Saturday Afternoon
Miami
The sun was very bright as we left the aircraft and after collecting our bags, we all climbed into the waiting vehicles.
The mini-convoy took us through Miami and along the MacArthur Causeway. Across the water, we could see the cruise ships lined up, ready for their Caribbean and Atlantic cruises. We headed to South Pointe, in the South Beach part of Miami. The vehicles stopped at the shore end of a long jetty. Our many bags were collected by a porter who followed us down the jetty towards our accommodation for the week.
At the other end of the jetty, lay the 'Atlantic Storm'.
..._...
The Atlantic Storm was white, from stem to stern and a little over one hundred and twenty-one feet long overall. She displaced over two hundred tonnes, which was more than four times that of the Salty Swallow. She was powered by twin 1,450-horsepower diesels that could push the vessel to over twenty-five knots.
The Atlantic Storm was an ocean going yacht built by Ocean Alexander. There were four decks: Sun Deck, Bridge Deck, Main Deck and Lower Deck. On the Sun Deck, above the enclosed bridge, was a Jacuzzi. The Main Deck had the Dining Area, Main Salon, Galley and the Owner's Cabin. The Lower Deck had two further Queen Size Guest Cabins, a pair of twin Guest Cabins and there were three Crew Cabins, two of which had bunk beds, located in the bow. Immediately aft of the enclosed bridge was the Captain's Cabin.
The yacht had been ordered months before and she was very ready for what would be her maiden voyage after her shakedown cruise from the builders in Vancouver, Canada.
Everybody was stunned by her size and beauty.
"Christ, Mindy!" Josh exclaimed as he ran his eyes along the yacht from stem to stern.
"What?" Mindy asked innocently.
"I thought the 'Salty Swallow' was big..."
"Maybe she's compensating for something," Chloe grinned.
"Yeah, her tits..." Josh laughed.
Smack!
"Fuck, Mindy, that hurt!" Josh exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head.
"Idiot!" Megan growled as she pushed past the annoyed Joshua.
"What she said," Stephanie added as she and the other kids followed Megan up the gangway.
"Get your gear put away, properly, and get changed!" I called out after the kids.
..._...
At the top of the gangway, I was met by a large man with a big smile on his face.
"Chief Tyrol, Mrs Lizewski. The engines are warm; diesel's topped off, as is the lube oil. The gyros are spun up and she's ready to depart."
"Thank you, Chief."
"I've also taken the liberty to complete a few upgrades here and there in the communications, radar and navigation areas. Maybe I should show you what's what..."
"Lead the way, Chief – Dave, you'd better come too."
We followed the chief up to the bridge.
..._...
Almost an hour later, the Chief left us with a wave and I headed aft and outside to the Aft Bridge Deck, before taking a gangway up to the Sun Deck. There I found Stephanie and Megan showing off their very limited bikinis to a very happy Curtis and Tommy who had changed into swim-shorts and t-shirts. Stephanie was by far the thinnest and palest; her recent scars were very evident on her abdomen, not that she seemed to be worried about them.
"Girls! You'd better get some lotion on your skin or you'll be cooked within an hour – Megan, take care of that, would you, please."
"Aye, aye, Cap'n!" Megan replied, throwing a mock salute.
"Funny!" I laughed. "Care to walk the plank?"
An hour later
I walked to the base of a different plank, more specifically the gangplank of the USS Churchill.
"Mrs Lizewski!" The Petty Officer at the base of the gangplank said cheerfully.
I frowned.
"You know who I am?"
"How could I forget a beautiful young lady? I saw you come aboard, in Scotland, Ma'am. You, too, Miss Bennett. The Captain is in the hanger – please go aboard."
"You bucking for promotion, Petty Officer?" A familiar voice called down from the flight deck as we headed aboard.
"Always, Captain!" The Petty Officer called back.
Chloe grabbed hold of her Dad and gave him a big hug.
"Hi, pumpkin!" Commander Ryan Bennett laughed, hugging his daughter back.
"Less of the 'pumpkin', Daddy!" Chloe growled.
"Of course... Pumpkin!" Commander Bennett laughed as Chloe glowered up at her father.
"You ready, Captain?" I asked, steering the conversation away from Chloe and orange fruit.
The Atlantic Storm
Ryan Bennett stood on the capacious bridge for a moment, studying the electronic chart on the computer screen. He checked the engines; both were throbbing away at idle. He moved out onto the port wing and engaged the port manoeuvring controls. From there he could conn the large yacht out of her mooring while still being able to see the dock. Dave was beside him, watching and learning. I sat on the cushioned seat ahead of the bridge, taking in the view around Miami. Chloe and Josh appeared along with Abby. Chloe and Abby each wore a skimpy bikini with Josh in shorts and a t-shirt. All were barefoot.
"Mindy, why is there a foreign flag flying from the back of the boat?" Chloe asked.
"Where do we start?" I laughed. "First the back of the boat is the 'stern' and the 'flag' is an 'ensign'. Normally I would prefer to fly the Stars and Stripes, however, for various reasons that I am not going into now, I opted to go for a so-called 'flag of convenience'. That ensign hanging off our stern right now, is the Red Ensign of Gibraltar."
"Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory on the south coast of Spain, Chloe," Abby explained.
"I know that!" Chloe responded tartly and her Dad chuckled.
Four hours later
45 miles east of Long Key
64.4nm logged
We were all gathered on the Sun Deck, apart from Ryan who was on the Bridge.
Danny, Stephanie, Tommy and Anne-Marie were playing a card game at the table while Josh, Megan, Curtis and Chloe were chatting on the sun loungers. Dave was in the galley with Cathy and Abby, preparing dinner. I had offered to help, but Cathy had made a scathing comment about my cooking abilities and I had stormed out of the galley in disgust.
It was really good to see everybody having fun, no more fighting, just the sun, the warmth of the breeze and the open sea. Everybody had a chance to be themselves for a change and we could forget about being stabbed, shot at and punched. That was most important for the pre-teen members of Fusion.
..._...
Everybody had been instructed by Ryan on the SOLAS, or Safety of Life at Sea, regulations. Everybody was issued with a lifejacket suitable for their body size and where spare ones were stowed. Instructions were given on how to abandon ship in an emergency. Anne-Marie and Stephanie actually received a telling off from Ryan for not taking it seriously enough.
We also covered other equipment such as the GMDSS, EPIRBs and SARTs. Dave had passed exams in all that stuff, I was still learning. The GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress and Safety System) allowed our position to be pinpointed by satellite if we got into trouble and the vessel was sinking, all with the press of a single red button on a console at the rear of the bridge. Everybody was shown this button and how to activate it – it was protected by a plastic orange cover labelled DISTRESS. The EPIRBs and SARTs were devices to help searches pinpoint our position via satellite (EPIRB) or radar (SART).
We would be out of sight of land for much of the cruise, so knowing what to do in an emergency was essential for all on board. We covered the fire alarm, the general alarm (seven short blasts and one long blast on the ship's horn) and most importantly the man overboard alarm (three long blasts on the ship's horn).
..._...
We had demonstrated the man overboard drill a couple of hours out of Miami.
It was both an important thing to learn and a bit of fun, too. Ryan ordered everybody to don their lifejackets and muster on the Aft Bridge Deck. After checking that everybody was correctly attired, I turned to everybody.
"Right, now you all have your lifejackets on, we can practice our man overboard drill," I suggested.
"Oh, you can fuck right off!" Josh growled, backing away from me. He had been used on the Salty Swallow for our drill.
Unfortunately for him, he backed into Dave who picked him up and threw him overboard, somewhat effortlessly. Most laughed at Josh as he swore violently before he hit the water with a huge splash. I seized one of the ship's telephones and punched the tannoy button.
"Man overboard, port side!"
Immediately the ship's horn sounded three long blasts and the helm was thrown over to port, taking our churning propellers away from the bobbing Joshua.
Chloe and Megan laughed, but Anne-Marie, Stephanie and Danny, looked a little shocked at Josh being thrown overboard.
"Now, kids, keep an eye on Joshua – the inflated orange life jacket makes him easy to pick out," I directed. "We have two options; we could perform a Williamson turn, which would bring us back on a reciprocal course or we could just turn and head directly back towards him, as he is still in sight."
"Cool!" Danny commented.
"Let's go get Josh – he should be suitably damp by now!"
..._...
I headed forward onto the bridge and stood beside Ryan who was looking through some binoculars as he span the wheel and adjusted the throttles.
"I don't think he likes you!"
"What do you mean?"
"My lip reading skills are a bit rusty, but I think he just said: 'I – fucking – hate – you – Mindy'!"
"He loves me really!" I laughed.
Ryan expertly manoeuvred the Atlantic Storm onto a new course taking us into a position where the winds and currents would bring Josh to us. Finally, Ryan cut the engines to ensure that Josh was not sucked into our propellers and chopped into fish food! I jogged back aft to watch as the rather annoyed looking Josh, who was gently bobbing up and down in his brightly coloured life jacket, came closer. I went below to the Swim Platform and lowered a ladder. Josh swam over and climbed out of the Atlantic Ocean. A smirking Chloe came down and handed the dripping Josh a towel.
"Bloody funny!" Josh said with a scowl.
..._...
Dinner that night was in the Main Salon as we lay hove to, so all thirteen of us could eat together. We had a good meal of steak, egg and chips for the first night aboard. Danny and Curtis were teasing Anne-Marie about her chucking up her breakfast the last time she was on a boat, which ended up getting a bit rowdy when Megan stuck up for Anne-Marie and told the two boys where to stick it in her usual, rather forceful and crudely descriptive manner!
Josh was teased mercilessly about his dip too, which gave everybody something to laugh about.
That night
All but Ryan and Tommy were in bed.
They had the First Watch until midnight. We would arrive in Nassau at approximately ten that night. Dave and I would be in the bridge for our arrival in a little over two hours. With a bit of pushing I managed to get Danny and Anne-Marie into their cabin and into bed. They were both overexcited about their first proper cruise at sea. I made them promise to remain in their cabin and not go up on deck without me or Dave.
Next, I checked in on the two lovebirds – they had already started their carnal activates, so I left them to it! Next, I headed forward and down to the crew's quarters to check on the remaining pre-teens. They were all in their bunks, which was a surprise. They were all tired, even though they weren't ready to admit it, but the gentle rolling of the yacht, despite her stabilisers, had them nodding off in no time.
Once all four were asleep I headed to the Owner's Suite and found Dave in bed awaiting my arrival. I kicked off my sandals and dropped my bikini bottoms, top and t-shirt.
"Damn you look hot, Mrs Lizewski!" Dave murmured.
"Well, Mr Lizewski, I want you to make me so much hotter!"