Rachael Pt. 03 Ch. 13: Sailing

Sailing

Trey took me to the marina and showed me around the office and the dockage that he maintained. The place seemed huge, and I felt in awe of its size. We walked down the long pier and he showed me several large sail boats that he kept for charter. They ranged from thirty-five to fifty-five feet in length and were as wide as two cars. We found someone working on one of them and Trey spoke to the young man in a language I barely understood. Somethings about halters, sheets, blocks, cleats, bumpers and the one word I knew from my flying, compass.

"We need to do a sail check on this yacht for a rental this weekend he said, would you like to come along?"

"Now?" I grinned.

"Sure, no time like the present."

I climbed down the short ladder into the aft cockpit and made myself comfortable while the two of them started the engine, cast off the shore lines and disconnected from the electric box on the dock.

Trey sat down next to me and we watched the young man steer the boat out of the marina. He knew what his job was, and Trey let him do it.

We motored out of the marina and the sheltered harbor almost half a mile when Charlie (the mate) pulled the throttle back and let the yacht coast ahead. Everybody looked up and the wind indicators and Charlie checked the one on top of the mast with the gauge on the capstan. Next, he looked at the compass and said, "Looks like it's still out of the west backfilling the storm."

Trey stepped up and said, "Okay, let's set up for a long reach to the north and see how everything checks out."

Charlie went to the base of the mast and started to take off the mainsail cover while Trey started to pull the sheets that controlled the headsail. Soon he had the jib drawing and the boat healed slightly before the wind. The breeze felt good and I realized that I was enjoying another new experience.

"Boss, take her up into the wind so I can hoist the main." Charlie said.

Trey took the wheel and turned us to the left and the big jib started to flap around. Soon the bow came into the wind and our speed dropped considerably. Charlie began to pull on a line called a halyard to raise the mainsail up the mast. Once he got it almost to the top he wrapped the line around a winch and began to crank it higher. Trey watched the top of the main and said, "Good enough for now, Charlie."

Before we slowed completely in the water Trey pointed the boat back to the right and the big main began to fill as did the smaller jib. The let the main and jib out until they were wrinkles were gone, and the boat heading in the direction they wanted to go.

Charlie took the wheel and Trey sat down next to me.

"What do you think?" He asked.

"It's beautiful." I gushed.

"This is quite a life out here on the water. Many sailors live the whole season just sailing up and down this bay and enjoying the natural inlets and harbors along her thousands of miles of shoreline. Rarely do you see one go out past the bridge tunnel and out of sight of land. That's not what folks are comfortable with.

"Let's go below and check out the galley and the head."

He opened the hatch and we climbed down. I saw a navigation station and a sink, small stove and a dinette for sitting. It felt small and cramped, not what you would expect in a boat this big. I soon realized that a big boat was really small when it was out on the water.

Trey checked the ice box and sink areas, everything seemed to his satisfaction, so he walked forward to a door on the left. He opened the door and waved to me to come look. There was a toilet in the little room. Big Deal?

"This is a sea toilet and when you use it you work this little stick over here to pump the toilet contents out into open water. The handle is called, dirty dick. The law is changing, and we can't pump into the bay anymore. The dirty dick pumps the sewage into a tank that we empty at dockside. Much like an RV waste system, gravity being the main difference."

"Gravity?" I asked.

"Yea, the RV drains out with gravity but the boat has to be pumped out."

"Okay." I said.

We went forward, and I saw a strange bed configuration that Trey called a V berth. There were single bed size cushions against each wall and a filler wedge cushion if you wanted to make it look like a double bed. Everything looked ship shape as they say. The cabinets were empty, ready for the renter's gear and the linen closet contained both sheets and towels folded neatly.

"How many people go on these cruises?" I asked.

"Usually it's two couples, sometimes just one or it's a larger group. This yacht can sleep 8 comfortably if some will sleep in the cockpit. The bench seats can be very accommodating for overnight sleep."

"It's a little rough for that isn't it?"

"Most nights are spent either in a marina or anchored in a sheltered harbor like the ones way over there."

I looked out a porthole toward shore and could see two sailboat masts with no sails up and they appeared to be sitting still.

Trey added, "They will come out in the bay soon and travel to the next place they want to stay overnight. We have very little night sailing unless the weather is exceptionally good or there is a big moon. Sailing in the dark is scary."

"It looks like it might be fun to just roam around in a sailboat out here on the bay.""Lots of people do it. Let's get this yacht back to the marina and see what else there is to do."

We went aloft, and Trey said to Charlie, "Lets head back down the bay and air out the spinnaker."

"Take the helm Boss, and I will hook up the halyard and sheets."

Trey stood behind the wheel and watched as Charlie hooked the three ends of the spinnaker to different lines and then released the furling gear for the headsail. The sail began to roll up around the forestay all by itself and Trey began to let the main out and turn us around and head downwind. It was all so exciting.

As soon as we were pointed south with the wind at our backs, Charlie began to pull the top of the spinnaker up to a point way up the mast. The sail ballooned out into the wind and you could feel it begin to pull the boat faster. The other two lines came aft to the cockpit and Trey fastened them to winches for trimming and holding them in place. In a matter of minutes, we were plowing down the wind, headed south east toward the bay bridge tunnel and the open ocean.

Trey steered us through the northern pass of the bridge tunnel and all I could see before us was the open Atlantic. We sailed that way for half an hour, the bridge and land becoming smaller and smaller.

Finally, I heard Trey say, "Stand by to jibe." Then, "Jibing."

He turned the boat back toward the west and the big mainsail came in all by itself, Charlie and Trey both grabbed the sheeting blocks and swung the boom past us and out the other side. The main suddenly filled with the puff of wind, the spinnaker changed sides all by itself and Trey retrimmed everything for the new course.

We were headed for the southern gap in the bridge tunnel and I could see it straight ahead. Wow, this is cool.

I had been watching the compass for a bit and began to relate the direction of travel to what I remembered from David's airplane. Without roads you need a compass.

We went through the gap in the bridge which was over the tunnel, and straight into the harbor, sails were dropped and corralled, the engine started, and Charlie swiftly parked us next to the dock we had left from.

As we climbed up onto the dock, Trey said, "How did you like it?"

"I really enjoyed that, I can't believe you do this for a living."

"Someone once told me that if you love what you do you will never work a day in your life. I love sailing and surfing. I just can't figure out how to make surfing pay."

I hugged him and said, "Thanks for the ride."

I stayed with Trey for a few more days and he finally relented to take me back to Richmond. I offered to ride the bus, but he wouldn't hear of it.

He dropped me off at my apartment and the doorman helped me unload the things I collected in Virginia Beach. Wetsuit, foul weather gear, hiking boots for sailing, and more clothes than when I left. I had planned to spend more time naked it seems.

We hauled it all up to the apartment and dumped it in the living room.

"Trey, do you want to stay overnight?"

"No, I need to get back, we have three rentals going out for a week tomorrow and the crew will need my help."

"Okay, I sure enjoyed my week with you and the guys, I hope things keep going well."

"Thank you, Rachael, you can visit anytime you like. I will even take you out sailing when you come."

"Drive safe and call me when you get home."

He left, and I stood there all alone again wondering if I could find work in Virginia Beach?