A Matter of Time by David Manuel

Author:David Manuel [MANUEL, DAVID]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780446565448
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2009-10-31T04:00:00+00:00

22 knock you down

Perfect mayhem described the scene aboard the boat with the red spinnaker.

“Stand by the jib!” cried Anson Phelps, his hand on the tiller. “Buoy in thirty seconds!”

“Jib leader’s jammed!”

“Well, unjam it, Kerry!” shouted Anson, letting fly a stream of invective. “Twenty seconds to buoy! Colin, where’s the wind going to be, when we round her? You don’t know?” He ripped off another peal of epithets.

“I don’t care if it’s just changed! That’s why you’re out here! Now give me input on the other boat! Kerry, jib ready? Good! Ten seconds! Colin! Where’s the other boat? Input, man! All right, Alex, down spinnaker in five! Four… three… Watch the boat! Watch the boat!”

Bam! The two boats collided as they rounded the buoy together. The impact threw Alex off balance, and he lost the spinnaker line. Like a suddenly deflated balloon, the spinnaker collapsed, draping the bow, dragging in the sea, stopping them dead in the water.

Anson was in a white-knuckled rage. A litany of the crude and the vulgar poured from his mouth, until he started to lose his voice. Since that was a luxury a captain could ill afford, he fell silent. But he was no less angry.

“All right,” he muttered, “that’s it for today!” He spun the wheel and headed for the yacht club. “In all my 33 years, that is the worst piece of seamanship I have ever encountered! Novices on Sunfishes could do better!” On and on he went, until they reached the assigned berth at the RBYC docks.

Later, after they’d showered and cleaned up and were out on the covered terrace, Anson ordered a Heineken for Colin and a Foster’s for himself. He led them to a table over to the side, where they would not be disturbed.

“Where were you out there, man?” he asked Colin, not unkindly. “Because you sure weren’t in the boat with the rest of us.”

Colin didn’t answer. He just shook his head slowly.

“Look, man, I’m counting on you! Not just to read gusts before they knock us down, but for leadership! There’s nothing wrong with Alex and Kerry. They’re young, but they’re good. And they handle stress well—like the kind I dish out. They just need to be steadied down, and you’re the one who can do that.”

Anson waited, but there was no response. Finally, frustration mounting, he exclaimed, “I need the Beater out there, man! Tell me he’s going to be there tomorrow!”

“He’ll be there,” said Colin quietly.

“Well, good!” sighed his friend, relieved. “Because tomorrow we start racing for real! And I don’t ever want to go through that dog’s breakfast again!”

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