Running From the AIs by Kevin R Coleman

Author:Kevin R Coleman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Otter & Osprey Press

26

LEARNING TO SAIL

The next morning, they woke early. Emma busied herself making coffee, fresh scrambled eggs and bacon with hash brown potatoes while Raoul watched. By the time Mary and Jake arrived, the breakfast table was all set.

“This is a treat,” said Mary. “Looks lovely, Emma.”

“Thanks, Mary.” Emma smiled. Raoul realized it was a long time since he had seen Emma so excited.

“So today, you learn to sail,” said Jake. “I’m curious. I’ve never actually sailed any distance on a sailboat.”

“We’ll have Ryan, Angus’ son, with us too. He’s preparing a dinghy for us in exchange for the sailing lessons.”

“How old is Ryan?” asked Emma.

“He looked about 14, but apparently he’s very good with engines.”

“Shouldn’t he be in school?”

“Not our worry. Angus is fully supportive, so I’m sure they’ve worked something out.”

Emma, Raoul, and Jake all piled into the old jeep. It was more comfortable than the ATV, but Raoul missed the independence of his morning rides down to the dock.

Mike arrived at about the same time. Ryan showed up a few minutes later. Mike called Jake to one side, and they had a private conversation. When they joined the group, Jake said, “Looks like you have a full boat here. You two can give me a ride when your lessons are over.” He stayed to watch for a few minutes, before climbing into the jeep and disappearing up the road.

“Okay,” said Mike, after they made introductions all around, “let’s start with the parts of the boat. Then we’ll go out for our first sea lesson.”

Mike started down in the cabin, pointing out all the through-hulls that had to be closed, how to batten all the hatches, latch all the cupboards, and perform the daily engine checks.

Raoul opened the navigation station and pulled out a new notebook to write down the checklist that Mike had just gone through. Emma caught sight of the other notebooks stored there. “How many of those have you filled?” she asked.

“Six here on the boat. Another eight up at the cabin.”

She opened one of the notebooks and looked at the neatly labelled sketches and descriptions of boat parts, electrical diagrams and other things he had learned. Many of the pages bore greasy finger marks attesting to their creation while working.

Next was a demonstration of how to use the head with its manual flush. Also, the shower which would soak the entire small bathroom, but that wouldn’t matter.

The V-berth, which would become their bedroom, was not yet made up. Emma peered in at the bed. A plastic sheet covered the mattress, protecting it from the spare parts and materials Raoul had left there.

Emma spent a moment going through the cupboards in the galley and experimentally rocked the stove on its gimbals. “The stove will remain flat when the boat’s heeling,” explained Mike, “so you can make coffee while underway. But I don’t recommend trying to make anything more than coffee until you’re anchored. There’s too much risk of scalding yourself if the boat moves suddenly.”

A neat pile of small packages sat in one of the quarter berths at the stern.

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