Final Preparations

Dave watched as the 8-ton sailboat was moved from its cradle to the water by the immense travel-lift. No matter how many times he witnessed this event, it always amazed him to watch the ungainly machine motor over to a boat under the watchful gaze of the operator. At Frank's boat yard, they depended on Peter to operate the travel-lift and it was clear he knew what he was doing. Slowly, ever so slowly, the large machine moved towards the boat. Peter stopped the machine just as it completely straddled the boat. He carefully maneuvered the immense canvas straps under the boats hull and again started the machine's motor. Gently, as if he was moving tons of fragile eggs, he accelerated the motor, tightening the tension on the straps under the hull. Satisfied they were properly positioned, he then began to lift the boat. After completely picking up the boat, Peter moved the machine towards the launching area. Kwoletee' Tyme, as Dave's boat was named, was held suspended in the air only inches above the ground by the immense canvas straps running under the hull to the two major I-beams, which ran horizontally between the two vertical tubular stanchions on each side of the lift.

As the lift approached the marina bulkhead, it was driven out over the water onto two horizontal steel tracks supported by vertical pilings that were set into the bottom of the bay. When satisfied that the boat was properly positioned, Peter stopped the machine and, with the shifting of a lever turned the horizontal motion of the machine to a vertical motion that slowly unwound the steel cables to which the canvas straps were attached, and the boat was gently returned to the water environment for which it was designed.

Dave looked at the boat and was quite proud that he had been able to accomplish all the work in only five days. As tiring as those 18-hour days were, he thought, they were worth it, for there is nothing more exciting to a boat owner than to see his boat all cleaned and polished, back in the water. Dave's mind flashed back to the two page list of items that he had accomplished, from installing the sound transducer Claire had purchased, to painting the boat bottom with anti-fouling paint for preventing marine growth. He even took the time to touch up the name on the transom. Kwoletee' Tyme did look good, even if he said so himself.

After motoring the boat back into its slip, Dave began the chore of provisioning for the trip. He estimated they would be at sea for 5 to 7 days testing the new equipment. There was sufficient storage space on board for everything they would need, except, Dave feared, there might not be sufficient storage for drinking water. So he decided to purchase a number of plastic containers to supplement the built-in tanks. With a completed shopping list in his pocket, Dave climbed into the jeep and headed for town. As he drove out of the boatyard, seeing Frank the owner, he waved and shouted, "Time to provision for the trip. I'll see you when I get back." Frank nodded and returned Dave's wave.

Dave reached down, shifted into second gear and pressed on the accelerator.

The shopping spree took almost three hours. Returning, Dave now had a much better feeling for the expression, "10 lbs. stuffed into a 5 lb. container." Bags and boxes were tied and stuffed into every cranny of the jeep. Dave had packed so much into the jeep that he could not see to his right or rear and had barely sufficient room to shift gears. Pulling into the boat yard, he glanced at Kwoletee' Tyme and was shocked at what he saw. The boat, which he had spent all week fixing and cleaning, was buried under a mountain of bags and boxes. Dave got out of the jeep and ran towards the boat. To his surprise, there was Claire, shuffling bags and boxes of supplies from the finger slip to the boat. When she saw Dave, she stopped what she was doing, jumped off the boat threw her hands around his neck, placed a kiss on his cheek and said, "Surprise! I was able to get off a day early so I decided to come and help you prepare the boat."

"What the hell is all this stuff ?" he asked.

"Oh, I figured I'd just bring along some food and stuff that we might need. That way you wouldn't have to take time out from working on the boat to go shopping." she replied. "By the way, where were you?"

For a moment Dave stared in disbelief. Then turning to Claire said, "Come with me," and they both walked up the dock.

Reaching the jeep, Claire, like Dave only moments before, couldn't believe her eyes. "You went shopping too," she screamed, and then started laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" asked Dave.

Bent over with laughter, tears running down her cheeks, Claire looked at Dave and said, "If we can't speak to the whales, we will at least be able to feed them."

For some reason the humor of the whole situation escaped Dave and he simply picked up two bags and started down the docks with Claire trailing close behind, also clutching two full bags.

Together they emptied the contents of the jeep and soon sitting on the dock, finger slip and boat, were the contents of the two uncoordinated shopping sprees. Dave looked at Claire. "I don't know where we are going to put all this stuff."

Claire thought for a moment and said, "Well we can figure it out later, meanwhile we need to put the frozen food away before it melts."

"Frozen food! What frozen food?" asked Dave. "This is a sailboat; sailboats don't have a freezer!" he explained.

Looking him straight in the eyes, Claire said " No freezer! But then where am I going to put the six gallons of ice cream I bought?" Barely completing the sentence and no longer able to contain herself, she again burst out laughing.

Recognizing he had been had, Dave turned and walked down the companionway. Standing in the cabin, he carefully looked around. Taking stock of the available space, he soon developed a storage plan. "Claire can you come down here for a minute?" he asked.

"Are ice cream cones allowed below decks?" she asked from the companionway.

Dave turned, looked at Claire's big smile and, unable to resist, returned it, and finally also had to laugh at the entire situation.

For the next two hours, Claire unloaded everything out of the cardboard boxes and bags above decks, while Dave attempted to find place for all the provisions below. As they worked, Claire brought Dave up to speed on the programming she had done and the operation sequence that was required to operate the program. The more she spoke, the more excited Dave became to leave and encounter whales.

Soon the task at hand was completed and all the provisions were properly stowed. After discarding the empty bags and boxes, Claire came down the companionway. Looking around, she was truly amazed at the apparent order that she found.

"Wow, you really did put all of that away," she said, "Where did it all go?"

Dave looked around and simply replied, totally serious, "A good boat, well designed and constructed, has ample storage allowing its owner to make long passages. Kwoletee' Tyme, was designed for distant cruising and as a result does permit for a lot of stowage."

Claire rolled her eyes at Dave's serious answer and in a serious, deep tone herself replied, "Impressive, let's hear it for old KT. Dave looked at her, not certain what to make of that comment.

Looking around, she then asked, "Where do I sleep?"

"You’re in the front cabin." Pointing to the cabin, Dave took about four steps and said, "Your quarters, Madam, first class steerage."

Following him she squeezed by, looked around and asked, "Do you have anything larger, maybe with a built-in Jacuzzi?"

Beginning to recognize Claire's humor, Dave responded, "No Jacuzzi Madam." Then, pointing to the companionway he added, "But we do have a very large pool just up those stairs." They both laughed.

Dave then spent the next fifteen minutes showing Claire the many features of the boat. How to operate the marine toilet, the propane stove, running water, radio, etc. Much to Dave's surprise and delight, Claire confided to him that she had sailed several times before on friend’s boats, so she wasn’t a total novice.

Soon they were both busy, Dave connecting the sound transducer to the amplifiers Claire had brought with her, while she busied herself with setting up the laptop computer, being extremely careful to secure it so it didn't get damaged as the boat rocked.

"Food," replied Dave. "Let's get a pizza," he suggested. "We will be eating boat food for the next 10 days or more, a little shore food will be well appreciated by this time next week." Claire agreed and they both quickly freshened up and were soon on their way.

Returning from dinner they were both quiet. Entering the boat, Dave switched on the lights and the ship-to-shore radio to listen to the weather forecast. The monotone voice of the announcer took over the boat as both of them listened intently. "The next three days will be controlled by a Bermuda high, winds 10-15 from the southeast, with cloudless skies from Cape Cod to Maine," promised the recording. Dave looked at Claire and said, "How about we go sailing tomorrow?"

"Fine by me, that's what I came here for."

"Good. We are as ready as we're ever going to be," explained Dave. "The weather is with us, we might as well leave."

Checking the tide tables, he found the tide was high at nine, meaning that if they left at about eight they would have the outgoing tide with them all the way past Fishers Island and through the treacherous body of water leading out of Long Island Sound called The Race. The outgoing tide would boost their over the ground speed from 5 - 5.5 knots to over 7 knots. Looking at his watch, he realized it was already 11:00 PM. "We leave at eight in the morning," he announced. "Let's get some sleep."

Claire nodded her head in approval as she let a giant yawn escape from her mouth. Dave looked around kind of sheepishly and suggested, "I'll use the bathroom first, after which I will go on deck while you use it."

Not knowing what to say, Claire thought that was a little strange. After all they were going to be together on this boat for the next two weeks. Every time someone had to use the bathroom, did the other person have to go on deck? But too tired to argue, she nodded her acceptance of his plan and Dave proceeded into the miniature room sailboat manufacturer's call the "head," closing the narrow door behind him.

Having completed breakfast, Dave went up to the marina office to tell the manager that they would be leaving on a trip. Bidding him farewell, he stopped at the ice machine and filled his canvas bag with all the ice he could carry. Hurrying back to the boat, he stuffed the new ice into every nook and cranny in the ice box. That completed, he inspected the interior of the boat. Satisfied that all was in order, Dave went topside and started the small diesel inboard engine. Looking at Claire he said, "Our water tanks are full, our ice box packed, we have enough food for an army. What do you say we blow this place, matey?"

"Matey?" she replied.

"An endearing term," he assured her, "used by sailors to imply friendship, camaraderie, you know what I mean."

Not to be out done she replied, "OK, Matey Pooh, let's go."

"Matey Pooh?" This is not going to be an easy trip, he thought to himself. With that they cast off the lines holding them to the dock and the boat slowly backed out of its slip. It wasn't long before they were out of the confining channels and felt the breeze from the southeast, just as promised the night before by the marine forecast. Dave asked Claire to take over the helm while he put up the sails. After carefully showing her the direction to steer, Dave went forward to attend to the sails. With the boat heading into the wind, first the main and then the 150 genoa were raised. Satisfied the sails were properly secured, Dave returned to the cockpit and slid behind the helm. Reaching down he turned off the noisy engine, and headed the boat eastward while adjusting the sails. As the boat changed course and the sails began to draw, the boat suddenly came to life. No longer propelled by the engine, KT as they now called her, took on a whole new feel. Under wind power she became a thing of grace. Silently slipping through the water, heeling about 10 degrees to port in the light breeze.

Satisfied that everything was properly set, Dave reached down and set the autopilot, due east 90 degrees. He stood up, lifted himself onto the stern rail, and holding onto the backstay, glanced at the sea around him. Claire had watched the entire operation in total silence, carefully taking in his every move, intent on learning how to sail KT. Finally Dave's eyes made contact with Claire's. "Only way to travel", he explained. "It takes a little longer to get where you're going, but sailing is so delightful you usually don't care about getting where you are going anyway," he concluded.

"I hope you are going to teach me to sail," Claire said. "I know the basics, but only from watching, never from doing."

"No problem. By the time we return you will be ready for the America's Cup," Dave snickered.

"All fooling aside Dave, I really do want to know how to sail. Why, what if something happened to you, how would I get the boat back? What if you fell overboard, how would I get back to you?"

"OK, OK, I get the idea," Dave said. Thinking for a minute he then said, "What I will do from now on is explain to you everything I'm doing, as I do it. Then the next time that task has to be done, I'll let you do it."

"Great," replied Claire, "that should get me up to speed quickly."

As the boat moved eastward, Dave and Claire spent some time discussing just how they were going to make the first attempt at contacting the whales. Up to this time both had been preoccupied with the rudimentary tasks of getting the computer equipment, mounting the transducer, finalizing the computer program and, of course, preparing the boat. Dave went below to get a chart. Returning to the cockpit, Dave opened the chart to the southeast coast of Cape Cod. Pointing to an area that he had previously circled in red, he went on to explain, "This is an area frequented by three different species of whales. Past studies have taught me that Right, Gray and Humpback Whales can consistently be found here. The water is clear, cold and there is a rapid change in depth, with a pronounced upwelling of nutrient water from the depths of the Atlantic. This results in an abundance of marine life, and for the whales a steady diet."

"Do you always find whales there?" Claire asked.

Dave nodded his head in assurance. "Not only are the whales always there but much to my amazement, the area is empty of boats. I have never seen any fishing boats or any of those fucking whale-watching boats in the area." Dave suddenly turned red, blushing in embarrassment at the language he had used. "I'm sorry, there was no call for that."

Claire laughed at his sudden embarrassment and assured him she had heard the word before and he need not be concerned. Then she even asked, "By the way what is the whale sound for fuck?......... Or don't whales curse," she added.

"I, ah,…. well, I don't know," replied Dave, "I guess I never thought about that."

Claire let out a big grin and went below.

Turning to the chart Dave took a look around and marked off the spot on the chart that depicted the boat's current position. It was now 10:15 AM, they had been traveling a little over two hours and covered almost 14 miles, not bad for a 35-foot sailboat, he thought to himself.

"With this wind and the increasing out-going current, we should be at Block Island by 3:00," he mumbled.

"What did you say?" asked Claire as she emerged from the cabin. Looking up, Dave saw Claire standing in the companionway. Much to his surprise she had changed into her bathing suit, a striking floral print bikini that highlighted all the right areas, and for the first time, Dave realized that Claire had all the right areas.

"Uh...well I was only talking to myself, but what I said, I mean what I was thinking out loud was that if this wind and favorable tide keep up, we will be at Block Island by 3."

Claire was aware of Dave's surprised expression as he saw her standing there in her bathing suit. "I hope you don't mind," she said, "but I don't get much opportunity to tan and, well, the sun is so warm and I just thought I would take advantage."

"No, no I don't mind," replied Dave, "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Well you kind of looked surprised," she said. "If you want I'll go change back into my shorts."

"No, no. You look great, really great."

Claire blushed.

As she was making herself comfortable, she glanced over at the chart and asked why they were going to Block Island?

Dave proceeded to explain that they weren't going to Block Island, but they would be skirting the island. Going to Block Island was just an expression. They would, however, have to make a decision soon as to whether they would pass north of the island taking the longer more protected course or go southeast of the island, the ocean route. Lying in the sun, Claire didn't even answer.

The morning passed quickly and uneventfully. Dave continued to make minor course adjustments while listening to the updated marine weather forecasts. By noon they had cleared Fishers Island and were now in the Atlantic, out of the protected waters of Long Island Sound. The wind was still steady from the southwest at 10 -15 knots and KT was sailing a steady 6 knots in the Atlantic swell. Dave was concerned that Claire might get seasick when exposed to the larger swells, but when she went below to prepare lunch his fears diminished.

After a light lunch of soup and crackers, Dave informed Claire, "I've decided we will overnight at Block Island." When she looked at him a little puzzled, he explained an early start the next morning would put them past Martha's Vineyard by lunch and an overnight sail from there would put them into the prime whale study area. He further explained, "I want to dive under the boat and listen to the output from the new transducer I installed, and the Great Salt Pond at Block, is an excellent place to test the system."

Claire agreed that testing the system in a confined area was probably a good idea and with that Dave made a minor adjustment to the autopilot and KT made a barely discernible 5 degree turn to port.

At 3:15 PM, KT passed through the entrance jetties and entered the Great Salt Pond at Block. Claire scanned the beautiful shoreline. To the right, the Coast Guard station, on the left, beautiful homes with views of the ocean and the Great Pond. Directly ahead Claire saw the harbor was full of boats of all shapes and sizes. Houses, predominantly quaint New England styled, rimmed the perimeter of the pond. None of them on top of their neighbors, each appearing to have a large enough plot of land to maintain privacy. It took a few minutes but she finally realized what was missing. "No condos," she said.

"Huh" replied Dave.

"There are no condos. Every beach area has tall cement hi-rise condos. There are none here," she said.

"Yeah, they don't allow many on the island," replied Dave. "That's what makes this place so great. It really is a quaint island that the permanent residents really work at keeping as undeveloped as possible."

With that Dave pointed to an area to their left and explained, "This is where we anchor for the night."

Claire then proceeded to the bow, telling Dave, "Let me know when to drop the anchor." Dave was surprised at her initiative.

Slowing the boat while watching the depth sounder, 15 ft., 14ft., 13ft., 12ft., 11ft., 10 ft., "Drop the anchor," he yelled. Putting the boat in neutral, Dave scurried up to the bow to help Claire. Letting out about 60 feet of line, Dave secured the line and waited for the anchor to grab. The line went taut and KT swung into the anchor. After satisfying himself that they were firmly anchored and were not going to drift, Dave looked at Claire and said, "Let's test the transmitting equipment."

They both returned to the cockpit of the boat where Dave explained, "I will position myself under the boat using my scuba gear. Listening through the underwater hydrophone, I would like you to transmit a sound sequence for five seconds. Every time you hear me make the following noise." Dave then made a clanking sound on his scuba tank with the handle of his dive knife. "When I want the sound louder I will do it more repetitively". Again he demonstrated on his scuba tank, clank, clank, clank, clank. "When I'm satisfied the volume is loud enough for the sound to carry, yet not so loud that it might scare the whales, I will tap on the bottom of the boat. As I do please mark the setting and that is the one we will initially use in our experiments"

Since there would be no verbal communications after Dave went in the water, they went over the sequence of events several times.Satisfied that they both knew their assignments, Dave suited up in all his gear and with a dramatic Geronimo jumped into the 10-foot deep water. He positioned himself directly under the boat and just as he had done on the surface, he clanked on his tank. He listened carefully for the transmission from the boat. Nothing happened. He waited a few more seconds and again clanked on his tank. Again nothing happened. This time he made the repetitive clank, clank, clank. Hearing this, Claire proceeded to turn the volume up and Dave heard the sound emanating from the transducer. They continued this for another 10-15 minutes until Dave was satisfied that the volume of the sound transmitting from the boat was just right. At that point he swam up to the hull of the boat and tapped on it, signaling Claire to record the volume setting. Claire recorded the setting and returned Dave's signal by tapping on the floor of the boat with her foot.

Claire shut everything off and proceeded up the companionway into the cockpit. Looking over the stern rail, she saw Dave surface. As he pulled off his mask he was very excited and told Claire how great the system worked. He was certain it was an exact duplicate in volume, tone, and resonance to the sounds that the whales made. Smiling at Dave, she reached down and took his mask and fins while he climbed up the stern boarding ladder with the rest of the gear on. Stepping into the boat he removed his tank and with his still dripping wet suit on, threw his arms around Claire, giving her a big kiss. Pulling back, Claire shrieked, "Stop it. Stop it. You're all wet."

"It's great Claire, it really is," he said. "The equipment is perfect, nothing can stop us now."

Claire backed away from Dave yelling, "Take off that wet suit, before you get me any wetter, I'm soaked." Dave glanced over at Claire to say he was sorry, but couldn't find the words as he realized she was not wearing a bra under the now wet T-shirt. No doubt about it, he thought, she is a girl. Not realizing that her T-shirt was effectively translucent, Claire felt Dave was staring at her but wasn't sure why. Dave finally turned away to remove his wet suit and the uncomfortable moment passed. With his suit removed, Dave turned to Claire, walked over to her, put his arms around her again, and gave her another kiss. Before either of them realized it, they were embracing, and what had started as a simple thank you kiss took on a whole new meaning.

As they separated, Dave, embarrassed by the lingering kiss, looked at her and said, " I'm sorry, I shouldn't have."

Looking at him Claire said, "Not unless you meant it."

"Well yeah, I did mean it," he said, "but... but.... well I guess I should have asked first."

"What would you have said? Can I give you a big wet kiss?" They both laughed.

That night after dinner, for the first time they had a different kind of conversation. Dave was suddenly more interested in Claire. He asked questions about her likes and dislikes. Her childhood, her parents, even her aspirations. Claire recognized the difference in the conversation and she liked it. Yes, she really did like it !

They turned in early that night; Claire in her cabin, Dave in his. But sleep didn't come easy for either of them, but when it did come the last conscious thought they each had was about the other.

As daylight shown through the forward cabin porthole, Claire heard something on the deck over her head. As her consciousness pushed back the fog of sleep, she realized it was the sound of the anchor coming up. After a few more clanks, a bang and a thud, followed by the distinctive sound of footsteps running back to the cockpit, she caught the unmistakable feel of a sailboat as it heeled catching the wind. Soon the gurgling sound of the water passing the hull filled the cabin. It had the affect of waking up to a pleasant morning rain. She just wanted to turn over and let the fog of sleep recapture her mind,…….. it did.

Again something woke Claire, only this time it wasn't sound, although the gurgling of water still filled the cabin. No, it was the motion of the boat. A distinctive motion of the boat as it climbed the face of a wave, slowed, and then accelerated riding down the backside. Claire got up, changed, and opened the door of her cabin. The smell of coffee permeated the main cabin.

Walking aft, she looked up through the companionway and saw Dave. Catching his eye she said, "Good morning."

"There's hot coffee on the stove, help yourself and then c'mon up here, you have got to see this ocean today." Pouring a coffee, she climbed the companionway to the cockpit. The sun was bright, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the ocean, well the ocean was a dark green and a cobalt blue, both at the same time. It filled her senses as she scanned the horizon ahead of them.

"It is beautiful," she said, sitting down next to Dave. He waited a moment then placed his arm around her. They sat there, he with one hand on the wheel the other on her shoulder. She cupped the coffee as if it would leak if she was to let go. Slowly, she rested her head on Dave's shoulder. He looked at her and said, "We’re on our way, Claire. Tomorrow at this time we will be listening and talking to the whales."

Claire didn't say anything, she just looked ahead at the vast ocean in front of them. Excited to be starting the adventure of her life, excited to be sailing, ........ excited to be with Dave.