Grandfather II - 11. Chapter 11

The next morning we heard some strange noises. Then I remember the Scotish pipes. Akela came running up. “Billy, what is that noise?”

“Do you remember talking about Scotland? What you’re hearing is one of the boys from last night playing what he’d call the pipes. If you go over where their boat is docked, you probably could see who is playing the pipes.” All three boys headed to where the Peter Charles was docked.

From my bridge, I watched as the Peter Charles left the Marina. When they were out of the dock and started to turn south, I blew my horn. I got a toot back.

“They seemed like a nice group.”

“Yes, Cap, they did. Maybe we’ll see them again.”

“When do you want to leave?”

“Let’s leave some time in the morning, I’m not in a hurry. I told Angelo what to expect so he can handle the shipments. While we are heading to Chile, I’ll work up the cost for the wine, he can tag the bottles.”

The rest of the afternoon, I spent with the boys in Mexico City. We had to promise Moe we'd bring back some Mexican food.

We left the Marina after breakfast heading south. There wasn’t any hurry, the boys wanted to fish like we did when we left the Islands. So with Moe’s help, they fished. I'd be surprised if they caught anything. Captain called me to the bridge, the Peter Charles was in line for the Panama Canal. We must have been traveling a few knots faster in comparison to their speed to catch up to them. We blew our horn as we passed, they returned our salute. The boys were at the rail, waving as we went pass.

We sailed at two speeds, during the night we slowed up. Sailing at night can be dangerous unless you have extra crew. We sailed for eight hours with the Captain. I took over the bridge and sailed for an additional two hours, and you know, I had company. In fact, I had a different boy each night. I think the boys from the Peter Charles must have said something about steering their boat. They were good company and I did take the opportunity to explain the use of the charts and how to steer the boat.

We sailed for a week before I stopped at Marina Callao in Peru to buy fuel and water. The next stop will be a Marina in Chile. Stopping at the Marina gave the boys a break, that means going ashore for local food. If nothing else, this trip has expanded the tastes of the boys. They were eager to try new foods, which I encouraged them to do. In all honesty, they didn’t like everything they tasted , but they were ready to taste food without any qualms or preconceived ideas. A lot of the food didn’t look appetizing, but they were very tasty. It also gave them an opportunity to interact with other cultures.

Arriving, off the coast of Chile, we docked at the Brisa Marina. After being on the boat for three weeks, the boys were ready to see the city of Santiago. With the promise of lunch, Moe went with us. Santiago is the capital of Chile, “Boys. Do you know what snow is?” Of course they didn’t. “If you look up at those mountains, ( I pointed to them), what you see as white is snow. If we get a chance, we might go there.”

“Billy, what is snow?”

“You know when you open the freezer, that white stuff on the inside, that’s frozen snow.” That was the best way to describe it to the boys, since they have never heard or seen snow. I’ll see if we can’t go there and they can see it and touch it.

We were tourists for a day in Santiago. Moe found a restaurant, I don’t know how he does it. He always finds native restaurants, must be his sense of smell. We tried the local dishes, surprisingly there were very good. Moe had a big smile on his face when we complemented him on his choice of restaurant.

We had dinner on the boat, yes, hamburgers. “In the morning I’m going to visit a winery. You can come with me or stay here. Maybe if you ask, Moe might take you into the city again.” The boys had to have a discussion before giving me an answer. While they were discussing, “Moe, if you go into the city, see if you can get an excursion to the mountain so the boys can experience snow.”

He nodded, “I’ll see what I can do.”

In the morning at breakfast, “Have you decided what you are going to do today?”

“Yes, we decided to go with Moe. He knows good places to eat.” They said that with smiles.

The winery I wanted to visit was south of Santiago. They had a very special red wine that I heard people talking about. I was anxious to taste it. Now the decision, no I drive, take a taxi or a train. All of them together would cost about the same. Thinking about the possibility of taking the boys for a train ride, I decided I’d go on the train. If the ride down was okay, I’ll have Moe bring the boys down and we can have dinner in the Colchaqua Valley.

It took two hours for the train to take me from Santiago to the Valley. Not a bad ride, the view was pleasant and it was interesting watching the people at the stations where we stopped. I young man sat next to me, he started to speak to me, I didn’t understand. He looked at me, “Americano?”

“Yes, I’m American and I’m sorry I don’t speak Spanish.” So from that moment on we spoke in English. I was embarrassed, everyone speaks English and we find it difficult to learn another language. Well, maybe not difficult, but certainly too lazy to put the effort in learning the language of our southern neighbors. We talked about the wines from Chile, I told him about going to the Aconcagua Valley to look at buying wine for my business. That led to a discussion of comparing wines from Chile and California.

Arriving, I took a taxi to the vineyard where I met the owner. We toured the winery, tasting as we went. They had a Bordeaux, Sean 2017, that I liked. We talked about delivery and I agreed to purchasing 250 cases, they would cover the cost of transporting the wine to my Cellar, I was happy with that. I bought one bottle at $149 to take back to the boat for dinner tonight.

The train ride back to Santiago was uneventful. I didn’t share my seat with anyone. I also decided I wouldn’t bring the boys to this winery. Arriving in Santiago, I headed to my ship. I heard the boys before I saw them. They were at the stern, watching me walking to the ship. When I looked up, they were smiling and yes they were in their sarongs.