Seeking Safe Harbor: Suddenly Everything Changed (The Seeking Series)

by Albert Correia

Millie watched dubiously as he searched. “If you don’t mind my saying so, I get nervous when someone has to look at a book when he’s about to do something he’s supposed to know how to do. We’re a long way from land.”

  “I understand your concern,” Zach admitted. “This is not the way we usually do things. In the past, we had a GPS – that means global positioning system – but the system was knocked out of service, so we have to revert to this method. It got people around the globe for hundreds of years, so I’m sure it will get us to where we want to go in California.”

  “But,” Millie persisted, “you really don’t know how to use that thing, do you?”

  “Millie, it’s not that hard,” he replied, hoping to calm her. “Besides, we have a compass and charts, and the sun always comes up in the east. Even without the sextant, we’d hit California.”

  “But where? California is a very long state, so we might end up a hundred miles from where we intend to go.”

  “No, not that far off. Look, I…”

  Ron Tillman had been watching all that had taken place and now stepped in. “Zach, if you don’t mind, I’d like to help.”

  “Help? How?”

  “I never did get around to buying a GPS. I’ve been using a sextant since I was a kid, and it’s taken me many places. I can keep us on course and teach you at the same time. In exchange, I’m like George and Millie. I would love to learn to sail, and what better time than now. It seems like the perfect quid pro quo.”

  Zach didn’t respond right away. He still wasn’t sure about Tillman and wasn’t keen on giving him the ability to sail the boat away if the opportunity presented itself. On the other hand, there would be nothing else to do for weeks in a confined atmosphere so he was going to learn just by watching, anyway.

  Besides, everyone, including himself, would be more comfortable knowing that someone who knew how to do it was taking the sextant readings.

  He reluctantly nodded his acceptance of the offer.

  Chapter 26

  SEVEN days at sea went by more quickly than any of them ever expected. The weather was warm and there was enough wind to move the boat along at an average of about five knots. During most of the daylight hours, Millie, George, and Ron were learning the intricacies of sailing.

  The winds, as Zach predicted, started coming from almost due east, and so they began the tacking procedures he outlined – first southeast and then northeast. That gave everyone a chance to participate in the “coming about” exercise many times each day. Every time that happened, the wind changed to the opposite side of the boat from moments before. The booms swung around to the other side, and the sails were trimmed so that they caught the winds in the optimum manner, maintaining the maximum speed. The new members of the crew were learning fast.

  Ron proved himself an excellent fisherman. He, Glen, and Denise tossed their lines over the side every morning. The teenagers watched and mimicked everything he did. They were convinced they did exactly the same things, but he caught three times more fish and his tended to be larger. They caught plenty of fish between them, which saved the canned goods they had in storage.

  “Dad, what’s wrong with me?” Glen asked. “Why can’t I catch fish like that?”

  His father commiserated. “Son, there’s nothing wrong with you or Denise. Or me, for that matter. You’ve seen me fish. I can’t catch as many as the two of you, no matter how hard I try. Some people just have the knack, and he is one of them. That is really handy in the situation we’re in at the moment. We’re eating really well and not depleting our supplies in the process. If you really want to learn, though, keep watching. Maybe you’ll pick up enough that someday you’ll be a great angler, as well. I suspect that a large part of the “knack” is a combination of experience and patience.”

  Because he was so useful, Ron was growing on the family, but that did not mean they didn’t still keep an eye on him. There were always two armed people awake when he was, and one was always far enough away so that if he overpowered one, the other would be able to call for help and, if necessary, shoot him.

  Because all three of the new people had come aboard on short notice and hadn’t had time to pack, Zach and Glen shared what few clothes they had with Ron and George. Stacey and Denise shared with Millie. It wasn’t a perfect arrangement, especially being as they were limited in how much they could wash and dry things on a forty-one foot boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Fortunately, not one of them had the slightest interest in making a fashion statement – at least not in the situation they were in at the moment.

  It wasn't easy with seven people aboard instead of four, but they maintained a habit that they determined was important for people living in close quarters. At some point every day, each person went to the forward deck to be alone for at least half an hour. No one was allowed to bother them in any way during that time. Most didn’t feel they really needed that, yet they all felt a little more serene after their time alone.

  As all the bunks were taken, Ron moved around to sleep. He used one of the Arthur family’s sleeping bags and sometimes slept on George’s bunk. When George and he slept at the same time, he either slept on the bunk Glen used or they inflated a mattress for him and he slept on the salon floor, back away from the galley area, which was close to the ladder leading up to the cockpit. Every day, Ron did a noon reading with the sextant and then spent the next hour or two going over the results with the other members of the crew.

  They spent their evenings playing card games, studying, or sitting around talking. Their conversation often consisted of telling tall tales from the past. Other times found them drifting toward what they might find when they reached their destination.

  “Say, if we’ve been averaging five knots, that’s almost six miles per hour, right?” George asked shortly after they had dinner on the seventh night. They were all sitting around the cockpit enjoying a starlit night, and his question was not directed at anyone in particular. Not waiting for a response, he continued. “According to what I’ve learned, a knot is about one point fifteen statute miles, which means we’ve been traveling at about one hundred and forty miles per day. So we’ve come around nine hundred and eighty miles.” He stopped to do a little calculating.

  Those who spent time at sea on a sailboat immediately picked up on his error, and even Ron and Millie seemed to figure it out. None chose to tell him what it was yet. They just smiled and waited for him to give them the conclusion he was working out.

  “Based on that, we’ll be in California in about ten or eleven days,” George said, “not the month or more you guys guessed it would be that first day. That’s great!” No one joined him in celebrating the likelihood of a quick trip. He looked around. Everyone was either looking pityingly at him, or smiling smugly. “What?” he asked, his brow furrowed.

  “I’ll go get the chart,” Zach said. He went down the steps into the salon, returning a minute later with a large chart. He spread it out over the seat where was sitting, and shined a flashlight with red lens in place to preserve their night vision and prevent them from being seen. “Ron,” he said, “what did today’s noon sighting show our coordinates to be?”

  Ron took a pad from the back pocket of his shorts and thumbed through it for a few seconds. When he came to the page he wanted, he read it, then put an index finger down on a spot about one fourth of the way from the Hawaiian Islands to California. “Here’s the coordinates for where we were at noon today.”

  George looked over their shoulders. “Hey, that spot can’t be more than five hundred miles from Hilo, not almost a thousand.”

  “That’s about right, George,” Zach told him. Remember, we’re not sailing straight at California. Half the time we are heading toward Mexico, and the other half the time toward Canada. Actually, we have been lucky so far. We have been able to sail at close angles to what a direct course would be, so we gained some good distance. Sometimes we must sail further off target, and that means we gain less distance with each tac
k.”

  “This,” George sighed deeply, the wind gone from own his sails, “is going to be a long trip.”

  “Nobody in a hurry chooses a sailboat as a means of getting from place to place,” Stacey said. “On the other hand, no other kind of transportation is as enjoyable, and we go to places that people who limit themselves to cars, trains, and planes can only dream about.”

  “Maybe so, but I can see this becoming pretty boring.”

  “Not likely,” Ron said, looking ahead. “Not in the near future, anyway.”

  “You see it, too, huh?” Zach asked, rising and moving toward the main mast.

  “What?” George wanted to know. He watched wide-eyed as Ron and the teenagers picked up loose items on the deck, and Zach and Stacey started lowering sails. “See what?”

  “Those dark clouds ahead,” Ron said as he passed by.

  “Everything’s dark. Everywhere.”

  “Not as dark as those clouds in front of us.” Ron stopped and pointed ahead. “See those dashes of white on that thick black line under the clouds?”

  George strained to see it. “Maybe. A little. I suppose.”

  “Unfortunately, there won’t be any ‘maybes’ or ‘I supposes’ before long. That black line is water being pushed by high winds, and the white dashes are whitecaps. It’ll be on top of us very soon.”

  “What will be on top of us?” George asked, but was afraid he knew the answer.

  “Judging by what it looks like at this distance, that’s one heckuva storm, and we’re right in its path.”

  Chapter 27

  RON, Glen, Denise, and Millie went below to put what they had collected on deck into storage bins and lock or tie everything down.

  “What can I do?” George asked.

  “Open the starboard side storage bin near where you’re standing,” Zach said from where he was strapping the back part of the mainsail to the boom. “There’s a twenty-five foot cable with snap hooks at either end stored there. We need that and two of the four harnesses stored with it. Bring out the two harnesses with the shorter lead lines.”

  Stronger waves were already hitting the La Sirena from the front and the boat was beginning to rise and fall more sharply than it had been only minutes earlier. Stacey activated the electric windlass that controlled the jib sail, rolling it up. When she got the sail at the front of the boat rolled up, she headed back to the cockpit. George brought out the cable, and she took one end to the forward mast to hook it to an eye bolt attached to the mast two-and-one-half feet above the deck.

  “There’s an eye-bolt like this one on the mizzen mast!” She yelled loud enough to be heard above the howling sounds the winds. “Attach the other end of the cable to it.”

  George went back and attached it. He had to pull hard on the cable to get the hook into the eye bolt because the cable was just long enough to fit tautly between the two masts.

  Zach finished tying the mainsail down so that about one-fourth of it was showing above the boom. He took one of the harnesses from George and strapped it on, then hooked the snap hook at the end of the lead line to the cable Stacey and George had connected to the masts. He pulled on the cable to make sure it was taut. After yanking hard on the line to be sure it was fastened securely, he went back to tie down the mizzen sail the same way he had tied down the mainsail. The line from the harness to the cable was just long enough to allow him to work at the far end of the mizzen boom.

  When the mizzen sail was tied down like the main sail, he returned to the cockpit and turned on the engine. “Ron and Denise,” he called down to the salon, “you need to join us up here.”

  When they joined him, along with Stacey and George, in the cockpit, Zach discussed the “game plan” for the upcoming storm. “I judge it to be a big one. It looks like it’s coming right at us from the east, so we can head right into it and maybe not be blown too far off course. We might even make some headway.”

  Ron laughed. “That’s about the brightest spin I’ve ever heard anyone put on a bad situation like this.”

  “It’s bad, no question about it,” Zach admitted, “but we need to keep our wits about us. We’ll keep the engine on and head straight into it. I’ve kept as much sail up as I dare, and that should help stabilize us. If any more sail is exposed, it will probably be ripped to shreds. From now on, everybody wears a harness when above decks. We have four, but unless there’s an emergency, there will never be more than two people on deck at any one time. The other two harnesses are in this storage cabinet here.” He pointed to the bin where George had retrieved the cable and harnesses.

  He held up the harness he wasn’t wearing. “This one and the one I have on have shorter lines. As you can see, we’ve come up with a cable that is attached to both masts. We snap the hooks to the cable and they can slide freely from one end to the other. That way, we can move almost from one end of the boat to the other, but if we slip and head to the side, the cable is taut enough and the lines are short enough to stop us from going overboard.”

  Ron studied the line for a second, and then looked forward. “That’s all well and good, but if something happens at the front of the bowsprit or with the dinghy, are the leads on the other harnesses long enough for that?”

  “Yes, but if somebody goes over the side in the weather we’re expecting, even wearing a harness that’s attached to the boat may not save them. They will be in the water, and it may be too difficult to bring them in. Even if we can, it may take too long to get them out of the water before they drown. Losing a dinghy or part of a bowsprit is not worth risking lives, so we will only use the harnesses with the shorter lines unless there is a dire emergency. There will be two people on deck at all times, both in the cockpit most of the time. One will be on the wheel and the other will be watching for emergencies. Everyone else will be below.”

  “Doing what?” Ron asked.

  “Hanging on for dear life, I expect,” George tried to joke.

  “Not too far off the mark,” Stacey replied. “And I’m glad you have a sense of humor about it. You are going to need it during the next day or two. We’ll take turns sleeping below and make sure we pick things up if they’re shaken loose from their place. And, of course, we’ll try to take turns using the head.”

  “The head?”

  “When a boat is thrown around the way this one is going to be, even the most seasoned sailors have a hard time keeping things in their stomach,” Zach told him. “When it happens to you, don’t be ashamed. You won’t be the only one. But, George, right now I’d like you to stay up here and take the first watch with me.” He opened the storage bin on the other side of the cockpit and pulled out a raincoat and pants. “It’s going to be wet from now on, so we’ll all wear rain gear. Put those on, then that other harness, and attach the harness to the cable.”

  When George was ready, Zach had him take the wheel while he put on his rain gear.

  “Okay, we’re all set. You’ve all seen what we're doing, so do the same thing when you’re on watch. There are two more sets of rain gear in a clothes locker below. Ron, Stacey will show you where they are. You and Stacey take the next watch. We will do two-hour watches during the storm. As captain and mate, me and Stacey will be doing double duty. We won’t get much sleep, which isn’t such a big deal. I’ll do the third watch with Denise, and Stacey can do the next one with George. Then, I’ll do one with Ron.”

  He directed the next comment directly at Ron. “Either Stacey or I will always be with you.”

  “I have no problem with that,” Ron replied easily. “Up until this storm hit, being a prisoner with this group has been enjoyable.”

  “Glad you feel that way, but don’t forget that’s what you are. One more thing. Glen and Millie will stay below to take care of provisions. Is everything clear?”

  After everyone nodded, Zach turned back to George. “All set?” The hotel man checked once more to make sure his harness was strapped on tight and that it was connected to the cable. He nodded.
>
  “Good,” Zach said, checking his own gear. When he was satisfied, he turned to his wife. “Stacey, you and Ron better get below now and try to get some rest.”

  Stacey started down the ladder to the salon, turning to go down using the handgrips at the side of the ladder. When she turned, she was facing the cockpit. As she took the first step, she looked over Zach’s shoulder at the ocean behind them. She stopped dead, a look of concern on her face.

  “What is it?” asked her husband.

  Pointing over Zach’s shoulder, she said, “I thought I saw a light back there.”

  They all turned, but none of them saw anything except dark waves.

  “It might have been lightning,” Zach offered. “It doesn’t make much difference right now, anyway. If there is another boat out there, it will be blown miles away by the time the storm passes. Now get below.”

  Stacey went down the ladder quickly, with Ron right behind her. When they were below, they grabbed onto handholds where they could find them as Stacey headed to the aft cabin and Ron to the bunk on the starboard side of the salon. Glen and Millie had just finished securing plastic dishes in a locked bin, and they, too, headed for their bunks.

  In the cockpit, Zach slid the hatch cover closed as the rain started to fall. It was small drops at first but quickly became bigger, and the wind pushed them at an angle so that the faces and raingear of the men on deck were soon wet.

  The boat rocked more and more, and George held firmly to the wheel. Zach grabbed the taut cable the harnesses were attached to for support. Feeling the storm, both of them looked up and gripped even tighter, bracing for the shock that was about to hit them.

  All they could see ahead was a wall of water as the storm’s first massive wave raced at them.

  Chapter 28

  THE thirty-foot wave lifted the more than sixteen-ton La Sirena like it was a toy. Luckily, the comber wasn’t breaking yet, so it didn’t toss the sailboat backward in a frothy deluge. The bow shot up, the sharp movement throwing anyone not holding on to something solid around like a rag doll.