C James

Hrmm.. I dunno... We don't yet know what happens to Trevor after early December, 2006, so that makes Rob's presence in the area in several past timeframes and now 2011 HIGHLY suspicious. And let's look closely at what he wrote, because he's trying to be sneaky; "If I hadn't been in the area in 1997, would I admit it?". Umm, hmmm, hadn't been in the area. So, he seems to be saying, in a very deceptive way, that he was indeed in the area in 1997. Yes, he would, but that proves nothing. He could have been on a jr. apprentice program with Sanchez's cartel, or with pirates. Perhaps he was in pirate school and sinking Ares was a homework assignment? Maybe Captain Hook was his schoolteacher, and assigned sinking Ares as an extra credit assignment? We just don't know... yet.

Ahh, so you have (present tense, I note!) a boat bigger then Bridget's. Very similar though.. and you are very familiar with Bahamian waters. VERY suspicious!! And ahhem! Lucaya is a suburb of Freeport! And if memory serves, the main marine for Freeport is indeed Port Lucaya, where Bridget met with Sanchez once... and is very close to Ares last position!! Interesting obfuscation! Hrmmm, if Rob had been in the area in 1997, would he admit it? And... hrmmm.. what is he doing there now?!?!?!

One more bit I can comment on: I am the king of typos, but that's not one of 'em. I use the ellipsis in two ways; in dialog, it means a pause, a hesitation, or words trailing off. At the end of dialog, it can mean (if so, it will be said in the narrative) the the conversation continued but we don't see it. Usually, it's so I can summarize what would be a long, boring conversation rehashing things we already know. In narration, as quoted, it's as you say, and unfinished/curtailed statement.

Wow! I can at this point only add one item; a concern to allay. I hereby promise that I will not alter the plot to pull the rug out from anyone. That, to my mind, would be cheating. The goal of the author is to leave enough clues so that the mystery CAN be figured out. Changing the plot, or major aspects, in mid-game would be woefully unfair. It would also defeat the purpose of writing a mystery. One aspect of Circumnavigation I'll mention. Some of the plot issues are intentionally tricky. For example, many things can be read two or more ways, and are designed to show certain conclusions based on what is in the reader's mind. Also, some things are tricky in a different way; solving one part correctly is likely to lead to incorrect assumptions elsewhere. There are aspects of the plot (small details) that develop on the fly. One you know of is Shane's inability to count. I bungled the days back at Thanksgiving, which threw my days off, and then decided that I could make use of the issue for some fun; so, Shane miscounted the days. If it hadn't been that, there would have just been a problem with an appointment, resulting in a reschedule for Monday. If I hadn't made the goof, the appointment would have been Friday. But, nothing major (plotwise) would have changed. It was just a good chance for some humor, plus a chance to poke fun at me. One thing I do get shocked by; when people see things in the story that just aren't there! Cliffhangers come immediately to mind. For example, when Trevor had his little pirate problem and resulting navigational inconvenience, I was accused of a cliffhanger! It was truly shocking!

Kline is a sneaky and unscrupulous type. Indeed, characters can lie or be mistaken. The narrator can't. Well, if the narrator is, as in the case of days of the week seen around thanksgiving, the dolt has to fix it... but other than honest errors that must be corrected, the narrator cannot lie. There are cases where I fudge things a bit. I can and do check tide times for the story, though that's often hard. (when historic data is unavailable, I check moon rise and set times, and compare it to current tide times vs. moon rise and set times, which gies me an approximation). I check weather when possible, though that's often not possible. Trevor's crossing of the Indian Ocean, for example, was easier; it used real weather data, storms and all. Finding weather data for other times and places was harder. The distant lightning seen in Carnervon when Shane showed up, for example, was an extrapolation; T-storms in the inland mountains were possible based on temp and humidity, but there was no way I could discern if a distant t-storm occurred. Trevor is indeed at risk of missing his relatives... and he needs info from Dirk. LoL...I'm not the only one who misspells Kookaburra. One of these days, I shall learn to use names that I can spell... though that ain't many. I can confirm that impersonating a law enforcement officer is an offense in Australia. It can be a very serious one, too. That doesn't mean that Kline wouldn't do it, though. I can say that whatever Kline has planned will be seen. Hrmmm, that "forgetting your head if it wasn't attached" could be a tad ominous, when seen against Sanchez's desire for Trevor's literal head, and that presently, the person aboard (due to Trevor having a dye job) who most closely matches Trevor's description is Shane. (Shane is blond). And hrmmm, didn't Lisa make a comment about ripping Shane's head off a few chapters back? And remember, if you call that a cliffhanger, you're accusing Shane, not me, based on your theory that Shane wrote the story. Thanks!! *************** Before I forget, the title of the next chapter is "Ultimate designs".

I might be willing to admit it... *IF* we could all agree that, if I do, then any perceived cliffhangers perforce belong to Shane.

It sure did...

I love this thread! I largely must recuse myself though, because there is a rumor going around that I actually might know the details of the plot. (odd, that I'm actually accused of knowing something... I'm more often accused of knowing nothing). However, I can help with some of the details... The weather on may 28th, 1997, was indeed calm, with some light breezes. Just a typical June day for the Bahamas. I can also confirm that the water in the area was indeed wet.

ACK! Me and my typos... (fixed!) I am not known as the King of Typos for nothing! (See? I admit to being king of something... it's just Cliffhangers that I've been framed for!!) It is true.. I cannot count! I have a big problem with typos (Pity my long-suffering team, who have to deal with them), and they often occur in the worst places. For example, in Let the Music Play, there was a scene where one of the main characters was in a photo shoot, and it was supposed to be a hot description, him sweaty and shirtless, etc etc. Only... I typoed and left the "r" out of "shirtless". Kinda changed the whole scene in an unwanted way!

The story title means it's pretty much impossible for me to end it in Australia.

As a guess, just less than 20 chapters to go. The penultimate means something important will happen in 81, but not the end of the story.

They are indeed both damaged. Lingering effects of things in their past that have made them who they are.

BTW, for our Australian friends, there's a documentary called, 'The Dolphins of Shark Bay', being shown on ABC TV (Australian Broadcasting Commission) this coming Sunday at 7:30 pm -Australian Eastern Standard Time. Many thanks to the person who PM'd me with the info. (I won't name them as they haven't said it's okay to, and as it was a PM it has to be their choice, but I do want to say THANKS!!). CJ

Chapter 80 is up.

Chapter 80: Penultimate Pieces It was a beautiful afternoon as Trevor and Shane, in their matching blue running shorts, set out on a counterclockwise run around Rhys Lagoon. Heading south, they kept mainly to the shore, turning east as they reached the southern end. Upon arriving at the shallow entrance to the lagoon, which connected it to the rest of Boat Haven Loop, they paused to look for a way across. It was mid tide, so the water was only a couple of feet deep. That made for an easy

ACK! Hey now... hrmmm... hold on a bit... if your theory is true, then who's to blame for any perceived cliffhangers? Not me, right? We'd have to blame Shane... right?

But... that proves nothing! He could still have been involved in 2006, or, maybe 1997 as well; he might have just started young. :chris: BTW, the wait for 80 is about over. It should be online in under 2 hours. CJ

:blink: Hey... I'm not that bad... er, well, umm, ah... when did this story start posting? ERK, Dec2009, from the look of it. It is now June, 2011, so a year and a half. Wow... Umm, I did originally say his was going to run 20 to 25 chapters total. And oddly, there have been no major plot changes, it's just it takes a lot more words than I assumed to cover some things. It's not that I'm long winded though.. and if need be I can post a 17 page essay on why, exactly, I am not long winded. My sincere thanks to all who have stuck with the story this long. Cape Horn (tip of South America) would be longer, but possibly faster (due to more wind and in favorable directions). It would also be, as you mention, a lot more dangerous. On the flip side, transiting Panama, in the cartel's back yard, would likely have, um, unforeseen consequences. Ohhh!! Benji, I think you're onto something. Bridget, George, and Sanchez as guests aboard Atlantis!! For a charter maybe? That'd be fun... and I think they'd enjoy it. Great idea! And don't worry, if it happens, I'll make sure you get full credit for the idea.

I can answer a bit about the sat pones and cells. Sat phones are usually dual mode, so can use cell signals when available. Where Trevor and Shane are, they aren't, so it's in sat mode. In the mid 2000's, international calls often came in on caller IDs as "Unavailable", including for cell phones. So, I'd say there is a liklyhood that the caller ID from a sat phone in Australia would come in that way too. Also, you can block caller ID on many phone accounts, so your call does no show on an ID unless you're calling a toll-free number. (those you can't block, because they are paying for the call). I can confirm that this is true: A mayday in the Bahamas likely won't get much response until daylight, and local boaters know it. The first responders would more likley be private boats, such as, as we saw, Bridget, who was among the first on the scene. There are safe corridors in the bahamas at night, such as wide, deep straits between SOME of the islands. The direct route from Nassau to 20 miles NE of Bimini is not amongst them. With GPS you might be okay, but Ares had LORAN, which isn't as accurate. Calm waters... I'd call that two feet or less. So, breezes of 6 knots of less. And HRMM!!! Please, everyone, read the above closely. A Sea Ray Sundancer, in the Florda Straits, making runs to the Bahamas. Sound familiar?? Please bear in mind that Sea Witch (Bridget's boat of many names) is a Sea Ray sundancer !!! And she uses it to make runs to the Bahamas and back. And, furthermore, she does not always get her passport stamped. In fact, that's commomn enough in that era even for those going through customs in the Bahamas: they did not always stamp your passport, and note the wording above; The last time his passport was stamped in the Bahamas. He does not say that was the last time he was there. A further issue here; Rknapp's name is Rob. And where is Sea Witch kept? Rob's Marine! Now, who exactly is this Rob who apparently owns it in partnership with Bridget?!?!?!? So, here we have someone, who has an expert knowledge of local conditions (including things related to the coast guard and Ares disappearance!!!), in the area often, in the same kind of boat Bridget uses, which is operating out of Rob's marine. I think somebody should let Gonzalez know; we have a new suspect!!! Hrmmm.. Very suspicious... And what, exactly, is he up to on that particular island? (Grand Bahama). Trevor visited there early on.. this puts Rob about 30 mile from the disappearance site. What's he there looking for? Bridget was toying with the idea of trying to find Ares herself.. and thanks to finding the debris, she'd have the best idea where Ares went down. Was he there in 1997??? Did he sink Ares??? What nefarious things is he doing there now? Did he go there to meet with Sanchez??? Food for thought indeed!

Yes! I can comment on that: Key lime pies are rumored to be,and actually are, absolutely delicious! I can comment on some of this, the technical possibilities. At the time Rachel sailed from Nassau, Ares would have been capable of at least 14 knots, because Trevor was remembering her doing that. Atlantis can do 15 knots, and they have roughly equivalent engines (more powerful than normal for that kind of boat). Doubling the power doesn't double speed (drag increases roughly as a square of the speed, as I recall) so 15 knots is about as much as you can get out of a hullform like Atlantis's without vastly larger engines. So, a low end for Ares max speed; 14 knots. a top end, 15 knots. I'll confirm that's true. Rachel's broadcast said 20 miles. She, as a captain at sea, would mean nautical miles, which means we can use nautical miles (and knots for speed) for all figuring (which makes it easier). Ares had the same draft as Atlantis; just under 4 feet. That makes the passage between the Berry Islands and Andros island (the roughly straight line route) viable. Here's a link to a chart of the area, with depth readings. You might have to zoom in a bit. Red might be right, and he's sure right about one thing; the safest way is north of Berry Island. But I think the direct route south of it is viable as well, for a boat like Ares, with just a few minor adjustments to the course you plotted. As mentioned in the prologue, Rachel was known to push the limits, sometimes too far. So, she sailed from Nassau. It'd take maybe half an hour to be in the open sea. From that point, a direct run to the reported area is almost exactly 100 nautical miles. At 14 knots for 6 hours, that's 84 nautical miles, so she'd be 16 short. But, that's assuming the water was stationary, which is isn't. We have ocean currents to consider. The average current flow in the area is towards the northwest, the direction Bimini is from Nassau. How fast? It depends on the winds and tides, plus the constricting channels. If you have google earth, look at the pass between Berry island and Andros island; you'll see on the sea floor the signs of the current and the focusing effect of the constriction. On average... it'll be between one and two knots of additional speed (boat speed plus current speed) resulting in an effective 15 to 16 knots over ground. at 16 knots, the best possible speed, that's 96 nautical miles as maximum possible distance. Almost there. Almost. Now, what kind of nav gear was on Ares? Loran, but we don't know the nature of the display. It was 1997 or older. This, it could have been a simple digital readout, like this, or it could have very well had a digital mapping capability. If the latter, it's a bit like looking at a map. You see where you are. You'd see where the island is. But, at a glance, what you would not likely see is the distance to the island. If all you had time for was a glance, or had just been looking aqt it before disaster struck, you could make a guess, which might be a good guess. Or, it might be off, maybe by 10 or 15%? 15% of 20 is 3. Trevor knows there could be accuracy issues, which is why his search area is a few miles wide, centered on the Estimated position in the radio call. Is there a slight distance discrepancy there? Yes. all I can say is that it is not a case of me forgetting to calculate times and distances. Oh, I've made errors like that before (just ask poor Red, who has caught me more than once) but in this case, I didn't.

I'll pick... Bridget! Let's see what she has to say... "I did indeed attempt, at considerable trouble and expense, to deliver the satellite phone to Trevor, contained within a propane tank, along with some dynamite. It had a cell phone mode, which, to my utter disgust, was not activated. The device, regrettably, detonated on a freighter instead of on Atlantis. Most exasperating!" Let's see, who can we choose for that? I'll pick... Red, one of the friendly yachters Trevor met in the Suez, who later took Trevor reef diving in the Red Sea. "Insurance increase? Or a pub crawl? I've changed my mind and I'll take the latter," he declared, immediately prior to sailing right into the dock at ten knots... I'll answer for... the harbormaster near Pompeii, who scared Trevor and Joel (he was actually after a ten euro fee). "It was a too expensive, we decided we coulda not afford it..." 0:)

It's the date Trevor considers the anniversary. One question per post, so this works! I'll answer that question for... Dirk's first attorney, who died... he picked the location in his will, the family burial plot in Albany, New York. He wasn't in much of a condition to do any picking after being declared dead. Yep! And I'm here to answer questions, and I'll be logging in every day to do so.

Julie is in Tahiti, not Australia. Her role, therefor, is being elsewhere than Australia.

Who? Me? I think I mentioned, in the narration, perhaps obliquely, that Bridget was being truthful about that. So, we can rest assured that it's a fact; she did as she said in that case. She told Sanchez the truth, though maybe not the whole truth (she knows that if Sanchez caught her lying, he'd kill her). She was heading for the coordinates in the broadcast. She found the debris, and they are as described. She does not say, but this may or may not have been at the exact coordinates, just in the area. She may have been lying by a few miles; she very much fears Sanchez finding what's really on Ares, so she'd be unlikely to give him the exact location. However, regarding finding the debris, and believing Dirk killed Rachel, those are truthful statements. Bridget believes everything she told Sanchez in the quoted text, and though she might have not told the entire truth on the exact coordinates where she found the debris, she did not lie. One thing this proves: Bridget did not kill Rachel. BTW, this might be a bit of a spoiler, but... Me? Nefarious? One minor comment; the key lime pie was from Shelly Fowler, not the Blakes. We'll be seeing the whole Carnarvon crew again very soon.

I'll be back to answer questions and other posts Wednesday. Just got in after a long drive, so I need to sleep right now. Sorry for the delay.