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"Except, we should first sail back to the plane and let the others know that we're on our way," suggested Jennie.
Igor agreed to that.
"And then we must count how much money we've 'borrowed,' so we can settle our debts later on," I said to Igor.
"No, you've both got it wrong," Igor replied. "The first thing we must do, is find the ignition key, so that we can get the engine started. Then we must remove the coverings from the sails, and then..."
"...He is right, of course," interrupted Jennie, jokingly.
"Certainly he is right," I agreed, "after all he is the captain!"
We laughed, and started a frantic search for the engine key, which was nowhere to be found.
"Let's just jumper the switch," I suggested. I remembered the tools that I saw lying on the deck of another boat. I ran quickly back and collected whatever screwdrivers and pliers I could find. We removed the dashboard and were able to jumper the starter. But as we did, there was a dead silence. No spark, no noise. No nothing! The batteries were dead.
As we scurried around for a new battery, I found a small outboard motor that looked like it would do the job just as well. And it did. Igor found a place where we could mount it. That's how the Mary Q got under way. It slid effortlessly into the open waters under the soft tugging of our outboard motor, until a few hundred yards off shore, Igor unfurled the main sail. This set us off on our journey across the Pacific. The dream of a few hours ago, had become a reality.
We sailed first to the plane, as Jennie had suggested. I took my captain's hat off, and put it on Igor. "As long as we are on this boat, this is yours to wear," I told him.
He took if off, examined it carefully; "You have worn this for many years," he said. He gave it back to me; "I could never take this. As far as I am concerned, with all honesty, there will always be just one captain on this boat, and that is you." He put his arm around me gently, and smiled. "I'm merely a better sailor," he added. "Actually, it's not all that difficult to sail a boat. If you want to turn it this way, and the wind comes from over there," he pointed to it. "All you have to do is this. You see how the boat comes around. But watch out for the boom!!! OOPS."
We spent half an hour in this fashion. We talked about the various features of the boat and the different kinds of sails it had. He was most knowledgeable on the subject. Also he seemed right about what he first said, that this boat would get us to any place in the world. It felt solid, easy to handle. There was plenty of room. We had three large bunks in the front, five in the back cabin - far more than we needed. The only thing we did not have, was a radio.
Since the ship's batteries were dead, nothing of any kind that was electrical worked.
"I should have brought a portable radio from the store," said Jennie.
Actually I couldn't care less. It seemed that we could live for a few weeks without electric lights. We could certainly sail without radar, and without the depth finder. We had one single flashlight, and while searching for the key, I found a box of candles and an old oil lamp.
"But without a radio, I feel so cut off from the world," said Jennie.
"That's just fine with me, Jennie," I said.
It was way past suppertime before we got back to the beach. The others saw us a long way off, apparently before we even realized they had seen us. Jack had opened the emergency exit and had climbed out onto the wing. I saw him waving with both hands. He appeared to wave us good-bye, not to urge us to come back. As we came closer, Orlando joined him.
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