Winchester Harbor Chapter 16
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| Chapter 16 of 36 | |
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Locations
- The Channel Stop
- On board the Harvest Time, a fifty-five-foot trawler yacht
- An unnamed marina at Saugatuck Harbor
Characters
- Phil, the owner of a marina at Saugatuck
Summary
One morning along toward the end of October a storm forced Nate to cancel that day’s fishing, but Nate showed up at the Channel Stop anyway. Nate had another ferry job he needed help with - a big fifty-five-foot (17m) trawler yacht from Mackinaw City to Tarpon Springs, Florida... a long slow trip.
The following Saturday morning Rachel drove us to Mackinaw City to pick up the boat. They filled the fuel tanks, said a long goodbye to Rachel, and backed the Harvest Time away from the dock. They were soon out of the harbor and onto the lake.
Nate and Jake discussed the route, and agreed on four-hour watches. All Jake would have to do is hold course and watch out for lake freighters. Around late afternoon the weather started getting rough, the Harvest Time was bouncing around, and sleep was impossible. Nate and Jake both voted to find a place to pull in and sit the storm out. Saugatuck was the next harbor on the route and that's where they docked, fell into their bunks and slept until late morning.
When they got up the weather reports said it would be the same for the rest of the day. They saw a small restaurant across the street from the marina, and that was where they got breakfast. Nate called home and talked to Barb, reported that we were weathered in, but would probably be on the move the next day.
After a few cups of coffee they wandered back across the street to the marina and talked with Phil, the guy who ran the place. While Nate looked at a damaged power cruiser, Jake wandered around and found a partially assembled 21-foot (7m) sailboat sitting on a single-axle trailer tucked in a corner. The story was that the owner worked on it now and then, and was paying space rental. Phil guessed that there was maybe 100 hours of work left to do on it, and a reasonable offer would probably buy it as-is where-is.
After a while the three said their goodbyes, and Phil headed home for the rest of a wet, stormy day.
