THE END OF SUMMER... September (Part 74d)

I felt much the same as Blake. The sailing conditions were awful, especially for those who didn’t know the “secrets” of the local waters. The local sailors were making a joke of the whole thing as three of them had the first three places with one of them winning all of the three races sailed. What galled Blake so much was that only one of them had ever been competitive in previous championships. However, my father had stressed upon me to finish what I’d started and although I had no desire to race the afternoon race, I did.

I was surprised to see Blake and Joy out on the race course after his comments at lunch. I sailed over by them and saw that Joy had changed to a pair of clamdiggers (pants that went just below the knees). Blake said that he was going to let Joy skipper to get some experience but he said they wouldn’t interfere with the rest of the competitors and would probably quit after one time around the course. It turned out to be the best finish for me of the four races I’d sailed. I think I beat half the boats who had started (about a half dozen had quit or hadn't even started) but it left me around 30th over all. When we headed for shore I thanked Neil for giving up his time to sail with me and apologized that we hadn’t done better. I really believe that if I’d said I wasn’t going to sail the second race that day that he would’ve kissed me. We were both miserable.

Blake’s boat was there on the trailer but with the mast out when we got back. That told me he was headed home. I’d come to like him a lot and of course, there was always Joy to look at and contemplate. As we cleaned up the boat and gathered our belongings I saw Joy collecting equipment from inside their boat. It had finally warmed up and she'd changed to shorts and a T shirt. I caught Neil taking another good look as she leaned into the boat. I got what I was hoping for and that was a peek at her panties right at her butt cheeks. It was a surprise as the panties didn't have the band leg that I'd seen in the VPL's I'd seen. When she straightened up I asked if we could give her a hand carrying things to their car. She said “sure” and Neil and I both hustled over to her boat. She walked on ahead and Neil, with his arms full of gear soon followed. I noticed that there were some things under the rear deck so I hopped up into the cockpit to retrieve them. I could barely reach so just kind of swept them back and into the cockpit. Back on the ground I saw that one of the items was the light green pants that Joy had been wearing and they were all rolled up. I can tell you that my heart was beating at an accelerated rate. Neil and Joy weren't in sight as I unrolled them inside the cockpit and found the treasure I was hoping for. I never hesitated a second, grabbing the panties and stuffing them into my pocket. I rolled the pants back up and along with a canvas tool bag and a couple of thermos jars headed for the parking lot. Joy and Neil passed me headed on back to the boats and when I got to their car just handed the stuff I had to Blake. My heart was still pounding.

I chose to head for the clubhouse rather than to return to the boats. I really wanted a look at those panties and I knew the rest room would be a safe place. As I pulled them out of my pocket I noticed a fairly big damp area on my pants where the pocket was. The panties had been wet enough to wick through. That wasn’t important though. As I unraveled them from the ball they were in I saw something that I’d never seen before. The label was on the outside and attached to the waist elastic and in the front. The label read “Argo Knit”; size 5. They were cotton but were the soft combed cotton and not like the Carter’s heavy cotton panties that Elle wore. There was a slight discoloration in the crotch area but as I looked them over it seemed like Joy had washed them out. A quick sniff didn’t really tell me much. As I rolled them back up I remember feeling that it was a good “find” in that they were different than any others I had. Before I left the bathroom I went to a sink and, as I’d done at least once before, splashed water on the front of my pants.

Back at my boat Neil was anxious to head back to his college and his girlfriend. I wasn’t going to be leaving for home until the morning and had all evening to dismantle it and to get it ready to trail. I looked for either Blake or Joy to say good bye before we left and couldn’t find either. As Neil and I headed off for his school I actually felt a little relieved that I didn’t see Joy what with her panties still in my pocket.

Upon retuning to the club I prepared the boat for the trip home. My plan was to leave the next morning a little after daybreak which would get me though the city before “rush hour” really began. I had no idea where Jack, Frank and his wife were when I got back to the motel room. Bored, I ended up falling asleep in front of the TV. It was Frank who woke me up.

One of my father’s pet phrases was “Plans are made to be changed.” When Frank shook me awake I wasn’t sure where I was so it took a minute or so for what he said to sink in. He’d decided to stay in the area after the races were over and he wanted me to take Jack home. I didn’t like what I was hearing but I also knew that Jack had to get home and I was about the only way to get him there. After digesting the situation what it boiled down to was that if Frank did well in the last race and was in a trophy position I couldn’t leave until Saturday morning. It wasn’t so much “couldn’t” but it would have been a big disappointment for Jack not to get the recognition and trophy he deserved. I gave Frank a little “grief” and got him to agree to buy me some gas and to pay for the room for Friday night if they did well and we had to stay. Psychologically I was ready to go home right then and there. Even with the “perks” that Frank offered I still wasn’t a happy camper.

Watching the race on Friday morning I was rooting for Frank to do poorly. It didn’t work. He managed to do well enough to secure the last trophy position; seventh. Of course Jack was ecstatic. As a final “bone” Frank bought me a ticket to the banquet and I do remember the food being pretty good.

To be continued...