MORE SUMMER FUN... August (Part 73e)

Sunday turned out to be a less than an optimum sailing/racing day. Cold (for August) and drizzling with hardly any wind. When I went to pick the others up Carol opted to stay home stating that sitting around a sailing club on a rainy day was not fun. When I stopped to pick Cat up I could tell by the look on her face that she wasn’t all that thrilled with the prospects for the day. Her thoughts matched Elle’s exactly and it was a fairly quiet ride to the ferry slip. Once on the island there was considerably less activity than on the previous day. As we lined up for the hoist I could see there were about five boats with no activity around them meaning less competition. However, all the boats who had a chance for a trophy were lined up and ready to go.

Both Buddy and I had rain gear for the girls to wear. However, back in those days they were stiff and made it hard to move around, especially in the tight quarters of the boat. Elle hated wearing it but disliked being cold even more. Because of less than optimum conditions the race officials set a much shorter course than usual. The main concern were the tidal flows as the wind was barely strong enough to overcome it. That put a lot of pressure on me to pick the right place to try and go through it. I got a decent start and when I made my move it seemed like everybody followed me. I was like the Pied Piper which worked in my favor. No one wanted to take a chance and they all waited for me. It was truly follow the leader... and I was the leader. I won the race which, by having two wins, guaranteed that I would get the first place trophy.

Elle and I hadn’t talked much during the race other than for me giving her specific directions as to what to do at different times. As I said, it was a short race and when we got back to the hoist it had been just a little over two hours since we’d left. Even with the rain gear on Elle was shivering as she started the climb up the ladder to shore. She was almost to the top when I saw something coming out from the leg openings. She’d almost made it without peeing.

Buddy and Cat hadn’t done all that well even with the lesser number of racers and was at the back end of the line waiting for the hoist. I immediately started disassembling the rigging getting it ready to trail home while Elle got into some dry clothes. I was finished when I saw Buddy’s boat approach the hoist area. As Cat climbed to the top I could see she was also shivering, even with the rain gear protecting her. I didn’t dare ask if she had fun because the look on her face gave me the answer. I told her that Elle was in the clubhouse and that I’d help Buddy and watched her walk away.

As Buddy didn’t finish in the top three in the standings there was no reason for him to stay. I had to if I wanted to get my trophy. When we finished getting Buddy’s boat ready to be trailed we both went inside to try and get warm. When we found Cat and Elle they both looked miserable with their hair still wet and messy. None of us had eaten but the club did have a snack bar so we headed in that direction. After changing the women had left their rain gear in a pile out side on the porch. Buddy was really anxious to get on line for the ferry before the big rush so he and Cat got a sandwich and headed out the door. I knew it’d be over an hour before it would be time for the trophy presentations so we just took our time. By the time they rang the bell to get our attention I’d completely forgotten about the rain gear.

After collecting our trophies (Elle got one as the crew) we headed for the car and boat which was ready to go. The only thing was there was no where to go. The line for the ferry was all the way back into the parking lot of the club. I remember actually turning the heat on in the car to help get Elle warm. After a half hour and little movement I sent Elle back into the clubhouse telling her to come and check each half hour. She was back within ten minutes to tell me that we’d forgotten the rain gear. Because it was all wet she didn’t want to pick it up so I had to go get it. I didn’t expect to see Buddy’s gear there as well. Being wet I didn’t want it in the car so just threw it into the boat. As I did I also saw some clothes. I reached in and saw it was the pair of bermuda shorts that Cat had been wearing when we picked her up. They were totally wet. I wondered why since she’d had on rain gear. I rooted around a bit more and found a pair of panties which were also soaking wet. I knew why Elle had clothes in with her rain gear but finding Cat’s things had me puzzled.

It was almost two hours before we were able to get on the ferry. I was dying to ask Elle if she knew anything about Cat’s clothes but was afraid to. As we drove back to our sailing club so I could leave the boat there I came up with an idea. Buddy’s parent’s cottage was up on the bluff behind the sailing club. I wanted to get the gear back to him so when we got out of the car I picked out our things including Elle’s shorts and panties that I knew would be there. Then, when I went through Buddy’s gear I pulled out the shorts but not the panties leaving them under a floorboard. I put a puzzled look on my face as I pulled the shorts out and onto the deck and asked Elle if she knew why they were there. I could see that she didn’t want to say anything but I then asked if Cat's rain pants had leaked. For whatever reason that question brought a smile to her face. That gave me a big opening to pursue it further.

Reluctantly, she explained that as Cat had gotten cold and started to shiver she started ”leaking“ and that by the time they made it to the dock she was ”leaked out“. I'd never heard of such a thing and actually accused her of making the story up but she stood by it. Then she told me that she’d also had some deep shivers that caused her to leak a bit too. Hearing about Cat's "leaks" gave me a different perspective about her, for sure.

I wrapped Cat’s shorts into the rain gear and piled it into Buddy’s boat. I stopped by his house to tell him but made sure I didn’t say anything about the shorts. As I talked to him I remembered the panties were still in my boat and under a floor board. I also remember chiding myself to remember they were there.. Those thoughts reminded me, again, that there were still a pair of panties buried inside my sail bag. But, there was nothing I could do about either of them until, hopefully, the next weekend... if I remembered. All in all it was a pretty bountiful weekend... two pair of panties and a first place trophy!

To be continued...