Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!

It was one of those balmy early Fall days, the leaves on the trees overhung the river dressed in Magenta and Gold. I could see them from the huge deck I had built on the West side of our house overlooking the water, just a half mile away.

I knew the Fall Chinook would be arriving, it was early for them but still, such a pretty day, worth a shot.

I asked my wife Kay if she wanted to go fishing, she knows I love days out on the river. But her fear of water shows in her reluctance, often she will beg off and I will call one of my buds to round out the trip. Part of that is she never really learned to swim, I am not sure why. Her version of swimming is a bit like a pup does when thrown in for the first time, she gets lots of water going lots of directions, even stays on top but barely.

I was surprised that she agreed. So while I got the big old 21 foot inboard ready, she packed a basket of snacks and sandwiches, tucking a fine bottle of dark wine into the mix.

Sometimes we will be naughty out on the boat if the bite is slow. More than once we have made sweet love up in the little cuddy cabin up under the bow, causing the old boat to bounce oddly as she lay at anquor.

I was really looking forward to one of those days, Kay showed all of the signs that she was also. She pulled a loose jacket on over her somewhat on the skimpy side Bikini, she wore nothing else, so I knew.

Kay is drop dead pretty, at least to me. At 33 years, she has this tiny soft bulge above her waist and she fights that losing battle constantly. The back of her legs show a few little crinkles of cellulite, and her fanny sags maybe just a tad more than it did at 19. She isn't large busted, but even though her left breast is slightly larger than the right, she looks just fine in any kind of clothing.

Kay is tall, too, at 5'10" she stands one inch short of my height, and at only 140 pounds she isn't the least bit out of shape. Add in the just past the ears brown hair and bangs, at a glance she can pass for 20.

Like I said, gorgeous!

Yea, I love my wife and I am totally faithful. Sure, I take a look at some of her nastier lady friends, and a couple of times at parties I have had some of them put the move on me. That doesn't work, I look but keep my mouth shut and my pants up because I happen to know from my first failed marriage and some messed up relationships that Kay is one in a lifetime.

Kay was married once before, also. The stupid bastard slapped her around and tried to force her to do his bidding, one day she had enough and dropped him with a Chinese made frying pan and walked out the door.

She told me that story and we still crack jokes about the Chinese gong.

That guy showed up just once right after Kay and I started dating, found us in a nightclub and got beligerent. I told him to back off, got a "fuck you buddy" in return, so I popped him in the solar plexus with a backhand, just two fingers. He bent over so I popped him under the nose to straighten him up, he did and then I rapped him in the nuts.

He sagged as I caught him, gagged a bit, then got quiet. I helped him to a chair, explaining to folks with odd expressions that my friend had had a bit too much to drink.

Kay and I left and I was taking her home to her apartment when she told me to please take her to my house. I gave her a questioning look, she just smiled and said, "You are the one, Dan."

That night was the first time we made love, I could brag here and say I seduced her but it was the other way around. She had decided, she shoved me back and made my body do things I simply did not know it could. We spent a solid 8 hours, the Sun was coming up when we finally lay back and slept wrapped up in each other. I had learned of the mole on her thigh, the way her nipples perked up when I licked them, I watched as her chest heaved and turned red flushed in orgasm, the way her abdomen seemed to ripple under my hands as she spasmed.

We have been together from then on, it was as simple as that. Together, we became complete and total delight.

But I digress.

I pulled the Bronco around and hooked up the trailor for the short run to the launch ramp. I knew everything was top notch, I had just spent $2500 having the outdrive completely done and the engine was built with my own hands. We called the boat "Dancer" because she floated up and over the waves, the higher than normal sides gave us a secure feeling. Part of why I had bought the machine, knowing Kay's fear of water. I had had the boat out less than a dozen times since the major overhaul, she always performed perfectly. Even out in the Ocean, the high bow slid up and over the big rollers with a soft ride, easy to handle.

Once unloaded and in the water, Kay held the rope while I parked the Bronco and trailor. I walked back to the dock, noting a couple of fishermen checking out Kay's legs with a twinge of pride. I couldn't blame them for that, I liked to check them out myself.

One touch of the button and the big 321" inline six cylinder fired right up and we were off.

I set her on 2400 RPM, right at torque peak, running a steady 15 knots. The day was every bit as fine as I thought it would be, the air was warm enough to not be uncomfortable as we ran down the side slough to the main river.

As we slid out into the more open water, I picked up the pace to 20 knots, speeding the run across the river to the mouth of a side stream, a gathering point for Salmon I knew of.

I was surprised to find we had the area to ourselves, but we were a few weeks early for the normal run, most were fishing the more productive lower river.

I pulled into what I knew was the slot, Kay took the bow with the anchor in hand, I read the depth finder to try and set us on the exact point I knew that the fish would come to.

"Drop it!" I called out as the familiar ridge I was looking for showed on the scanner. Kay dropped the anchor, I waited, felt the gentle tug as it set and then shut down the engine.

We had lines down in literally no time, as soon as mine was set I was reaching to help Kay but she was way ahead of me.

Her line didn't even reach bottom before it took a familiar bend, 20 minutes later a shiny 30" piece of raw power lay in my net. I spotted the dorsal fin sticking up clear as a bell, she was wild so I reached down and slipped the hook, let her slide out of the net to freedom.

We hugged in the sheer joy of the moment, Kay stripped and set another Herring on her hook, dropped it to the bottom.

It usually goes like this, I always tease her that her fingers taste better than mine, fact is, it seems to be true. For some reason she catches more fish than me.

We didn't get any more bites, we did sneak up into the Cuddy cabin though. That made the day perfect. I looked at my watch. It was coming up on 3 PM and the tide was now wrong anyway, and picking up to running very hard, so I started the engine. Then I climbed out on the bow and pulled the anchor. I called to Kay to drop the engine into gear, she did.

Nothing happened.

"Drop it into gear!" I called out.

"I did!" Her voice went nervous.

I slid back off the bow, reached for the controls, pulled back to neutral and back into gear, nothing.

I touched the button to lift the outdrive, stepping back and looking over the stern, there was no prop. A simple glance told me the story, I could see the rusted ends of what had been the retaining pin still inside the main shaft, the prop was gone! Somehow the stupid bastard that redid the outdrive had used a plain steel pin instead of a stainless steel one, why hadn't I noticed that?

I stepped back up to the bow, threw the anchor over the side, feeling sick inside because I knew that just 300 feet downstream the hole dropped off to 90 feet. I had just 150 feet of line. Not enough to anchor solidly in a 3 knot current.

"Jackets!" I ordered, noting the flash of fear in Kay's eyes, but she reached for hers and pulled it on, tying the knots tightly. I grabbed mine, the straps hooked with Felcro, I really didn't like the jacket because of it but I had always used it, not really thinking about it.

I glanced downstream, checking the distance to the pilings left over from an old mill operation. It was about a quarter mile, and the anchor was holding.

I knew we did not want to drift into the piling, with log debris piled up sideways against it. Not in a 3 knot current, building to 4 knots as I knew it would at peak. The odds were very high that the impact could punch through the hull.

But we were secure at anchor, so I reached for my ship to shore radio.

"Private ship Dancer, any contact!" I called out.

No answer.

I called again with the same result. I was a little surprised at that until I glanced down and saw I was on channel 18 instead of 16, the emergency channel.

I touched the button, switched to 16, called again.

No response.

I set the radio down, asked Kay if she felt all right, I didn't want her frightened. She was but she was trying.

"It will be just fine, hon. As soon as I raise someone, we will have some help."

Kay nodded, holding her hands in her lap. She was scared, I could see it. The last thing I wanted.

Then I saw a big boat coming, one of those day cruisers fishermen all hate. The skipper had her set at maximum wake, rich assholes all do that for some reason. I waited until the boat was within a hundred yards, tried to signal. The two women on the bow waved back to me, they kept right on going. I was going to fire a flare but it was daylight and by the time I decided to try, the boat was by us.

I watched the bow wake coming at us, knew what was going to happen. It was almost like in slow motion. The first wave lifted us, the second slapped us, I felt the anchor shift and let go. We drifted back into the deeper section.

I saw the piling below, our boat rushing towards them.

"Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!" I called out on channel 16. Our situation had just changed from a problem to dangerous. The response was almost instant, Coast gaurd, but at the coast, more than 80 miles away.

"What is your situation?"

"Twenty-one feet. White over blue, canvas. Two souls on board, one male one female, in jackets. We lost our prop, anchor is failing, going into the dolphins."

"Dress all line." Came the response. I knew this meant to let out all of our anchor line.

"All is dressed, we may need to..(I looked at Kay, her eyes were a haze of fear) abandon ship if we go into the pilings."

"Rescue is dispatched, hold fast."

Sure, hold fast. The pilings were less than 300 feet now, I knew what would happen when we went into them. The boat could be holed, tip, draw water, then she would roll from the pressure of the current.

"We are preparing to abandon ship!" I called. I didn't wait for a response.

Less than 100 feet now, I reached for Kay and got a good grip, waited. The boat rushed towards the piling and logs. I spotted the sharp end of a limb, it was almost like it was reaching out for us as we drifted helpless exactly at it. At the jolt and loud crack of contact I lifted Kay and threw her over the side towards the top of the logs with all my strength. Then I stepped up on the now raising gunwale as water began to flood the floorboards and leaped off towards the logs.

I missed the logs but surfaced quickly, I looked around and spotted Kay clinging to the the edge of them, the water piling up and around her. I was by her side in just a few seconds. The boat tipped, took on more water, rolled and vanished in moments out of the corner of my eye.

All I could think of was Kay. I grabbed her and tried to lift her up and onto the logs, I couldn't. It took me a few moments to realize that a branch off the log had slid under her life vest. The flow of the water was beginning to drag her under, I knew that if she went under the logs there was little chance. Even if she tore free from the snag holding her, there were limbs and debris under the logjam that could catch and hold her underwater.

I reached for the blade I always carry on my hip when boating, got it and reached out and cut the straps on her vest. The water instantly tore it free. I held her for a second, telling her to let go of the logs.

I threw her up and out of the water with all of my strength, then I felt the tug of the water grab me, I knew I was going under. I struggled with all my strength, the weight of the rushing current was too strong. I managed to grab a deep breath before the force of the water pulled me under the pile of debris.

I felt myself torn along by the current, flet my body bump against unseen obstructions. I waited for a limb or stick to grab me, trap me underwater to sure death. I was close to my lungs bursting when I felt the tug as my jacket hung up, then something released, that cheap Felcro straps had let go. I let my arms flail back releasing me from the life vest, seconds later just as I had given up and my lungs could hold out no more, my head popped to the surface.

I gulped down several breaths of sweet air, called out, "Kay!" Then I blacked out for a few seconds.

I came back around, drifting along with the current. I lay back and started to gently paddle to save energy. Then I heard a roar, I looked over and a big aluminum sled went by, running fast at wide open. The operator ran the sled right up to the piling. Tipping the outdrive at the last second to lift the bow, he then set it right up on top of the logs. I watched from what was now 200 feet away as one man leaped from the boat and ran across the tops of the slippery logs. He reached out and grabbed Kay, hauling her back to the boat and on board.

I saw Kay try to save her bikini top but it was off her arm and hanging and caught in a branch, she shook herself free and climbed onto the sled. The bottoms had been torn off her by the current, she was naked. Then I saw the outdrive go back down, the roar of the engine slid the machine back off the logs into the water.

It was just a few minutes later the sled pulled up beside me, the operator leaned over with a grin.

"Want a ride?" He reached out and grabbed me, his buddy helped and the two of them hauled me on board. I sat down on the floorboards, catching my breath. Then I looked at Kay, they had given her a T-shirt but it wasn't a hell of a lot of help, coming to about mid pubic hair. She was sitting huddled, soaked and cold, still frightened. So I slid over and gave her a hug.

She broke into tears, I just held her, telling her it was all right. Her legs were scratched and bleeding, more blood was showing on the T-shirt and there was a swelling and big reddish looking spot on her hip.

As I got my breath back, I thanked the two guys, the burly looking man running the boat just nodded, the other man was digging in a side compartment. He was bare chested, I knew where the T-shirt had come from.

He came back to us with a medical kit, sat down and pulled out some gauze and ointments.

"I'm John. That's Darrell." he grinned at me. "Close one, huh?"

I explained what had happened, he nodded. They had been running up the river to fish the same area and had heard our call on the radio.

"You went under the logjam?"

I just nodded.

"Lucky." He just shook his head, that doesn't happen and have someone survive.

John washed up Kay's leg first, dabbed some ointment on what was a small scratch, then he felt both of her knees, and her arms.

"Nothing seems broken." He asked her to turn so he could check the swelling on her hip, she did, reaching dow to lift the bottom of the T-shirt. I sat there perhaps in a bit of shock watching this man, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts place his hands all over Kay's lower body.

The whole thing seemed to be like a dream. Of course I could have helped Kay myself but I just sat and watched, I was still close to exhausted.

John pointed at the growing red spot on the front of the white T-shirt.

"I need to check that." he said, matter of factly.

Kay glanced at me, reached down and pulled the T-shirt up, baring both of her breasts. The cut was from midway in the middle of her left breast to around her ribcage. I knew it must have been from the limb that had trapped her at first. It wasn't deep, just red and angry looking.

John washed the wound and spread some of the ointment, then he placed some gauze and taped that in place. I noticed the big man running the boat glanced back a couple of times, then he turned his attention back to the river.

Kay sat there quietly as John attended to her, then he turned to me.

"Hurt anywhere?" I shook my head no, I was thinking I didn't have a mark on me.

"Might want to fix that." John pointed at my leg. I looked down, there was a piece of limb sticking out of my thigh, a good 3 inches long. I hadn't even noticed. I just reached down and yanked it out.

"Coming up on the dock." The man running the machine called out.

They had called emergency, an ambulance was waiting for us at the dock. They loaded Kay on a stretcher, I climbed in and sat down as the two attendents began to check Kay out. They just cut the T-shirt off of her. One of them turned and cut my pants up to my wound, placed a bandage on it to stop the flow of blood.

We walked out of the hospital holding hands, Kay was dressed in a nurse's smock they gave her. We hopped in a Taxi, went back to the parking lot and retrieved the Bronco and trailor.

"No more boats." I told her.

"Why not?" she turned and looked at me with a smile.

"Well, that was close, I don't want to scare you like that again."

"Buy a new boat." Kay told me, snuggling up next to me.

"If you can get us through that, you can get us through anything."

That made me feel better.

"I knew you needed attention, but I wonder what they thought when they hauled a naked woman on board?" I laughed at her.

Kay grinned at me.

"I can just imagine." she started to giggle.

"I guess those two guys saved our lives."

"No, you saved our lives, they just helped."

She snuggled up even tighter.

"We do owe John a T-shirt."