When the head mechanic and Becky returned to where we waited, he said, “Mrs. Becky, if you will maneuver your vessel into our work area, we can secure the vessel with ropes so it does not bang around and damage one of the planes or propellers.” The partner took us out to the Pacifica on his speedboat and we followed him back to the work yard. As we used the propulsion motors to maneuver the Pacifica into the flooded dry dock area, we realized that there were twenty or so people standing along the edge looking at the strange vessel entering their work area. The Pacifica looked like a submarine, but had masts like a sailing vessel. We threw down ropes and the workers tied them to the anchor in the concrete floor. The workers rolled out a huge ladder assembly that reached out to the edge of the Pacifica. Two of the mechanics came to the top of the stairs and one of them spoke to Becky. He asked, “Captain, permission to come aboard?” Becky giggled and said, “Permission granted.” As I listened to the ensuing conversation, the mechanics navel knowledge impressed me. The two men were obviously experienced sailors and knew all the correct words for the parts of a sailing vessel and submarine.
Once we had discussed the upgrades in detail, Becky took the two owners on a tour of the cabin area of the Pacifica. When they were back up on deck, the head mechanic said, “I have a suggestion to make. You can yea or nay the idea as you see fit, Captain. I have a twelve-inch viewing window that would work nicely in the bow side of the stern hatch so you could see what was ahead of the Pacifica while you remained inside and dry. It would work well for running submerged and for standing watch during foul weather. It has a rating for use down to six hundred feet and it would meet the guidelines you established in the original design. I could put a small fold down seat at the top of the ladder so you could be comfortable sitting for long periods during a watch. Would you like to see the window I am referring to?”
The mechanic took us up to the parts room and took a large box down off the shelf. He opened the box and showed us the window. It had a concave shape and the manufacture had mounted the glass inside of a two-piece frame to help keep the seals properly aligned and watertight. As I looked at it, I laughed and said, “This is great. I will not have to sit outside on the cold deck alone and frightened of the dark any longer.” Becky giggled and said, “When I married you, I did not realize you had any phobias.” I looked her in the eyes and said, “Just a fear of the dark.” She giggled and said, “I know a cure for that.”
She looked at the mechanic and asked, “How much would you charge this poverty stricken captain to install this little window?” The man smiled and said, “Since we are building the hatch tunnel from scratch, it will be easy to install the window. I think I can install it for twelve hundred dollars. It cost me a little over seven hundred a year ago. I can show you the invoice if you like.” I saw Becky look the man in the eyes and then say, “I trust you not to screw me. You may install the window; shall I pay you in advance?” The mechanic shook his head and said, “I will just add it into the final bill. Would you like to see an estimate for the labor on this project before we begin?” Becky again looked him in the eyes and said, “No, I don’t want to know the price in advance. I want a perfect job and I don’t want money to influence your craftsmanship. I built this vessel from scratch and I know what it takes to do quality work. Besides, you said you would not screw me and I will hold you to your words.” The man reached out and shook Becky’s hand, and then said, “I will contact you tomorrow as soon as I have found the materials for the project. Once I have a delivery date for the materials, I can give you a proper delivery date for the completed project. You and Stanley may stop by unannounced anytime to talk to us and discuss any issues you see.”
As we sat in luxury in Uncle Pika’s yacht, he reassured Becky that she would be very pleased with the work on the Pacifica. Becky laughed and said, “I feel like a Mother who just left her child in a hospital room facing a major operation. I don’t think I will sleep very well tonight.” We tied up at a pier and walked to a restaurant for lunch. I ordered a steak and a beer. Becky looked at the menu and said, “Anything but fish. I cannot eat any more fish for a few days.” She finally settled on a small rare steak and a martini. She looked at me and said, “You will have to walk me on the beach after eating this much food.” I laughed and told her we could walk for the next week or so if she wanted, we had nothing else to do until the Pacifica was ready. Elizabeth said, “We will leave the keys to the Jeep on the seat in the garage. You can look around this beautiful island if you like. Remember that you can attend a luau if you wish right here at this restaurant on Friday nights and you could take a bus tour of Pearl Harbor if you are interested. Marilyn can give you a list of things to do and the phone numbers when we get back to the house. She takes very good care of all our guests and knows all the cool places to visit.”
Elizabeth said, “We would like to have you join us for drinks and a very light snack around the pool later, say around seven o’clock. We will introduce you to my sister and brother in law. You will like them. They have lived here on the island of Oahu all their lives and they know all about the history of the islands and all the fish and animal names. They also own a dive shop just up the road from here.”
We went to the guesthouse, changed into cool clothes, and headed out towards the ocean. As we walked, Becky began to feel better. She told me that she needed some spoiled coconut milk to relieve her stomach problems. I laughed and said, “How about if we borrow the Jeep and make a trip to the pharmacy instead. I would not want you in the hospital after drinking spoiled coconut milk.” Becky giggled and said, “I will be alright without any medicine if I walk and drink lots of water.” After we walked for about a mile, Becky began running and I quickly joined her. It was a little warm, but we had brought water with us. We ran for about three miles. By the time we got back to the guesthouse, Becky made a beeline for the bathroom.
We showered in the huge walk in shower and then began getting ready for our five o’clock pool party. Becky stepped up close to me and kissed me hard on the lips. Then she stepped back and said, “I hope Uncle Pika does not want me to dance on the tables tonight. I think I am much too tired after our run on the beach.” I laughed at the thought of my wife dancing naked around the pool with Uncle Pika chasing her. Becky looked into my eyes and said, “I was going to ask what had made you laugh, but I think it is best that I don’t know what thoughts went racing through that male mind of yours just now.” I patted her on the butt and walked away.
As we walked up to the covered pool area, we saw a man cooking on the grill and Elizabeth and Uncle Pika setting at a table. We joined them and asked if we could help. Elizabeth opened up a drawer containing silverware and napkins and asked if we would finish setting the table. When the chef opened the grill, we could see that he was cooking some shrimp and lobster. As we worked setting the table, the other guests arrived and Elizabeth introduced us. I was worried that we were going to be served a large dinner, but it turned out just perfect. The chef had placed the food dishes on a counter and we served ourselves. There were fixings for a salad, and small ears of sweet corn; small slices of shrimp and lobster, and hot apple pie for desert. As we sat and talked, everyone mixed their own drinks the way they liked them. After the first drink, Uncle Pika looked at Becky and said, “I will not ask you to dance this evening. You can save that for after Elizabeth and I have boarded the plane.” I saw Becky begin to giggle and then she said, “Uncle Pika, you do understand that I did not really dance naked on the bar that night, don’t you. It was just a comeback over your watching me with your telescope doing my business on the Pacifica.” I heard the others giggle and Elizabeth’s sister said, “Pika, have you been spying again? I though you might have lost your desire after being punched for spying on the lady sunning herself on the beach.” Uncle Pika said, “She took off her clothes and laid there all naked and oiled up on a towel, all I did was look at her beauty with the telescope. I had no idea her boyfriend would get upset and punch me that ni
ght in the restaurant.” Uncle Pika looked at Becky and asked, “If that is not a hand print on your pretty little butt cheek then what is it?” Becky giggled and said, “If you had looked carefully enough at the outline, you would have seen that it is a large birthmark.” Uncle Pika thought about Becky’s answer a moment and said, “I rather doubt that statement.” Becky stood up and slid her shorts down so her butt cheeks were exposed. I heard giggles from around the table as Becky pulled her shorts back up and sat down. Uncle Pika’s face turned bright red and he said, “I have no further comments on the subject. I have met my match.” We all laughed over the story and Becky’s unveiling of her birthmark, but Becky did not really see the humor in Uncle Pika’s teasing.
The following morning, Becky and I borrowed the Jeep and visited the place where we left the Pacifica for upgrades. When we walked into the work area, I heard Becky take a deep breath and then let it out slowly. The SS Pacifica was resting on timbers in the dry dock and there was a new four-foot tall extension on the stern hatch door with a window mounted in it. There was five or six spray painted sections on the hull where someone had been trying to determine the exact colors for the new paint job.
As Becky and I stood looking at the Pacifica, in awe of what we were seeing, the head mechanic stepped up beside us and said, “Your timing is perfect. My crew just asked me to call you so you could look over our work before we made anything permanent. Have we come close to the color grey you were thinking about for the lower half of the Pacifica? We have mixed four colors, but the first one on the left is a factory standard color that is easily located if you should ever need paint in the future.” Becky looked at me for my opinion and I said, “Captain, if it were my decision, I would choose the factory grey so we could match it later and it is lighter and will not show the salt as easily.” Becky smiled and said, “Then it is decided, we will go with the factory grey paint on the lower half and the flat black on the top half of the hull.”
The mechanic wrote down our decision on the work order form and then said, “I would like to show you one mechanical issue we discovered once the Pacifica was out of the water. You have a worn shear pin that is in need of repairs before you return to the sea. You can make the repairs yourself while the Pacifica is dry docked, or we can fix the problem for you.” He took us down into the damp pit and showed us how the port side propeller was not secure on the shaft. He pointed to the pin with his fingers and said, “The pin is partly worn through and needs replacement. I would like to suggest that you replace the solid pins with expanding roll pins to help keep them tight in the future. I have some of the pins here in stock if you would like to change them, but the holes should be drilled to correctly match the new pins.” Becky said, “Would you ask your mechanics to replace all of the pins for me. I would also like a dozen extra pins and five drill bits of the correct size. Could you put them into a bag and place them on the table in the cabin for us?” The man nodded and wrote down Becky’s request.
When the mechanic took us up onto the deck, he said, “Be very careful, the hatch extension is only held in place with temporary clamps, but we wanted you to be able to see the extension in place, and make certain it will not interfere with wind flow to the mainsail behind it. I am not certain of the exact height of your sail without rigging it.” Becky thought a moment and said, “Your point is valid, and I would like to rig the mainsail before making a determination. May I do that now?” The man agreed, and Becky and I quickly passed up the sails and rigging through the bow hatch. Then we rigged and hung the mainsail cloth. As we all stood looking, two of the mechanics stepped up on the deck and one of them said, “Just a suggestion, but we could give you a taller top section to the mainsail that would raise the sail a couple of feet. That would also give more airflow over the foresail and help keep the mainsail from luffing.” Becky thought about the suggestion and said, “I tried to keep all the spare parts identical, and this change would now require that I keep two separate upper mast sections aboard. If I raise the height of the sails, I may need to add a forestay and backstay support to support the masts. I would like to leave the sails as they are for now and test the Pacifica out at sea. Then I could have you fabricate taller upper mast sections later if I need them. Would that be acceptable?” Everyone agreed that the captain’s idea was sound. Within a few minutes, we had all agreed on the height of the hatch door extension.
As Becky and I walked back to the Jeep, she said to me, “I have this feeling that I have missed something about this modification that will impact us later. May we go back in and think this through for a few more minutes?” I took Becky’s hand as we walked back inside. I knew that when Becky had these premonitions, she usually had just cause.
When we walked back inside, we both sat down in two folding chairs alongside of the Pacifica. One of the women working on the project came over and sat down in another chair beside Becky. She sat quietly and waited for Becky to speak to her. I saw Becky look at the woman and say, “I have this feeling that I am missing something important that needs doing, but for the life of me I cannot determine what it is that is bothering me.” The woman sat for another couple of minutes longer and then said, “Captain, I believe you might be able to think your way through your concerns if you board your vessel and allow her to speak to you. You have created this vessel with your bare hands. Maybe you need to put those hands on your creation and allow your souls to join.” The woman stood up and said, “We are very accustomed to having our customers become part of these upgrades and your presence onboard is welcome. Just be safe as you walk around the tools, hot welders and ladders.”
As the woman walked away, Becky walked down the ladder and into the pit under the Pacifica. She touched and looked at the planes; she put her hands on the propellers and looked at the propeller shaft seals. Finally, she climbed up onto the deck and sat down with her feet tucked up under her butt. As she sat and looked around, I could see that she was mentally on an imaginary cruise. She was a hundred miles out into the Pacific Ocean with the wind filling the Pacifica’s sails. She was feeling the hull beneath her feet as every sound and vibrations within the soul of her creation reverberated around in her mind. She was trying to work out how these modifications would work in real life, out on the unforgiving sea. As she stared at the new hatch extension, I saw her take a deep breath and stand up. She had discovered the missing piece of the puzzle, the thing that was haunting her mind, the reality of what changes she needed to make to keep the Pacifica compatible with the living breathing unforgiving sea.
Becky stood up and returned to where I remained sitting alongside the pit. She looked into my eyes and said, “I need to change the mast height on the upper mainsail mast as the mechanics suggested.” She looked around and found the woman that had spoken to her. The woman was standing just outside the huge rollup doors smoking a cigarette. Becky walked out to her and they had a conversation. The woman walked back inside with Becky, picked up the phone, and paged the head mechanic back to the Pacifica. When he arrived, he smiled and said, “I saw you sitting on the deck bonding with your creation and I realized that you had a concern. I am always in awe of those of you who can design and build these seaworthy vessels and then turn them into a living entity that can meld with the magic of the sea.” Becky stared into the man’s eyes and said, “She does speak to me and she does join me in my imaginary dream like cruises out into the sea to test my designs. I learned to become one with the sea many years ago and now I have learned to become one with the Pacifica as well. I don’t wish to visit Davey Jones’ locker at the bottom of the sea.”
***
I was astounded at the transformation of the Pacifica as we maneuvered her out into the deep waters of the harbor and out to sea for a shake down. The new colors were spectacular with the grey lower half and the black deck and hatch. Our new antenna system seemed to give us good signal strength, but we still needed to test it more carefully while submerged. The hatch extension was the most impressive addition and
it worked well as we sailed out into the deep waters. We soon realized that the stern hatch door could remain open and the seawater from the bow wakes would not splash water into the cabin. I wanted to test out the new viewing window and see if it worked as well as we had envisioned.
As we moved to an area where there was 120 feet of water below us, we submerged the Pacifica just enough to get the hatch under water. There were no leaks and the viewing window was incredible. We lowered the Pacifica down to eighty feet of water and tested the antenna system. It had a four-foot section of antenna on top of a small air filled balloon that floated the antenna up to the surface when I released the locking mechanism inside the cabin. When the antenna was on the surface, Becky tried the radio and quickly had communications with NOAA and two local captains. When Becky finished talking, I simply reeled in the antenna wire and secured the winder handle. When we surfaced, we hung the sails to make certain the new height of the mainsail was correct and that there was no luffing when we tacked. We sailed and tested for four hours and then returned to the harbor. This time we anchored in shallow water and used the dinghy to return to the repair facility.
As we walked back inside, the two owners and the head mechanic stood waiting for us. As we got close to them, the head mechanic smiled and said, “Captain, that smile is what makes me want to get up in the morning. I can tell from here that you are pleased with the outcome of your upgrades.” Becky walked straight to the two owners and hugged both of them. Then she hugged the mechanic. When she stepped back she said, “My Pacifica has spoken to me and she is happy with your work and my crew is ecstatic. It is time that I pay you what I owe you and shake the hands of all your workers, especially Jill, who helped me through my crisis.” The owner smiled and said, “I will make that happen. My workers are about to take lunch, we will pay them a visit and make their day a little brighter. We have had food catered in to reward our people for the hard work they have done over the last three weeks and I would like you to join us.”
SS Pacifica Page 20