Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience. (C) Copyright 2002. M.C. All Rights Reserved. All Reproduction for fee or profit forbidden. Copies of my stories can be downloaded from: </files/Authors/MikeC/> Send all comments and suggestions to MikeC@NSpace.net ============= James Part VII. Wandering Afield. Chapter 41 "See?" Brenda said as she showed us the underside of Gyro 2, "They knew the approximate plane points for 65mph so they knew to place the scoops behind them, but because of the size of the motor, and the placement of the second cabin, they could only put them here." She pointed out the 5" wide stainless steel cowls. "And yesterday, when we started looking at the test results, I began plotting them on this chart." She held it up, "Now look at where the SECONDARY points are at 35...?" She nodded and smiled, "Right over the scoops! My theory is that the secondary plane points are caused by a sort of leakage of the primary aeration and it pools where the standing wave of the hull's motion compresses it. So that means the scoops are sucking mostly air at this speed!" "Now, let's take a look inside," she said as she lowered the boat into the water and we climbed in. She opened the motor cover and looked inside with a flashlight. She aimed it at two hoses running up the sides of the compartment. "These are the take ups." She followed them with the light, "And it joins in the middle here..." "That's the coolant interchange assembly and the intercooler." Sara explained. "Right," Brenda looked up at us, "Now for these calculations, I've had to program in adjustments to the plane points because of the V-geometry and attitude of the boat at speed. The kicker is that yesterday you measured both primary and secondary plane points at 35, right?" She waited until we confirmed it, "And you did all your measuring INSIDE the cabin, right?" Suddenly Amanda said, "Right, and the scoops are behind the cabin, under the engine!" She stopped, "Which means...?" "Which means," Brenda explained, "Wave actions occur at the keel ahead of the sides. Just geometry." She smiled, "On this boat it's about 19 inches. So anything that happens on the sides is happening at the keel 19 inches ahead!" "Right! So putting the intake on the keel puts it a safe 19" BEHIND the secondary aeration!" They all grinned. "And all we'll need is a single scoop!" Sara paused, "A much smaller one, too!" Brenda nodded, "According to my figures, we'll only need a single 3" to get 25psi pressure." "And 15 is all we need..." Sara mulled, "Hmmm, that means... lessee... 20-22% decrease in drag, the squareroot... times..." She looked up, "Eighteen mph! Wait, factor in Bernoulli's equation... still, fifteen should be a safe bet!" Amanda's eyes glowed, "A 77 mph cuddy cabin? Shit! Peter's gonna cream his pants!" "Hmmm, we'll need progressive tabs for that kind of speed. And dampened hydraulics and a longer jack-plate for more steering control." "There's one more consideration," I added, "If Brenda's theory is right, there will be a fair amount of induced pressure from the standing wave, so we may not even need such a big intake!" I paused, "Or eliminate it entirely!" Amanda grinned, "Right, we put in a 3" opening at an angle. Sorta like an induction channel... We may even crack 80 then." She shrugged, "We'll start with that, and put the scoop in if it's not enough!" "OK, let's give Peter our shopping list so we can start putting it in!" Sara took off with Brenda. Amanda turned to me, "James, can we leave the boat until the supplies get in? I want some time at the Flight Park." "OK, it can wait until we get back from the shoot." I looked at Jules, "You can start giving Amanda driving lessons as well, but make sure you work things out with Celeste - she has to know where you are at all times, OK?" Grinning, we kissed goodbye as they took off for Harry's. The noise outside was worse than the hammering in the marina. I walked towards the restaurant but it was already wall to wall people, in addition, there was a TV crew there filming the construction of the Wheel. Marjorie, Celeste and Max and another man were talking with reporters. "That's hizzoner the Mayor!" Sherri said as she waded through the crowd to join me, "Most of the town council is here too. This is the biggest thing that's happened since they shot the movie here three years ago!" She laughed. "Looks like a good time for us to head out, are you doing anything for Celeste now?" "No - she says we should go and she sends her love. Marjorie's gonna run interference for her. And Max is just wonderful too." She took my arm and we waved goodbye from a distance. We collected Sara and Brenda and boarded Jewel. We sailed out slowly, watching the installation of the vertical supports for the Lexan 'glass' for the Wheel. Once the full-height pieces were in place the building would be shielded from the elements. It was already an imposing and inspiring sight. After the ride down the lock by the dam, we stopped at the fish hatchery. They were out of chum but the rangers invited us in for coffee and served us home made crab cakes. The crabs infiltrate the incubating pools and they had to be trapped before they eat up the small fish. The Ranger boys were full of questions about the marina and the Wheel, although none of them were addressed to me. The girls laughed at all their jokes and enjoyed themselves thoroughly. We said our goodbyes, promising a return visit and set off down the river, munching on a supply of the delicious crab cakes they forced on us. The girls were happily giving Sherri a guided tour on the bow when suddenly they screamed and pointed at two Paragliders that were sailing down the river towards us. As they drew closer we could see Jules in one and Harry and Amanda in the other, 50' back and above. Amanda had the camcorder and was filming us as we cavorted and made complete asses of ourselves. With our asses. Amanda's PPC was our new one with "MAX Performance - Land, Sea & Air" printed in bold black letters on the day-glo orange canopy. They followed us down river for a bit before waving goodbye and turning back. The girls were still waving and giggling on each other as I called Brenda over. "Does you face hurt?" "No, why?" "It will, you're getting too much sun - even your freckles have freckles!" Sherri looked at her, "Yeah, you're gonna start burning real soon!" Sara hustled her down the cabin, "We've got to slop some moisturizer and sunblock on you now!" Sherri turned to me and kissed my cheek, "This is great! I feel like we're international jet-setters or something..." Squeals from below made her look into the cabin, "Oh my god!" She whispered, "They... they..." her voice faded as she gripped my leg. "They...?" "They, uh, uh, they, ah, look like they COULD be having fun." She closed her eyes and shivered against my chest. She hugged me and hummed a bit, then she leaned down for another look. She sighed again. Sara called out, "Oh Sher-reeeee, we're waiting for you-uuuuu!" She looked at me, then checked the action down below, "Hmmm, it looks scary down there..." she took a deep breath, turned and pecked me, "But, I'll never know unless I give it a try, right?" Her lovely butt disappeared even before I could wish her good luck. The river opened up with the multimillion dollars homes. I waved and their owners waved back, no doubt feeling extremely fortunate to have the three lovely ladies moan and sigh in such appreciation of their estates as we sailed by. After refueling I took the boat out of the harbor. This was the first time I had a chance to try out the new dual propellers and it was a noticeable improvement over the older unit. The acceleration was more authoritative and the top end was almost 50. We had gone out about 5 miles when Brenda came up in a skimpy bikini, glistening with lotion. She kissed me and slid on my lap, arms around my neck, "I don't know what it is about Sara, she gets on this boat and she goes crazy horny. She's worn me out and now she's working on Sherri!" She giggled, "Last week, when we stayed over, she was up all night propositioning everybody!" "Maybe she simply finds all of you irresistible!" "Oh, You don't have to defend her," Brenda laughed, "We all know how you feel!" She licked my ear, whispering, "Do you find me irresistible?" She rubbed herself on my groin and said, "Hmmm, is THAT your answer?" We were well clear of the harbor and I set the autopilot, then took Brenda to the lounger seat and started untying her straps. We had finished verbalizing our mutual satisfaction and delight and were draped drowsily on each other when we heard loud screaming from the cabin. A very naked Sherri ran up and piled on us, with an equally naked Sara stalking her. "Help!" Sherri clutched my waist, "The strange lady is chasing me!" She panted in panic, "She wants to give me a piece of candy so she can touch my privates!" "And of course you told her no?" "Of course!" She sniffed indignantly, "I told her I always get TWO from you!" They collapsed on us, cackling and wheezing. After a bit, Sherri said, "Now I know why everybody warned me about sex!" She looked up, tears running down her face, "It's so much FUN!" and laughed some more. Sara murmured, "You have the most incredible body - and it gets turned on by EVERYTHING!" she stroked Sherri's face, "And such a quick learner too!" Sherri giggled, "The strange lady is really strange beyond description!" She kissed Sara, and whispered, "That last bit in there? It would be disgusting if it didn't feel so good!" They leaned on each other and sighed some more. We got dressed as the boat chimed and slowed. We were about 30 miles from the shore, the land a haze on the horizon with only the tallest buildings visible. I took them on the fore deck. "Look at the water. This is the edge of the Continental Shelf. It's about a hundred feet deep here, then a mile further out, it drops to over 800 feet. That's why it's sort of emerald blue here and becomes a deep, dark blue there." "We're in the REAL ocean now, aren't we?" Sherri said, awe in her voice. We could feel the raw power of the water as it bobbed our 3 ton boat like a cork. "Yes, and the weather here is really changeable so, as standard procedure, we set the UHF to the Emergency weather channel, AND, we'll have the radio on AM." "Why AM?" Brenda asked. "FM will not travel this far from shore and AM may give us faster reporting of sudden storms. The US Weather Bureau works with satellite pictures but the AM people will often report sightings from other boats." I turned and looked at Sara, "Remember how Amanda caught the grouper last time?" She nodded, "We looked for an underwater ridge..." she grinned suddenly, "And we're sitting dead smack on top of the mother of all ridges here! Right?" "Right!" I led them back to the back and flipped the cover of the live bait well. "Oooh, they're beautiful!" They were about 10" long and shone with an iridescent blue over a brown body and they trailed long golden gossamer cloaks behind them. "Some fisherman had netted a load of flying fish and he was going to sell them as pet food in town, so I bought us some. They make a really good bait fish because they are so attractive to other fish. Except their flesh is very soft so they have to be handled very gently." I climb over the rear transom and continued, "This is where the kicker motor comes in handy." as I dropped it in place. "Oh, that's why you had Max put it in yesterday with the DX!" Sara said, "How fast can a 10hp motor go?" "It'll go about 12mph on this boat." "Hmmm, that's a good trolling speed." "But for this - we have to keep it under 5. The fish are REALLY fragile!" We prepared our 3 rods, carefully placing the hooks through the bony part of their mouth and dropped them gingerly into the water. Their wings opened in our slow movement and they glittered and gleamed in the sunlight. We let out fifty feet of line and left the rods in the holders. We waited with drinks as we steered towards the deeper part of the shelf. "Guys, is it my imagination," Brenda said, "Or are we going backwards?" "Yeah, it looks spooky!" Sherri breathed. We could see the water passing under the boat but the shoreline seemed to be moving in the opposite direction. Sara looked at us, "Er, I think we're in the Bermuda Triangle! Right?" I nodded, "We ARE on the outer fringes, and this phenomenon has contributed its share to the tales, but it's not CAUSED by the Triangle. Any ideas?" I waited a bit, "OK, try Gulf Stream." "Oh... But we're not in the Gulf!" "It's CALLED that because that's where sailors first noticed it." I pulled out the map, "The Gulf Stream goes up one side of the ocean and circles back down the other side, along Europe." I pointed, "Here, it comes up close to land and is quite fast, about 10mph." I looked around, "Our kicker motor is going at 5 in the other direction, so..." "So our net velocity is 5 mph the wrong way." Brenda sighed, "But it still gives me the creeps. Are you SURE we're not being sucked into some black hole like all those other boats?" "Not likely, " I laughed, and paused, "Wait, something's happening - look at that line" The starboard line was weaving back and forth, "Get ready - that's a sign the fish is trying to escape something..." and as the line snapped tight, "Fish on!" Brenda pulled the rod out and started working the fish in, "Stay over the side - don't let it cut across the other lines." "Fish ON!" Sara cried as the port line got a heavy hit as well and started singing out immediately. Sherri helped her get the rod out and held it as Sara worked the reel. Suddenly, Brenda's line started whining out too as she grunted and tried to keep the rod from tipping out of her hands. I helped get it back under her arm as she fought the suddenly viciously struggling fish. It must have been swimming with the boat and had just realized that it was hooked. "Shit!" Came from the other side as Sara's line broke and threw both of them on their butts. They started giggling as they crawled around checking each other for bruises. I reeled the broken line back in as they helped Brenda bring her catch in - a 15 pound grouper. Brenda and Sara started wrestling it down so they could kill it. "Eeew! He slimed me!" Brenda cried and dove overboard, rubbing her hands over her body. "Sherri," I urged, "Climb up to the cabin roof and look around for anything moving in the water. Scream if you do - and keep your eyes moving around!" I nodded as she followed my directions and I went and reversed the little motor. "Bren!" I waved to her, "Swim back here without making any splashes. NOW!" She had drifted about fifteen feet back of the boat and now hurried back in a strong breast stroke. "All clear!" sang out Sherri. I reached down and hauled Brenda out and sprayed her down with fresh water. "What was that all about?" Brenda asked. I waved for Sherri to join us. "The fishing line didn't break, something CHEWED through it!" I showed them the frayed end, "This was 50 pound steel wire. How do you think a bite from teeth that did that would feel like?" Brenda shook as she looked back over the side, saying quietly, "That wasn't very smart, was it?" I hugged her, "You didn't know. But it's a big ocean, with big and hungry animals in it!" She nodded and shivered in my arms. I turned her face up and kissed her, "And I'm the only animal that's allowed to bite your beautiful body, OK?" "Yes," She smiled through her tears and held me tightly, "My master." They weren't in the mood for fishing so we started the main engine and made lunch. We cleaned the grouper and ate that with crab cakes and leftovers. I held Brenda in my arms and rocked her as she took little tastes of the food. "Remember we were talking about the Bermuda Triangle?" I said, "Well it started back around the Second World War, an out of work journalist saw a newspaper article about a formation of US Fighters which had disappeared on a short training flight, then a rescue plane sent to look for them also vanished. He got the idea to write a book about, as he called it, the Bermuda Triangle. He did his research, but selected only ones which fit in his theories." "So some things DID happen here?" Sherri asked. "Of course, for the last thousand years ships have been sailing to the New World, and attracting wars and pirates. Don't forget that until a hundred years ago they were simply not aware of the Gulf Stream, so when they were swept off course, they blamed weird happenings with the compass, the wind or the gods. Anyways, the author attributed it to some extra-dimensional alien thing and it started a modern day legend." "And the planes...?" Sara asked. "As it turned out, it was a group of raw pilots flying in bad weather and their leader's plane had a malfunctioning compass. They drifted South and may very well have run out of fuel and crashed in the Gulf - their last message was tracked in that direction." "And the rescue plane?" "It took off in bad weather as well and it was searching in the wrong area. It was a wooden seaplane notorious for fires and it was believed that that was what happened." "But it COULD be something we can't explain?" Brenda asked. "Not based on the research that's been done. Statistically, the Triangle has no more accidents than any other well traveled parts of the world and some of the cases cited in the book didn't even happen in the right places. "Just so you know where this guy is coming from, he also wrote another best-seller." I smiled, "On the so-called Y2K disaster. Of course we know now it was all hokey-pokey fearmongering, but the press has an almost ludicrous appetite for sensationalistic half-truths. Still, once a myth is started it's not easy to change people's minds. "In fact, something happened just a few years ago that, at the beginning seemed to support the weird science theory. Apparently a British warship 2 days out of Bermuda found a small sailboat. It was adrift, in perfect condition but, as befitting our tale, had nobody on board. So they sent a handful of their sailors over and restarted the engines so they could sail it to port. But on the second night, the engines quit and won't start again. Finally, days overdue, they limped in on sails. So of course everybody went, 'See, I told you so!'" Brenda turned around and kissed me, "See? I TOLD you so!" "So what really happened?" Sara asked. "The truth came out when they found the owners. They had sailed from Europe two weeks before and the boat had developed an electrical problem which kept draining the batteries. So they pulled into the Virgin Islands for repairs, and while in port the boat was stolen. Obviously the thieves discovered the power problems too and abandoned ship." "So I shouldn't believe everything I hear before I check it out." Brenda mused. "Or," I continued, "Let you mind dwell on an unpleasant incident until it starts to grow..." Brenda curled up on me and sighed, "OK, so tell me who you think Mr Teeth was." "Well, he might be a shark..." I started and Brenda shuddered, "But based on the fight he put up, a smaller one, maybe four feet long." "That's big enough!" Brenda whispered. "But sharks are opportunistic feeders, they prefer dead meat to chasing live bait. So chances are we're talking about a barracuda here." "Would they attack humans?" "As a general rule, fish will only attack things under half its size, but if you show signs of distress..." "So that's why you wanted me to swim quietly." "Yes, I was afraid the sounds of the fighting grouper and then your dive may have attracted it." I rocked her a bit, "Feel better?" "Hmmm, yes," She hugged me back, "Lots, thanks." "I'm glad it's just a scare, Bren." Sara kissed her, softly, but with more tongue than was absolutely necessary. Sherri hugged us and leaned on Brenda. "Mmmm, it must've been a real bad one!" Sherri breathed, "Your nipples are hard and your heart's beating so fast! Oooh, just feel it, Sare!" Brenda sighed as she allowed them to pull her into the cabin. "Sare," Sherri's laughing voice said from inside, "If you were a barracuda, which part would you want to bite...?" ============= (C) Copyright 2002. M.C. All Rights Reserved. All Reproduction for fee or profit forbidden. Copies of my stories can be downloaded from: </files/Authors/MikeC/> Send all comments and suggestions to MikeC@NSpace.net