ricky

Well welcome back to the world of semi-functional reading addicts! Gonna tell us how ya fixed it? So we can expect a healthy chapter or two of "A Class by himself"?

Welcome Lilly! Ga is an awesome community. I'll check out your story later tonight. Meanwhile, be welcome.

I wonder if a frigate has ever sunk a ship of the line before. That alone should get him a little bragging rights the next time he sits to play cards with the folks. Especially with Fox. He can hardly dispute Granger's bravery on that one. I love to see the Fox eat crow.

Good thought Centex . . . I just figured the good Midshipmen would turn out to be important. No mention of the lieutenant, whether he succeeded in escaping after he flooded the magazine. Perhaps he is on Calvert's ship? I was surprised that no mention of the captain was made or that Granger didn't try and salvage papers from the captain's cabin before the ship went down. It seems to me that would be worth the risk. I would have liked to have seen Granger try for the papers and end up jumping out of the window in the captain's quarters with a sack full of information and take a bath in the Pacific. A harrowing experience to write home about. Of course how many frigates manage to sink a ship of the line and survive to tell about it? I hope we find the answer to the mystery of how they knew Granger's every move and his orders. Now that the ship of the line has been neutralized, how long before Granger can leave for amboyna? Must he stick around longer? To what end? A great and yet unusual battle but then again what does Granger EVER do normally. Thank you lord Granger.

Exciting Chapter! I wonder how Calvert sees a rescue occurring out of this though. Santa Clarita is a bit of a sitting duck. Or maybe a greater question, will Granger sacrifice his ship in an unlikely attempt at rescue or will he back off and watch as Calvert and crew are taken into custody. This is not as good as sitting afar and long balling their enemy. Another fantastic Chapter Mark.

Welcome Jessie. Cosmies stories are fantastic. I love his stories too. Hate waiting over a year for a new chapter but its always worth it when it comes.

I about laughed myself silly when my screen reader read Winker where it should have been Winkler. It was appropriate for the passage I think. As for the time and length of daylight. When I lived in Anchorage. Starting December 21st, the winter solstice, every ten days you were gaining an hour of light all the way until June 21st when it happened in the reverse. It works out to 6 minutes a day, 3 in the morning and 3 in the evening, you are either gaining or losing light. It may not sound like much but every ten days you had an hour more or an hour less of light. Coming into December you have a white Christmas but nobody can see it because everyone was inside working during the few hours it became twilight so it was dark when you went to work and dark when you left. But that's how it worked. They closed down Anchorage every June 21st, also known as "The Night of the Midnight Sun", and everyone goes up to Whitehorse to go fishing. They have another phenomenon during the winter called "ice fog" It's where the moisture becomes crystallized and it refracts light in a strange way. A simple streetlight for instance would not illuminate under it normally. It would create a spire of light that would shoot both down to the ground AND up into the sky almost like a stationary searchlight. It's really very cool to look at. You can see the spires all over town shooting up from the darkness. I expect a lantern at sea would do much the same just not so far into the sky. A streetlight would shoot a focused beam hundreds of yards straight up as one straight down. The spires would be slightly larger than the diameter of the fixture itself.

Glad you are ok. Thanks.

Well usually that would get a rise out of him. Hopefully everything is ok. Perhaps his computer took a crap on him. * Sigh *

I was going to ask if maybe we had to take up a collection to post bail or something.

A great and welcome chapter Mark. It should be interesting to see how Granger takes down the 64. Perhaps he could use the ruse that the privateer used on them! Wouldn't that be a hoot. To take a 64 Gun ship of the line without a single cannon round being fired. And if he happened to have 10 little ships in his fleet and most of them appearing to e whalers it could be interesting. No? I mean if he took a pack of them all at once it would be pretty damn funny. I was shocked that Humphries comment about them entering the pacific keeping them from being given parole didn't spark the question, "Any idea how they knew?" Perhaps Mr Fitzwilliams will know from his Spanish Officer friend. It's still a mystery how they knew to expect him. And they will have to find some way of getting Humphries ship back, just so he can save face. Now to find a way to get notice back to Lord Milton's father! Perhaps an American or two will get repatriated in a passing vessel. Or perhaps one liberated from the privateers that Granger might feel returning to the American's might bring more goodwill in getting the treaty signed than it would bring as a prize. Especially if they agreed to carry the mail with them as well. London needs to know there is a spy in their midst. This might well lead them to more Maidstone created problems too. Somehow I think Granger will be ready to hang him from a yardarm himself by the time he gets there. One can only hope that between Birdie and his grandfather they have been able to hold their own. And let's not forget that Granger taking Maidstone back onboard his ship to England will still put the good doctor at risk. Miles to go before we sleep.

So then the closest "friendly" port in the direction they are traveling would be Amboyna. And although he is not really commissioning it as a military vessel, it IS operated by "his" prize crew. And keeping the prize safe in unfriendly waters is both cogent and appropriate since there are obviously things afoot here. So at least until he finds out how these guys ended up on this side of the globe it would be irresponsible for him to send them off. Using a captured ship, as he has often done before doesn't mean he's creating his own fleet, but he is the senior officer in the area and has a responsibility to command those beneath him. Now if he created his own broad pennant, they might have something to say. But England is a LOOOOONG ways off and there is no safe harbor except perhaps in the U.S. but that is not the direction they are apt to travel and they would be fighting the currents to go north. Once you get up around Mexico they go westerly. Cold currents from Alaska travel south. Somewhere right around the Baja I think they join, each pushing westerly towards Hawaii.

I don't see the conundrum. There is no downside to keeping her with them. Especially in an ocean where nobody is a friendly. If he kept her with him, although we don't know the armament, he would have extra firepower. If its a ship worthy of the service he could escort her home after Amboyna. If not she could be sold there and the men returned to his ship. He also now has a ship with Spanish sails. They are distinct and could be useful for further mayhem. There IS no downside to them staying. Letting them travel back from almost exactly half way around the planet is risky. There ARE no friendlies between them and home right now. There's safety in numbers. So I don't see sending them off as a practical choice. Additionally, if there is a limited access to stores, when they DO provision, they are able to take on a significantly larger amount that could be shared between the two; reducing the need to re-provision at all. But I think the tactical advantage really makes it a no brainer.

An excellent chapter as always my Lord Arbour. Something that I noticed that I didn't expect was the talk of dividing the Marines. It indicated that they would be needed by Granger at his final destination. That would make it appear that the Santa Clarita will not be sailing in concert with Granger. I had suspected that as he grabbed more ships his ability to wreak havoc would also increase. But that assumption was based on them acting in concert against any enemies they came across. Now it appears that Calvert will be sent on his merry way at some point. An interesting development. I wonder what path he would take home? I can't wait to find out how Humpfries ended up there. And wasn't Mr Llewellyn on the same ship? Or am I wrong about that? And if I'm right, what happened to that perfect set of curves? We also have a menacing ship of the line to deal with as well. They'll have to sink her, they've not enough officers to staff another ship. Perhaps Calverts ship won't survive it and he'll get to take a First Rate back to england. More cliffs to hang from as usual. Thanks Mark, now, cough up with the tale of how the guys ended up on the left coast.

So where IS everybody? Jeeze-Louise! CH 31 was awesome Mark. I would have liked to see them end up on the ship at sea by the end of this chapter but that may be because the excitement isn't quite over yet. And there is a rift between Granger and Calvert! There is hope yet that the need boy will go away. At least the odds are doubled now. (Sorry, just can't stand the guy. Never did like him.) Wouldn't it be interesting to have the ship of the line creep up right now? Biccanti's guns and the forts together could probably make short work of her. Let's not forget that we don't have all the time in the world yet either. There is a Maidstone/Birdie issue to be dealt with. And we can see already that Maidstone is completely unscrupulous. And I think even more so than Birdie. Time will tell. Thanks for a great chapter Mark.

Changing stuff or just cleaning up Mark? I saw you updated 29 and 30

Well I just saw the notice on ch 30 and thought to offer my opinion since asked. Personally I'd rather have the steady schedule posting than the feast and famine. That way you have the excitement of knowing just when the next moment of happiness will occur. The sprint and drift method gives you an "OH COOL" moment like an unexpected second round of sex the same night. But you sorta miss some of the first la petite mort! And that fact sorta makes you face the knowledge that you are going to be jonesing seriously when the next normal posting date arrives and you've got no fix. It's all about dosing and dependency Mark. Consistency kills the twitch.

Hmmm, guessing that I have been answered.

Well I'll be plucked! That's the worst thing they could come up with? I'd be like, 2 minutes in the microwave that seats six, rotate and finish off with 2-3 minutes again; or until a golden brown or their juices run clear. Hand each one a loaf of bread and some celery and say, "start eating!" You will be a dirty skin encrusted HUMAN! I mean, come on, they could have at least make them members of a baptist church or something right?

He's in a passel of caca. This will be one time he isn't going to enjoy opening a can of worms!

Well Feather Rot! The humiliation of being domed by a pair of rainbow encrusted peach faced lgbt love birds! Can Michael take it? He can if you're Quilling to make it happen!

Nephy a fantastic story. Loving every minute of it. Longer chapters! A mere 800-1000 words per chapter has me working harder to get to the next chapter than I spend reading it! Besides, when it's this good I know you are writing 15-18 k words at a clip. It just flows so well. And this chapter was misnamed. Its where Uzziel comes back and kicks Gabes feathered butt. It would more appropriately be called, "Birds of a Feather" How could you miss that one? Gotta go, spent too much time chatting. Have to load the next chapter! r

So, Since we got a chapter earlier does that me we won't see one on the Friday posting schedule mentioned? Just curious.

A bit of a horny smuck aren't ya. lol He has never failed to trip our triggers but its best not to have your eyes rolling back in your head when cannon balls are flying around your head.

ooops, I meant don't listen to kookie not clydee. My mistake. Sorry clydee.