Knockdown (7 page)

We were quiet as we hunted through the pile. T
he boat came with a six-pack of orange vests we’d never opened. Dad and my brothers had vests that looked like puffy suspenders. Mom and I liked the more traditional style, but thinner. Mine was pink and Mom’s was red. 

Cole, Dylan, and Nick put on the racing vests.

Holding my pink vest in the air, I paused and thought for a moment. “I think this is the smallest one we have.” I handed it to Angelina.

It came to Makala’s knees. W
hen she tried to sit, it pushed her arms up over her head. Makala giggled, but clearly it wouldn’t work.

Angelina examined the vest. “If I unstitch the bottom, take ou
t about six inches of foam, then sew it back together, I can get it to fit her. Do you have a sewing kit?”

I searched in the bath
room. No sewing kit. I was headed back up top, when I passed by a low storage locker next to the galley. Dad kept flashlights and tools in the cupboard. I grinned.

“How about this?
” I held up my find.

“Duct tape!”
Angelina smiled. “Perfect.”

I handed her the tape and a pair of scissors. She grinned and went to work removing the stitches in the pink vest.

Takumi put on one of the vests the guys had scrounged from another boat. It was teal blue and a little girly, but fit well. Zoë put on the other teal vest, threw an orange one at Angelina, and it was Jervis’ turn.

Jervis
could only get one arm in a regular vest. He shrugged and tossed it aside.

“Here
.” Dylan sighed. “Try this.” He handed Jervis his racing vest.

“Thanks.
” Jervis examined it.

Dylan nodded.

“Didn’t mean to break your nose.” Jervis expanded the belt and the vest fit.

“We’re good.” Dylan reached into the life jacket pile and grabbed
one. Using it as a pillow, he lay back, and put the ice pack on his nose.

“Okay.” Cole gathered the leftover vests in his arms. “I’m going below to take a nap. It’s going to be a long
night. Nick, you have the helm. Just follow the coast line and watch our depth.”

Cole disappeared
below. Takumi and Zoë took out their cell phones. Angelina, Makala, and I basked in the late afternoon sun. A loud bark startled me. I sat up and searched the water. Up ahead a marker buoy floated, and on its small platform, a gray-faced sea lion sprawled. Another sea lion, smaller and dark brown, swam nearby.

Makala, wearing her new pink and duct tape lifejacket, scrambled from the cockpit to the side. The boat rocked and she fell to the deck.

“Makala!” Angelina screamed.

Angelina and I grabbed her by the vest. When the boat st
eadied, I took both the older and younger girls’ hands.

“These are life lines.” I poi
nted to the two rows of plastic-covered fence cords that went full-length down both sides of the boat. “When you walk around the deck, hold on to a line and pull up. It will keep you anchored.”

Angelina grabbed a
line. Makala searched the water for the sea lions.

I helped Makala
over to the boat’s edge and positioned her legs, one on each side of a chrome stanchion. I placed her hands on the life lines. If she fell forward, the chrome post would stop her.

“Hold on tight
,” I told her.

“Like this?” She grinned and leaned way back, a firm grip on the lines.

“Perfect.” I smiled.

The brown sea lion bumped i
nto the buoy. The spotted-faced seal started to slide off, but the platform stabilized in time. He scrambled for a better perch. The brown one barked in protest.

Makala laughed
with excitement.

The brown sea li
on swam around and around. Spotted Face stretched out and basked in the sun.

Jervis
and Angelina came and sat beside Makala.

Takumi
scooted in next to me. Did it mean something, or was it a coincidence that he always seemed to be close by? I smiled.
Don’t be silly
, I told myself. It’s a small boat. Where would he be and not be close to me?

Nick steered the sailboat
near the buoy. The sea lions ignored us and continued their game.

Makala pinched her nose. “They stink.”

“Wait until you go past an island full of them.” I smiled. “But they’re fun to watch.”

“Sissy, l
ook!” Makala squealed.

The wake from our boat
tipped the buoy. Spotted Face skidded off the platform and splashed into the water. The brown seal waited for just the right moment and leapt.

“He made it!” Makala
clapped her hands.

Spotted
Face snorted. Water flew from his nose, the spray covering the victor. Spotted Face swam toward shore. The brown sea lion raised his head and barked in triumph.

Makala laughed
, then pointed down at the water. “What’s that?”

Jervis
followed her gaze. “That’s a peanut butter and jelly fish.”

“No, it’s not.” Makala cinched her eyebrows.

Jervis grinned. “Is too. See, there’s another one.”

Makala asked me if that’s what they were really called. I smiled and shrugged.
Jervis was good for Makala. His little sisters must really miss him.

The afternoon passed slowly. Thoughts of home crept in between sightings of seals, puffins, and
‘peanut butter and jelly fish’.

We were headed toward the lighthouse at the end of the Dungeness Spit.
We were close to the end of the peninsula and nearing the open ocean. I leaned back and called to Nick. “Are you watching the depth? It gets shallow between here and the lighthouse.”

He put his finger to his lips and
mouthed that Dylan was asleep, then glanced down at the depth finder and quickly turned the wheel away from shore.

“Are we okay?” I stood and saw the tops of sea weed. We were
really shallow.

Nick studied
the instruments and nodded.

All of a sudden Makala pointed
behind me and cried, “Fire!”

I
raced to the stern. Billows of smoke wafted up from the water. “Smoke’s coming out of the engine.”

Nic
k shoved the gear into neutral.

Dylan bolt
ed awake and ran to the wheel. The boat slowed almost to a stop. Our wake caught us and we pitched from side to side. Dylan and I grabbed the rail. A large plume of smoke floated over us.

The engine noise changed to a sputtering whirl and died.

Seven Hours Before

Cole sprang through the cabin opening. “Why are we stopped?”

“The engine light is red.” Dylan tapped the gauge.

I fanned the smoke. “There was a plume of smoke and then the motor just, just, died.”

Cole asked Nick
. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. Everything was fine, but then, like Toni said, there was smoke and the engine quit.
”

“Were you watching the instruments? Did you notice the engine light turning red?” Dylan coughed into his arm.

Nick’s head drooped. “I didn’t know I was supposed to. I was just doing what you said. Following the coast and trying not to get too shallow.”

Cole took a deep breath and glanced at the crew. “Has anyone been able to get cell service?”

“I just tried. There’s nothing.” Takumi patted his pocket.

“Well, try again.” Dylan glared. “We need to talk to our Dad.”

The smell of gas was overwhelming. Makala held her nose.

Cole put his hand on Dylan’s shoulder.

Cole ran his fingers through his hair. “Let’s go below and check the engine book.” He turned to me. “Keep checking your cell phones and let me know if anyone gets service. Yell if you need help.”

Dylan and Cole spoke in whispers as they climbed down into the cabin.

“You checked the gas?” Cole asked.

“Yeah, we have almost three
-quarters of a tank.”

“Dylan?” I followed them to the steps.

“What about oil…?” Cole stepped aside to let Dylan pass.

“The oil light wasn’t
––”

“Cole!” I yelled
.

My brothers
glared up at me.

“
What do you want?” Dylan gritted his teeth.

“Shouldn’t we put up the sails? There’s not much wind, but…”

Cole closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair again. “You’re right. Do you need help?”

“No, we can do it.” I’d never put the sails up alone before, but I’d helped Dad plenty of time
s. I moved beside Nick and took over the wheel.

I glanced at the depth sounder. We were in twe
nty-nine feet of water. The keel or bottom of the boat was eight feet. If we got in any closer to shore than ten, we were in trouble.

Nick moved quickly to the main sail and began removing the canvas cover.

Zoë eyed the shore.

“What can I do?”
Jervis asked.

“I don’t know. Ask Nick.
” I aimed the boat north, into the wind.

When the cover was off,
Zoë tossed it onto the cockpit floor. Nick adjusted the rigging and began pulling the main sail up. When it was halfway, he paused, breathing heavily.

“Let me do it.”
Jervis grabbed the line and began to tug.

Takumi scrambled to the stern and gazed up at the top of the mast. “Just a foot more. You almost have it.”

When the sail was to the top, Nick motioned to the crew. “Everyone get back to the cockpit and duck your heads. I’m going to move the boom. Takumi, clamp the main down.”

Takumi stared blankly at him.
“I don’t have a clue what you just said.”

Nick
motioned just a minute and turned to me. “Keep the boat pointing north.” He checked the compass.

We were in twenty-five feet of water.

Takumi and I stood under the cockpit cover. I showed him a number of latches and colored lines. “These are the line locks. When they are up, you can move the sail lines. When they are down…”

“I get it.” Takumi reached and clamped down the only one that was up.

Nick held a red striped thick line. “Everyone. This is the boom line. It’s the one we use the most when we sail. It moves the main sail from one side of the boat to the other.” He handed the line to Takumi. “Open the lock and let the line out slowly, as soon as I tell you.”

“Coming about.” Nick let out the main and nodded at Takumi.

Takumi let the red striped line out and the boom swung from the center over to the left side. It was still fluttering. There wasn’t enough wind to fill it.

We were in twenty–three feet of water.

“Should we roll out the jib?” Nick asked.

“I don’t know. Check with…” I adjusted the wheel, hoping to catch more wind. The sail wasn’t filling with air.
My whole body trembled.

“They’re busy. We need the jib.” Nick moved to the stern and
pulled on a thin black line that unrolled the small sail in the bow. He pulled it over to the left side, and clamped it down. Now both sails were flapping in the wind.

Makala held her hands over her ears and leaned into her sister.
Jervis’ brows knitted in a frown.

Zoë
joined the girls in the cockpit. Their feet rested on the canvas sail cover.

I checked the instruments. The tide was stronger than the wind.

We were drifting to shore and in twenty feet of water.

“What about the spinnaker?” Nick stood with hands on his hips.

Zoë asked, “What’s a spinnaker?”

“It’s the pretty colored sail you see in pictures.” I thought for a moment. “It’s in the v-berth. I don’t know how to raise it. Do you?” I asked Nick.

He shook his head.

We were in eighteen feet of water.

A sailboat approached from the east. It was coming to a marina we had just passed.

I climbed up o
n the seat behind me. “Help!” I called when they were close enough to hear. “Our engine is broken. Over here!”

The others joined me. We waved and called out. The boat changed course, away from us.

Jervis swung Makala up onto his shoulders. She giggled and waved her arms at the passing boat. We continued to yell and wave. All of a sudden Makala stopped waving. She started to listen to our hails.

Zoë
screamed, “Help! We’re in trouble!”

Makala’s face crumbled, s
he reached for her sister, and wailed. Jervis swung her off his shoulders and handed her back to Angelina.