Winchester Harbor Chapter 12
| Winchester Harbor | |
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| Chapter 12 of 36 | |
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Locations
- On board the Mary Sue, a twenty-six-foot International Folkboat (a full keel fiberglass sailboat)
Characters
Summary
Jake and Rachel take the Mary Sue out onto the lake, a safe distance away from the shore, but find no wind. They end up motoring for quite a while. Rachel teaches Jake how to run an alcohol stove, among other things.
They have a lot of time and discuss several topics, like Darryl, her plans after school, college, and more. Rachel was a competent sailor, however she was still a kid, and had a high school kid’s view of things, which wasn’t necessarily the same as the real world.
Eventually little breeze sprang up, Rachel had Jake turn into the breeze, and she raised the sails. She took a moment to instruct Jake about always wearing a life vest and being tied off to a safety line when on deck outside the cockpit. before long the sails were up, they were back on course, the sails filled, and the boat heeled over a little from the pressure.
Over the next few hours Rachel demonstrated basic sail handling, including tacking into the wind, and running downwind. Reading books is one thing, but doing it is the best way to learn.
Lunch was a tuna salad sandwich - they used up the perishable food first. Supper was warmed-up canned stew. Nightfall found them several miles offshore and getting ready to do four hour watches. Jake then crawled into a berth and sacked out until Rachel woke him at midnight. She briefed him on their position, compass course and known ship traffic. She crawled into the same berth as Jake said he'd wake her at four in the morning.
Midwatches tend to be quiet times, and he mused over several topics, like what was he going to do over the winter?
Also Mentioned
- Nate Kunkle
- Darryl
