Ingrid Ch. 05

Ingrid popped up in the companionway with an exaggerated smile. "I'm baaack!"

"Good, we're about to make our last tack and I need your fabulous skills to guide us to the entrance while I start on the dinner preparation. OK?"

"Of course. It's becoming rather old hat now," she said imperiously. "Off you go, cook. And don't come back until I call you. Oh, wait, uh ... I guess we have to change course first, eh?"

"I recommend it or we'll be having dinner on the rocks over there," he said, pointing to a spot a couple of kilometers north of the target. "Bring her about to zero-two-zero helmsman. I'll tend the sails."

"Aye, aye, Captain," she replied crisply.

The course change took less than a minute and Steve returned to the cabin. He looked out over the bow and checked the wind.

"The wind's dropping, Ingrid. It's probably being blocked by the mountains in back of here. If the sails start to flap and a few degrees of rudder doesn't fill them again, pip the horn and I'll come up. We'll just motor into the cove. OK?"

"Got it. I mean, aye, aye," she said with mock seriousness.

"See you later, Captain."

Steve turned and went below to the galley. Ingrid turned the radio back on and was humming along to some of the tunes. She could hear Steve occasionally clanking plates and clinking utensils. She couldn't wait to find out what he was preparing for dinner. The sandwich at Frisco's was long gone and she wished she had asked him to bring her some cheese and crackers. Oh well, too late now.

She was scanning the coastline ahead when she suddenly caught a flash of light off the port bow. She tried to make out what it was, but in the deepening shadows against the forested mountain, she couldn't tell. She reached over and picked up the binoculars. She scanned the area where she thought she saw the light and saw nothing.

She was beginning to think she had seen a reflection from shore or even imagining it when the binoculars picked up what looked like a long dark object with a dark, bulky shape above it. She looked at it closely and as she scanned to the left, she noticed a thin white streak at the right end of the object.

She tweaked the focus on the binoculars and suddenly realized it was water. It was a wake, and the dark object was a barge with a machine sitting on it. Looking from the bright sunlight into the dark shadows made it very difficult to see. She scanned slowly to the right and finally saw a small towboat, about fifty meters in front of the barge. She put the glasses down and surveyed her heading. They were on a crossing course for sure.

"Steve, can you come up here?" she called firmly.

In seconds he was up the companionway and onto the deck. "What's up?"

"A tug and barge, off to the left," she said calmly, pointing for his benefit.

He picked up the binoculars and scanned in the direction she had pointed. He saw nothing at first and then picked up the wake from the barge. "Holy cow, Ingrid! How the heck did you spot him?"

"I saw a flash of light and I got curious. It took a while to find him. I thought we might be on a crossing course. That's why I called you," she said concisely.

"We're on a crossing course all right, maybe even a collision course. Wow! Ingrid, that's amazing," he said with genuine respect.

"Bring us about to two-eight-oh. I'll bring in the sails and we'll motor in. We're ahead of schedule anyway."

He looked around to her and said, "Wow! Are you Supergirl or something? Don't answer, I probably don't want to know," he chuckled in relief.

He moved out on deck and went forward to furl the Genoa and then drop the mainsail. Ingrid had found the wind and both sails were slack and flapping gently in the dying breeze. As she watched him stow the sails, she reached over and pushed the starter button on the engine. As it roared to life, Steve looked around, smiled and gave her his typical 'thumbs up'. It sounded too fast, so Ingrid pulled the throttle back gently until it was idling quietly and then slipped the gear lever into forward.

They moved slowly ahead and she pushed the throttle slightly forward to bring the RPM's up. Steve heard the gear engagement and the revs coming up and he looked back at the wheelhouse and smiled. Show her once, or just let her watch, and she has it down. Amazing!

How the hell did she see that tug and barge. That was an accident waiting to happen. The crazy bastard hadn't turned on his running lights or his tow lights. From the look of him, he was a little shoestring operator. He wondered how many close calls this guy had had without even realizing it. Someday he'll kill somebody, if not himself.

He decided he wouldn't tell Ingrid just how dangerous that situation might have been if she hadn't been on her toes. "I owe her one," he thought. He finished stowing the sails and walked back to the wheelhouse. He was shaking his head just thinking about the incident and walked to the control panel.

"Ingrid, these are the running lights" he pointed, then flicked the switch. "Even though the sun is still up, when we get into the shadows against the sunset with our sails down, it's very difficult to see us. That's why you had a hard time seeing that tug. With the running lights and the mast light, there's a much better chance of being seen."

As usual, the explanation was brief and to the point.

"We work well together, don't we," she said. It was a statement, not a question.

"Better than you realize, Ingrid," he said proudly. He looked forward with the binoculars and saw that they were now clear of the tug's path. "Bring the heading around to zero-six-zero and just hold it there for a while. I don't have much more to do in the galley, so I'll relieve you in about ten minutes. OK?"

"Aye, Aye, Captain," she said, looking at him with a cocked head and a smile.

Ingrid was on a high. She had guessed the incident with the tug and barge was more dangerous than Steve let on. She could tell by how he had reacted. She was proud of herself, but this boat business seemed very natural to her. She wasn't nervous or uncertain. Steve gave clear, understandable, reasoned instructions and explanations.

As she made the course changes and adjustments, she could see for herself why the move was made. He called her a 'natural'. Maybe, but it was more that she wasn't intimidated by the boat or the situation. With proper instruction, she wasn't afraid to think for herself. Whatever it was, she knew she loved this boat and their time on the water.

She hadn't faced bad weather or any of the other hazards yet, but she knew she didn't fear them with Steve by her side. She felt the camera in her pocket and tried to remember to take some pictures of this special weekend. She would want to remember this for a long time.