't want to get blown into a beach or some rocks. We're safer if we just keep going. Radar's clear, no ships around us. First sign of the clouds though, turn on the running lights. It can get dark, quick."

"Let's make sure everything is tied down below," Duncan said.

.

Lunch was sandwiches and chips for a quick cleanup. Duncan made sure all the portholes were shut. Inari and Kaede ensure all the dishes and kitchenware was put away, the cupboards latched shut. Very close to what Ron predicted, the sky outside began darkening. In the chartroom, the repeater there showed they were doing 15 knots. The boat was rolling and rising and falling a bit more. The wind outside picked up a whistle.

A boom sounded and the boat rolled hard to the right briefly. In the portholes, water rained down had like someone dumped buckets over them.

Duncan grabbed a rain coat. "I'm going to check on Ron."

Lifting herself up Nana looked out a porthole. "I can see the wave tops, they're higher than the deck!"

That got others looking out the portholes too. The boat rose up, tipped to port and came down with another boom. The wave they hit splashed up over the deck.

Holding on as he went up through the hatch, Duncan shut it quickly behind him.

Ron glanced at him. "Keep a tight hold, we got cross seas."

There were more than just rolling waves around them. Duncan saw places where waves met and peaked up. "You sure this is safe?" he asked.

"No, but safer than trying to make a port. Look at the port horizon," Ron said, glancing to the left.

Duncan saw. The horizon was getting dark, like night time dark.

"We're up to 17 knots. If we can hit 20, I think we can outrun the worst of it," Ron told him.

Another wave that looked to be ten feet tall hit the forward port side. The boat jumped up and lurched, water shot up with a boom, then splashed down around them in the heaviest rain Duncan ever felt. If he hadn't been holding on, it would have knocked him down.

The bouncing and rocking got worse. Instead of the occasional up and down, now it was constant as the boat rolled, came up and dove in the waves.

"Hope everyone had a light lunch," Ron noted. He trimmed the mainsail a little and turned right a few more degrees.

Duncan then noted something on radar at the top to the right. It was a good sized blob. "Ron, see this?"

"Yeah, most likely a freighter, maybe a cruise ship. They are heading west. Figure ten to twelve knots. That's eight miles away. We're heading 010. By the time we get there, they will be past us. Don't worry, I'm sure they see us too."

Duncan looked at their speed. "Eighteen knots."

"Come on baby, gimme twenty!" Ron coaxed.

The wind blew a hard gust, tipping them twenty degrees to starboard. Duncan felt a lurch. "Each of these circular rings a mile?" he asked, pointing to the radar display.

"More or less," Ron said. The other ship was only 7 miles away, still at the same position.

"We're headed right for it, it's not moving," Duncan noted.

"No, zero bearing rate means we're headed towards each other at the same rate. They can't be doing more than four or five knots," Ron told him. "Why they going so slow? … unless. Shit, that could be a loaded oil tanker. The wake of that thing is gonna be choppy as hell."

Ron turned some to the left and retrimmed the sail. "Changing to course 345, we'll have to run in front of him. We'll be on him in about fifteen minutes."

Duncan noted their speed was up to 21 knots. They were rolling a bit more. Another wave broke over the port side, drenching them again. Keeping a close eye on the radar, Duncan watch the other ship slowly come towards them. It was mostly coming down the screen. "Five miles away," he said.

"We should see it soon."

In the dim gray sky, Duncan noted a shadow and a red light. "There he is, off the forward starboard quarter."

"Yup. We should clear him by about a mile." Ron agreed. "Just shy of 22 knots now."

"This feels like we're racing a freight train to the crossing."

"Pretty much, that's what we're doing," Ron agreed.

The ship in the distance got bigger. It was long and low. "I think you're right, it looks like a tanker."

"Makes sense," Ron agreed. "They don't maneuver too quickly or stop very fast. They have to start slowing down miles out to sea."

"Damn, that's big," Duncan said. As the two ships closed, the tanker blew it's horn. Ron blew their horn.

In what seemed to take a long time, they bounced and rolled in front of a wide, huge bow, then passed on by.

"Mile and a quarter," Ron beamed. "I called it good." He then turned back to 015. "We're closer to the shore, but we're past him."

Another wave crashing over the deck anointed them on their victory.

Duncan took over the helm, Ron went below. Inari came up. "Did you see that ship we passed?" she asked.

"Couldn't miss it, but glad we did." Duncan replied. Seeing Inari look at him, he explained, "We saw it on radar first. We were headed right for each other, Ron turned left some and ran ahead of it."

The boom of another wave hitting and the front of the boat jumped up, the spray went to the sides, then they crashed back down.

"How long is this storm going to last?" Inari asked, sounding irritated.

"Ron thinks until tomorrow some time. It's headed pretty much the same way we are."

"Ugh," Inari grunted. "Dinner's going to be fun," she grumbled and went back down.

.

Inside the cabin, Kaene was laying in her hammock, swinging back and forth with the rolls and hugging her sea teddy as she watched others trying to walk and kept bumping into things. Rather the boat moving and bumping into them. Watching them brace themselves, she decided with a grin she had a 'spider' family by the way they clung to the otherwise ignored hand rails along the sides. Watching the tall water outside was fun too.

Opps, Daddy fell when he was trying to get to the sink. He managed to get up and stick his head in the sink before he puked. Yuck, that was gross. He started something, because Nana was next, then Jeff. Mommy followed Jeff.

Kaene wondered, was she suppose to be puking too?

.

Early morning around 4 AM, the sea calmed down enough for much of the family to pass out from the exhaustion of holding on. It had stopped raining hours ago, but the wind and waves died down much slower. Not feeling well at all from the constant bouncing and rolling, Kaede lay in her bunk half on Kouta, who also was passed out.

Kaene, who'd gone to sleep early, crawled out of her hammock and dropped to the floor. When the boat rose, she dropped out. She was a little stumbly walking to the bathroom but it wasn't bad. Not like Mayu when the boat shifted to the side and knocked into Mayu to make her land in Gramma's bunk on top of her. That was funny. The gentle motions of the boat now didn't bother Kaene at all.

After her bathroom call, Kaene looked in the food cupboard and got herself a poptart. She put her raincoat on as it warmed in the toaster. She didn't hear it raining, but the waves were still making noise against the sides of the boat in dull roars. She had watched the waves rain down hard on the boat after they boomed against the sides much of yesterday.

With her poptart done, Kaene went up the steps to the aft hatch and opened it to peek out. Granmpa was at the helm. She went out, shutting the hatch behind her.

"Morning, Grampa," she offered and sat by him. She offered him one of her poptarts.

Duncan shook his head. "No thanks. Why are you up so early?"

"I can't sleep any more," Kaene said and looked around. "Captain Ron is right, I was comfy in my hammock. I didn't get knocked around." She then let out a giggle, "I don't think anyone else was, except for Captain Ron in his hammock."

Duncan chuckled. "We're still learning. Hammocks do seem better for sleeping than bunks."

"They are, at least when we're on the sea." Kaene agreed. Watching ahead, the saw on the horizon off the right side of the boat, the sky was looking purple, not black.

Duncan noted what she was looking at. "The sun will be up soon," he said. "That's called pre-dawn, the sky lightening before the sun rises."

Kaene nodded. She watched the sky lighten and the sun rise up turning dark into light. That was really awesome. "Grampa, where are we?"

Duncan pointed off to the left. "New York City is over there, Long island it up this way, north of us. Shortly, we're going around the end of Long Island, between Montauk Point and Block Island. Straight north to Fisher's Island, pass by it just to the west, then look for the bay where the horseshoe crabs are."

"So, we're almost there?" she asked eagerly.

"If not today, tomorrow," he agreed.

"Goodie!" she cheered.

At the sun rose, the winds died down some more. Plodding along at eight knots in the remaining swells, Duncan asked Kaene if she could see Montauck Point, the very end of long Island. Standing in front of the main mast, she kept a vigil and saw a 'pointy thing' above the water. Duncan checked, it was Montauk Lighthouse she was looking at. It was far away, but she'd seen it.

Heading north to where Esker beach and Palmer cove were, Duncan noted there was more activity in the cabin. By the the groans and 'ooches', not everyone had recovered from their trip through the storm yet.

.

Captain Ron suggested a few stops since they had come all the way here. Instead of pulling up to a dock, they anchored off Esker Point beach. The skiff that was upside down atop the cabin, Ron and Duncan got it untied and down to the back of the boat. They lowered it into the water, and got out the rope and bar ladder. Everyone got on life vests, and once the oars and everyone was in the skiff, Kouta took the task of rowing them to shore.

A group of young people were watching something at the shore. Kouta beached them not far away. An older man was knee deep in the water and held something to show the group. Nana recognized it immediately. Pointing, she yelled, "A Horseshoe crab!"

They went over to join the group.

The man holding the foot diameter crab explained how the crab swam, the protective ridges on the crab's hard shell and how long they had been around. Kouta got pictures of it before the man returned it to the water. In the water, horseshoe crabs were everywhere.

The man, who Duncan was guessing was a teacher, looked at Kaede and Inari, then Nana. He asked, "Are one of you named Kaede?"

"Aye, that's me," Kaede said, raising her hand. "This is me mum, Inari, me Dad, Duncan, daughters Nana,Mayu an Kaene, me husband Kouta, Nana's boyfriend Jeff, that's Captain Ron."

A few students pointed their cell phones at Kaede.

"Wow, you got your own sailboat?" one of the boys asked.

"Aye, The Sea Witch."

"And we went through this storm that was tossing us all around!" Nana added.

"And we saw whales!" Kaene added.

"And Dolphins," Mayu added.

"I heard you really are a witch," one of the girls said.

"They're Elves," Captain Ron told her. "They do have powers similar to what witches are said to have."

"Elves? Elves aren't real," another girl said.

Ron laughed. "Better open your eyes, got a whole family of them right here."

The teacher asked, "Where do you live? This is the first time I've ever seen your kind."

"Can't tell ya Lad," Kaede replied. "We doan like lots'o attention."

"This is great!" another boy said. "I mean, real Elves, here!"

"I take it this is a class trip?" Duncan asked.

"Biology field trip," the teacher said. "I would love to spend some time learning your history instead of only old tales and rumors. Where are you from? You ancestral home, I mean."

Inari and Kaede looked at each other. Inari said, "It's best ta not say. Most humans ain't ready ta know. Many of us are still there, and we ain't givin'em away."

"We haven't had good luck with humans knowin where we live," Kaede added.

"Yeah!" a boy announced, pointing at Kaede. "I been looking up about you! You're like this mo-bar real life superwoman and she-hulk. You can kick serious ass!"

"BOBBY, language!" the teacher scolded.

"The Wind of Death, right?" another girl said.

Chuckling at Bobby's comments, Kaede said, "Aye, I kin be."

"Mommy, I got one!" Kaene cried. She was standing at the edge of the water line, a few feet out, a horseshoe grab was hanging in the air, all his stubby little legs were pedaling air as he tried to move.

"Hon, they can't breathe air, put him back in the water," Kouta said firmly.

"Ok, I doan wanna hurt'im," Kaene said. The horseshoe crab lowered back into the water and swam away. Kaene waved bye bye to it.

"How did she do that?" a boy asked, staring at Kaene.

"They're Elves, they can do things like that," Ron said.

"We rowed the boat too!" Nana stated happily. "Just like the Romans did, right Captain Ron?"

Ron chuckled, "You sure did."

"We did!" Kaene cried. "We rowed our asses across the ocean, right Mom?"

Kaede winced. "We did," she said, not happy how Kaene put it.

"We've done all kinds of things in our boat," Nana beamed.

"Yeah, but let's not go through any more storms," Mayu said with a frown.

"That was kinda rough," Inari agreed as she eyed Captain Ron.

"It was!" Nana piped up. Holding her arms out she tipped side to side and said, "The boat was tippin this way and that way and bouncin up and down. It was hard to walk! If ya weren't holding on ta something, the inside of the boat would move over an smack ya."

A couple kids laughed.

"It way only a couple days," Ron said with a shrug.

"Couple days o hell," Kaede grumbled.

"I was fine!" Kaene chirped. "I stayed up in me hammock. I just swung back an forth!"

"Least we ran out of it," Duncan said.

"It was heading in the other direction?" the Teacher asked.

"No, it's coming this way. It'll be here mostly likely before we get up past the seaport, it's coming north," Ron said.

"You outran a storm in a sail boat?"

"Yeah," Ron said. "We was doin twenty, twenty two knots. Full sail we was cooking along." He looked at the sky and said, "Speaking of that guys, we should be getting up river. We don't want to be sitting here when those waves get here."

"What's up river?" Mayu asked.

"The Aquarium?" the Teacher asked.

"They got all kinds of marine animals there," Ron told Mayu.

"Let's go see!" Nana cried.

"Maybe we should be quick bout it too," Kaede said.

"Let's row our asses off!" Kaene cried.

"Too bad we can't go by water," one of the boys said.

Kaede shrugged why not, there's … eight of ya? Ya kin fit. I'll come back fer ya, if ya in the skiff if ya want."

"Can we?" a girl asked the Teacher.

"The bus was coming back here for us," he said.

"Can't he pick us up at … DQ?" a boy asked, grinning.

"YEAH!" all the kids chorused.

The Teacher shrugged. "I'll call him."

Kaede clapped and said, "Everybody, back to the boat!"

Instead of Kouta rowing this time, Kaede sat in the back and pushed them off, then rowed quickly back to the boat. Nana grabbed the boat and pulled the skiff close. The piled on. Kaede took the skiff back to the shore at motorboat speed, stopping herself on the beach.

"Let's go!" Kaede called.

One of the bigger boys asked, Should I push us out?"

"Just git in." Kaede said with a wave.

They all got in. Kede gave a good shove and pushd them off the beach and into the water. She also used the beh to kept turn thm, then paddled quickly back to the boat. Nana wa by the back to help pulled them close.

"What are you useing to make this thing go?' the Teacher asked.

"Just me. Up an on."

As they climbed on with Funcan's help, Inari called, "Kaed, you take the beck, I'll git by the main mast, Kaene and Nana will be in front."

"OK Mom."

The last one out, Kaede lifted the skiff out of the water and drifted it over pople's head. "Mom, kin ya put this away?"

"Got it, git ready."

All the students docked from the skiff floating over their heads. Cell phones were catching the action. The Teacher only stood with his mouth open, staring.

Captain Ron announced, "Anchor's raised. Girls, let's go!"

Nana yelled, "Mayu, music!"

The stereo blasted out as Kaede, Inari, Nana and Kaene all dug in with their mind hands, making the boat lurch forward.

Last night I had the strangest dream

I sailed away to China

In a little row boat to find ya

And you said you had to get your laundry cleaned

.

Didn't want no one to hold you

What does that mean?

And you said

.

Ain't nothing gonna break my stride

Nobody's gonna slow me down, oh-no

I got to keep on movin!

Ain't nothing gonna break my stride

I'm runnin and I won't touch ground

Oh-no, I got to keep on movin!

.

You're on a roll and now you pray it lasts

The road behind was rocky

But now you're feelin cocky!…..

As the stereo played, the boat was lurching along faster and faster. Very soon, a bow wake formed an they were headed out of the cove. Ron turned into Mystic harbor. They charged the bridge.

Ain't nothing gonna break my stride

Nobody's gonna slow me down, oh-no

I got to keep on movin!

Ain't nothing gonna break my stride

I'm runnin and I won't touch ground

Oh-no, I got to keep on movin!

Passing under the bridge doing 27 knots, Ron steered around a power boat. All the girls waved at the couple in the speed boat. Shocked a much larger boat just blew past them, the guy stared, then was hit with the wake, nearly swamping his boat. Angry, he hit the throttle and raced forward.

Seeing this, Kaede, Nana and Kaene all paddled faster. Inari saw this and paddled faster too. Ron looked down. They shot up over 30 knots. He yelled, "Girls, Seaport's coming up, SLOW DOWN!"

Ain't nothing gonna break my stride

Nobody's gonna slow me down, oh-no

I got to keep on movin!

Ain't nothing gonna break my stride

I'm runnin and I won't touch ground

Oh-no, I got to keep on movin!

Ron looked frantic, and they were making a huge wake to the sides. Kaede stopped paddling. "Guys, SLOW DOWN!" she yelled.

They all did, but their momentum carried them on. Coming up on the right was docks and boats. The speedboat roared past them and kept going. They were down to an almost reasonable 20 Knots. Up ahead the speedboat roared on. A police boat came out of the dock area, lights going and chased the speed boat.

"Slower, slower," Ron said watching their speed. Getting down to ten knots, he said, "OK go ahead, but no faster."

Up ahead Mr. Speedboat heard the police boat coming and slowed. The police boat caught up to him as their wake hit the dock area, bouncing boats around. One slipped it's moorings and bumped into another one.

Ron moved over farther as they went past. Mr. Speedboat was yelling any pointing at them. The students laughed and waved.

Ron looked back. "Oh, he's gonna pay for that."

"A speeding ticket?" Duncan asked.

Ron shook his head. "And damage to every boat at those docks. And it looks like one's taking on water."

"Oops," Kaede said meekly.

They stayed rowing at ten knots until they got to the Dairy Queen. There was a dock there, so they pulled in. The bus hadn't arrived yet. After tying up, everyone went in an got ice cream.