Rolph had brought in, glanced at him and said, “May I?”
With a smile in his eyes, sipping his brandy, he nodded.
“Starting with Windrider ,” she said, “we have a fifty-foot cutter, John Alden design built in l965 by Cooper-Westhall. She’s fiberglass, built to Lloyds specs, and is ideal for charter work in that she sleeps ten comfortably.”
She went on to discuss Windrider ’s excellent long-range fuel and freshwater capacity and her electronics. When she was finished, she handed each of the clients a sheaf of papers. “You can go over these at your leisure before we see the boat in the morning. From what Rolph tells me, Windrider is more the boat for you than Cleo , though with her extra three feet in length, Cleo has more below-decks space.”
“That’s right,” said Rolph. “And she’s a ketch, while Windrider ’s a cutter. I know you’ve expressed interest in a three-master, but there aren’t many of those on the market just now as I’m sure you’ve discovered. But either one of these will make you a fine charter boat.”
The conversation swung into a spirited discussion of the relative merits of the two boats Sunrise Brokerage was offering the couple and others they’d seen in a buying tour that had taken them from Norway to Hawaii and points between.
“Of course, what we really want, we can’t have,” said Ethel wistfully.
Rolph tilted his head questioningly. “What is that?”
It was Slim who replied. “ Catriona . We spent our honeymoon aboard her on a three month cruise around the Great Barrier Reef thirty-six years ago. We fell in love with her, and with the life. That was when we decided that on retirement, we’d buy Catriona and go into the charter business ourselves. Living in the Bahamas, we have the ideal base for such an operation.”
Ethel leaned forward, elbows on the table, eyes bright as if she were seeing the ship of her dreams. “She was sixty feet overall, schooner-rigged, Burmese teak decks, slept twelve in comfort and handled like a real lady with a minimum of crew,” she said, then looked indignant. “We heard ten or twelve years back that she’d been sold, renamed Felicity and was being used to haul freight in the Seychelles.”
Marian could see the older woman took that as a personal affront. “It’s sad when things like that are done to beautiful boats.”
“And she was a beauty,” said Slim. “The workmanship that went into her construction was superb. She was built in Glasgow in the fifties, a wooden boat, of course, but built to last. The detailing was exquisite. Why, there was an inlayed compass rose three feet across the walnut headboard of the berth in the captain’s cabin and a smaller one in each of the others. Every porthole had a hand-carved rim of the finest walrus ivory and each berth was gimbaled to reduce sway in heavy seas.”
Compass roses? Ivory porthole rims? Marian felt goose-bumps rise on her arms and rubbed them quickly. She opened her mouth to speak, hesitated, bit her lip and closed her mouth again, listening while Slim and Ethel went on talking about the beautiful Catriona .
“Do you know where she is now?” she asked moments later when she had her excitement under control.
Slim shrugged. “We have no idea. She disappeared from the Seychelles several years ago and we haven’t been able to trace her. She must have gone down somewhere. A boat like that wouldn’t just disappear. If she were still under sail, someone would know where she was. If we could find her, no matter what her condition, we’d buy her, partly out of sentiment, but mostly because we believe in her and know she’s the right ship for us.”
Ethel sighed. “Of course, we’ll settle for something else, but there will never be another ship like Catriona .”
“Never mind.” Slim stood and took her hand, pulling her to her feet. “Let’s not waste that great band. Come and dance a bit before we go back to the hotel.”
“Rolph!” said Marian
With a smile in his eyes, sipping his brandy, he nodded.
“Starting with Windrider ,” she said, “we have a fifty-foot cutter, John Alden design built in l965 by Cooper-Westhall. She’s fiberglass, built to Lloyds specs, and is ideal for charter work in that she sleeps ten comfortably.”
She went on to discuss Windrider ’s excellent long-range fuel and freshwater capacity and her electronics. When she was finished, she handed each of the clients a sheaf of papers. “You can go over these at your leisure before we see the boat in the morning. From what Rolph tells me, Windrider is more the boat for you than Cleo , though with her extra three feet in length, Cleo has more below-decks space.”
“That’s right,” said Rolph. “And she’s a ketch, while Windrider ’s a cutter. I know you’ve expressed interest in a three-master, but there aren’t many of those on the market just now as I’m sure you’ve discovered. But either one of these will make you a fine charter boat.”
The conversation swung into a spirited discussion of the relative merits of the two boats Sunrise Brokerage was offering the couple and others they’d seen in a buying tour that had taken them from Norway to Hawaii and points between.
“Of course, what we really want, we can’t have,” said Ethel wistfully.
Rolph tilted his head questioningly. “What is that?”
It was Slim who replied. “ Catriona . We spent our honeymoon aboard her on a three month cruise around the Great Barrier Reef thirty-six years ago. We fell in love with her, and with the life. That was when we decided that on retirement, we’d buy Catriona and go into the charter business ourselves. Living in the Bahamas, we have the ideal base for such an operation.”
Ethel leaned forward, elbows on the table, eyes bright as if she were seeing the ship of her dreams. “She was sixty feet overall, schooner-rigged, Burmese teak decks, slept twelve in comfort and handled like a real lady with a minimum of crew,” she said, then looked indignant. “We heard ten or twelve years back that she’d been sold, renamed Felicity and was being used to haul freight in the Seychelles.”
Marian could see the older woman took that as a personal affront. “It’s sad when things like that are done to beautiful boats.”
“And she was a beauty,” said Slim. “The workmanship that went into her construction was superb. She was built in Glasgow in the fifties, a wooden boat, of course, but built to last. The detailing was exquisite. Why, there was an inlayed compass rose three feet across the walnut headboard of the berth in the captain’s cabin and a smaller one in each of the others. Every porthole had a hand-carved rim of the finest walrus ivory and each berth was gimbaled to reduce sway in heavy seas.”
Compass roses? Ivory porthole rims? Marian felt goose-bumps rise on her arms and rubbed them quickly. She opened her mouth to speak, hesitated, bit her lip and closed her mouth again, listening while Slim and Ethel went on talking about the beautiful Catriona .
“Do you know where she is now?” she asked moments later when she had her excitement under control.
Slim shrugged. “We have no idea. She disappeared from the Seychelles several years ago and we haven’t been able to trace her. She must have gone down somewhere. A boat like that wouldn’t just disappear. If she were still under sail, someone would know where she was. If we could find her, no matter what her condition, we’d buy her, partly out of sentiment, but mostly because we believe in her and know she’s the right ship for us.”
Ethel sighed. “Of course, we’ll settle for something else, but there will never be another ship like Catriona .”
“Never mind.” Slim stood and took her hand, pulling her to her feet. “Let’s not waste that great band. Come and dance a bit before we go back to the hotel.”
“Rolph!” said Marian
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