GOOD TIMES... Summer (Part 119b)

GOOD TIMES... Summer (Part 119b)

There wasn’t really enough wind to make “interesting” sailing for me but it was perfect for taking the girls... and Danny (and Jeanette, his mother) out for short trips along the shore. With all the bungalows in the community now occupied there was a lot of activity up and down the length of the beach. I was surprised when a few people came over to see just what I was sailing. By the time my mother served up lunch I felt like I was a salesman for the Alcort Company, the manufacturer of the boat. I promised to let some give it a try after lunch and took a break. I looked out on the beach when we finished up and there were at least six people gathered around the boat. They ranged in age from the very young to a man as old as my father. The wind, as usual, started to build after lunch. I let the ones I pretty much knew how to sail take it out by themselves and gave the others a ride like with the kids. The one common thread to their inquiries was where did I buy it. In retrospect, I should’ve taken a more entrepreneurial approach in my answers since there wasn’t a dealer selling this type of boat in the immediate area. Instead of giving them Rex’s name, the guy who sold me my boat, I should’ve contacted him first and arranged for a commission on any more that he sold. But... I didn’t and... I digress. Among those who showed up over the course of the afternoon was Bobbi, the girl who had sailed with me when I was still racing my Comet sailboat and her aunt, Ali, the woman who had a children’s clothing store located nearer the city.

Bobbi was now in college and had matured in any number of ways, Wearing a bikini bathing suit, she had the attention of all the males who were present, me included.  Of course, I let her take the boat out. While she was on the water, her aunt, who always seemed to be in the “selling mode“, had gotten Elle’s ear and was trying to persuade her to take trip in to her store. Part of her sales pitch was that she was now having a big sale on Summer clothes and was now carrying more name brand clothes. On one occasion I caught Elle looking at me and rolling her eyes. All I could do was to smile.

I do remember that Ali was one of the few who showed up that wasn’t in a bathing suit. I wasn’t thinking ”panties“ when I saw her or Bobbi as I had my hands full trying to answer questions about the boat. After Bobbi took her sail she offered the boat to Ali without asking me. That was annoying but I didn’t say anything. By then the wind had reached about 10mph, enough to kick up some waves. Even though the boat was bigger than the Sailfish, it was still what was called a ”fanny dunker“ and with waves, you would get wet... and she did. Upon her return to shore she announced that she was going to speak to her sister (Bobbi’s mother) and would probably buy one. I didn’t have much time to focus on her wet bottom as the next person to use the boat needed some assistance. I do remember watching her step over the jetty on her way home and glimpsing a bit of a VPL through her wet shorts and thinking I missed an opportunity.

By late afternoon I was red as a lobster from the sun and I knew I’d pay for it over the next few days. I pretty much knew I wouldn’t be able to be out in the sun the next day, the Fourth, and was mad at myself for not being smarter. Elle wasn’t happy with me either giving me grief for, in her words, ”ignoring the kids“ while showing off the new boat. That night, at home, I put wash clothes soaked in vinegar on my arms and neck and calves trying to negate some of the sunburn. Even with that it still hurt.

Sleeping was almost impossible. Every time I or Elle moved the pain would wake me up. I really didn’t want to go back but the kids were promised they could go sailing and Elle didn’t know enough about the boat to get it rigged. I wore a long sleeved shirt and long pants to keep the sun off me but they hurt my skin. It was the worst sunburn I’d ever had. (There was no sunscreen back in those days.)

The winds stayed light enough so that Elle could sail with the kids without a problem and I stayed under the lawn umbrella watching them. There were a few more people who showed up to ask questions about the boat. From where I sat I could see seven or eight brightly colored sails like the one on our boat down by the Sailing Club. To me it was a good sign that the Sunfish was really catching on. Watching them I even had a twinge of desire to be racing with them.

During lunch Elle asked me if she could go down to Ali’s cottage to look at her catalogs of children’s clothes. That told me that Ali’s ”selling“ had worked and, Elle, knowing that there was going to be some money available by week’s end was ready to ”bite“. Elle’s mother, always the jealous one, had requested that the kids have lunch with her so, technically, Elle (and I) were ”free“. I was bored by then so told her I’d drive her. The driveway was very long and at the end, on the left of it, sat her cottage, a renovated garage. There was a clothesline that ran right along and next to the driveway and as I approached I saw a blouse, bra, shorts and bikini panties... obviously (to me) the clothes Ali had been wearing when sailing the day before. Seeing them and that clothesline brought back some fond memories of previous Summers.

To be continued...