Tyler found himself waking up. The sun was bright and hit his eyes. One thing he thought was weird was that he wasn't moving. He was usually always moving around from the water, either calmly or not. He felt trapped. He took a breath and looked around when his vision cleared. He was beached in some sand. Trees swayed around him and there was no noise but the water lapping against himself and the sand. Hearing no noise frightened him and he desperately tried to look around for Kenneth.
"Kenneth? Kenneth, are you here?" He called out. Hearing a groan let him know Kenneth was still around.
"Tyler, where are we?" Kenneth muttered. He was on the bank against a tree. He picked himself up and looked around.
"I have lost my nav. system." Tyler reminded him.
"Yeah, yeah, right. Forgot." Kenneth though Tyler looked weird without his mast. He had to get that fixed soon. He maneuvered himself around Tyler in the sand and climbed aboard again. Tyler was beached real bad, and Kenneth hoped that no sand or other debris damaged his prop or engine. Kenneth however, set to work repairing his mast, which was still lying on the deck tightly bound with rope. "Once I get your mast and antenna fixed, you find out where we are." He told Tyler.
"Of course." Tyler responded.
While Kenneth got down and began repairing his mast, Tyler decided to relax. He didn't like the feeling of being beached. He couldn't move whatsoever. His rudder was deeply stuck in the wet sand and he dared not try spinning his prop in such heavy sand until Kenneth checked it out.
"Hey, Kenneth, how am I going to get out of here?" Tyler asked.
"I suppose I'd try pushing you out. I don't know how well that will work." Kenneth finished off his job by torquing in the last of the bolts onto Tyler's deck. "Okay, you boot up your system again, and I'll check around to see if there's any damage." Kenneth jumped off and Tyler began booting up his navigation system and map once more.
Kenneth hadn't seen any damage, but knowing how low Tyler's hull is in the water, he knew Tyler was stuck in the sand good. He thought maybe washing away some of the sand would help when Tyler called him.
"I got our coordinates, Kenneth!" Tyler called. "And they are not good!"
"Where are we, Ty?"
"We are on an uninhabited island near Newfoundland."
"'Newfoundland'? You've got to be kiddin'!" Kenneth exclaimed. "That far?"
"Sadly so."
"We can't go any further Ty. We gotta turn around. Head in the direction of home."
"But what about Josh?"
"Tyler, I don't know how to even say this to you, but, Josh, I- okay," Kenneth changed his mind after seeing Tyler's disappointment. "how about we head home, but we go a different route, to still keep an eye out for him."
Tyler wasn't happy but agreed.
"Your engine isn't damaged at all, our only issue is the sand. I don't understand how you got stuck so deep in the sand but I'll do all I can to get you out."
"Do you have a flare gun?"
Kenneth hesitated and perked up. "I do! I brought one along with. Good on you for reminding me." He pulled out his flare gun from his black bag and shot it high into the sky. "If anything, someone will see that and come to our rescue."
Moments passed. Not a ship was seen, not a horn was blast. Kenneth was beginning to lose hope. "There's one more flare left but I'm not going to waste it in case." Tyler agreed that was best.
It was a good thing Kenneth hadn't used the last flare because minutes later, a short blast of a horn echoed around them. The two perked up and Tyler responded with a short blast of his own. Much to their liking, a red tugboat a bit bigger than Tyler sailed around the bend of the island. Kenneth let out a relieved sigh and flagged them down.
"I see you two are stuck, innt?" The tugboat called out to them.
"Yes, please help us!" Kenneth called.
"Hang on!" The tug slowed and began to back up slowly towards Tyler. The pittie aboard the tug came forwards with a rope, which he tied onto Tyler's hydraulic pin in the back. Once secured, the tug moved forwards until the line straightened, and then began to tug. Tyler could feel the sand moving out from underneath him as the tug pressed on and dug into the water. Seconds later, Tyler felt the cool water once again splash against his hull and he was free. He sighed in relief.
"That should do it!" The tug called as the pittie unhooked Tyler. "My name's Dolly. Where you headed off to?" She turned around so they could get a better sight.
"I'm Kenneth and this is Tyler. We are in the search of a lost friend. You haven't seen a small yacht anywhere, have ya?" Kenneth called.
"No, but I can keep an eye out!" Dolly said. "I'm glad I found you two when I did! The tide just came out."
"Well, thank you. We appreciate it!" Tyler smiled as he was finally able to start his engines and move out in the water a little.
"No problem. Happy to help, son! Well, we better get going now. Don't want to keep you up from searchin' for your friend!" She turned and began to head back in the direction she came from.
"Thank you! Bye, Dolly!" Tyler called and went full speed ahead, towards home. He went the long way back, so he could still keep an eye out for Josh. Kenneth didn't even argue. Something told him it was a lost cause but knowing Tyler, he couldn't argue with him. He'd be stuck with a very unhappy tugboat then for weeks, and Kenneth just couldn't bring himself to deal with that much unhappiness from a boat that's quite happy every day.
Tyler was headed towards Greenland, but not to stop there. Just to pass by and maybe ask a boat or two about Josh. He would then head past Iceland with the same thought, and then finally head home. He wanted to take his time, for he didn't want to return home too quickly. One second too fast, and he could miss Josh somewhere altogether!
"Are you looking out?" Tyler asked, jolting Kenneth from his thoughts over the water.
"You better believe it." He quickly responded, fetching his binoculars. He looked over the vast ocean, still unsure if he would find Josh, but hopeful for Tyler.