SUMMER... Hopefully, fun ahead (Part 83b)

It would’ve been easier if Elle had been there to help me set the boat up. Setting the mast is a “bear” when doing it alone. I was struggling a bit when another sailor helped me guide it in place. When I looked up it was Willie, the guy who’d sailed with me in the tune up race a year prior and who had let Elle and I stay in his apartment in the city during the Winter. I’d heard that he was chartering Will’s boat and wished him good luck for the season. I asked who was crewing for him and he laughed. Then, with a big smile said it was his wife and then asked if I knew anyone who knew anything about sailing might be available. I told him that crews were in short supply and he was lucky to have his wife. Just about then she walked up.

I’d only met her that one time in the city. Because I didn’t remember her name I was bit embarrassed. Willy bailed me out and introduced her... again... Meredith. She burst in that she preferred Merry because it was less formal and a “happy name”. I looked her over and, other than she could afford to lose some weight, was quite attractive. Based upon the fact that I knew Willy was in his early 30’s I figured her to be a little younger. But, she was wearing a pair of loose fitting flowered bermuda shorts which meant here wasn’t much chance of a VPL, wet or dry. I remember hoping there would be other chances for that over the next few weeks.

By then most of the other sailors and crews had showed up. Many of them stopped to say hello but I was very curious to see who owned the red and the cream colored boats. The first person I saw at the cream boat looked vaguely familiar. He was quite tall, at least 3 or 4 inches taller than me. Then I had my answer as I recognized the woman walking towards him as Cat, the lady who I’d taken sailing one afternoon the previous Summer and who had crewed for Buddy once. Unfortunately, the timing was poor for her to appear as Elle was right behind her. I was in the process of putting the sails on and for me to stop and to walk over to Cat and to ignore Elle would’ve been a BIG mistake. It wasn’t that Elle had a problem with her as we’d all gotten together the previous Summer. It just wasn’t the time.

It wasn’t long after that a horn blew to signal a pre-race meeting. Rex, the boat builder who had sold his boat, was now the head of the race committee, wanted to go over the plans for the day. As I walked towards the club I saw Cat right in front of me. It wasn’t seeing her that excited me. It was what she was wearing. I was about ten steps behind her and what I saw was almost unbelievable. She was wearing a pair of white shorts that went a couple of inches down her thighs. They truly looked like they were molded to her body. I could clearly see the leg elastics and the crotch line of her panties almost as well as if she didn’t have the shorts on at all. She ended up going up a couple of steps towards the porch to hear better. I stayed behind her but still on the sand just to get a better view. With one leg on a higher step it made her shorts even tighter on her butt cheeks. OH MY HEART! For once it wasn’t the panties I was interested in. It was the shorts. I wanted a pair (or more) for Elle.

Disappointment came when we started putting the boats in the water. The owner of the red boat never showed up so I was able to see Cat as her boat was carried in. She’d changed and was now wearing blue and white striped bermuda shorts along with a bra top that had to be part of a bikini bathing suit. It indicated, to me, that she probably was wearing the bottom part of the suit under the shorts. After my boat was safely in the water and Elle had walked out far enough in the water to get her shorts wet I started raising the sails. It was obvious that something was wrong as the sail had a big wrinkle in it. It only took me a few seconds to see that the part of the sail called the tack was not attached. The thumb screw that was supposed to hold the sail to the boom was missing. I asked Elle where it was and she said it wasn’t there when she put the sails on the boom. I had a small tackle box that I had to hold small parts so ran back to my car to fetch it only it wasn’t in the car. Then I remembered that I hadn’t seen it when loading all my stuff up at my parents garage. Missing that parts box was a big problem.

Cat and her boat were now right next to us. I called over to see if they had any spare parts in the boat but they didn’t. Bret, her husband, said they had some odds and ends in the car and told me the keys to the trunk were under the floor mat. By then only Cat and I were the only boats that were not on our way to the starting area. Again, I made a mad dash back to the parking lot. Once I opened the trunk of their car I saw a tray of nuts, bolts and screws. I knew I could find something in there to make do. But, right next to the tray was a pile of clothes. I recognized the shirt Cat’s husband had been wearing when they had arrived and, once I had a nut and bolt that I thought would work, took a chance that Cat’s clothes would be in the pile. Even knowing that time was fleeting by, I pulled the shirt off the pile and saw part of the white shorts that Cat had been wearing. I grabbed at them and knew from the feel that they were different from any others that I’d had my hands on. Cotton, for sure, but they felt different. It was like a heavier T shirt material but still very soft. What I wanted to know was who made them so I peeked inside and saw the label. "Aileen" was the name on the tag. I stuffed them back into the pile, slammed the trunk and ran back to the boat. As I jury rigged the sail I could see that the race committee had started the countdown for the beginning of the first race.

To be continued...