SS Pacifica

by Coleinger, Ronnie

  We also wanted to turn both hatch doors 180 degrees from their current position. We hoped this change would help deflect some of the water coming from the bow spray from splashing into the cabin below.

  We also discussed adding another pipe in the top of the hull to provide a place to mount a new marine antenna that we had purchased, but had no way of installing it with the current hull design. The antenna had a float on it about four feet below the tip. The floats design allowed it to rest against the hull, and it could be unreeled from inside the cabin to allow us to raise the antenna to the surface when the Pacifica was submerged. The antenna would work down to a depth of one hundred feet below the surface of the ocean. I sat looking at the sketches Becky had drawn in her notebook and decided our changes would work out nicely. I decided to join Becky on the deck and try to find out if she had other changes she wished to make to the Pacifica.

  When I went up on deck a few minutes later, Becky was spread out on a towel on the deck sunbathing. I laughed and said, “You look comfortable.” She giggled and said, “You can rub some suntan lotion on my back if you promise not to spank my bare butt.” I promised her that I would never spank her, that my words last night were just a joke to make her laugh. As I rubbed on the suntan lotion from the back of her neck down to her heals, she said, “Thank you. I needed the suntan lotion and the back rub was extremely nice.” I traced my finger from the middle of her back down to the crack of her bottom and heard her giggle. Just then, a large wave crashed over the bow of the Pacifica and drowned both of us in seawater. Becky just laid there and let the sunshine dry the water off her body before rolling over on her back and asking for more suntan lotion.

  It was almost lunchtime and I went down into the cabin to see what I could find to prepare a light lunch. I found a can of SpaghettiOs and some spam. We had purchased both because Becky said she had grown up eating the stuff. I realized it would not kill us to eat it once in awhile, but I would not want to make a steady diet of the stuff. I remembered that she had said she liked the spam fried a little and then put on bread with ketchup. We still had some bread, so it looked like the lunch menu was a go. I carried the camp stove, pans, and cans of food up onto the deck and set everything up on the stern. As I began preparing the meal, I realized that Becky had turned around on her towel so she was facing me. She finally spoke and said, “You do listen to me, don’t you. Even when I think I might be talking to the dolphins instead of my husband, you in fact are listening to every word I say. You could not have picked a better lunch than what you are cooking. Stanley, are you listening to me. Stanley, I am your wife and captain, speak to me before I make you walk the plank for insubordination.” I turned my head and looked at her. She smiled and said, “I was just kidding. I would not make you walk the plank; instead, I would force you into a duel. After we stepped off twenty paces, I would turn and shoot you through the heart with one of my dueling pistols. Stanley, STANLEY, are you listening to me?” This time I just ignored her and continued to prepare lunch. I saw her stand up, put her hands on her naked hips and tap her bare foot on the deck to get my attention. Again, I turned my head towards her and this time I smiled and said, “The Pacifica is less than ten paces from bow to stern. You would have to shoot me through the heart while riding on the back of a Great White Shark. I doubt if you can shoot that well, my love.” She began to smile and soon headed down into the cabin. While she was gone, I slipped into my blue jeans and a tee shirt.

  When Becky returned to the deck, she was also dressed. I laughed and said, “You did not have to dress for lunch.” She sat down beside me and said, “Even though I sunbath in my birthday suit, eating lunch in that state of undress might be considered a little tacky.” I passed Becky a plate with a spam sandwich and some SpaghettiOs on it. She smiled at me and said, “I love you Stanley. I guess you know that by now, but I like saying it. I also like calling you husband. The words make me feel all giddy inside.” I laughed and said, “It is nice having you call me husband. It is also nice calling you my wife, and I do love you very much.” I asked if I could pour her some hot coffee to go with your lunch, or if she would like something else to drink. She took some of the coffee and then began eating her meal. As we sat eating, we made a decision to call Uncle Pika and find a shop to make the upgrades to the Pacifica. We figured that the city of Honolulu must have a good ship repair facility that could do the work for us.

  We had turned the Pacifica back towards Honolulu around three that afternoon and then wondered if we had both went insane, but also realized that the changes would make the Pacifica much more seaworthy and crew friendly. Around four in the afternoon, Becky had three bars of signal on her cell phone and she made the call to her Uncle Pika. As I listened to the conversation between them, I realized that the shop he was talking about was within ten miles of his mansion. I heard Becky tell her uncle that we should be back at Oahu in about four days. When Becky broke the cell phone connection, she smiled and said, “Uncle Pika is going to pull some strings so we can get our work done immediately. Being the wealthiest man on the island, he can pretty much get his way. Money always seems to do the talking. He told me that the men at the shop were the best around and they were masters with metals, welding, resin coatings, and painting for all sea going vessels.”

  As the sun began to set, Becky took first watch. We seemed to do best if Becky took the early watch and then I would relieve her around two in the morning. I enjoyed being up when the sun rose and then sleeping a few hours before lunch. When I relieved Becky for her watch, we could tell that a storm was brewing to the southwest of Oahu. The winds were spinning counter clockwise around the low-pressure area, which caused the winds on the east side of the island to flow towards the west. With the opposing sail rigging we were using, we were traveling around 105 miles per day.

  During the night, the waves increased in size and began breaking over the bow. I decided to go down into the cabin and put on my warm clothes and dry suit. When I returned to the deck, I reconnected my safety line and sat down in the deck chair to wait for sunrise. I must have nodded off for a few minutes, because I now realized that the sun was peeking up over the horizon behind me. Around seven o’clock, I checked our heading on my compass and made a small starboard tack adjustment to put us back on course. The wind had picked up again and the Pacifica now skipped across the top of the waves. I feared that if the wave crests widened, the Pacifica would begin following the wave troughs and we would begin bobbing up and down in the waves. What actually happened was that the wave crests became closer together, and the Pacifica ran true and level across the top of the choppy sea. It was almost eight o’clock before I heard the hatch door open and Becky joined me up on deck. She shivered as she looked around at the choppy sea, and said, “My God Stanley, you are sailing this vessel like a true sailor. You are cutting across the waves exactly as you should and the speed of the vessel is astounding. I will go check our course, position, and speed, but I am amazed at how well you have managed during the night.”

  When Becky returned to the deck, she had hot coffee. While the coffee had perked, she had determined that we needed to make a tack to move us a little southwest. With the wind blowing from the west, we had traveled over fifty miles during the night. We made the tack and then sat back down in the deck chairs. The Pacifica now rolled a little more from side to side as she ran diagonal across the waves. Becky adjusted the rudder to help keep the stern from moving from side to side and then the Pacifica settled down. Becky said, “If you can manage a little longer, I will make us some breakfast and then you can get some sleep.” When she returned, she had steaming hot oatmeal with raisins and honey mixed in, along with more hot coffee. As we stood on the deck and enjoyed the delicious treat that Becky had concocted, we giggled and laughed like teenagers. When I went down into the cabin at the end of my watch, I stripped off my wet clothing, hung everything up to dry and crawled under the covers. I set the alarm for one o’clock and quickly fell asleep.

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bsp; When I returned to the deck to check on Becky, she was sitting in the deck chair, but had tied the legs to the mast to keep it securely under her on the unstable deck. The wind had eased a little, but not much. I returned to the cabin, fixed us some lunch, and took mine with me to the deck. I sent Becky to the cabin to eat her lunch. She needed some time to eat where it was warm and dry.

  We worked the Pacifica in the high winds and waves until late that evening. I went down into the cabin to check on our position and realized that we should be within twenty miles of the shipping channel that lead into the harbor where Uncle Pika’s mansion was located. When I told Becky of our position, she asked me to help her to take down the opposing sails on the foresail masts. We needed to reduce our speed as we headed into the shallow waters. The waves were already getting larger and the Pacifica began bouncing us around on the deck. Becky went down into the cabin and returned a few minutes later with news that we were now actually in the shipping channel. That seemed odd to me, I could not see any vessels of any type. I mentioned that fact to Becky and she went back down into the cabin and checked on the Coast Guard radio channel for weather alerts. When she returned, she said, “There are no vessels in the shipping channels because of a high wind alert issued around noon. There is also a severe storm warning issued twenty minutes ago. We need to take down the foresail and reduce our speed even further. We will continue on to the place where we anchored the last time we visited Uncle Pika, and then submerge if necessary to ride out the high waves and wind.”

  Twenty minutes later, we quickly took down the mainsail and stowed the mast and rigging. We closed the hatch and quickly submerged a few feet, leaving the antenna just above the surface of the water. We used the GPS and the propulsion motors to get us the last twenty miles to where we needed to anchor. Becky had watched the depth gauge carefully to insure we did not run the Pacifica aground. When we were in the correct location, we submerged and sat the Pacifica down in fifty feet of water. When the hull settled in the sand, and we had the ballast tanks properly filled to keep us solidly positioned in the sand, I heard Becky take a deep breath and let it out slowly. I walked up to her and asked if she was okay. She giggled and said, “Yes, but I was getting nervous being out in the shipping channel and unable to see what might crash into us. Hindsight tells me that we should have submerged and waited out the storm in deep water instead of taking the chance of being struck by a freighter or other vessel in the shipping channel.”

  I went to the fish finder mode of the depth gauge and could see the fish around the Pacifica moving back and forth as the waves and currents moved them around. We were both very tired, and decided to get some much-needed sleep while the high winds pounded the ocean above us. We stripped off our dry suits and hung them up, and then stripped completely down and put on our pajamas. As we crawled into bed, I heard Becky giggle and say, “Dang it, now I need to pee.” I laughed as she got back up. When she returned, she crawled under the covers and snuggled real close to me. As she rolled over and I cuddled to her back, she said, “Did you have fun today or was the storm to much excitement?” I told her that the storm was just part of the adventure, and as long as the Pacifica and her crew were safe, it was a good day.

  Chapter 16 - The Pacifica’s New Look

  When we woke the following morning, I looked at the fish finder and the sea floor seemed perfectly calm. We decided to surface and check out the weather. When the hatch door was above the water, I slowly opened it and found the sun shining and the air very hot and steamy. When we went up on the deck, we checked out the Pacifica to make certain she had weathered the storm okay. We put on our swim fins and masks and dove down to check the rudders and propellers. When we surfaced, we dried off and stood on the deck for a few minutes. Becky said, “We need to hoist the ensign on the mainsail before we fix breakfast.” When Becky returned to the cabin, she began handing up the mast rigging components. I quickly rigged the sail bracket on the top of the mast, and then tied the ensign’s support post in the drilled hole created for it, and tied it in place. We raised the top mast section and pinned it, and then raised the bottom section.

  The weather was incredibly beautiful, so we decided to fix our food in the cabin and then eat up on deck. Becky looked around us and decided no one could see what we were doing, so she stripped off her robe and sat down on the toe kick railing. I went down into the cabin to give the girl some privacy and began preparing breakfast. When Becky came down into the cabin with me, she quickly poured a cup of coffee, took two swallows and then began helping me finish the breakfast. As we carried everything up on deck, her cell phone began ringing. Becky picked it up off the headboard of her bed and put it in speaker mode. I heard Elizabeth say, “Girl, now that you are done pooping, are you two ready to come ashore? We will pick you up in our boat when you are ready. We are leaving tomorrow afternoon for a couple of weeks. You and Stanley can stay here while the Pacifica is in dry dock for repairs. Your Uncle Pika has everything set up and ready and we can deliver your vessel to the docks around noon today. You can eat your meals with us today if you like, so we can talk before we must board a plane tomorrow.” I heard Becky tell Elizabeth that we would eat the food we had just cooked and then quickly pack up some clothes. She told Elizabeth that we would be ready for them to pick us up in one hour.

  When Becky laid her cell phone back down on the table, I laughed and said, “I think we had better get packing.” She walked up to me, wrapped her arms around my waist and kissed me hard. She stepped back and said, “How did Elizabeth see me pooping on the deck?” I said, “When Elizabeth and Pika gave us a tour of the mansion, I saw a huge brass telescope set up in front of the oversize picture windows. I suspect that the telescope is large enough to see a pimple on that cute butt of yours.” Becky made a sucking sound with her mouth and looked perturbed over the whole thing. I laughed at her and reminded her that she could have done her business in the chamber pot instead of hanging her bare butt over the side of the Pacifica. She kissed me again and said, “I will not make that mistake again.” I pulled her into my arms and hugged her. She said, “I am very embarrassed and I certainly will blush when I see Uncle Pika in a few minutes.”

  As we stood with our backpacks on the deck waiting for our ride to shore, we put a padlock on each hatch door and each took a set of keys. When we could see the yacht heading our way, I saw Becky begin to fidget. I asked if she was nervous about seeing her uncle and Elizabeth and she said, “No, I have to pee.” I chuckled at her and said, “You can just pee over the side if you want.” I saw her give me a look that said, “Husband, shut the hell up.” I decided to leave her alone with her misery. When the yacht got along side of the Pacifica, I stepped into the yacht and held out my hand to help my wife. She took it and stepped onto the swim platform along side of me. As we all hugged and shook hand with our hosts, Becky giggled at her Uncle and said, “So I hear you like to spy on young girls with the telescope.” Uncle Pika laughed and said, “Did you know that you have a large hand print on the cheek of your butt. Did Stanley spank you a little too hard?” I saw Becky instantly blush, and then she pulled herself together and said, “Actually, the hand print and bite marks on my bottom are not Stanley’s doing. We made a port of call and had a little too much liquor. I stripped and danced on the bar for dollar bills and a couple of the patrons got a little too aggressive.” She turned to me to avoid looking at her uncle and I could see her grinning. She had worked hard to get one over on her uncle, and this time Uncle Pika was the one standing with his mouth hanging open.

  When we arrived at the mansion docks, we took our backpacks to the guesthouse and dropped them off. As we stepped outside to leave, Elizabeth locked the doors and set the alarm. She said, “I have given you two your own security password that will allow you to be safe while you visit us. It will give you access to the guesthouse, the boathouse, and most every room in the mansion with the exception of our offices and the staff quarters. If you should happen to set off the alarm by a
ccident, just enter your security code twice. The security company will then know who you are and they will speak to you over the keypad where you entered the code. The only person allowed in your guesthouse is Marilyn, our head housekeeper. She will help you with fresh linens and anything you might need during our absence. If she asks too many questions, just remember that she is trying to keep control over security and the other staff members; she is not by nature a nosy person.” As we entered the mansion to meet the staff, one of the men offered us something to drink.

  As we walked into the parlor as I called it, I spotted the huge telescope. Uncle Pika took me by the arm and said, “Let’s check out the scenery on the beach.” As he focused the huge lens on the Pacifica, I realized that he really could see a pimple on Becky’s butt with this thing. He adjusted the lens for wide angle and pointed to a couple of women sunning on the beach. I looked and said, “Oh my God, they both need more suntan lotion. Becky, did you bring some extra lotion, I need to help the ladies on the beach before they burn.” Becky looked through the telescope and said, “Forget about them, they are already burned.” As she turned to walk away, she took my hand in hers and gently pulled me to her. I giggled over her sudden jealousy.

  Around ten o’clock, our host took us back out to the Pacifica. We followed Uncle Pika’s yacht in the Pacifica towards the harbor where we would anchor our vessel. Uncle Pika picked us up and quickly docked the yacht at the docks. Then we walked inside to meet the head mechanic so we could show him the drawings of the changes we wanted made to the Pacifica. As we talked, he said, “I have to purchase some expensive welding materials and metal for the upgrades. Are you willing to advance me the cost of the materials?” Becky took out her wallet and said, “Tell me how much cash you need to begin the work.” The man thought for a moment and said, “Let’s walk to my office. We will settle on a price and I will give you a typed invoice and receipt. I like working with customers who are prepared to pay in cash for our services.” As the mechanic and Becky headed to the office, his business partner gave us a tour of the huge dry dock area and the machinery and tools they had to do even the largest repairs.