The Peter Charles - 44. Chapter 44

The rest of the week passed quickly and without any more issues. David wanted to invite George to go on the boat with us along with Gus. I said okay, what was one more mouth, there was plenty of room. Friday when we stopped to pick up the boys, this tall kid came up to me.

“My name is George, David said I could go with you on your boat if I wanted. I wanted to check with you if it’s okay.”

“If David invited you, then it’s okay. Get in.”

“I need to call my folks.”

“You can call them from my home.” We quickly drove home, I gave George a shirt and pants from my closet. They fit him just fine. He had on tennis shoes and they would be okay as well.

Dressed we walked to the boat, Glen drove the truck, Nicky drove the car. The Crab Master organized the boys, Scott, Travis and David went shopping, Joseph and Johnathan went to Chicken Shack, they asked George to go with them. I called the Pizza Parlor and ordered pizza, for a change. We unload the chests, Glen and Nicky drove the truck and car back to the house. I checked the tanks, we needed fuel and water. “Charles, do you know where the fuel depot is?”

“Yes, do we need to stop there?”

“Yes, as soon as the food gets here we can shove off.” Peter was in no hurry, the crabs were biting and after the winter they were getting big.

“Dad, look at the size of this crab.”

“Who caught that?”

“I did”

“Wow, Adam it is almost as big as you.”

“No, it’s not.” We laughed, I was afraid Peter would want to keep it like Gus.

I could see the boys from Chicken Shack coming back eating a biscuit. They no sooner got on the boat when Scott and his gang came with shopping bags. While they put everything away, we waited for the pizza. Steve ran over, “Can I go with you. Mary said it was quiet so if I wanted to go, just ask.”

“You aren’t dressed to go.”

“Give me a minute,” he went to the cabins and came up five minutes later dressed.

“You kept a set on the boat?”

“Yes, just for emergencies like now.” I gave him a hug, he was my son now and he smiled when he got the hug.

Soon I heard, “I’m here we can leave now.” I looked and there was Vinni laughing with the pizzas. Charles blew the horn, the crabbers gathered up their stuff and brought the crab pails on board.

Then the magic words, “Johnny, get the anchor, Andy, get the bow lines, Johnathan, get the stern lines” This was followed by the chorus, “Anchor up, bow lines in, stern lines in, and then the crescendo, the motor is started.

Nicky and Charles were on the bridge as we headed to the fueling depot. The boys always carry on for Dean and Alex, Shawn had his pipes and Callum had his. As they played, the boys did a jig, Dean and Alex laughed. Tanks full, I signed the voucher, we headed out to our spot for the weekend to the tune of the pipes.

I’m not sure what George was thinking, he had a faraway look. Gus was sitting across from him, every once in a while their eyes would meet. Scott had the oven on, he was going to heat the pizzas for dinner. Three hours later, the horn sounded and then “Joseph, drop the anchor.”

Jamie and Johnny went to drop the bow nets, Jonathan went to the stern to help Joseph. Shawn took the frozen bait with him for the nets. Scott was cooking crabs so he added the legs and parts we didn’t eat, to the pail of frozen fish entrails. The boys came in, washed their hands, I told them to get beers for everyone, and they did. I watched George’s face when I said beer.

Scott had plates stacked on the counter, he would set a hot pizza on the counter, the boys would help them selves, if they didn’t like the one that was there, they could wait for a few minutes and then another hot one would be on the counter. With all of the boys we had, it didn’t take long before everyone was eating and the pizzas were disappearing.

Gus was explaining to George about the four am horn. George looked at him as if to say you are full of bull. Everyone turned in, I don’t know which cabin George took, but there was plenty of room. The horn went off at four am. Glen and I blessed the ocean and soon the stern was like a water fall. I had the coffee on, Scott came and started the hot chocolate. Glen and I took the bow nets, Charles took Joseph, Johnathan and Gus to bring up the stern nets.

The nets were full, which confirmed we were using the wrong charts. I smiled at Glen and then dropping the empty nets back in the water, we went to the stern, we watched as the boys pulled in the nets, stern nets were not as full but we used frozen bait. We had about six lobsters, which the boys banded and put in the lobster holding tank.The boys that were cleaning fish, brought back a pail of entrails and heads for bait. Nets were down, the boys washed their hands and went back to bed,

“I think we’ll pull the nets every six hours, what do you think.”

“I think that’ll work. We have enough boys that know how to do that so you and I can supervise.” He laughed.

I was wondering how George was doing. I soon found out when he apologized to Gus. That was when Gus had his knife and was cleaning fish. I wonder if it was the knife or the fact that he was cleaning fish like a pro. Callum was having a ball. He was taking everything in, I saw him talking to Charles. Charles was nodding his head yes, so whatever he was talking to him about Charles agreed. Found out later it was for Charles to show him how to drop the stern nets.

Breakfast at eight, pancakes with bacon. Then we pulled the nets at ten am. I was happy, they were full. The next pull would be at four with lunch at one. I asked Gus to teach George how to clean fish. He smiled, I think he knew what I was doing.

Lunch was sandwiches with Stella’s pastrami and corned beef. Scott had made french fries to go with them, the fries were good, he made them in the oven, washing everything down with a beer, I smiled. The boys were full and now out came their homework. The next three hours the boys worked on their homework. Glen and I watched while drinking coffee.

We pulled the nets at four and again they were full. The next pull would be at ten tonight. As the boys finished their homework, they got out the books they were reading. “George, have you ever read anything about the pirates that roamed these waters?”

“No, my reading usually involved sport pages in the papers.”

David took a book from the box, “Read this book while we are here. There isn’t anything to do until supper and then we usually go to bed early unless you want to pull the nets at ten tonight.”

George took the book and started to read. One of the boys asked if anyone wanted a beer. Two went down to get them all a beer. Charles asked George if he wanted to see the bridge. So between a tour of the bridge and the book, George was occupied till dinner time.

Dinner started with crab cocktails followed by the chicken from Chicken Shack. While we ate our dinner, you could smell apple pie. Scott had bought frozen pies and was now baking them. With dinner over, table cleared, Scott served the apple pie. Before anyone began to eat, Steve came up from below with several gallons of ice cream. The boys ate slowly like they never wanted the taste to leave their mouth.

It was eight when the boys headed to their cabins. Glen and I stayed up, drinking coffee and having our second piece of pie, without the ice cream. “We’re going to have to work these meals off this week. I like fishing but the food is starting to put on a little weight.” I laughed because he was right.

At ten, Charles and Callum came up to pull the stern nets, Glen and I pulled the bow nets. “I think if the four am and ten am pull is like this, we’ll be going home early.” The horn sounded at four, when Glen and I got to the deck, Andy and Nicky had the nets coming up. I walked to the stern and Jonathan and Joseph had those nets coming up. I watched as the boys handled the nets, they gave me the rubber bands. “Dad, the shrimp hold is full, should we transfer some to the chest?”

“Go ahead and fill the chest. We’d have to do that anyway.” I watched as they did that, Glen brought the bait, the boys lowered the nets.

I gave them a hug and told them to get a little more sleep. Glen and I had a coffee and chatted about the cruise. “I know the boys will want to fish some, but there aren’t as many canneries along the coast as their use to be, I think some of our time will be sight seeing.”

“We should see if we can take the kids to Disney Land. I know they would enjoy that.”

“I have never been there, have you?”

“Yes, I think you’ll enjoy it as well since you’ve never been there.”

Our chefs came up, I checked my watch it was eight, Scott and Steve began to prepare breakfast. Soon the boys started to drift up, Steve poured them a cup of hot chocolate as they arrived. “It has been a long time since I had hot chocolate. May I have some coffee as well?”

“Sure, just help yourself.” I notice the older boys preparing a cup of coffee, after they drank the hot chocolate.

Scott and Steve were up to their usual standard, we had omelets filled with cheese and shrimp. I thought it was a strange combination but it turned out to be good. The shrimp was cut into small pieces, Scott said diced, and mixed in with the eggs, the cheese was placed on top of the cooked eggs which melted when in contact with the hot eggs. They had cooked bacon and sausages, Steve said it was left overs and they wanted to use it up.

The ten am pull just about did it. I told the boys we’d be heading home after the two o’clock pull. As soon as the two o’clock pull was in, the anchor was pulled, the boat started, we began to head home. I had a full load, everything was full including the chests. The shrimp hold wasn’t full but almost, the lobster hold was about three-fourth full.