Now that the odor had pretty much disappeared, we began the process of moving our belongings into the cabin. We again used the hoist to lift pallets loaded with totes up onto the deck. By the end of the day, we had everything up on the deck, but we both had sore backs and decided to stop for the day. When I looked at my watch, it was only four o’clock in the afternoon. As we rested in a couple of chairs in the boathouse, we sat looking at our pride and joy. Becky said, “I guess she will float. We have put a lot of weight inside, but I designed the vessel to accommodate the added weight. I would hate to see her sink when we get her out into deep water.” It was then that I realized we had missed some critical safety equipment. We had forgotten the emergency scuba rescue tanks and regulators. If we were ever to need to flood the cabin to equalize the pressure, so we could open the hatch doors while submerged, we would need the rescue tank air to breathe long enough for us to open the hatch and swim to the surface.
I spoke to Becky about our oversight and watched her smile. She said, “We would have eventually remembered the dive tanks, but by then it might have held up our trip. I am glad you remembered them. I will add them into my equipment list so we don’t forget them the next time.” I looked at Becky and said, “Do you think there will be another build?” She giggled and said, “I would prefer to live on the ocean, rather than find myself sitting on the porch of the assisted living home just down the road.” I began to laugh over her words, but I truly agreed with her assessment.
Becky took her cell phone from her belt holder and called the dive shop. The owner answered the phone and soon pulled up the invoice where he had sold Becky the last air tanks and regulators. Within a few minutes, he had the equipment ordered and explained to Becky that he would call her in a couple days. He explained that we would need to fit the regulator mouthpieces when we picked up the tanks.
Becky and I decided to cook a couple steaks and baked potatoes for supper. As we walked towards the house, she took hold of my hand and said, “I am so excited, I feel like a child on Christmas Eve.” I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. I said, “If you are a good little girl, Santa has a present for you.” She began to giggle as she walked and finally managed to say, “Santa is being naughty. I will take my present in the pool before supper, please.”
As we entered the house, I heard Becky lock the kitchen door after closing it. I laughed and headed towards the poolroom. As we walked into the room, we realized we had left our wet towels lying on the floor. I picked them up to take them to the washing machine and realized they smelled horrible. Becky said, “I will put them in some bleach water after we have a swim. They are probably moldy.”
As we enjoyed the cool water, Becky said, “I am going into the hot tub for few minutes. My muscles are sore.” I decided to join her. As we slide into the warm water, Becky slid over close to me and put her hand on my leg. I watched carefully as she began slowly moving her fingers closer to my manhood. When her finger reached their goal, she leaned over and began kissing me. I quickly joined her in her activities. Within a few minutes, we climbed out of the hot tub and headed for Becky’s bedroom. Once the towels were in place, I moved on top of her wet slippery body. As her legs moved up onto my hips, I felt her warmth as our bodies joined.
As we lay on the bed and allowed our passion to ebb, I rolled on my side and said, “You are very welcome.” She giggled and kissed me on the cheek. Then she touched my manhood again and said, “Feels like I will have to wait awhile for a rematch.”
While I cooked the steaks, Becky put the potatoes in the microwave and cooked them. She said she was starving and could not wait an hour for the potatoes to slow cook in the oven. When the meat had finished cooking, Becky had the table set and was ready to eat. I poured us each a small glass of red wine and sat down beside her. As we ate, we discussed our plans for a shakedown run in the Pacifica-Two. Once we had completed finding a home for everything on the vessel, we still had to have it inspected by the Coast Guard. We discussed all the things the Officer from the Coast Guard had found wrong when we build the Pacifica; we decided we had covered all the bases. The marine radio was ready and working, and all of the safety equipment installed in Oahu was back in its proper place. I told Becky that I could have the electrical systems complete in two days time. Becky said she could manage to get everything into the proper cabinets and have the labeling done in the same amount of time.
As we finished our meal, Becky said, “I will do the dishes tonight. The most important thing right now is the completion of the electrical systems. I will help you if you wish, but sometimes it is best if I do not touch things I do not understand. I have already let the smoke out of the running light by hooking it to the wrong voltage on the workbench, it may be best if I just do the mechanical work.” I started to chuckle over Becky’s words, but understood her meaning. She had once before explained to me that the manufacturers of electrical equipment put just so much smoke into each device at the time of manufacture. Once someone let the smoke out, the device was ruined.
I looked into my wife’s eyes and said, “I will get started now. I don’t want to be the one to hold up the shakedown of this fine vessel. I suspect your disposition will quickly falter if we pass the scheduled date, Captain.” She looked deep into my eye and said, “That is another thing I have forgotten. We need a plank installed to deal with insubordinate crew members.” With that statement, I grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and headed out to the boathouse.
When Becky came out to the boathouse a while later, she walked over to me and said, “I can mount the propulsion, steering and dive motors if you wish.” I said, “That would be great. I will carry the propulsion motors down the ladder for you. I don’t want your back messed up.” Once I had all the motors sitting on the wooden floorboards in the cabin, I returned to running wiring. Once I had the lights wired and ready for power, I said, “It is time to begin bringing down the batteries. If I hand them down to you, could you set them on the floor. It will be easier with two of us working together.”
Once the batteries were down in the cabin, I continued handing other equipment down to Becky. She just kept asking for more. The pile up on the deck slowly got smaller as we moved it down into the cabin. She made neat piles in the center of the vessel’s floor so we would not trip over things as we worked. By nine o’clock, the deck was empty. We still had a few thing on order, but most everything was now in the cabin.
I returned my attention to the electrical systems, wanting to complete as much as possible. Finally, Becky said, “I am going to bed. You can keep working if you want, but I am beat.” I kissed her goodnight and patted her butt as she headed up the ladder to the deck.
As I completed wiring and strapping down the last of the batteries, I measured the voltage to insure I had twelve volts. I set up a small power block so I could connect all the different systems into the battery power. I put a fuse on each device I wired to insure nothing would short out and cause a fire. The carpenters had built a table with a bench seat in front of the propulsion motors where I could sit down and work. The table had drawers where I could store supplies like extra fuses and wiring harnesses. I also stored my electrical tools in one of the drawers. I now could begin testing the cabin and exterior lights. I had already mounted the three lights on the deck, one white running light on the stern, one red port side light and one green starboard light. When I turned on the switch at the bottom of the hatch ladder, all three lights lit up. Then I tried the cabin lights and they all worked.
I returned my attention to getting the fish finder system installed. I mounted the two cameras on the brackets beside the port and starboard viewing windows. I ran the cords through the watertight connectors so I could hook them up later inside the cabin. When I entered the cabin again, I realized I was getting very tired. I decided to take a quick nap before continuing my tasks. I stretched out on top of the new bed foam pads and quickly fell asleep.
I woke with a start. For just a moment, I was uncer
tain where I was. Then I remembered that I had decided to take a short nap and now was uncertain how long I had slept. The sound of giggles above me brought me back to reality. Becky was looking down at me from the hatch and giggling. She said, “I see you have accomplished a lot during the night, or did the electrical genies do the work.” I laughed and said, “The dolphins were here and felt sorry for me. One of them is an electrical engineer.” Becky carried a cup of coffee down the ladder and passed it to me. When she returned a second time, she had her coffee, also. She sat down on the bed and looked around. She said, “Stanley, you really did get a lot accomplished last night. I am glad I mounted the motors before I abandoned you and went in to bed. You have them all wired.”
I said, “I am going to the house for a shower and some breakfast. Have you eaten yet?” Becky said, “I thought I would wait awhile. When I went to your room to wake you, I realized you had not come to bed. Then I got worried about you and decided to come visiting, bearing hot coffee.” I stood up to go and Becky said, “Did you get enough sleep. You can take more time for yourself, husband. You do not have to work if you are still half asleep.” I patted her on the shoulder and said, “A shower and some food and I will be good.” Becky said, “I will have breakfast ready when you finish your shower.” Then she giggled and said, “A tooth brush would be okay also.”
When I came down for breakfast, she kissed me and said, “That is better. Now your kisses are welcome.”
As we ate, we discussed how to get everything done today that needed doing. Becky said, “I got a good night’s sleep, so I will deal with getting the propellers installed. I plan to dry dock the Pacifica-Two later today. All I have to do is move the timbers into the slots in the canal walls and then place the cross braces properly. Once the timbers are in the correct position, I will lower the water level in the canal just enough to allow me to work on the drive shafts. This vessel will be much easier to dry dock since we have the rails on the bottom, although, I will need to add a few extra support timbers in the canal to support the weight of the larger vessel. Tomorrow, I will get the equipment and supplies into the cabinets. You work on the electrical for a while and then take a nap before lunch if you need one. I will fix us a quick lunch around noon. I see you have the deck lights working. I will call the Coast Guard whenever we are certain everything is in place.” As Becky stood up to clear the table, she said, “I would also like to test propulsion motors and the dive/steering motors tomorrow.”
I returned to the boathouse and continued working on getting equipment up and running. I installed a 12 volt to 120-volt inverter so we could charge the batteries in our laptops and possibly our electric razors. Becky always liked to shave her legs and underarms up on the deck, but sometimes she would use her electric razor. The razor had a trim clipper built in and she would use that for trimming her special places. As I looked around, I realized I was done except for wiring the electric heater system we had purchased. That project would have to wait for another day.
I heard Becky pushing timbers into the canal. When I looked over the side of the vessel, I saw that she had moved the long timbers to the edge of the canal and then tipped the forks and dumped the timbers into the water. She was now in a yellow wet suit and was installing the timbers. I spoke to her and asked if she needed help. She said, “No. All I have to do is stick one end of each timber into the slots in the side of the canal, and then push the other end down into the slots on the opposite wall. I have my weight belt on so I have enough lead in my ass to push the timbers down into the water.” I saw her pat her hand on the heavy weight belt. I laughed at her, but decided she would ask for help if she wanted it. The girl was tough as any I had ever known.
I returned my attention to the table where all the equipment was sitting. I arranged everything where I wanted it and then began drilling small holes in the top for screw eyes. I had purchased a bag of small bungee cords and I began clipping the hooks into the screw eyes I had installed in the tabletop. Within a couple minutes, I had securely fastened the equipment down so it would stay in place in heavy seas.
As I worked, I felt the floor under my feet begin to move and wiggle. Then I felt the vessel settle down and remain stable. Within a couple minutes, I heard the sound of Becky drilling holes in the drive shafts to pin the propellers in place. The thought of her in the water running an electric drill forced me to run full speed up the ladder and out onto the edge of the deck to see what she was using for a drill. When I saw what she was doing, I giggled to myself. She had put a small wooden boat into the water and had the flat stern up under the drive shafts. The electric drill had a GFCI protector installed. She was perfectly safe, but I still worried about something unforeseen happening. I climbed down onto the floor of the boathouse and moved a chair up to the edge of the canal where I could watch her work. The end of the drills cord was beside me so I could unplug it if something happened. She looked over at me and looked perturbed. I said, “You will not be offended if I watch you work will you?” She began to laugh and asked why I was there. I picked up the power cord from the floor and said, “I love you as you are. I don’t care for smokin hot girls.” She just shook her head and continued drilling holes for the roll pins that would keep the propellers in place. Three pins in each shaft. Once she finished drilling all the holes, it was a simple task to slide the propellers onto the shaft and hammer in the pins.
When Becky finished her project, she moved the small boat out of the water and began filling the canal with seawater. When the level was correct and the Pacifica-Two was afloat again, I heard her move the fork truck up to the edge of the canal. I decide there was no way she could get the waterlogged timbers out of the canal by herself. When I looked over the side, I saw her put her engineering skill into play to accomplish her goals. She had lowered a yellow lifting strap with a loop on it down into the water. She then connected the other end to the fork truck forks with a C-clamp. I watched Becky climb down into the water and place the end of each timber into the loop. When she had four timbers inside the loop she pulled it up tight by hand and climbed out of the canal. Then she started the fork truck, raised the forks until the timbers cleared the edge of the canal and drug all four out of the water and onto the concrete floor. When she shut off the fork truck, I began clapping my hands and whistling. Then I yelled, “Good Job.” She smiled and gave me a deep bow.
As I stood watching my wife, the doorbell rang. The bell was a huge thing that hung on the wall over the entrance door. When the UPS deliver truck driver pushed the button outside the door, it scared the living crap out of me. I saw Becky begin to laugh, but she said nothing. I ran to the door so as not to miss the delivery and found a package just outside the door. The package contained the electric heater I ordered. I carried the package over to the workbench and began opening it. When I pulled the contents out of the box and laid the components out on a table, Becky walked over to see what it looked like. The unit was small, no larger than a computer printer was, and had a large coil of plastic tubing with it. There was a power cord running out the back and an instruction book thicker than Stephen Kings hard covered novel, Under the Dome. Becky laughed over the manual, but soon realized that it mostly container safety warnings written in forty different languages.
I carried the heater to the cabin and tried to decide the best place to mount it. I soon decided that it should be located under the bow hatch, just behind the top step. This location seemed about the center of the vessel so I could run the tubing heat ducts to each end of the cabin. I hoped that some of the heat would rise and keep the bow hatch area warm when one of us was sitting up there looking out the viewing windows. The heat might also keep the viewing windows from fogging up.
It only took a few minutes to mount the unit and run the flexible heat duct tubing. I used tie wraps to keep the hoses secured over the tops of the cabinets. Once I ran the power cable to the batteries and connected all the wiring, I turned on the heater for a test. Within seconds, the heat was pouring
out of the duct and warming the cabin. I quickly turned the temperature control to fifty degrees and turned off the power.
I decided to get the fish finder cameras working and aimed in the correct places. The task would be a little difficult here in the boathouse, but I figured I could get them relatively close. When I turned on the display unit and figured out how to operate the unit, the split screen picture was crystal clear. As I watched the screen, I saw Becky walk past the camera. She did not have any idea I was watching her and I caught her singing to herself. I pressed the record button for a few seconds and then turned the unit off. I took another minute or so and figured out how to set the depth gauge alarms. I entered a fifty-foot minimum depth and a one hundred foot maximum depth, knowing that those figures would give us a good starting point once we were running below the surface. I sat down at the electronics table and tried to decide if I had missed anything important. I decided we were good to go.
I went down to check on Becky and found that she had completed her work. She had even returned the heavy timbers back to their rightful storage location. I walked up to her and asked if she needed some food. She said, “I am starving. What did you plan to cook for supper?” I laughed and said, “I could use some suggestions. I will prepare whatever we decide upon.” Becky stepped up close to me and gave me a kiss. Then she said, “We have worked too hard to cook. What would you say to a steak at the new restaurant that just opened? I hear they have some fine food over there.” I looked down at my dirty clothes and said, “I can be showered, changed and ready in twenty minutes.” She giggled and said, “I think I need thirty minutes. That is if I shower alone. With you touching my body, we will never get to the restaurant before they close.” I said, “Agreed. I will meet you in the kitchen in thirty minutes.”
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