The Bouncing Buns Gentleman's Club

Chapter 18

It quickly became obvious the Sergeant had been right about the weather. By the time it took for Kevin to get his boat underway, the front had moved in and made the normally clear moonlit night, dark and uninviting. It was also becoming increasingly windy. The moon was full, but it could no longer be seen, making it one of those nights that caused boat captains to thank their lucky stars for working radar and easily seen navigation lights.

Unfortunately, even those big red, green, and white lights weren't always enough during a squall. Kevin was starting to fear this just might be one of those times. Given the situation, he decided it would be smart to delay things a bit more by going by the fuel pier and topping off his tanks. He didn't want to make the same mistake the men on the Azimut had made and risk running low on fuel in seas where maneuverability would be critical to survival.

Once fueled, the passage through the basin inlet had to be negotiated. Normally the water depth wouldn't be a problem, but now Dan's sunken boat was lying in the middle of the channel. Kevin approached the area very slowly, and with a constant eye on the depth sounder. He was no slouch as a boat captain and one mishap in a day was already over his limit.

Fortunately, the approaching front and accompanying wind brought a surge of water in that increased the normal depth for this time of day. Any increase in water depth would be a big help in negotiating the inlet, but once they were away from the shelter of the marina and exposed in open water, the storm would have full rein to kick up the waves and create havoc.

Approaching Dan's boat, which was now nothing more than a navigation hazard, Kevin needed some help.

"Heather, call out depths from the readout for me so I can keep my eyes 'on the road'."

"You bet, my captain. I don't want to lose the bottom of our boat any more than you do!" Heather said, as she rushed to the helm.

The draft, or depth the boat extended below the water line, was about four and a half feet. Kevin knew his fiberglass hull could be easily damaged, possibly ripped open, by even a minor hit on something solid. The same was true of his propellers and their shafts, which were even more vulnerable and could be made useless with the slightest bend into misalignment.

Heather began calling depths, "nine...six...seven...five, Kevin, Kevin!" Shouting frantically, KEVIN!"

Kevin slammed the shifter into reverse just in time to avoid a collision with the submerged remains of Dan's boat just as the water reached critical depth. Once clear, he edged closer to the side of the channel hoping to find deeper water.

Wiping some new-found perspiration from her forehead and taking a deep breath, Heather said, "Whew! That was too close," and kept reading off depths.

"Ten... ten... twelve... seventeen... eighteen, it looks like you're past it and in the cut now, Kevin."

"Well done, you two!" Beverly said as the rain started to blow in.

"We do make a quite a team, don't we hon?" Heather asked, but Kevin's mind was on something else.

Distracted and increasingly concerned by what he was seeing, Kevin said, "I was afraid of this. The water here in Pelican Cut is already very choppy, and it's even partially protected compared to the ship channel. I think we're in for it. There's no inside helm on this boat, so Heather and I will be stuck out here in the open."

"What should Tom and I do, Kevin?"

"It would be far better for both of you to stay inside. It's going to be very unpleasant out here with us. You're going to be drenched, thrown around, possibly get sick, and you can certainly expect to be scared half to death and have no need of a restroom for several days!"