Chapter 36
After cleaning the boat, I decided to take a shower and lay down
before dinner. When I was finished in the head, I slipped on a long
tee shirt, went to the master stateroom and stretched out on the bed.
I was alone for about a half an hour and almost asleep when I felt
someone crawl into bed with me.
"You still awake, Little-bit?" Brad asked as he circled my waist
with his arm.
I rolled onto my back and said, "Sort of."
"Are you tired?" Brad said as his hand slid down my stomach to my
mons.
I was tired, but Brad's touch felt nice. His fingertips slowly
stroked my mons as he put his mouth on my neck and kissed me.
"Yeah, I really am a little tired, but what you're doing feels so
good."
Part of me wanted to make love to Brad and part of me wanted to
sleep. His fingers increased their pressure and moved lower,
brushing my clit. I sighed, grabbed his wrist and held his hand to
my sex as I rolled onto my side, facing away from him.
Brad slipped his free arm under my neck and rested it against my
chest. I wiggled against him, moaned and felt him snuggle against my
back. When Brad moved his hand from my crotch and up to my tummy I
realized he was probably as tired as I was. I heard his breathing
become shallow and realized he was sleeping, with me in his arms.
I awoke to Kathy shaking my shoulder and calling my name. Brad was
gone and when I asked Kathy where her brother was, she said, "Brad's
in the shower. It's almost time to go to dinner."
I rolled out of bed, stretched and ran my fingers through my messy
hair.
"What are you wearing tonight?" I asked Kathy.
"A skirt and top. You?"
"I think I'm going to wear the one-piece shorts outfit my mom bought
me," I said.
We all got dressed, met our parents and had dinner. When we
finished eating, we went to the beach and watched the sunset.
"What do you kids have planed for tomorrow?" Mom asked.
"Going fishing," Eddie said. "We need to see if we can get back on
the fish. I'd like to get a few more waypoints marked before the
tournament. Are you guys planning to go too?"
"No, we're going to spend the day onshore and go to the beach," Mom
told us. "Tonight, we're all going dancing."
"That sounds like fun, Mom. I wish we could go too," I said.
"I know, Jenny, but the place we're going won't let people under
twenty-one in after nine o'clock. Besides, you kids should get to
bed early if you're going fishing in the morning," Mom said.
Our parents left, heading towards shore to go for a walk. I hooked
my arm in Brad's, pulled him over near Kathy and Eddie and said,
"What do you guys want to do now?"
"I don't care," Kathy said. "We could go back to the boat and watch
television, play cards, go for a late swim or something."
"We could play strip poker," Eddie said and then began to laugh.
Kathy looked up at my brother and said, "We don't have to play cards
to strip, Eddie, I'll get naked for you anytime you want me to."
I giggled and said, "How about a little skinny dipping?"
"If that's what you want to do, it's fine with me, Little-bit," Brad
said.
We agreed the go for a swim in the ocean and headed towards the
water. As we walked along the edge of the surf Brad and I held
hands. Eddie and Kathy walked in front of us and played grab ass.
When my brother flipped the back of Kathy's skirt up and put his hand
on her bottom, I noticed she wasn't wearing any panties.
"Looks like it might be a little breezy there, Kathy," I said.
Kathy looked back at me giggled and said, "Not really, Eddie's hand
is keeping me warm."
I laughed and realized that for the first time, I didn't feel any
jealously. In the past, I would feel small pangs of the green
monster in my gut when I watched Kathy and Eddie touching each other,
but not tonight. I began to wonder if my relationship with Eddie was
fading, not the love I felt as siblings, but as lovers.
Putting my arm around Brad's waist and pulling him close, I moved
closer to the water and let the surf roll over my bare feet. Brad
put his arm around my shoulders, pulled me closer and kissed the top
of my head.
As we continued along the shoreline, I saw two couples running from
the beach into the surf. When we got closer, I could tell it was
Brad's and my parents.
"Look Kathy, our parents are skinny dipping. Should we join them?"
I said.
"Why not? It'll be fun," Kathy giggled.
The four of us scurried to the pile of clothing our parents left on
the beach, added ours and ran out into the water. Our parents had
their backs to the beach and didn't see us until our giggling and
laughing caught their attention.
"What are you kids doing?" Mrs. Waters said as her arms crossed
over her breasts.
"The same thing you are, Mom, skinny dipping," Kathy said as she
moved closer to her mom.
"You guys scared me," Mrs. Waters said.
"Sorry, Mom, we didn't mean to. We just thought it would be fun to
join you," Kathy said. "We can leave if you want us to."
Mr. Waters put his hand on Mrs. Water's shoulder and said, "You kids
are welcome to stay. Next time call out though so we know it's you
guys."
We all frolicked in the warm water for about a half hour before
deciding to get out. Eddie and Brad were reluctant to head to shore
because they had erections.
"Come on, boys," my mom said. "We understand your problem."
"MOM!" Eddie yelled.
"Suit yourselves," Mom said. "You two boys can stay out here all
night if you want to, but if you want to get out of the water, your
condition won't bother me or Sarah. Will it, Sarah?'
"No, I just won't look," Mrs. Waters said.
I heard my mom say, "I will," and start laughing.
Everyone got out of the water except my brother and Brad. We went
over to the pile of clothing we left on the beach and began sorting
through them. After standing around and letting our bodies dry, we
began to get dressed.
Eddie and Brad finally came out of the water and gathered their
things. They weren't erect anymore, but they weren't completely
flaccid either. As we dressed, I noticed Mrs. Waters watching Kathy.
When Kathy put on her skirt and top, her mom asked her where her
underwear was.
"I didn't wear any tonight, Mom," Kathy said.
I thought Mrs. Waters was going to yell at her, but she didn't. She
shook her head and began to laugh.
"I guess it cuts down on the laundry," Mrs. Waters said.
"Yeah, and it really feels nice, Mom, you should try it sometime,"
Kathy said.
Kathy's mom slipped on her sundress, wadded her panties into a ball
and stuffed them into Mr. Waters' pants pocket. My mom started to
laugh and so did the rest of us.
The four of us kids decided to go to the boat and our parents said
they were going dancing. As we walked back towards town, I wondered
if Kathy's mom was going to go dancing without her panties.
We walked down the main strip with our parents until we reached the
bar they were planning to go to. After saying goodnight, we headed
for the boat and they went inside the bar.
It was still too early to go to bed so we decided to watch
television. I changed out of my outfit and put my long tee shirt on
before cuddling with Brad on the settee. I climbed onto his lap and
pulled his arms around me, holding his hands against my tummy.
Eddie and Kathy sat across from us, making out and groping at one
another. I snickered as my brother pulled her skirt up and began
playing with her pussy. Eddie and I had done the very same thing
many times while we sat together at home. I watched as Eddie's
fingers moved around between Kathy's legs, teasing the dark skin
between her labia and leg, never touching her where I knew she wanted
him to. When Kathy squirmed, my brother anticipated her movement and
avoided her.
Looking up, I saw that Brad was also watching Kathy and Eddie's
playful antics. He had a small smile on his lips and I could tell he
was enjoying what he was seeing by the movement of his cock against
my butt. Brad moved his mouth close to my ear and whispered to me.
"Did you and Eddie do that? Did he play with you like he's playing
with my sister?"
I nodded and said, "Yes."
"We did too, Kathy and I. Does it bother you to watch?"
Kathy distracted me when she started to giggle uncontrollably. I
glanced over and saw my brother's fingers digging into her ribs,
tickling her. Kathy was twisting and turning in my brother's lap,
trying to pull his hands away from her sides. I grinned at Eddie's
devilish grin as he relentlessly teased Kathy.
I turned back to Brad, shifting so I was facing him, put my arms
around his neck and kissed him.
"No, Brad, it doesn't bother me to watch. It did at first, but not
now, not anymore. I love you, Brad."
Brad smiled at me, kissed me again and said, "I love you too. I
used to get so bent out of shape when I saw them like that, but like
you, it doesn't matter anymore."
I sighed and said, "Sweetie, take me to bed."
Brad scooped me up in his arms, stood up and started to carry me
towards the staterooms. I looked back at Kathy and my brother and
said, "Don't forget we have to be up early tomorrow morning."
I saw Kathy nod at me, but she was laughing so hard she couldn't talk.
When we entered the stateroom, Brad dropped me on the bed and
climbed on, kneeling next to me. He bent down, put his lips on mine
and pushed my tee shirt over my head. I helped him out of his
clothing and we tangled our legs and arms.
After we made love, we fell asleep in one another's arms, not
bothering to get up and clean the sweat and cum from our bodies.
The next morning, we all got up and headed out to the reef. We
teased up several fish, but never offered a lure to hook one. I
drove and watched as Kathy, Eddie and Brad worked the rods, changing
the color of the teasers and the set-backs. It was over an hour
since I looked at the radar and when I did, I saw a large blotch that
depicted a storm.
"Hey, Eddie, come up here for a minute," I yelled down.
My brother ran up the steps and asked what was wrong.
"Look at the radar."
"Holy shit, Jen! That's one hell of a storm. We better head back
to shore."
I put the boat on autopilot and ran down to the cockpit to help the
others pull the lines and secure the outriggers. We stowed the
equipment and then I went back up to the flying bridge with Brad.
"Brad, you better put the windows down and fasten them. It might
get nasty on the way back."
Looking behind us, I could see the dark clouds on the horizon. I
pointed the pending storm out to Brad and he nodded and went back to
securing the clear plastic windows and enclosing the bridge.
I pushed the throttles forward and synched the engines for the run
back to the marina. The boat rose up onto plane and began to move
through the water as we tried to out run the storm.
About half way home, the seas began to rise and we found ourselves
in five-foot waves. I kept adjusting the trim to make the ride as
smooth as I could, but as the waves got bigger, the ride became rough.
We entered the marina as the rain started to fall and the winds came
up. I had a little trouble docking the boat, but with Brad and
Eddie's help we finally had her tied up.
Dad and Mr. Waters showed up and came aboard. We were in the salon,
striping off our soaking wet clothing when they stepped in.
"Did you kids get in okay?" Dad asked.
"Yeah, we got back just as this storm hit, Dad," Eddie said.
Dressed in nothing more than a thong, I grabbed towels and tossed
one to Eddie, Kathy and Brad. We dried ourselves and then Kathy and
I went below to get tee shirts.
When we got back to the salon, Dad was on the cell phone, calling my
mom and Mrs. Waters to let them know we were all okay.
That night, we went to the captains' meeting for the tournament.
Nate saw us walk in and came over to say hi.
"Did you kids get caught out there today?" Nate asked.
"Yeah, but we got back just before the worst of it came through,
Nate," Eddie said.
Nate had us gather around him and said, "Listen kids, stick to your
program. You know where the fish are so go get them. Don't be
tempted to follow the pack."
After giving us a few more pointers, Nate left and went over to
where the other officials were seated.
The four of us found a table and took seats, facing the front of the
room. A man stood up at the microphone and started the meeting.
As the meeting progressed, the man began calling out the names of
the boats and captains, and then assigning them an observer. As luck
would have it, we drew Nate and he had to pass because he knew Eddie
and me. The man picked the next name on the list and said, "Rita,
you'll be on Lady Guinevere tomorrow and Wednesday."
When Rita stood up, I waved at her and she came over to meet us.
"Hi, I'm Rita Downer," she said as she shook our hands and we
introduced ourselves.
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Downer," Eddie said as he took her hand.
"Nice to meet all of you too," she said. "Please call me Rita. This
it only the second time I've observed on a boat that had a female on
it. Nate told me about you and your fishing ability. I'm looking
forward to going out with you."
Rita was a stocky woman that looked a little older than our parents.
She was a couple of inches shorter than me and had a dark tan.
Rita's hair was short and looked like it was colored blonde.
We talked to her for about an hour as the meeting wound down. After
receiving our information package, we helped ourselves to refreshments.
I spotted a group of men, that looked to be in their twenties,
walking towards us. All four of the guys wore matching shirts with
'Hasty' embroidered over the pocket. They also had ball caps with
the same name across the front.
"Hi, I'm Jeff Lamar, this is my brother Eric and these guys are
Marcus Johns and Buzz Crawford."
"Eddie Shockley," my brother said, extending his had. "This is my
sister Jenny and Brad and Kathy Waters. We have Lady Guinevere."
Jeff laughed and said, "We know who you guys are. You kicked our
butts in Lauderdale."
"Sorry, I don't remember your boat," Eddie said. "That was our
first tournament and we met so many people, it's hard to remember
everyone."
"I know how that is, it took us quite a while to learn who's who.
We just wanted to wish you guys good luck tomorrow."
"Thanks," I said. "Good luck to you too."
"Listen, there's a party at the marina clubhouse after the meeting
if you want to come. It'll give you a chance to meet some of the
other teams," Jeff said.
We all looked at one another and nodded. "Thanks, Jeff," Eddie
said. "We'll stop by."
After the meeting, we ran back to the boat and changed into our tee
shirts with the boat's name on them. I called my Dad, told him about
the party and asked if we could go. He told me that he, and the rest
of our parents, would meet us there.
When we got to the clubhouse, there were almost as many people as
there were at the meeting. The four of us stood off to one side and
watched for our parents. When Kathy spotted them, we made our way
through the crowd and caught up to them.
All of us got cold drinks and we looked for Rita to introduce our
parents. Brad saw her talking to Nate and we went over to where they
were standing. I introduced our parents to Rita and we chatted for a
few minutes. Jeff and his crew came over and we went through the
introductions once again.
For the next two hours, Jeff and his crew took us around and had us
meet some of the other teams. Our parents stayed with Nate and Rita,
as we moved through the crowd. Most of the other teams were made up
of older men; one team had a woman on it. When she met Kathy and me,
she took us aside and told us to watch out for some of the other men.
The woman said that a lot of the men that fished these tournaments
did it to get away from their wives and they would try hitting on us.
"I kind of think we're a little young," Kathy said.
"Maybe, but be careful," the woman said. "If any of these guys give
you any trouble, tell them you know Nate. If they don't stop, tell
Nate and he'll take care of it for you."
We thanked the woman and found our brothers. They were still with
Jeff and his friends, talking to another team.
At ten o'clock, we decided to go to the boat and to bed. We found
Rita, arranged to meet her at the gas dock at five-thirty in the
morning and then went to look for our parents to tell them goodnight.
The four of us talked non-stop all the way to the boat. Meeting all
of the other teams was very exciting for me and, from the sounds of
the conversation, to my brother, Brad and Kathy. After we changed
for bed, we sat in the salon and discussed our strategy for the next
morning. Even though it was late, we were all too excited to sleep.
It was close to eleven when we finally went to bed. I set an alarm
for four in the morning and climbed into bed with Brad. We kissed
for a few minutes and then snuggled together to go to sleep.
I woke up before the alarm sounded the next morning, woke up Brad
and went to shower. After I was finished, I opened the door to my
brother's and Kathy's room and woke them up.
"Don't forget to make the bed," I said. "We're having a guest today."
Kathy jumped up, pulled my brother out of bed and then headed for
the shower. Brad was just coming out of the head as Kathy went in
and I met him in the room we shared. After hugging and kissing for a
few minutes, we made the bed and straightened the room before going
to the galley and fixing breakfast.
While Brad and I made cereal and toast, Eddie and Kathy prepared the
boat for the trip. They fired up the engines, disconnected the shore
power and water.
After eating a quick breakfast, we went to the gas dock to top off
our fuel and wait for Rita.
"Morning, kids," Rita said. "Permission to come aboard?"
"Good morning, Rita," I said. "Please come on board and make
yourself at home. I have coffee in the galley if you'd like some."
"I would love a hot cup of coffee, Jenny."
"Come on in and I'll show you around and you can fix a cup. None of
drink it so it might be better if you put what want in it."
I showed Rita around the cabin and she fixed herself a cup of
coffee. We went back out to the cockpit and made ready to leave.
After we were underway, all of us went up to the flying bridge and
watched Kathy take the boat out of the marina and into the ocean.
Eddie called the port captain on the radio and told him we were out.
Once we were out in open water, Kathy kicked up the speed and we
headed out to our fishing grounds.
As we motored out, we saw some of the other boats. Most of them
turned off near the area Nate told us there were sailfish, but we
continued on. Brad noticed the water was dirty from the storm and
wondered if it would affect the fishing.
Once we reached our first waypoint, we set up and started fishing.
Eddie saw a few other boats on the radar, but we only spotted one of
them. We fished hard all day, but didn't raise a fish.
Over the course of the day, we learned that Rita used to fish with
her husband. We also found out that Rita's husband passed away a
couple of years ago and she decided to become an observer rather than
give up the friends she had made over the years.
When we got back to the marina, we tied up the boat and went to the
tournament headquarters and checked in. After an hour, the man that
was serving as port captain announced the standings.
Out of the thirty-four boats that were entered in the tournament,
only fifteen of them caught fish. All of the successful boats caught
sailfish and only one of the boats caught more than two fish.
When the meeting broke up, we talked to Rita about the next morning
and went to find our parents. As we left the building, we found our
moms and dads waiting at the back of the room. They were standing
with Nate and watching to goings on.
"Didn't find them today, huh?" Nate said.
The four of us shook our heads no.
"Tomorrow is another day," Dad said. "Maybe you kids need to go
after sailfish. The boats that fished for them seemed to do better."
I don't know if anyone else saw him, but I noticed the look on
Nate's face. I could tell he wanted to say something, but I also
knew couldn't because of his position as an official.
Our families left the meeting and went back to the boat. Mom and
Mrs. Waters fixed a nice dinner and we ate together. After dinner,
we went to watch the sunset. Eddie, Brad, Kathy and I walked behind
our parents.
I was a little dejected because of the lack of fish and after
talking to my brother, Brad and Kathy, I found out they were too.
The sunset was stunning like most nights and after watching it set,
I felt a little better. Brad and I stood close with our arms around
one another's waist as we watched out over the water.
On the way back to the boat, Dad treated us to ice cream. We all
sat at the picnic table outside the shop and the conversation turned
to what we were going to do the next day.
"Are we going to fish for sails tomorrow?" Kathy asked.
"I think we should," Eddie said. "I would hate to end up empty
tomorrow too."
"Nate said to stick to our program," I said. "When Dad said we
should try fishing for sailfish tomorrow, Nate made a face."
"If Nate thought we should do something, he'd have told us," Brad
said.
"He couldn't, Brad. He's an official for the tournament and it
would be against the rules," I said.
Eddie turned to our dad and said, "What do you think, Dad?"
"I think you guys should make the decision. It isn't me that's out
there fishing," Dad said. "You kids are the ones that have to decide
if you want to change your plans or not."
"Thanks for the help," I said.
"Look kids, you have made far more important decisions than this
one. Like any decision you make, you and you alone have to live with
the consequences. As far as I can tell, you kids have done okay on
your own so far," Mom said.
I knew what my mom was referring to. The sleeping arrangements on
the boat were no secret, even though we didn't talk about them. We
all made the decision to sleep together and to have sex.
When we were finished with our ice cream, the four of us decided to
go back to the boat to talk about the next day. Our parents said
goodnight, hugged us and wished us luck.
Back at the boat, Brad, Kathy, Eddie and I sat at the table and
hashed out what we were going to do.
"I still think we should go back out where we were today," I said.
"We caught fish there before and I feel we can again. Maybe the
storm just moved them off the reef for a day."
"Jenny might be right. We're only one fish behind and if we hook a
marlin, we'll be even with the number one boat," Brad said. "I think
we should go back out to the reef and stick to our program."
"I vote to go to the reef too," Kathy said. "If we don't do any
better than we did today, we'll have learned a lesson."
"Okay, the reef it is," Eddie said. "We'll have to fish our asses
off tomorrow. I think if we find the fish, we should try to double
up. I know I've seen a second fish come up before when we hooked up
and tomorrow we need to be ready to drop a second lure."
"That can be tricky," I said. "We've never tried to bring in two
fish at once before, not marlin. If we do double up, whoever is
driving is going to have to be on their toes."
"That's for sure," Brad said. "The driver is going to have to run
between the bridge and the cockpit to help tag and release the fish."
"Remember that if we break off a fish, we get negative points,"
Kathy said.
We talked for a while and by the time we were ready for bed, we were
all confidant we were making the right choice.
"Let's go to bed," I said to Brad.
"Getting tired, Little-bit?" Brad said.
I looked at him, grinned and said, "No."
Brad, Kathy, Eddie and I all started to laugh and headed below. We
said goodnight in the passageway and went to our staterooms.
We were all up and ready to go when Rita showed up the next morning.
I had coffee for her again and she thanked us for being considerate.
Brad took the boat out and by six o'clock we were on our way out.
The seas were about three feet that morning and the boat moved
through them effortlessly. When we passed the area that most of the
other boats were setting up in, Rita asked what we had planned.
"We're going back out to the reef," Brad said.
"Even though you were skunked out there yesterday?" Rita said.
"Yup, we found fish out there before and feel we can find them
again," Brad told her.
Rita just shrugged her shoulders and took a sip of her coffee.
When we reached our waypoint, we went into action and had the
teasers out in a few minutes. Brad was still driving and watching
the lines behind the boat. While we moved along, Eddie took out the
camcorder and clamped it to a rail. He adjusted it so it would
capture the action in the cockpit and tightened it down.
Kathy and I stood in the cockpit in silent anticipation as we stared
out into the water.
"How long did you say you kids have been fishing together?" Rita
asked me.
"Less than a year," I said. "My brother and I crewed on Nate's boat
last summer and then we started to fish together."
"You kids have learned well," Rita said. "I've fished with Nate
before and he's one of the best."
"We have also fished with Tom Gordon," I said. "He keeps his boat
near ours back home."
"You kids know Tom?" Rita said. "I've know him and his wife for
years. My husband and I learned to fish on his old boat."
The sound of Brad yelling, "Fish, starboard rigger," stopped the
conversation and Kathy and I sprang into action. Kathy grabbed the
rod with the lure and dropped the lure into the water while I began
clearing the teasers.
Eddie cleared the port side of the boat as Brad yelled down to his
sister.
"Lock it up, Sis, he's on it," Brad shouted.
Kathy stopped free spooling the reel and held the rod tip at a forty-
five degree angle. When the fish hit the lure, she pulled back on
the rod and the reel began to scream. I helped Eddie put the harness
around her and clipped it to her reel. Rita watched carefully to
make sure Eddie and I didn't touch the rod.
The rules stated that only the angler could touch the rod, but a
mate could help with the harness. Once the straps were secured,
Kathy fought the fish alone.
Eddie told Brad to turn on the camcorder. Brad pushed the button on
the camera and went back to driving. It took a half an hour to bring
the small fish to the back of the boat and get it tagged. Rita
observed the tagging; making sure the plastic tag was above the
lateral line and not too close to the gills. I used the cutter to
cut leader close to the hook and we released the fish.
Kathy took over on the flying bridge and Brad came down to help put
the teasers back out. Once the lines were set again, I went up and
talked with Kathy.
"How are you doing, Kathy?" I asked.
"Fine, the fish wasn't that big," she said.
"It was a marlin and a clean tag and release. That's three hundred
points."
"Yup, it sure is," Kathy said and then yelled. "Fish, portside."
I ran down to help Brad and Eddie with the fish. Brad presented the
lure while my brother and I cleared the lines. As I was reeling in
the starboard rigger line, Kathy yelled that there was another fish
following it.
After shoving the rod into a holder, I grabbed another rod and
dropped the lure into the water. Kathy told me what the fish was
doing while I free spooled the line behind the boat. When the fish
took my offering, I locked the reel and jerked the rod back as I
cranked the reel.
The fish I was fighting made a run and stripped several hundred feet
from the reel. Eddie finished clearing the teasers and fastened a
harness around my waist. Once I was locked into the reel, I began to
try to gain line back.
For the next thirty minutes, Brad and I fought the two fish. When
the fish tried to cross our lines, Brad and I would swap places, one
of us ducking under the rod of the other. Kathy did an excellent job
of controlling the boat, turning into the fish that made the
strongest run and backing down on them when she could.
When Brad's fish became fatigued, Kathy put the autopilot on and
came down to help. She tagged the fish while my brother handled the
leader. Once the tag was in the fish, Eddie was able to remove the
hook and release it.
"Good clean tag and release, kids," Rita said, her excitement
showing in her voice.
Kathy went back to the bridge and started to back down on the fish I
was still fighting. We got it to the boat, tagged it and then Brad
cut the leader right near the hook.
Once the mayhem of handling two fish at the same time was quelled,
we started to celebrate. Kathy even came down to join us in hugging
and jumping around. After a few minutes, we settled down and re-set
the boat.
"I am amazed at how well you guys handled those two fish," Rita said.
"That was the first time we landed a double, Rita," I said. "It was
really cool!"
Rita chuckled and finished entering the information on our score
sheet. "Let's see, that makes three fish at three hundred fifty
points each, one thousand fifty points, so far."
"I thought that a marlin was three hundred points," Brad said.
"It is, but you guys are using circle hooks and that adds an
additional fifty points," Rita said.
We caught two more fish before we hand to pull lines and head back
to the tournament headquarters. The seas had calmed slightly so the
trip back wasn't nearly as rough as coming out. All of us sat up on
the bridge and chattered about the day as Kathy drove back to the
marina.
"We have a total of seventeen hundred fifty points," I said. "I
hope that puts us in the money."
"The tournament pays cash for the top ten boats and gives prizes for
the next ten," Rita said. "I'm pretty sure you kids will win
something, even if the sails were in."
"I never saw another boat near us, even on radar," Kathy said. "I
could see a lot of activity where they were fishing for the sailfish
yesterday, but no one by us."
"My guess is the other teams that fished out where we were moved in
today. They must have figured sailfish were better than nothing,"
Rita said. "It took a lot of guts to do what you kids did, stick to
your plan."
When we arrived at the headquarters, there was a large group of
anglers standing around. They were talking to each other and
drinking soda and beer. Brad found a cooler full of Cokes and
brought each of us one.
I looked around for our parents, but didn't see them. Jeff and the
rest of his crew came over to us and started to gloat.
"We added eight fish to our catch," Jeff said. "That gives us a
total of ten and a thousand points. How did you guys do?"
"We only caught five," Eddie said and Jeff and his crew gave each
other high-fives.
"Yeah," Brad said. "Five whites."
Jeff and his crew went silent and stared at us.
"You guys went out to the reef today!" Jeff said.
I smiled and we all nodded our heads.
"No one caught fish out there yesterday, not even the locals. What
made you guys go back?" Jeff's brother, Eric asked.
"We caught fish out there this week and we knew they were there. We
decided to stick to our program and fish out there again," Kathy
said. "If we didn't catch any fish, oh well, but we weren't going to
follow the pack."
The port captain called the end of the tournament and said that any
boat that hadn't turned in their score sheet would be penalized. He
greeted everyone and told us the results would be announced within
the hour.
Our parents found us and we told them about the day while we waited.
The port captain went to the microphone and called for quiet.
"Okay, ladies and gentlemen, we're ready to get started. Of the
thirty-four boats entered in the tournament, thirty caught fish.
We'll start with thirtieth place and work our way to number one like
we always do."
The port captain began to call off the names of the boats, announce
the number and kind of fish that were caught and the total points. I
stood next to Brad, clutching his arm and vibrating with excitement
as the names were listed.
The last ten places were all tied with one sailfish apiece. When
the man called out the name of the next boat and said they had two
hundred points, I knew we had done well.
I was a wreck by the time the port captain called out the tenth
place boat and invited the team to the stage to receive their check.
The presentations slowed as the man had to wait for the pictures and
such to be taken.
The name of the fifth place boat was called and they had six hundred
points. That's when it dawned on me that we could win the
tournament. Brad was being a dear, putting up with me squeezing his
arm and bouncing up and down next to him. At one point, he moved me
in front of him, wrapped his arms around my waist and tried to keep
me still.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," the port captain said. "Our first place
boat caught five white marlin and, because they used circle hooks,
they earned seventeen hundred fifty points with no penalty points.
Their observer, Rita, said they fished as well as anyone she had ever
fished with.
"I'm pleased to present first place and a check for twenty thousand
dollars to Lady Guinevere. Please come up and get your prizes."
Kathy and I let out a high-pitched screech and giggled. We hugged
our brothers, our parents and each other. The entire crowd was
clapping and laughing at us as we scurried up to the stage and
climbed the steps.
I can't begin to explain the feeling I had as I gazed out over the
large group of anglers and guests. The cheers and clapping seemed
distant as I took in the enormity of it all.
A man handed us large replica of a check and we stood side by side,
holding it in front of us while several people, including my dad,
took pictures. We also received a tall trophy.
"Which one of you two girls is Jenny?" The port captain asked.
"Hi, I'm Jenny."
The man led me over to the microphone and had me stand next to him.
I waved for my brother, Brad and Kathy to come over and stand with me.
"I'd like to introduce Jenny Shockley, the captain of Lady
Guinevere, and the crew, Eddie Shockley, Brad Waters and Kathy
Waters," the man said. "This is the youngest captain and crew that
we've ever had enter this tournament in its twenty-five year history.
Jenny, please tell us a little about how you guys did it."
I was scared to death as I stood on the stage and looked out at the
crowd. I found my mom, saw her smile and nod her head and took a
deep breath.
"Hi, we heard there were marlin on the reef and decided to go after
them. After raising fish in two days of practice, we felt we could
do well out there."
"Even after you didn't catch any fish yesterday?" the man said.
"Yes, sir. We just stuck to our program, the way we were taught.
Yesterday was disappointing, but we went back anyway. Today the fish
were back and we managed to catch a few."
"You certainly did, Jenny. How long have you all been fishing?"
"This is our first year fishing and our second tournament," I said.
I watched the men in the crowd shaking their heads in disbelief when
they heard that we were so new to the sport.
"Well, that isn't very long," the man said. "Who taught you guys
how to fish?"
"We have fished with Tom Gordon and Nate Johansson. My brother and
I crewed for Nate last summer and learned a lot from him. We have
also done a lot of research on the fish and techniques to catch them."
"Thanks, Jenny and congratulations to you and your crew," he said.
"I hope we see you again."
"Thank you, sir and you can count on seeing us again," I said.
We left the stage, went over to our parents and showed them the
trophy and the check. Nate was standing with them and gave Kathy and
me hugs, and then shook Eddie and Brad's hands.
"I can't believe it," Mrs. Waters said. "I'm so proud of you kids I
could just bust."
"You kids did great," Dad said. "I guess you made your decision to
go back."
"Yeah, we all talked about it and decided to stick to our plan, Dad.
Just like Nate taught us to," Eddie said.
I watched Nate's normally stern look change and a smile form. He
took a deep breath and his chest pushed out as he nodded and said, "I
knew you kids would find fish, all you had to do is have some
confidence in yourselves and your ability."
Other teams started to come over and congratulate us and tell us how
good it was to see young people interested in the sport. Rita came
over, hugged Nate and smiled at me.
"I couldn't say anything while we were out there, kids, but you guys
are as good as anyone in the room. I have to admit I was a bit
skeptical when you went back to the reef, but you certainly proved me
wrong," Rita said.
"They proved a lot of people wrong, Rita," Nate said. "I really
thought you kids were going to follow the pack."
"We thought about it, Nate, but Jenny talked us out of it," Brad
said. "She told us what you said about sticking to our plan and we
did."
While we were all standing around and chatting, two men came up and
introduced themselves as reporters for one of the fishing magazines.
They asked if they could take a few pictures and have an interview.
"Sure," Eddie said. "Where would you like to do it?"
"How about a couple of pictures on your boat and then we can do the
interview there?" one of them said.
We agreed and, after saying goodbye to some people, left for the
boat. The photographer snapped several pictures of the four of us in
the cockpit, holding rods and the like and then we started the
interview. Our parents stayed with us as we answered the reporter's
questions, and Dad added a few comments.
Once the interview was completed and the two men left, we all went
into the cabin to sit down.
"You kids must be exhausted," Mrs. Waters said. "We should let you
guys take a nap before dinner."
"I'm so geeked I don't think I could sleep," Brad said.
I glanced at Brad and without thinking said, "I know how to relax
you sweetie."
The moment I realized what I said, I noticed everyone was staring at
me. I started to blush, but when I saw Mom start smiling I relaxed.
"Oops, that didn't come out the way I meant it to," I said.
All of our parents began to chuckle and then laughed and shook their
heads. I started to blush again and felt my cheeks warm. I looked
over at Brad, saw he too was red faced and giggled.
"Okay then, maybe we should leave you kids alone so you can relax,"
Mom said, raising her eyebrows.
"That's not necessary, Mom. Why don't you give us a few minutes to
get cleaned up and we'll all go to dinner. We only had time to snack
out there today and I'm starved," I said.
Kathy and I went to shower and get dressed. We stopped at our
staterooms, stripped off our dirty clothing, went into the head and I
turned on the water.
"I can't believe you said that, Jen," Kathy said as I shampooed my
hair. "You might as well have just told them you and Brad were going
to go fuck."
"I didn't really mean to say it, it just popped out," I said.
"Too bad you brought up dinner; I would rather stay here and fool
around. We could have eaten later."
"I thought we'd get dinner out of the way and then we could have the
whole night," I said as I stepped out of the stall and Kathy stepped
in.
Kathy giggled and said, "Good thinking."
We finished quickly, got dressed and told our brothers they could
have the head. While Brad and Eddie cleaned up, Kathy and I sat and
talked with our moms. Both of our dads were outside, leaving us
alone in the salon.
"So girls," Mrs. Waters said, "what are your plans for all that
money?"
"I don't know what Brad and Kathy are going to do with their half,
but Eddie and I will save ours for fishing and stuff for the boat," I
said.
"Brad and I haven't talked about it yet, but we'll probably do the
same thing," Kathy said. "Maybe we could all get matching outfits
with the boat's name on them. I like the tee shirts, but I was
thinking about matching shirts and shorts, like some of the other
teams wear."
"That's a really cool idea, Kathy," I said.
"I think you and your brother should contribute to the cost of this
fishing stuff, Kathy," Mrs. Waters said. "It's only fair."
"The four of us will all talk about it and let you know," Kathy said.
Eddie came out and told us Brad would be ready in a few minutes. He
went out to the cockpit and talked with Dad and Mr. Waters while we
waited. When Brad came up, we all left for the restaurant.
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