SS Pacifica

by Coleinger, Ronnie

  I took Becky’s hand and asked, “Are you ready to spend the night in your new home my friend,” she snuggled into my arms and said, “Let’s kill the lights and make believe it is night out on the ocean. We will turn them back on when we get out of bed in the morning and fix our breakfast aboard the Pacifica. By then, we should have a pretty good idea if this vessel will support us on our adventure.” I told Becky that I was going to get a lantern lit and then she could turn out the lights. When I returned to where she waited, she headed off towards the light switches. When it became dark in the boathouse, I heard Becky let out a tiny scream, but she stood still until her eyes adjusted to the lower lighting level. When she returned to where I stood with the lantern, she said, “Let the party begin.”

  We boarded the Pacifica and stood looking at each other. Finally, I broke the silence and asked, “Are you unhappy?” Becky turned to me and smiled, then said, “Certainly not, but I now feel as if the wind died and my sails collapsed.” I stepped up to her and said, “The adventure is just beginning. Don’t start doubting yourself now. You have accomplished something few other engineers, and if I may be so bold to say, few women have accomplished. You need to stand in front of me with your shoulders pulled back and your head held high. All your years of hard work, education, and discipline have paid off. You are an incredible person and I am very proud of you and your accomplishments.” Becky stepped up to me and said, “That speech has earned you another hug. That is about number ten for the day.”

  I took the lantern and found the switch for the interior lighting. When I turned the switch on, I heard Becky say, “Ooh, we have lights.” I turned the lantern off and hung it up on the hook beside the center hatch ladder. I checked the amp draw on the lights and they were well within what I had planned. I walked down to the bow of the vessel and turned off the ceiling light. I had put a pull chain switch on each light so we could use only the lights we wanted. I walked back to the stern, turned on the coast guard radio for a moment, and then turned it back off. I turned on the tiny radio that I had installed, and plugged one of my jump drives into it that had some of my favorite music on it. The sound of music permeated the Pacifica. When I turned back around, I realized all I could see of Becky was her legs and feet. I chuckled to myself as I realized she was sitting on the toilet.

  I continued to check out the electronics I had set up and soon heard Becky singing to the sound of the music. When she walked back to where I sat, she joined me at the new counter and looked around at all the gadgets. She said, “Tomorrow, we need to purchase two small fold up deck chairs so we can sit up on the deck in the evenings and look at the stars.” I pushed the notepad and pencil towards her and she wrote a note about the chairs. I said, “What kind of food have we decided to put on this vessel.” She giggled and said, “A 55-gallon barrel filled to the top with Hostess cup cakes would be great.” I laughed and said, “You will have to swim along side of the Pacifica all day long for a week to burn off that many calories.” She smiled and said, “Or we could crawl into bed and work them off that way.” I looked up and realized she was not kidding around. I asked her if she had brought any condoms. She looked at me and said, “Yes, but we won’t need them, I’m on the pill.” I laughed and said, “Good, I was worried about that this morning. I don’t want you pregnant until after this adventure is over.” The look on Becky’s face made me laugh again. I could not imagine what thoughts were running around in that brilliant mind of hers right that moment.

  As we began making beds and prepared to spend the night in our new home, I realized I could feel the vessel move slightly under me as it followed the gently ocean waves that entered the pit where the Pacifica rested. Tonight would be a good test of our ability to fend off motion sickness. I had purchased all of the Dramamine I could get my hands on today at the pharmacy, but I hoped to acquire more before we set sail out into the Pacific. I had never been sea sick, but being out on the ocean during a raging storm would be a completely different ball game.

  When we had finished making the beds, I found my toothbrush and brushed my teeth with water from the plastic 5-gallon beverage container we had set up just for fresh water storage. The container should work out perfectly as it would set under the large rainwater tank for refilling. As with most everything inside the vessel that might injure us if it flew around the cabin, I had tied it to the table with heavy bungee straps. I giggled at Becky as she brushed her teeth and then climbed to the top of the hatchway ladder and poured the water from the plastic cup outside, as if we were out on the ocean. As we prepared to crawl into bed for the first night aboard the SS Pacifica, Becky crawled into my bed and pulled the sheets up to her neck. I laughed and said, “Did you just get into my bed with your pajamas on?” She giggled and said, “They were on when I got in, but now they are down by my feet.” I hit the light switch and joined her under the sheets.

  I realized that Becky had moved into her own bed sometime during the night. She had been against the wall and probably was uncomfortable. The next time I woke, I realized that the lights were on and the windup clock said, 7:45 a.m. I sat up and realized that Becky was not in the cabin. I got up and quickly dressed. I found her sitting up on the deck. It was daylight and she had turned on the boathouse lights. I said good morning to her and she said, “Aren’t you the sleepy head this morning?” I yawned and asked why she had let me sleep so long. She just smiled and said, “I could not wake you. You were so sound asleep you did not even hear me talking to you.” I sat down beside her and asked if what she said while I was sleeping was something nice, or if she was cussing me out for oversleeping. She just laughed and said, “No, I just said good morning to you and kissed you on the cheek.” I asked if she slept okay in her new bed and she said she did, but was to wound up about the trip to sleep well. I laughed and said I had hoped I had worked all the anxieties out of her last night. She leaned her head on my shoulder and said, “I enjoyed last night, however, my anxiety will not lessen until we are underway.”

  Then she looked at me and said, “If we grocery shop today, could we take this tub out into the ocean and see if she will float in the real ocean, like maybe Monday. We could get the varnishing done before we went shopping today, and let it start drying. With the fans ventilating the interior, we should be able to begin putting the groceries away tomorrow morning. I checked the weather forecast and there is nothing but hot weather in the forecast for the next two weeks.” I looked her in the eyes and said, “Let’s go to the house and fix breakfast, then bring our coffee out here and begin with the varnishing.” She was up and headed down the ladder in a flash.

  As we ate, Becky finished before me. I looked into her eyes and said, “You can go get started, I will do the dishes quick and bring us fresh coffee when I come out.” I saw her eyes light up and she quickly grabbed her coffee cup and headed out the door. When I got to the Pacifica, I could smell the fresh varnish. I checked to be certain she had both fans running over the hatches to ventilate the cabin, and then found the paintbrushes she had laid out for me, and a second can of varnish. I shook up the varnish, grabbed the tarps, brushes, and a screwdriver and headed down into the cabin to assist. After two hours of hard work, the varnish was on and all we had left to do was to inspect our work carefully to be certain we had not missed any spots, since we had decided to apply only one coat of varnish. We could always put on more varnish later on, sometime when we were bored and the weather was decent.

  As we cleaned up and washed out our brushes, I stepped up to her and a kissed her hard on the lips. She giggled and asked, “What was that for?” I looked into her eyes and said, “I am not certain I need a good reason to kiss you. I just thought you needed a reward for your hard work this morning.” She said, “Get yourself cleaned up; you cannot go with me looking like that.” I looked down and realized I had on my blue jeans with holes in the legs and knees. I heard Becky laughing at me as I headed towards the house to change.

  ***

  The grocery shopp
ing turned out to be very beneficial. We had found good food that was lightweight and would not easily perish. We both liked tuna fish and salmon, so we bought tons of the stuff in foil packages. We probably would hate any kind of fish by the time we returned home, but the tuna had lots of good vitamins and things that were healthy. We purchased a case of raisins, eight large plastic jars of peanut butter, and crackers of all kinds to eat with the peanut butter. We bought plastic bottles of V8 juice, the kind made from 100% juice. They had plastic containers of vegetables on sale and we purchased lots of green beans, corn, red beets, and peas. We also stocked up on plastic containers of fruit. We decided we had all the major food groups covered except for dairy. Finally, Becky asked if I could tolerate powered milk. I thought about it for a moment and said, “I don’t have a better solution, so I guess I will learn to like it.”

  We considered buying large bags of cereal for our breakfast, but finally decided that we could cook oatmeal over the camp stove and we both liked that. We would have to put the cardboard containers into freezer bags or something to keep out the moisture for storage. I mentioned to Becky that I liked my fresh fish rolled in corn flake crumbs before cooking. She put three large bags of corn flakes into the cart, and commented that we would have to find a way to crumble them up nice and fine. I did not figure that would be too hard of an assignment. By the time we left the food store, we had three carts full at the checkout line. The manager commented that we must have a large family. I looked at Becky and said, “Our nine children are at home and they all have hungry bellies. I hope we have not missed anything important.” I saw Becky’s look of disapproval over my words, but I just wiggled my nose at her.

  When we returned to the boathouse and began unloading the groceries, we carried them all up onto the deck so we could easily move them down into the storage bins near the floor of the vessel. We would evenly distribute the weight of the canned goods on both sides of the cabin so the Pacifica would float level. After the food was on the deck, I began scrounging around under the cabinets along the back wall of the boathouse. A few days ago, I spotted a box with a large liquid filled marine compass stored inside, and I now wanted to see if the thing still worked. After I had it out of the box and sitting on the workbench, I picked it up and began turning it in every direction. The center of the compass had a red vertical pointer that lined up with a red dot in the center of the crystal. If the compass was level, the red dot and red arrow lined up. If you moved the compass as if you were diving, towards the bow or stern, the compass would indicate you were no longer on a level path. I decided I wanted to see if this compass would work inside the metal hull of the Pacifica. I carefully put it back inside the box and carried it down into the cabin.

  When I opened the box and took out the compass, it seemed to work just fine. I again turned it in every direction and decided it was time to find a home inside the vessel for my new toy. I finally decided it should be located in the stern where we would be steering the vessel during stormy weather. I found a location where I could see it and operate the motors at the same time. Once I was happy, I decided to build a box for it and mount it securely to the side of the counter. I found a tape measure and a pad of paper and made a detailed drawing of the case I intended to build for this beautiful compass. When I got back down to the workbench with my drawing, I began creating my own woodworking masterpiece. When I had completed building the case, I carried it back down into the cabin and mounted it where I wanted it and then installed the compass. I was simply amazed at my discovery. I returned to the workbench, found the varnish and a paintbrush and quickly put a finish coat of varnish on the compass case.

  As I was cleaning the paintbrush, Becky returned from her doctor’s appointment. She walked up to the bench and asked what I had been varnishing. I told her that I had installed a compass for steering the Pacifica from inside the cabin. She did not say much, but began telling me that the Admiral from the Coast Guard would be here in an hour to do the final inspections. I commented that I had better check the new lights to be certain they were still working properly. Becky followed me into the cabin. Just as I turned on the switch, I heard Becky make a sobbing sound that caught my attention. When I looked at her, she had her hands over her mouth and tears were running down her cheeks. I tried to ask her what was wrong, but she could not answer me. She put her head on my shoulder and cried so hard I thought her heart was breaking. As she finally calmed herself enough to talk to me, and tell me what was troubling her, she pointed to the compass I had just installed and said, “Father would be so proud right now. He used this compass on his tugboat most of his adult life and he gave it to me just before he died. I had forgotten about it until just now.” She moved around me and ran her fingers over the crystal. I warned her that the varnish on the wood was still wet. She began to cry again as her fingers traced the inscriptions on the dial. I was beginning to feel bad for removing the compass from the cabinet in the garage in the first place. Becky looked me in the eyes and said, “You have done me proud, and I am certain Father is smiling down on you right now for installing his precious compass in such a beautiful cabinet. Thank you Stanley.” Then I heard the Admiral’s voice as he tried to locate us. I told Becky to take a moment and dry her eyes and I would talk to the Admiral for a couple of minutes until she joined us.

  When I reached where the Admiral stood, I greeted him and shook his hand. I told him that Becky would be along in a moment to talk to him. I stepped up onto the deck and he said, “Permission to come aboard, Stanley.” I spoke to him and invited him to join me on deck. As we stood talking, Becky climbed up the ladder and shook the Admiral’s hand. She blew her nose in a Kleenex and said, “Sorry for the tears. Stanley found my father’s compass that he used in his own tugboat for many years in a cabinet and mounted it in a beautiful wood cabinet. I seem to have lost control of my emotions over Stanley’s wonderful gift to me. Please look around while I finish drying my eyes.”

  As the Admiral and I talked about the new lights and the stenciling on the bow, I watched Becky pull herself together. As we turned back around, she smiled and invited the Admiral to check out the vessel. She quickly moved down the ladder and waited for the Admiral and me to join her. Once she began the tour, she explained that we now had six high capacity fire extinguishers in the vessel, and she showed him where the flares were stored behind both hatch ladders. She showed him the life vests, life rings, lifelines, life rafts, and the coast guard radio. He laughed and said, “You two have packed a lot of equipment and supplies into a very small area, yet everything is workable. When do you plan to take her to sea for the first time?” Becky told him that they wanted to begin testing tomorrow morning if all the paperwork was in order. The Admiral smiled and said, “We will see to that detail when I return to my vehicle. The paperwork is ready, all I have to do is sign off and give you copies for your vessel. Be certain to hang your paperwork on a wall in a prominent location. I would like to look at your anchors, and then we are done.”

  As Becky and I took him back up on deck and opened the metal boxes where the anchors and chains resided, he said, “This is a very unique design. Have you tried them out yet?” Becky laughed and said, “We almost tipped over my tractor with the mechanical wench system. We have a lot of cranking power with the gear reduction system. I used bronze gears that do not require any lubrication. The seawater alone is all the lubrication the system needs. The answer to your question is that the anchor system works well here in the boathouse, however, we have not tested the anchors at sea.”

  The Admiral checked out Becky’s design for the sail masts and laughed at the simplicity and structural integrity. He asked if we had any spare masts aboard. Becky said, “We have two spare top masts and two lower masts stored under the floor compartments where you saw the bed on the port side. We have spare pins, sails and rigging. I have some sewing supplies to do minor repairs on the sailcloth, but major repairs would require someone with proper sewing machines.” Becky told the Admi
ral that she wanted to spend forty-eight hours out at sea and then bring the Pacifica back into the boathouse for a thorough inspection. We can add any items that we missed at that time. The Admiral shook Becky’s hand and then mine. He looked Becky in the eyes and said, “I am very impressed with your mechanical engineering skills young lady. If you ever need a job, call me and I will find you a permanent place on the engineering staff for the Coast Guard.” We followed him to his car and he signed, dated, and gave us a copy of our official paperwork.

  When the Admiral had drove off the property, Becky looked me in the eyes and said, “It is now lunch time. I suggest that we eat some lunch, lock everything up, and take the SS Pacifica out to sea for the couple days.” I thought about her suggestion for a couple moments. She finally could stand the silence no longer, stepped up close to me and asked, “Do my words frighten you Stanley?” I laughed, kissed the end of her nose and said, “We still have one thing left to do before we can sail off into the sunset.” She looked me in the eyes and asked, “And what is it that is so important that it prevents you from launching our vessel?” I looked her in the eyes and said, “We never painted our names on the chamber pots. They might get mixed up.” She began to laugh, but soon walked over to the workbench and found a large tipped felt pen in the pile of tools. She walked up the ladder, out onto the deck, down the ladder, and straight to the toilet room. She put the two porcelain chamber pots up on the counter and carefully wrote our names on each pot. Then she put the top back on the felt pen and tossed it to me. I looked her in the eyes and said, “Let’s set sail, Captain.” She giggled and planted a kiss on my lips that I would not soon forget.

  We grilled a small steak on the grill and put two ears of corn with the husks still attached in the microwave. When the food was ready to eat, we sat down at the table and washed the wonderful meal down with cold beer. When we had finished washing up the dishes, I grabbed the remaining case of beer and followed Becky out towards the boathouse for our next adventure. I hoped to see this house again in a couple of days, if I had not drowned, or been struck by lightning while standing on a metal ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.