Knockdown (9 page)

Angelina checked
her cell. “Still no service. Do you think there has been any change? I mean, maybe the tsunami wore down.”

I moved across the cabin to the instrument panel. “I
t wouldn’t hurt to turn on the radio and check.”

“Oh, do you have a short wave?”
Angelina peered at the panel.

“We have this.
” I pointed to the radio on the wall next to the captain’s chair and desk. Angelina made her way to the chart table and reached for the hand piece.

I flipped the VHS
breaker switch and a woman’s voice began announcing the weather. “Seas at Point No Point, two foot swells…”

“That’s
the National Weather Channel. Guess it stopped reporting the same time we lost cell service.” I took my phone out. Twelve hours since the news. We still had six hours before the tsunami would hit. I flipped to another channel.

The next
played an Emergency Broadcast System alert, which told us to evacuate coastal waters. Angelina and I glanced at each other.

I changed the setting again, but only got static.

“My dad had a short wave radio. Mostly he just listened to police reports, but occasionally we’d talk to people far away.”

“Here’s the call button.
Feel free to see if anyone out there knows anything.”

Angelina squeezed the handheld mouthpiece
. “This is Angelina. Come in. Anyone? Over.” She lowered her hand and listened. There was still nothing but static. She changed the setting and repeated her message.

“Let me know if you hear anything
. I’m going on deck. Takumi, I’ll be back to help you with the dishes in a minute.” Takumi nodded but still didn’t look at me. As I started up the steps, the boat dove. I held on until it crashed at the bottom of the swell and then scrambled to a seat in the cockpit.

“Take the waves at an an
gle,” Dylan shouted as he held Zoë in place on the cockpit bench. “I know the wind is right on our nose. But I think we should put the sails back up and head south and west. We’ve got lots of wind and the ride would be smoother.”

“We need to get as far west as we can. We have to be miles from the shoreline. The shortest distance is a straight line.” Cole pointed at the GPS map.

“Yeah, but if we’re
going up and over the waves instead of forward, it isn’t shorter.” Dylan held the bowl under Zoë’s chin. She dry-heaved.

My teeth
ached from the constant pounding. “Cole, we should at least try the sails and change the angle. This roller coaster stuff is miserable.”

Cole r
ubbed his fingers through his hair and sighed. In no time, both sails were up and we were heading across the waves instead of directly into them. The wind was strong and the ride was smoother, although the boat was now tilted over on its side about thirty degrees.

“How fast are we going now?” I braced myself by putting my feet on the bench
. Nick and Takumi joined me. Jervis leaned on the stern railing.

“
Six-two knots. A little slower than with the engine, but we are covering ground faster. I still don’t like that we’re not going directly west.” Cole turned off the engine. “At least we’re saving gas.”

It was suddenly quiet except for the sound of water splashing on the boat.
Zoë sat up.

“Feeling better?” Dylan asked.

“No. Maybe. I don’t have anything left to throw up. I’m going below and try to sleep.”

Dy
lan glanced at Cole. “I’ll help Zoë get settled below. If you don’t need me, I’ll take a couple of aspirin and rest too.” He held his nose. “When do you want to start securing the boat?”

“What does secure the
boat mean? What’s the plan for the tsunamis?” I asked.

Takumi, Nick, and
Jervis raised their heads and leaned forward. Dylan and Zoë stood to leave. Dylan tossed the contents of the bowl he was carrying overboard. Zoë wrinkled her nose.

Cole adjusted the wheel
. “The tsunami is supposed to hit around two. We should be far from the coast by then. Around 1:30 we’re going to take down the sails, screw the wheel in place so the rudder is straight, and put the boards that seal up the cabin in. We want the boat closed up as tight as we can get it.”

“You’re
both going to be down below too?” My voice sounded whiny.

“Yeah, we’ll all go below.
” Cole adjusted the wheel.

Jervis
scowled. “Then no one will be steering the boat?”

Dylan steadied
Zoë. “Sailors have been doing this for years. I told you. The boat is strong and there’s nothing out here it can run into. Even if the boat gets knocked down, it will right itself.”

“Knock
ed down!” Nick shook his head.

Cole checked the wind and
boat speed. “We have to make sure the boat is as airtight as we can make it. If the boat can get pushed over on its side, or even turned upside down by the wave, it will be okay. Sail boats always right themselves as long as they don’t fill up with water.”

“Oh. My. God!”
Zoë wailed. “We will be closed in below?” She collapsed on the bench, her head in her hands. “And the boat might actually go upside down? You know I’m claustrophobic.”

Dylan put his arm around her. “It won’t be fun, but at least we’ll survive. We just need to be out far e
nough that we don’t end up with the wave cresting and crashing on top of us.”

The coast line
was still visible. We had a long way to go.

“How far is far enough?”
Jervis asked.

Cole shrugged. “I’m
not sure. But we have over six hours. That should be enough time to get a safe distance.” He nodded to Dylan. “When you go below, make sure the refrigerator is off. It draws too much power without the engine on.”

Angelina called
out from the cabin below, “I got someone.”

We strained to listen, but she spoke softly and in Spanish. Then she switched to English. “Yes, I will monitor this channel. Please call back if you hear anything. Angelina, standing by
, channel one twenty-seven.”

She appeared at the cockpit opening. “I found a guy named Ricardo in Panama. The latest news is that the
tsunami is moving faster than predicted.”

Cole stared
at Dylan.

“When is it supposed to hit?” I asked.

“In less than five hours.” Angelina disappeared below deck.

“
Five hours?” Cole took out his cell and checked the time.

Zoë
gripped Dylan’s arm. “We can be out far enough by then, right?”

“Sure
. We’ll be fine.” He took a deep breath.

My brothers were terrible liars.

Chapter Ten

Five
Hours Before

A huge swell rocked the boat. I held on tight.

“
If we only have five hours, we’re going to head straight out.” Cole turned the engine back on. “I want those sails down. Now!” He spun the boat into the wind.

The boat went into a dive. I gr
abbed the dodger as I fell. Zoë groaned and stumbled to the rail.

Dylan
held her while she leaned over the boat. “A little notice would be nice!” he shouted at Cole.

Nick dropped the main sail.

Cole gripped the wheel and aimed
Whistler
into a direct westerly route. I braced my feet on the seat across from me and glanced at our speed. We were going seven and a half knots, fast for our boat.

The sun was
low on the horizon. I’d been watching the receding coastline. “How far out do we have to be?”

“Can you see land?” Cole asked. He didn’t bother to check.

I squinted. “Yeah.”

“Then we aren’t out far enough.” He shoved the throttle down
further. The engine roared in protest.

“
When we are getting the boat ready for a knockdown, we should take the sails off,” Cole said. “If we lose them when the tsunami hits, we’ll be totally screwed.”

“Great idea. But how do we put them back on?” Dylan smirked and glanced
around at the crew. “Anybody have any idea how to rig a sail?”

“Don’t be a jerk
, Dylan.” I glared at him.

Zoë
put her head on Dylan’s shoulder. “Just throw me overboard.”

Dylan stroked her cheek
. “It won’t do any good to take the sails off to save them, if we don’t know how to put them back on. Rigging a sail is very complicated, and if it isn’t done right, the sail is worthless.”

“You made your point. What do you suggest?” Cole rubbed his eyes.

“We’ll just have to tie the sails and the jib down tight and hope for the best.”

“Hope
for the best?” I put my hands on my hips. “That’s your great idea?”

Dylan wiped drool off
Zoë’s chin.

I thought for a moment. “We have Dad’s bo
ok on rigging. Maybe we could teach ourselves.”

My brothers shook their heads.

I grinned up at Cole. “What about duct tape?”

Cole chewed his lip. “Duct tape couldn’t hurt. We could
tie the sails down like normal and then wrap tape around them and the boom. We can do the same for the jib.” He studied the sail and mast. “Duct tape could even secure the rigging lines to the mast. If we lose the mast or boom, saving the sails won’t matter anyway.”

Takumi and Nick
followed Cole’s eyes.

“Are you serious? Duct tape?” Dylan sneered.

“Beats your ‘hope for the best’ idea.” I waited for his snarky comeback.

Dylan shrugged. “Whatever. We’re going below.”

Zoë leaned on Dylan and they headed to the cabin. When they passed by, Cole grabbed Dylan’s shoulder.

“I need you to have my back, bro.
If you have a better idea, let’s hear it,” Cole said.

“
Sorry! I always have your back. My nose… is killing me.” Dylan gently touched his raccoon eyes. Zoë started to fall and he steadied her. “Call if you need me.”

Cole nodded at me. “How much duct tape do we have?”

I nudged Takumi.

“There was a
three-pack. Lots,” he said.

Cole stepped to the side of the wheel. “Good. Let’s do it
now. It will be one less thing to take care of later. Nick, you have the wheel. I need to re-fold the sail. Toni, get the tape and ask Jervis to help.”

Soon we had the sail neatly folded and tied off. I stood on one side of the main, wrapped tape around the sail, and then handed the roll to Takumi. He did the same to his side and handed it back.
Jervis and Nick stuck more of the silver tape around the jib, winding it around the wound-up sail as high as they could reach.

Soon we looked like a boat from the land of misfit toys, b
ut if it kept us from losing our sails, it’d be worth it.

The ocean swells were huge.
Jervis and Nick came back from the front of the boat and braced themselves in the cockpit.

“
The anchor is really bouncing. It almost fell off its holder thingy during that last dip.” Jervis pointed to the bow.

I held on to the
lifeline and moved to the front of the boat to check. I opened the hatch door where the anchor chain was attached to the boat and stored. A much smaller anchor and lots of extra chain lay in the bottom.

“Cole, w
e should put the anchor away. There’s room in the locker.” I pushed the chain aside.

“Do it.” Cole nodded
.

I waited for the boat to steady and leaned over the bow. Grabbing the anchor with one hand and holding on with the other, I raised it
off its rubber holder. I gasped. It was heavier than I expected.

The boat slid down a steep trough.
I fell, face first, towards the water, gripping the chrome rail to stop myself. I lost hold of the anchor. It bounced off its rubber frame and dangled off the bow, hanging five feet down on a heavy chain. It began to swing back and forth.

The boat headed up the next wave. The anchor flew back and crashed into the hull.

“Help!” I screamed and pulled on the anchor chain, hoping to move the anchor back to its holder. But it was too heavy. The anchor swung out, arched, and came rushing back.

“No!” I screamed.

The anchor slammed into the bow again. This time there was a sickening crunch.

Jervis
, Nick, and Takumi hurried to help me. Jervis reached down and grabbed hold of the chain with one huge hand and pulled. The muscles on his arm bulged. The anchor moved up toward the holder. The shorter the chain got, the less the anchor swayed.