Jinxed

Written by David Mitton

Adapted by Jonathan Downs, Rachel Ravens and Zack Wanzer

When a vessel changes hands, the new owner might sometimes decide to change the vessel's name. However, many boaters and sailors insist that renaming a boat brings bad luck. If you must change it, you should perform a Christening ceremony or renaming ceremony first to ensure good fortune.

This superstition goes back a long time, and there have been many tales of captains renaming their ships in a moment of hubris, only to be met with a tragic watery end. Legend says that when every ship is christened, its name goes into a "Ledger of the Deep" maintained by Neptune (or Poseidon) himself. Renaming a ship or boat means you're trying to slip something past the gods and you will be punished for your deviousness.

I must admit, I myself was very superstitious as was Captain Zero, hence why we never changed the names of any of our vessels when they joined our fleets. However, there was an incident involving a tug who suffered from bad luck – or, as he put it, a "jinx".


One night out at sea, Ten Cents and Sunshine were on their way from delivering fuel to Lillie Lightship when they spotted a tug they'd never seen before. His name was Boomer, and he was just drifting. Realizing he could be in trouble, they approached him cautiously. His engine was stopped, maybe even broken down. A tow line drooped in the water and his rigging was scrappy. No flag flapped in the breeze. He looked depressed, and it seemed as if no one owned him.

"Keep away," Boomer urged. "Just leave me alone, please!"

"But look, we can't," replied Ten Cents. "You're drifting in busy sea lanes, and that's dangerous!"

"Even better," muttered Boomer as Ten Cents and Sunshine moved closer to him.

"We'll have to take you in," said Sunshine.

"Just leave me be, I don't want any help," said Boomer sadly.

"What? Why not?" asked Sunshine.

"Because, well..." Boomer began. "Because I'm a jinx. I'm bad luck. Nobody wants a jinx."

"Aw, rubbish!" argued Ten Cents. "There's no such thing as a jinx!"

"Oh, isn't there!" snarked Boomer. "You'll soon find out. Stand off me!"

"Look, jinxed or not," replied Ten Cents as he attached a rope to Boomer, "we'll have to take you in. Shipping lanes have to be kept clear!"

"Ah'm sure Captain Star will do something," said Sunshine.

"No, he won't," replied Boomer gloomily. "Nobody can. Jinxes just happen. I just shouldn't have been a tug."

"Eh, have you always been like this?" asked Sunshine.

"My name used to be 'Captain Harry'," explained Boomer. "That was good then, in those days. Then I was sold. They painted out my name and called me 'Boomer'. Ever since then, nothing but trouble. So they fired me."

"Ah can't see how changin' your name jinxes you," replied Sunshine. "Mind you, Ah've always been Sunshine, and Ten Cents… well, he's always been Ten Cents."

"Well, you're lucky," replied Boomer. "Any boat that changes their name is jinxed."

Boomer was right; Ten Cents gave a whistle and had set off ahead, when to everyone's amazement, the tow rope unwound and fell into the sea. Sunshine blew her whistle to get his attention.

"How did that happen?" exclaimed Ten Cents, stopping and looking back. "Oi, did you do that?"

"Can't have, can I?!" replied Boomer. "It's you that's lost the tow. The rope's still attached to me!"

"He's right, Ten Cents," replied Sunshine. "That's the first sign of a jinx Ah've ever seen."

"Yeah, well, it won't happen again," said Ten Cents, reversing back to Boomer. "Look, come on. The sooner we get him to Captain Star, the better."

Sunshine looked at Boomer as Ten Cents reattached himself to the stowaway tug.

"Please tell me if another jinx comes along," she said. "Then Ah'll watch and see what happens. Maybe Ah can help you."

Boomer didn't reply as the cavalcade set off back for port.


It was just before 6:30 the next morning when they reached the Star Dock and we were there to greet him. They were just in time for the briefing.

"Morning, everyone," called Ten Cents.

"Morning, Ten Cents and Sunshine," replied O.J.. "And who do we have here?"

"This is Boomer," Sunshine replied. "We found him at the estuary last night. His engine had stopped working so we've taken him in to see if Captain Star can help him."

"Good work, you two," said Hercules.

Just then, my office window opened and my megaphone came out.

"Good morning, Star Fleet," I boomed. "And I see we have another tug joining us. Who's he, Ten Cents?"

"His name's Boomer," replied Ten Cents. "We found him drifting out in the estuary."

"Well, what's up?" I asked again.

"Well, he says his engine's not working," said Ten Cents, who didn't mention anything about the jinx, knowing how superstitious I was.

"You'll be alright now, Boomer," Sunshine assured.

"I see," I replied. "Well done, you two. Sunshine, go pick up the coal barge once the briefing is over and we'll try starting him up!"

"Yes, sir!" replied Sunshine.

"Right then," I continued. "Hercules, you're on distress calls today. O.J., Big Mac, some parts are needed for Scuttlebutt Pete. Warrior, daily garbage for you. Top Hat, car floats for you. Ten Cents, I would like you to stay behind and help re-stoke Boomer."

"Aye-aye, Captain!" Ten Cents replied.

"That's all," I said. "We are adjourned."

With that, Big Mac, O.J., Top Hat, Warrior and Hercules set off to work whilst Sunshine went for the coal barge.


Later, when Ten Cents and Sunshine had re-stoked Boomer and got a good head of steam, the big moment arrived.

"Okay, Boomer! Try your engine now!" I boomed.

Boomer started to turn his propeller and made a wake; Ten Cents blew his whistle and cheered.

"Well done, Boomer!" Sunshine said.

"Oh no," groaned Boomer as his engine stalled, and smoke billowed around him. "You see now?"

I was horrified. It was quite obvious that a fire had broken out inside him.

"Pull him out! Pull him out!" I cried urgently.

"Aye-aye, Sir!" replied Ten Cents.

It was just as well for Ten Cents that he still had a line on Boomer. With smoke billowing everywhere, it would have been difficult and dangerous to get too close. He pulled him clear of the dock, and strangely, as soon as he was clear, the smoke stopped completely.

"How did you do that?" exclaimed Sunshine. "The smoke's all gone now, look!"

"Told ya, Sunshine! Jinxed!" replied Boomer sadly.

"Hey! What the…" I exclaimed as I somehow lost grip of my megaphone and it landed on the ground and clattered, much to Ten Cents and Sunshine's shock.

"That's never happened before, has it?" asked Boomer.

"No!" Ten Cents and Sunshine agreed.

"Oh dear. Boomer, Ah think…"

"Ten Cents and Sunshine!" I shouted through a spare megaphone which made my voice sound distorted. "Take that tug to Lucky's Yard at once! Then, have a look at him and tell what he's worth! But be careful! There's something strange going on!"

"Right, sir!" Ten Cents replied.


On their way to Lucky's, however, Sunshine noticed Boomer was getting progressively lower in the water.

"Ten Cents!" she called. "Ah think Boomer's takin' on water!"

"Oh, you're right!" Ten Cents said, seeing that Boomer was starting to sink. Quickly, Sunshine dropped a wreck buoy in the water and noticed that Boomer was laughing.

"Hey, Boomer, what's so funny?" she asked.

"Ha ha! I'm sinking!" said Boomer happily. "Just what I wanted!"

"What?!" groaned Ten Cents. "Look, we're going to make it to Lucky's, even if I sink with you!"

"Cut free! Cut free! I'm sinking, save yourselves!" called Boomer until he stopped sinking. "Huh?"

"Well, that's lucky!" said Sunshine with relief. "He's come to rest on that old sunken garbage barge."

"Look, you stay here," replied Ten Cents, setting off to leave. "I'll go get a rescue crane."

"Hey, maybe the jinx has stopped now, eh?" Sunshine said with a chuckle. "You're still afloat."

"No, it hasn't," replied Boomer gloomily. "It's still here, alright. I wanted to sink, but instead, I land right on top of an obstacle that doesn't let me! All I want to do is sink and become a home for the fishes. Then I won't jinx anyone."

Sunshine looked at him in disbelief and decided to say nothing until the rescue cranes arrived.


Mighty Mo, the floating crane, and his flotilla of auxiliary A-frame cranes had found the task difficult. Troublesome things had been happening during the afternoon. Ten Cents had collected a large barge in which Boomer was to be placed once he was high enough out of the water.

"Be sure to get that barge under Boomer as soon as you can," instructed Mighty Mo. "He's heavy, and I don't want to hold him too long."

Ten Cents and Sunshine readied themselves and watched as Mighty Mo took up the strain and started to lift Boomer.

"He's coming up!" called Mighty Mo. "Pull, fellas!"

"Full steam!" exclaimed Ten Cents as slowly but surely, Boomer was lifted out of the water.

"You'll be okay now, Boomer!" called Sunshine.

"Yeah, come on, Boomer!" agreed Ten Cents, tooting his whistle.

"No, I won't," muttered Boomer. Suddenly, Mighty Mo stopped lifting and the ropes started to strain.

"My hauser's jammed!" he exclaimed. "You'll have to take the barge and we'll travel like this!"

"Just what I thought would happen!" chuckled Boomer.

"Oh, not another jinx!" goaned Sunshine.

"Don't be silly, Sunshine," replied Ten Cents. "Moor that barge somewhere and go tell Captain Star. We'll have to try to tow this lot to Lucky's Yard before it gets dark."

"Oh, you reckon we will?" asked Sunshine.

"Yeah," replied Ten Cents. "If we don't get jinxed before we get there."

"Ah hope you haven't spoken too soon," sighed Sunshine as she went back to the Star Dock.


Night had fallen when she got back. Many lights lit up Boomer and the A-Frames cast strange shadows over the still water. Boomer was much lighter now, which took the strain away from the cranes.

"Attach your line, Sunshine!" called Ten Cents. "We'll haul this to Lucky's! Davy Jones has informed the yard for us!"

Sunshine felt really important; it was her biggest task so far and she felt proud to work alongside Ten Cents and Mighty Mo.

"I'll take most of the tow, Sunshine," said Ten Cents. "You just keep it straight."

Sunshine replied with a toot of her own to say she was ready. The strange rig moved slowly. It was indeed a difficult task. Zip and Zug passed by.

"A bit late for Christmas, isn't it!" sneered Zug.

"Just what Captain Star wanted – another dud tug!" quipped Zip.

It was lucky for them that Ten Cents and Sunshine were too busy to reply.


Lucky's Yard was ready for them; it was brightly lit up as they approached. Big Mac and O.J. were also there to take the cranes away. And ahead of them was a raft construction ready to take Boomer.

"Be careful now!" called O.J.. "You'll have to guide the cranes so they can lower the tug onto that raft."

"Right," replied Ten Cents with a whistle. "I see it, O.J.! It's up ahead, Sunshine."

"Aye-aye!" replied Sunshine.

"Steady as she goes!" called Ten Cents.

Suddenly, all of the dock lights went out.

"What the...?" cried Sunshine.

"What's going on?!" exclaimed Ten Cents. "What's he doing?!"

"Git yer ain lights onto that rig, quick!" called Big Mac.

Quickly, Ten Cents, Sunshine and Mighty Mo complied.

"That's it!" the Scottish harbour tug replied.

"Ah, good," said Sunshine with relief.

"It's alright!" Ten Cents called, blowing his whistle. "I've got it again, Big Mac! Straight ahead!" But Ten Cents, Sunshine and Mighty Mo's lights went out.

"Ooiii!" called Mighty Mo.

"Oi! Don't push!" exclaimed Ten Cents. "Hard to stern! What are you doing?!"

Without any light, Ten Cents, Sunshine, and Mighty Mo collided with the raft.

"What? Aaah!" Sunshine yelped.

"What's going on?!" cried Mighty Mo.

"Aah! Oi!" yelped Ten Cents as the tide pushed him off to the side. "Flying barge! Oh! Aah! Hey, watch out! Hold tight! Whoa!"

"Oh, flippin' heck!" groaned Mighty Mo.

"Help!" the two switchers called together. Then, they heard Mighty Mo's engines start up and as if worked by mysterious hands, the crane hausers started to lower Boomer into the water. It was difficult to see how low he had sunk before Mighty Mo's engine had stopped.

"That was nothing to do with me," called Mighty Mo after a while.

"I know it wasn't," came the now familiar voice of Boomer. "It's the jinx."


Next morning revealed the true extent of the damage. Both Ten Cents and Sunshine had become marooned on Lucky's mud bank; it felt like deja vu for Sunshine. The wooden raft intended for Boomer had been disintegrated by Mighty Mo. Boomer himself was lying sideways, partially submerged. The other A-Frame cranes were just a jumble of confusion. Nobody laughed; the situation was far too serious for quick jokes.

"You two hang tight," said O.J.. "Big Mac, let's get help!"

"Aye, O.J."

"Hanging tight is about all we can do…" muttered Ten Cents.


Warrior, Top Hat and Hercules were all snoozing at the Star Dock when Big Mac and O.J. tooted anxiously.

"Ugh…" groaned Warrior. "I was having a nice dream…"

"It's Sunshine 'n' Ten Cents!" gasped Big Mac. "They're stuck oan th' mud bank at Lucky's!"

"WHAT?!" Hercules' startled response awoke Warrior and Top Hat. "Come on, m'dears! Hurry!"

The others knew arguing with Hercules would only make things worse, so the five tugs all took off.


Unfortunately for the others, the tide was slack and they had to wait a while.

"Oh, Hercules…" trailed Ten Cents.

"It'll be alright, little brother," he soothed. "We'll get you and Sunshine out of there."

It took many hours to sort things out and a whole day's worth of useful work was snapped up by the Z-Stacks.


My tugs all got back to the Star Dock that evening.

"We're sorry, Captain Star…" the switchers trailed sadly.

"Now, now, you two," I said. "What happened last night couldn't be helped. And you are both in one piece, that's the main thing."

"Ah just worry about what the Z-Stacks will say about this mess…" muttered Sunshine.

However, she didn't need to worry. The Z-Stacks had worked in almost silence the whole day, and didn't say a single word about the incident.


No serious damage was done to the tugs. Boomer was repaired and some days later, I lent him to Captain Zero. According to the report from Lucky's, the reason Boomer sank was that his stopcocks were let wide open and there was nothing wrong with his engine. In fact, it was a very good engine. That's why Captain Zero had borrowed him for a while and if all went well, he would buy him off me.

Captain Zero and the Z-Stacks had the munitions contract. Boomer had gone with Zip and Zug up river to collect the loaded ammunition barge from Up River. All had gone well until they were half across the estuary. Ten Cents and Sunshine passed by.

"Good luck, Boomer!" called Ten Cents, blowing his whistle. No sooner had Ten Cents tooted his greeting, when the munitions barge exploded, much to the Z-Stacks' bewilderment. Ten Cents, Sunshine, Zug, Zip and Boomer surrounded the barge that had exploded.

"See? You can't get rid of a jinx that easily, Ten Cents," replied Boomer sadly.

"Yeah," replied Sunshine.

"This was your fault, Ten Cents!" snapped Zug.

"Yes, yes," agreed Zip. "You shouldn't have tooted at Boomer."

"Trust you lot to say such nonsense," muttered Ten Cents. Worse was to come for Boomer; Bluenose had come up alongside him and examined what was left of his barge.

"And what's this, I see?" he berated the jinxed tug. "Your barge has gone up in flames, yes? And now it's a pile of burnt timber and ashes! I've never seen such incompetence from a civilian like yourself, laddie!"

"I'm telling you all," insisted Boomer, "I'm a jinx! No matter what happens, anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."

"Hogwash!" snapped Bluenose. "There is no such thing as a jinx. Now, get away from these barges before you bump into another one and make it explode!"

Of all the tugs who I agree with, it had to be that naval twit… Ten Cents thought.


"You insolent fool!" snapped Captain Zero. "I would never have someone like you on my fleet. Even Zeus can do some things well."

"Well, thank you, Captain Zero, sir," said Zeus, grinning smugly at the unhappy Boomer.

"See ya, Boomer," said Zak as Boomer left the Zero Dock. "If you need any help sinking, let me know!"


I found another taker; the steelworks. His task there was a simple one – just moving barges alongside the piers so the cranes could load them up, ready for collection. The first day seemed to work out fine.

"Looks great so far, Boomer," smiled Big Mickey. "Okay, you just arrange this lot, and we'll be ready for when Ten Cents and Sunshine arrive."

"Thanks, Big Mickey," replied Boomer. "So far, so good… Maybe I don't have my jinx anymore."

It wasn't long before Ten Cents and Sunshine arrived, admiring Boomer's work. Ten Cents tooted as Boomer brought another barge into the pier to be loaded. Big Mickey's crane had just lifted a huge amount of steel girders when suddenly its engine gave a hiccough which jolted the whole load and snapped the hauser.

"Sunshine, back up!" called Ten Cents. The two switchers raced away just in time. The whole heavy load fell onto the barge, damaging so much that it sank.

"Ten Cents, did you have to toot at Boomer as you passed?" snapped Big Mickey.

"Oh, you're blaming me for being friendly now?!" snorted Ten Cents. "First the barges going missing last year and now this!"

"It wasn't his fault!" the owner retorted. "That Boomer is a right jinx, I tell you. He's got to go."

"I knew it was too good to be true…" muttered Boomer.


The steelworks returned Boomer once more to my care and I wasted no time in passing him off to San Juans Bananas, the company which owned Izzy Gomez.

One day, Izzy and Boomer were working together near the Pier. Boomer was leading him in, and as usual, Izzy was contentedly half asleep.

"Well, that's probably a good thing," Boomer said to himself. "I'm not much of a talker."

Ten Cents and Sunshine were close by. Ten Cents whistled a greeting. Boomer suddenly shuddered, and then, for no reason at all, his rudder jammed full one hundred and eighty degrees. The two tugs watched in horror as Boomer swung round in an arc and rammed Izzy amidships. Izzy was most surprised but could do nothing to stop himself from moving relentlessly forward, ramming into the pier and severely damaging it. Ten Cents and Sunshine tried to get the tow to help Izzy but he refused to pay any more money.

"It's that silly Ten Cents' fault; he should pay!" was the reply.

"It. Wasn't. My. Fault!" snapped Ten Cents. "I just tooted a greeting!"


Once again, Boomer was returned to me, this time with a bill for repairs.

"Goodness me," I sighed, looking over the bill at my office desk. "An engine on fire, a broken down crane, a whole day's work lost to the Z-Stacks, an exploding munitions barge, a sunken steel barge, and now a damaged tramp steamer. This just isn't my week."

I sat back, took my hat off and put a hand to my forehead, rubbing my temples. It was times like this that I felt like I needed a stiff drink, which was easier than done at the time; remember, this was during Prohibition days when the sale of alcohol was banned in the United States. If this keeps up, I thought, I may have to take a leave of absence for mental health reasons.


After the incident with Izzy Gomez, Sunshine took Ten Cents aside.

"Ah've just been thinkin'…" she began.

"Yeah? Thinking of what?" asked Ten Cents.

"Ah've just been thinkin' that you might be jinxing Boomer," replied Sunshine.

"No, I don't," retorted Ten Cents, somewhat hurt by the remark. "First Zip and Zug, then Big Mickey, then Izzy and now you! I've had enough stress as it is!"

"Ten Cents…" Sunshine looked at her best friend sympathetically. "Ah'm sorry about that, but if you just listen to me, Ah know that you do."

"How?" asked Ten Cents.

"Look, every time he's been workin' and we go past, you've sounded your hooter," explained Sunshine.

"So? It's called being friendly!" replied Ten Cents.

"Not if it always causes an accident, and it always does!" said Sunshine. "Just think – Izzy Gomez, Big Mickey's crane, the ammunition barge, Mighty Mo, the rope, the engine!"

"That's, well, er– that's just a coincidence!" retorted Ten Cents. "Not a jinx."

"Call it 'anything you'd like'," smiled Sunshine. "But it seems to be a 'coincidence' with Boomer when you do it!"

"Yeah? Well I'm going to speak to Boomer about it," said Ten Cents, moving off. "Are you coming?"

"Ahh," Sunshine said confidently; now was the chance to prove her theory.


They found Boomer mid-harbor. He had an attachment on his aft and was moored to a buoy.

"Hello, Boomer," greeted Sunshine.

"Oh – it's you two again," said Boomer, looking at them.

"What are you doing here?" inquired Sunshine.

"Captain Star made me into a standby fog horn," came the doleful reply. "Said the name fitted the job."

Ten Cents smothered a laugh.

"We think we might have solved the problem and we want to try somethin'," said Sunshine. "It seems that every time you're at work and Ten Cents hoots 'hello' to you, an accident happens."

"So?" said Boomer.

"Well, as you're at work now," replied Sunshine, "why don't we try? Nothin' can happen!"

"Well, if you must," exclaimed Boomer. "But it seems silly to me."

"Go on, Ten Cents," demanded Sunshine eagerly. "Do it. Blow. Twice."

Ten Cents felt a bit foolish, but he blew his hooter anyway. Nothing happened.

"Yeah? Well, that was a stupid exercise, Sunshine!" snapped Ten Cents.

"No, it wasn't, Ten Cents," laughed Sunshine before going into a sing-song voice, "Loo-ook!" Ten Cents looked to see the buoy sinking right in front of them.

"I don't believe it!" he exclaimed.

"Ha ha! You better get another one, fast!" chuckled Boomer. "I've had just about enough!"

"Ha ha! Down to you, Ten Cents," said Sunshine innocently. "You'd better fetch another marker buoy!"

Ten Cents rolled his eyes as he left. After that, Boomer was relieved from his post as a standby fog horn. During his few days there and despite bad weather forecasts, no fog had appeared, but the very night he wasn't there the fog came down and small accidents happened all through that night.


The following morning, after the briefing, I made the three tugs stay behind.

"Right, switchers! You can show Boomer where the schooner is," I boomed. "We have a contract to tow her out to sea. I reckon Boomer can do that. Seeing as there's no engines to break down, to catch fire, no crane hausers to snap, no ammunition to explode, no trampers to crash into piers and no barges or buoys to sink. Just plain sailing! And if Boomer breaks down, then the sail can more likely pull him."

"Very droll, sir," said Boomer sarcastically. "Very droll."

"Look, come on," said Ten Cents. "Before he changes his mind."

"Okay," replied Boomer. "But don't toot."

"Pfft!" scoffed Ten Cents.


They escorted Boomer to the old wharf and because Ten Cents didn't blow his hooter once, nothing went wrong. The schooner had her sails set, but there was no wind. Ten Cents checked Boomer's tow line, then all three made their way to the estuary. Once there, Sunshine and Ten Cents let Boomer go on his own.

"Good luck, Boomer!" called Sunshine.

"No such thing," replied Boomer in his usual way.

"There is," chipped in Ten Cents. "But it's recognizing it that's difficult."

"Well, don't sound your hooter!" came the more distant reply. "Maybe that will help me recognize something."

Ten Cents and Sunshine laughed.

"He's just got to be okay this time," said Sunshine. "Nothin' can go wrong now; it's too early for that."

"Yeah, well, let's hope so," agreed Ten Cents. "Anyway, if it does, it's nothing to do with me. I'm staying right here, in the harbor."

"Ah've got to admit, Ten Cents," said Sunshine. "It is a bit mysterious, all this jinx stuff. Things going wrong and that."


Later, Ten Cents and Sunshine were working with Big Mac and O.J. when Finbar came past, sirens blaring.

"What's up?" shouted O.J..

"Some dumb tug set a schooner alight," came the curt reply.

"Oh no!" Ten Cents and Sunshine exclaimed.

"That kin ainlie be Boomer," said Big Mac glumly.

"Captain Star won't be pleased if that's the case," sighed O.J..


It didn't take long before Finbar returned, followed by Boomer towing the burnt out schooner.

"Stupid dumb tug," said Finbar as he passed by.

"What happened, Boomer?" asked Ten Cents.

"Lightning," replied Boomer. "That's what happened. But Finbar didn't believe me! He thought I was going too fast and a spark flew out of my stack. But it's not true! Gah, anyway, I can't be bothered to argue anymore."

"You must have done something…" said Ten Cents.

"I did nothing!" snapped Boomer.

"Lightning?" said O.J., looking around. "Well, it's possible, I suppose. But on such a nice day as this?"

"Anything's possible wi' Boomer," remarked Big Mac. "He really is jinxed."

"It's not that," mused Ten Cents. "Not jinxed. It's that he just doesn't have any luck."


After the schooner incident, Boomer had had enough and told me that he never wanted to be used as a tug ever again – no matter what. So I had Sunshine take Boomer to Lucky's Yard and called ahead with instructions for them.

Poor Boomer, thought Sunshine with a tear in her eye. He's probably going to be scrapped.


It was therefore a surprise to Ten Cents and Sunshine when, a few weeks later, I ordered them to pick up Boomer and take him Up River.

"Why wouldn't he tell us why?" asked Sunshine as she and Ten Cents left the dock for Lucky's Yard.

"We'll find out when we get there," replied Ten Cents.

"Ah've been dreading what's going to happen to him," said Sunshine.

"Yeah, I don't like the sound of 'Up River'," said Ten Cents. "There's a ship's graveyard there, full of rusting hulls. You know that."

"Burke and Blair's yard," gulped Sunshine. "The less we think of those two, the better…"


Ten Cents and Sunshine were expecting the worst. I had told Lucky's that Boomer never wanted to be used as a tug again, and that's exactly how it was. When they arrived, Boomer the tug was nowhere to be seen. Moored by the pier was a strange looking floating house. But there was something familiar about him.

"Top of the mornin', Ten Cents!" the floating house called happily. "Morning, Sunshine!"

"Is that really you, Boomer?!" asked Sunshine happily.

"Indeed it is!" replied Boomer.

"Wow… a houseboat!" said Ten Cents. "Don't you feel so silly?"

"Not one bit!" replied Boomer. "Not at all! It's what I've always wanted to be! Now, please hurry up you two; I want to get Up River where my new owners want me!"

Sunshine and Ten Cents wasted no time. They sailed Up River, ignoring the jibes from other boats passing by, until they got to his new mooring place. It was a tree lined bank, which was clearly marked, "Dun Tuggin'."

"My, my," said Boomer. "Home sweet home, at last."

"Oh, you'll like it here," said Sunshine. "Lots of nice trees to keep you cool in the summer!"

"It's all I've ever wanted," smiled Boomer. "Thank you, both. I'm sorry if I've gotten you into trouble."

"Ahh, that's alright," replied Ten Cents. "Well, let's hope that the jinx has left ya!"

"It's what it did to others that worried me the most," sighed Boomer.

"Well, time to go," said Sunshine. "We'll come to visit you sometime."

"Thanks for everything," said Boomer. "Both of you." Then, Ten Cents blew his whistle.

"Oh, you shouldn't have done that!" exclaimed Sunshine as a tree started keeling over.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" cried Ten Cents, shutting his eyes. "Oh no!"

"THE JINX!" yelled Sunshine as the tree landed in the water.

Then Boomer laughed. "No," he said. "It's gone! It's over! That proves it! If I was still jinxed, the tree would have crashed down on me! Or one of you two, more likely!"

"Yeah!" replied Ten Cents. "Yeah, you're right!"

"Thanks goodness," Sunshine replied as she and Ten Cents moved off. "See you soon! Bye."

Ten Cents blew his whistle again; this time, nothing bad happened.

"Bye!" called Boomer. "Look after yourselves!"

"Yeah, see ya, Boomer!" called Ten Cents.

"Take care!" called Sunshine.

For Ten Cents and Sunshine, it was back to work as usual. But for Boomer, well, he'd found his ideal place in the world, and I'm pleased to say that Boomer still resides at Dun' Tuggin' to this very day. He is very happy there because the jinx is gone forever.

The End


Author's notes: Again, thanks Johnathan. This story has extra scenes in it, such as Big Mickey and Izzy being effected by the jinx, some more stuff with the Z-Stacks, (sidenote, unless I'm mistaken, Up River is the only episode without the Z-Stacks at all), and a bit with Hercules, Warrior and Top Hat joining in a rescue operation.

Next time, we see what Warrior is up to on his busiest day.