Unknown Diners

Chapter Twenty-Six

Lorne's iPhone alarm woke them at six, and after a quickie, they showered and headed downstairs. They were greeting Rachel good morning in the kitchen as Michael came in the back door. "Compost habit — unless it's pouring rain. Good morning. Have you changed your mind on breakfast?"

"We're running on a schedule, Daddy," Catherine said as she kissed him. She snickered and added, "Time and tide wait for no man, not even for Lorne."

They hugged Rachel goodbye. "Don't be strangers. Your bedroom is always here. You can back come and cook like that for us as often as you wish."

The tender was where they had secured it, and after a hug from her father, Catherine stepped aboard and opened the chain lock. "So how do I start this thing?"

"I'll code the thumb pads for you later." Lorne did a sequence of touches and received a green light, then he undid the mooring lines and pushed away from the float. She pulled the lever back and slowly backed into open water as they waved at Michael.

"So down-to-earth, both of them. What delightful parents you have. And what a magnificent daughter they have." He put his arm around her waist as she headed the tender toward Tastevin.

Alongside, he talked her through attaching the hoisting slings and disabling the tender's drive. As they walked up the steps of the accommodation ladder, he asked her, "Do you remember the lowering sequence?"

"It seemed simple when you did it."

"That's because it is simple. The toggle switches are labelled, and everything is logical." They arrived at the panel. "Take your time and think it through while I raise and stow the accommodation ladder. I'll show you that next time."

She smiled at him as he returned half a minute later. "Seems logical I start here. Hoist Up Down." She pushed Up, and they watched the tender rise from the water.

"There's a cut-out switch at the top, so you can't raise it too far. Run it until it switches off." He bent and kissed her cheek.

"Next is Travel In Out, again logical." She tilted the toggle to In, and they watched the tender move across the deck and stop directly above the chocks. "I figured there'd be another cut-out switch here."

He kissed her lips lightly and patted her bum. "You finish here, I'll go release the snubbers."

"What about the lashing strops?"

"You should be able to figure those out."

She was finishing the last of the lashing when he returned from the bow. "Elegantly simple system. A child could sort it out and operate it."

"No need to make it complex. That complex stuff is for those who want to play macho."

He began shortening the scope on the rode as he rolled out the staysail, explaining as he worked. "The sail will move us forward toward the anchor, easing the load on the windlass. With this breeze, there should be sufficient momentum to pop the anchor free as we sail over it." He continued shortening the chain, gradually swinging the bow toward the anchor. "Next we pull out a piece of the main to catch more of the breeze. We should now be nearly up-and-down on the anchor."

The bow dipped a bit then rebounded, and he pushed the Auto button for the windlass to recover the weighed anchor. "There's a great auto-house system in the bow, again with a cut-out. I can let it carry-on while I tend to other things."

"This seems so simple. No noisy and smelly engine, no scurrying around, Dad would love this."

"I'd love to have them out sailing."