...He eased the craft out of the harbor, the boat leaving a diminutive smoke trail. Rich shortly brought the engines up to thirty-three hundred rpm and soon they were gliding across the water at twenty miles an hour with the engines humming smoothly.
The boat had been almost forty years old when Rich had bought it. After seeing it when he first came to Door County on vacation years ago, he knew he had to have it. It was a classic! Boats that large during the late fifties were reserved for the wealthy ad-men and executives. Rich had never had piles of money to throw around so when the boat came up for sale for less than seven thousand dollars, he jumped on it. It was his own little piece of history. Late at night when he couldn't sleep, Rich would walk her long deck in bare feet, feeling her age. Sometimes he would even lay out on the bow and try to envision what it must have been like to have lived in that time. Whomever it belonged to must have had the money and time to come to Door County on vacation on a fairly regular basis. The owners and their friends probably spent many hours on the decks, drinking and having a good time, unlike how people live today. Now there was no time for enjoyment, just work and being politically correct. The latter took serious time to iron out.
Rich caught himself thinking his life was difficult, so he took a minute to relax. Dropping down in the captain's chair, he put his feet up, steering with a bare toe. The day had turned out to be perfect. The fall weather had receded momentarily so everyone was comfortable without sweatshirts. The half empty Corona bottle he pulled out of the cup holder, which Rich vaguely remembered putting there a day or two ago, was still drinkable by his standards. That wasn't saying much. Draining the beer, he set it back in the cup holder. He made sure they were on course, then went out onto the bow to get the tour started. The fanny pack family was already halfway through the homemade sandwiches and pie he had put out for them. There went his dinner. He shook his head, although at least he would have cash to go grocery shopping. Rich sighed and clapped his hands together with a nice fake smile as he came onto the bow, “So, let's get this thing started!”
Five long hours later, he dropped the family back off at the marina and got three hundred dollars for his trouble. Tours of the bluffs, food, a little snorkeling, throw in a few jokes, and you got yourself a gold mine, he thought with a smile. Rich had been giving boat tours for six years. It was a competitive gig in a tourist area like Door County, but there were enough tourists to pay the bills. Barely enough most years, and with his boat more than showing its years, he would need to do something soon in order to stay competitive. Rich dropped into a chair on the stern of his boat and put his feet up on the table, deciding to worry about that later. Remembering he had missed a call earlier that day, he took out his phone and dialed his voicemail. A male voice said, “Hey Rich, this is Bill Henning. It's been a long while since we've seen each other, probably something like a decade. I'm sure we have a lot to talk about. I plan to be up there sometime this week, maybe I'll see you around. I'll talk to you soon.”
Erasing the message, he put his head against the bulkhead of his boat and lit a cigarette. What did Bill want? Rich struggled to remember the face that went along with the name but couldn't complete the picture. It had been a long time since they had seen each other. Deciding he could figure it out later, Rich squirmed in the plastic chair to get somewhat comfortable and closed his eyes.
“Well,” he muttered around the half spent cigarette, “I’m done for the day.”
....to be continued. Expect more soon!
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