A Ship's Tale by N. Jay Young

Author:N. Jay Young
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boson Books
Published: 2011-08-10T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

CLEARING AWAY AND MESSAGES FROM HOME

Boris had been finishing up splices and extra work on the lines, then he checked the grommets on the sails. He exclaimed, “They did very good job! Never making sails before, they did very good.” He nodded, tipped his cap, and disappeared below. Shortly thereafter, we heard quite a bit of banging and thrashing about, but this was Boris’s way. He liked being alone, and he didn’t like people irritating him while he worked. Everyone stayed clear of the main hatchway, for this was Boris’s domain.

“What’s he doing down there?” I wondered aloud.

“Don’t ask!” Harris said. “It’s his place, and if you venture down there, you’ll gain nothing but his wrath which I assure you can be formidable at times.”

After a while Robert went forward, saying something about stores, and left Harris at the helm. It was unusually quiet and I asked where the boys were who were off watch.

“Down below, ’tween deck forward,” Harris replied. “Maybe you can go and help.”

I gave up on my intended assault on the dreaded radio for the moment.

The ’tween deck was an upper hold just under the main deck, about five feet high at its low end and as wide as the ship, with the aft section divided into our cabins. It stretched from the foremast and ended at the main hold. We weren’t carrying much, so Boris used this forward hold as a store for anything in the way of food and extra sail. The main hold was reached through the main hatchway where all the lines and serviceable equipment used for running the ship were stowed. This was Boris’s private domain and served double duty as his sleeping quarters.

In the rush and tumble of getting everything on board, many things were put down anywhere there was room and left unsecured. I was glad that we’d not had a storm our first day out. With all the hatches battened down, the ’tween decks is a dark place and one needs plenty of light to avoid falling down through the tonnage openings under the hatches. I had my own method of avoiding these openings and walked as near to the hull as possible. However, with twenty boys dashing around excitedly, I made a note to talk to Harris about putting some sort of covers in place for these traps.

I went down through number two hatch and could see the boys further forward. They’d found some lanterns and had two suspended over the great mound of stores.

I could hear Robert giving instructions, “All this stuff was accumulated by Harris and Boris over quite a period. We might not need all of it on the voyage, but we’ll never know if we don’t sort it out. Now what we’re looking for is paint, and anything to do with cleaning, such as tools, soap, and disinfectant. If you sort those out and put them here,” he showed them a space between two of the ship’s ribs, “that’ll make it easier to see what’s left.

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