The day finally arrived. Cliff and Michael had taken a couple of days off and were going to crew with me. I’d checked everything I could. Surface ocean currents in the Gulf looked good, prevailing winds were in our favor, and the weather man predicted happy sailing days. Cliff had raced with me many times, so I had complete trust in his capabilities. Michael was a born athlete, so I knew he’d take to his tasks easily. We were going to take it easy down to Port Isabel. I would lose my crew after that, but they agreed to help me get her berthed. She was in great condition, and I was anxious to get going.
We set off early on Thursday. Galveston Bay is notoriously shallow, so it was a relief when we made it past that. We set the sails on a southwesterly course and relaxed a bit. The winds were perfect, and the sky was clear blue with white fluffy clouds.
“Are we set for a while?” Michael asked.
“Looks like it.” The wind in my face felt awesome. I couldn’t stop smiling. I said, “This is what a sail boat is made for. Not sitting in a dock gathering barnacles.”
“I agree. I think we should celebrate getting out of the shallows.” Cliff raised his eyebrows at me. I knew he wanted a beer, but it wasn’t noon yet. I had always lived by the “no drinking until afternoon” policy, and he knew it.
I shook my head.
He rolled his eyes.
“What am I missing here?” Michael asked.
“Trent demands abstinence until noon,” Cliff said. His blonde hair blew about his face and into his eyes.
“Put your sunglasses on, dude,” I said.
“You’re changing the subject.” He pushed hair out of his eyes and frowned, but started searching for his glasses.
“I brought extra baseball caps,” Michael said. “If you want to borrow one, I’ve got a pink one with PRINCESS earmarked for you.”
Cliff ignored his brother and produced sunglasses from one of the many pockets on his pants. He donned them and grinned nastily at Michael.
“Are you two going to act like brothers all the way to Isabel?”
“Yes,” they both answered.
“And we need beer. You promised beer.” Michael wore the same grin as his brother now.
“There are water bottles in the chest. Help yourself. We’ll break out the beer when we have lunch.”
“Ooh, what’s for lunch?” Cliff asked. He rubbed his hands together in anticipation. I could see myself in the blue of his glasses.
“Sandwiches.” I wasn’t one of those sailors who needed a great galley stocked with exotic spices. A fridge with mustard, pickles, and sometimes lettuce; a loaf of bread; several bags of chips; sodas; a jar of peanut butter; and beer were my mainstays.
“You need to loosen up,” Cliff said. Michael, meanwhile, had gone into the cabin and laid down.
“He can sleep anywhere,” I said.
“Yeah. We’ll wake him up when we need him.”
“Looks like that’ll be a while.”
We stopped talking and simply enjoyed the salt air and occasional spray of water to keep us cool. The boat was trimmed and humming along. I felt a sense of freedom that I’d been missing. The tiller in my hand made me feel powerful and in control. A feeling I wish I had when it came to dealing with my dad’s failing health. My mind wandered to dark places like rehab centers, nursing homes, home health care, and the like.
“You sure lost your smile there, bud,” Cliff said at some point.
“Thinking about Dad’s situation.”
“That’ll put a frown on anybody’s face. How is he holding up, anyway?”
“Not so great. Mom says he won’t take care of himself. She has to hog-tie him to get him to visit a doctor’s office, and he really needs to be listening to the professionals.”
“Man, that’s tough. She’s got her hands full. Your old man was always such a spit-fire. I remember how he used to boss you around when he’d come to the campus to visit. We all gave you a hard time, but we felt sorry for you. We were too full of ourselves to let you know that.”
“He means well. I couldn’t ask for a better dad, but his head is about as hard as a head can get.” I shook my head thinking about how difficult it was going to be when I got to Brownsville and had to try to convince him to change his ways. Was I making a fool’s journey?
Michael’s ridiculously loud snoring drifted up to us. It was like a fog horn blowing fair warning. We broke into laughter, and the mood was gone. I turned my cap around backwards to keep the wind from blowing it off and concentrated on the set of the sails. Things were good for me. I didn’t need to take Dad’s problems in. If he wanted to ruin his health, there was little I could do to prevent it. I’d face those issues when I was there. For now, I would enjoy the journey. Cellular reception was awful, so I wouldn’t be getting any frantic calls for a few days.
“Hey, it’s noon!” Michael must have set a timer. I snorted. His bed hair was hilarious.
“You look like you need a beer,” I said in my most sarcastic voice.
“Wait ‘til you see me after a few.” He winked. He knew he wouldn’t be getting drunk on my boat. I’d thrown him overboard more than once for that kind of behavior when we were younger. He’d learned his lessons well.
“Let’s prepare to jibe,” I said.
“Aye, aye.” They both saluted and did as I asked.
I watched as the main swung over and settled in. I loved the sound of the sheets cracking. The guys did their parts admirably, and we were soon on our new tack. They were good guys, and this would be a fun sail, even if we were assured of being exhausted by the time we made it to Isabel. It would be difficult to see their plane taking off from Brownsville. A lot could happen before I’d see either of them again, and that made me sad. The thought of a certain red head being in the vicinity cheered me tremendously.
No matter what lay ahead with making new friends, connecting with old ones, or Dad’s health issues, I was sure I’d be able to find Samantha. After all, Sandy Shores wasn’t that big of a town. I had arranged with my sister, Tessa, to meet there after I got set up at my new marina. She’d been in Chicago and needed a sunny vacation, so had readily agreed to meet me. Her high-powered job in banking would hold for a couple of weeks. She told me it had been three years since she took a vacation. The company owed her more than two weeks. I couldn’t wait to see her. It had been too long. We had always gotten along great. She would be staying in one of the newer condos. I was curious to see what the old town looked like now. It had been a lazy, one-horse place when I was a kid. Huge condo complexes didn’t seem to fit my rememberances. I guessed that was the price of progress. I was just glad the town hadn’t died a slow death. If they were building for tourism, they might survive. There sure seemed to be enough people to go around these days.
We stopped for the night in Rockport. I didn’t want the guys using my limited water, and it would be so much easier to shower in the marina’s facilities. I stayed aboard, while the guys got a cheap motel for the night. I was happy to know that it would be Cliff and not me hearing Michael snoring. At least I would get a good night’s sleep. The water’s gentle motion on the boat was better than any rocking chair a baby ever experienced.
The next morning, the guys showed up clean shaven and rested. I decided I would go to my grave before I would tell them that I’d woken myself up with my own snoring more than once during the night. They’d never let me live that down after the razzing we’d given Michael.
“Sherry says hi,” he said as he stepped aboard and held a cup of coffee out to me.
“What? No Starbucks?” I asked as I took the steaming cup from him gratefully.
“Nope. They apparently closed down a while back.” Cliff said.
“We had to ask the curvy receptionist for directions. She was very helpful.” Michael winked and took the lid off his cup.
“I guess you don’t want me to say anything about that to Bailey?” I loved to tease Michael. He was still young enough to be naïve about some of the things I’d say.
Cliff choked on his coffee and spilled some on his shorts.
“Dude, looks like you had an accident,” Michael said. “Should I take a photo and send it to Sherry? She’d probably be very impressed.”
So, the guy was getting better at figuring out how to give as well as take. I was proud to know he was growing up so well.
“You won’t live to know how she reacts,” Cliff said.
Michael never reached for his phone, so we were all safe enough.
“If you two clowns are through,” I said, “let’s get this boat headed south.”
“When are you going to name this rig?” Cliff asked.
“Yeah, isn’t that usually the first thing you do when you get a new boat?” Michael scratched his head and crumpled his now empty coffee cup in his hand.
“I’ll name it when I figure out who she is.”
The brothers looked knowingly at each other. We had been over this ground before. I wanted to name my boat after someone I loved. Mother was out. I loved her, but not like that! Janine wanted me to name it after her, but I knew better than that from the start of that disastrous affair. I was playing with “Samantha’s Serenity,” but it wasn’t catchy enough. My musing was interrupted.
“How about What’s Her Name?” Michael asked.
I cuffed him around the neck and fluffed his curly blonde hair.
“Hey, unhand me!” he said. We were all laughing, so it was a good start to the day. I would think of a name after I got to know Samantha better.