I had been doodling over some ideas I had for Bilbo, my sailboat. I did this a lot when I was trying to work out a problem, whether it was for my boat, motorcycle, or something at school. The Mainframe Computer was doing fine ever since I had changed some JCL job control library cards that were being used in an extensive sort.
Leona was seated in the cafeteria when I came in, her long auburn hair up in a pony tail. I got a tray and put food and a cup of coffee on it. Eric, you look chipper, what have you been up to all weekend?
She was beautiful, her brown eyes sparkled, and she was radiant, I thought to myself. And she doesnt even know it. Ive been working on the boat. I finally got the bowsprit in place and its ready to take out and be tested. Why dont you join me and well make a day of it Saturday? I set the tray down and took a seat. She got a little flustered Ive never been on a boat, what will I wear, what if I drown?
We wont be far offshore, and I have a new life jacket just for you. Just wear something to match your jeans, and tennis shoes.
When I picked her up Saturday morning, she looked like she had just stepped out of Sail Magazine wearing blue jeans, red tennis shoes and a red and white long sleeved shirt. We got on my beamer, a slang term for BMW, and headed for Point Loma and the Sun Harbor Marina. It was difficult to see my sailboat from the dock because of all the power boats. When Leona saw Bilbo, she commented, Thats yours, it looks like your kind of work. We went aboard and she was full of questions but she had a practiced restraint.
The boat had its dock lines in place, and the mahogany on the gunwales gleamed. When I put the tiller in place it all came together. I put the ice chest below and brought up a three-horsepower outboard. Leona went below and found the tapes and put one the tape deck while I got the sails and hooked them in place. We cast off using the outboard to clear the docks. Then I locked the tiller in place. I had made a comb from mahogany and put a small piece of stainless steel under the tiller. The boat held a course while I hoisted the genoa and mainsail. I went to the helm and shut down the outboard, and made the sheets tight. Leona was watching every move I made and figuring out what I was doing. Then, we were on the wind. She was confident that I knew what I was doing and after awhile she got up and started to walk around the boat.
Holding onto the forestay she proclaimed to the world, Im a maiden head, Im a maiden head. When she finally came back, I had her get us each of us a glass of wine out of the ice chest. When she was seated I explained You have a maidenhead between your legs, what you meant was, youre a figurehead. She was chagrined. She looked cute with that red embarrassed smile. We sailed on a port tack until we were even with the Point Loma lighthouse then eased around back the way we came. We went wing on wing, meaning the jib was on one side and the mainsail on the other, until we reached Shelter Island. I dropped the jib and sailed into Sun Harbor and we tied up. By then, Leona was bursting with questions. Why does Bilbo have different colored lines and where do you get them? Some of the things seemed silly and I took it for granted. All the lines on the port side are red, all the lines to the starboard are green and the blue ones stay in the cockpit. And, I made them using Rite fabric dye, a gallon bucket, water, and vinegar. You heat up the dye and water, add the lines you want to be that particular color, and let it set. Then, add vinegar to make the color fast and let it dry. While the first line dries, start over on the second, and repeat until youre done.
We cleaned up the boat, and had dinner at the Red Sails. Leona had never eaten abalone so I ordered two dinners and a bottle of white wine. After dinner, we went out to the porch and had Courvoisier v.s.o.p. and coffee. Do you live like this all the time? she asked. Just when I have a beautiful woman with me. It was getting late so I took her back to National City and rode on home to Chula Vista.
Pulling the bike into the garage, I shut the place down and went on to bed. Sunday was a lazy day, and after my morning coffee, I decided what had to be done. The place I rented was a three bedroom house on a corner lot. It had a double garage and large yards on both sides. It was time to mow, the last few weekends I had worked on Bilbo, and the neglect showed. By noon, the house and yard look shipshape. The garage held my bike, an inflatable raft, and various pieces of equipment for the boat. One bedroom was full of boating equipment, one was mine, and the third was empty. I found something for dinner then went to bed because the next morning, I had to be at the university early. I went to bed thinking of that fateful day.
|