Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The boat's head, or toilet, had a door for privacy and a handbasin and mirror. The little
bronze and ceramic toilet with its jade green, wooden seat and shining, brass plumbing
was the focal point. I was to spend many an ugly hour crouched in the tight compartment,
knuckles skinned to the bone, on my knees, trying to keep a balance and moderate frame
of mind repairing or unblocking this old lump of necessary evil.
There was an interesting sexual tension between Herman, Paula, and myself. Paula was a
well-traveled and broadminded young lady, and it soon became obvious that Herman was
not her type. He might well be the younger and better looking of the two of us, but he
was still basically a boy in his manner and petulant nature. He tended to be a tad lazy and
needed constant chiding in regard to his responsibilities. Although very charming, intel-
ligent, and fun, he was the “baby” of the crew. The girl made it quite clear to him after a
while that she wasn't interested in his childish advances, and his male pride took a bashing,
and he sulked in his bunk. He tended to be highly strung and nervous at times and would
smoke incessantly. He developed an unhealthy, yellow tinge to his face and, particularly, in
his eyes. He would sleep very heavily, and it was difficult for us to wake him up.
One morning after Paula had finished her watch, she attempted to wake Herman who just
would not wake up. She eventually yelled into his ear, which startled me awake, but Her-
man slumbered peacefully on. Paula came through and asked me to help her wake him up,
which I tried to do to no avail. I decided to play a little joke on the sleeping youth, and re-
trieved a can of shaving cream which I sprayed on his nicotine-stained hands. With a piece
of rope, I started to tickle the boy's face, and after an alarmingly long time, he finally went
to scratch his face and deposited a handful of the cream on his nose. This was enough to
rouse him out of his sleep, and he good-naturedly joined in the laughter, but he vowed to
get us back, which he did quite successfully a few days later.
Herman was on watch early one morning, and waited until he was sure both Paula and I
were awake. He suddenly appeared at the companionway steps, the whites of his eyes huge
and frightened; I could tell there was something very far wrong. He yelled into the cabin
that there was a huge tanker approaching and bearing down on the boat! I leapt up the steps
and into the cockpit, looking wildly about. There was no tanker, and the lad crowed with
childish laughter; even Paula had a hearty laugh at my expense. I was angry with him for
scaring me so, but I eventually caught my breath and thought it was pretty funny after my
initial shock. I decided I would come up with something even better.
I got my chance one day when the tanker incident had been forgotten. I was on the six a.m.
watch one morning and decided to play out my practical joke on young Herman, whose
watch was just about ready to commence. I quietly made my way forward of the boat and
climbed down the bowsprit. Sitting on the chain plate and chain that held the bowsprit in
place, I was completely hidden from view.
