Featured Title
Fisherman's
Son
John
R. Sikes
Excerpt
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Jason had
just started dreaming about cruising in his new Mustang car he was going to buy
when he was thrown from his bunk and landed hard against the bulkhead. At first
he didn’t know what
had happened. Billy Bob stumbled out of his room, holding his survival suit and
told Jason to get his and come to the wheelhouse.
The ocean
was nothing like Jason had ever seen. Waves were hitting the Wave Dancer, sending a groaning shutter
from the bow right through to the stern. This worried Jason till Billy Bob and
Uncle Buick both agreed as long as you heard and felt it, everything was ok; it
was when the boat quit talking to you that you should get worried.
The boat was
lifted high by waves, which had grown enormous in the short time Jason had
slept. When the boat crested the taller of the waves, Jason had his first
glance of the mainland. It looked like the water was boiling closer to shore.
Uncle Buck told him this was because the currents next to the shore met ones
coming from the open ocean causing the waves to become closer together and much
bigger. Jason noticed that all of the sea gulls were flying way higher than
usual. There appeared to be thousands of them flying in a circle so high they
looked like tiny dots in the sky.
The first
wave braking completely over the boat caught him off guard. It sent him
bouncing all the way to the other side of the wheelhouse. When he stood up, he
noticed some of the smaller fish not tied down had washed over the stern. He
started to go try and save the ones still flopping around the deck but was told
by his uncle to stay put.
“We can handle losing a few fish but your mom would be awful mad at
me if I didn’t have you
onboard when we make it back!” exclaimed Uncle Buck. “Just hang on to the boat with one hand and keep you're survival suit
in the other. If I give the order to abandon ship and you say, "What?"
You will be talking to yourself.”
It eased
some of the fear building in Jason when he saw the look on his uncle’s face. To him Uncle Buck looked as calm as if
he was taking a walk in the park. Uncle Buck had spent most of his life on the
water and seemed right at home even when it was rough. He had even heard his uncle
talk about never getting seasick but not feeling so good when he was on land.
Even Jason admitted he slept better on the water than he did at home.
Night was
falling as they approached shore. Waves seemed to come from all directions. The
Wave Dancer was still cutting through
the ones they were hitting head on, but waves smashing in from the sides of the
boat were keeping the deck awash with foamy seawater.
The entire
crew jumped when the gang way was ripped off the boat's railing. Cables that
made up the rail sounded like rifle shots as they snapped from pressure of the
water. Pieces of splintered wood still attached to the cable were banging the
side of the ship like sticks on a drum. In a matter of minutes windows on the
starboard side were shattered and seawater was flooding in. Captain Buck
started shouting orders.
“Ivan, check and make sure all bilge pumps are running. Billy Bob and
Jason, get to repairing the broken windows. You can use your bunk mattresses
and lumber in the emergency locker. Try to stop any water coming onboard
through those windows.”
Ivan
disappeared down to the engine room and Jason and Billy Bob attacked the flood
of water coming in each time the Wave
Dancer was broadsided by cresting waves. Luckily the panes of the window
were made of safety glass. Jason was thankful that sharp shards of glass weren’t sloshing around in the stream of water
flooding in. Water was gushing down through the walkway into the engine room at
an alarming rate. Shoving his mattress against the biggest hole took all the
effort Jason could muster. Billy Bob slammed a brace against its back and
wedged it to the floor.
“Take a hammer and nail the bottom of the brace to the floor. We will
jam one on both ends to hold it in place,” Billy Bob shouted to Jason over the roar of the water.
They
repeated this process till all bigger windows were plugged. With the wooden
plugs they found in the locker they were able to stop some smaller leaks caused
by the whipping pieces of gangway. Thankfully most cables had tangled up with
rigging still attached to the ship lessening their destructive force. By the
time they had slowed most of the water flooding inside, the feel of the Wave Dancer had changed. She had settled
deeper in the water and now blue water was crashing completely over the boat.
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