DEALING WITH THE HEAT... & more (Part 174s)

DEALING WITH THE HEAT… & more (Part 174s)

In past posts I’ve tried to describe the sailing club as being very informal… and it was. However, most of the “Summer people” were upper middle class or higher and were used to having things done for them such as having maids, nanny’s and with some even having cooks. To them, having to put time in as chaperones at the sailing club to watch over the kids in the program was almost beneath them. One of those mothers was married to a guy I’d competed against since I was a teen. I wouldn’t call us ‘buddies’ but we did get along well. His family was one of the “upper” class but he, himself, never acted that way. The girl he married was considered by his parents to be one step above “white trash”. The problem with her was, now married into a higher level of social strata, she carried herself as being superior to those around her especially at the sailing club. Elle’s run in with her had to do with her and some other mothers she’d convinced to not show up at the club putting a real burden on those mothers who did. I’d avoided her right from the time I first met her. Elle was looking for me to do something about the situation. It wasn’t the first time it had surfaced but it was the first time it had to do with someone I knew. I told her I’d look into it.

I’d ordered the pressure treated wood I needed for the frame for the shed floor and wanted to get that project finished. After eating I headed for the garage and shed. I’d calculated the dimensions I needed to cut and set out to get it done. I was just about finished when a strange car pulled up the driveway. It was my friend, “Big B”. He hadn’t been around for pst of the Summer which was really strange. He was close to his father and loved being out on the water in any kind of boat. The previous Summer his boss had tapped him to open a satellite office about 90 miles away. He’d been so successful with it that he was asked to do it again. “B” told me he really didn’t want to but the money was just too good to turn down. In the first year he’d been able to get home for a day every so often but this year was different. The new shop was open seven days a week and he’d had trouble getting knowledgeable people to work there. To start with the people had to know boating, inside and out. Then, they had to have a grasp of a myriad of boating supplies and their applications. “B” knew both so was saddled with the task of keeping up with the demand.

That was background… Now for why he was in my driveway… He’d met a woman who was local to the area where the office was located. If you go way back to when Elle and I’d bought our house we got involved with two different groups of people and I’d written about them. One was known as “The Group” made up of young marrieds, with kids, who were dissatisfied with the school and the way it was being run. The other was a group of guys who were known as the “unmarrieds”. To start with I knew most of the them and then, with my brother a part of it, I was a ’special’ member. Over time, one by one, they all ‘fell’ and got married… except “Big B”. And now he’d been ‘hooked’. The woman had a daughter from a previous marriage and had been living with her parents. “B” had only been renting a room thinking he’d be going back home.  He’d asked her to marry him and was in the process of collecting things for the apartment they’d be occupying. However, neither of them had any furniture at all and  she, basically, had no money so it was all on “B”. After the explanation he came right out and asked if I’d buy his Lighting class sailboat. He hadn’t even put it in the water this Summer. When out of the water he kept it at his parents house. His mother was mad because it was stored where she had a flower garden in the Spring and Summer. She told told him if he wasn’t going to use it… sell it… and now he was trying to.

The offer couldn’t have come at a worse time. Even though I was about to have access to ’found money (the trust account my grandmother had for me) I had many uses for it. The money for the stock I’d just purchased was already committed leaving about $1,200. I’d made the decision not to tell Elle about it wanting to have the freedom to put some of it into the race car. There was also our upcoming trip to Bermuda. Elle had no problem with using some of our savings for the air fare but there was still going to be money needed once we got there. And now… “B’s” boat was available. I’d made a casual comment to him the previous Summer that if he ever wanted to sell it I’d be interested. He was still in his car as we were talking to me when Elle walked up to find out who was in the car. Elle asked where he’d been all Summer so I had to listen to the whole scenario all over again. Then he told her he was selling his boat to me.

Elle loved it when he’d let us use it in the past. It was big enough that all five of us could fit comfortably and, her favorite part, it actually had seats. I’m not sure I’d ever mentioned the possibility of buying it from him to Elle but it was clear that she was all for it. As I said, my offer was a casual one with no mention of money. He’d put a lot of effort into refurbishing it so, with Elle standing there I asked how much he wanted for it. When he said $800 I couldn’t believe it. Even though the Lightning class sailboat was not that popular any more I knew a couple of them had sold the previous Summer for over $1,000. However, I tried hard not to show my surprise at what I perceived as a very good price and made a half hearted try at saying that we couldn’t afford it right at that time. That lasted  about as long as it took for Elle to say that she was sure we could find the money somewhere. What my stalling did was to have “B” say he’d throw in his docking slip at the local marina as he’d paid for it. We shook hands on it and he said he’d get the boat delivered to the marina and rigged before he headed back. Before he left I wrote him a check but told him not to cash it until the following week.

I’d decided that I’d do the replacing of the rod bearings on the race car motor that night as I preferred doing it without a lot of other activity going on around me. It was getting dark and I wanted to be back home before 11pm. I told “B” I was headed for the garage and it triggered him to ask how we’d been doing. I remember him shaking his head and telling me he missed going there and to the races. There were no race tracks anywhere near where he was living. We both left at that time. While driving to the shop I also remember shaking my head and saying to myself… “Why did I just do that?”

To be continued…