TALES FROM THE CARIBBEAN
After breakfast, Dave and the monk hiked down the hill to where the dingy was moored. It was bobbing up and down at the public dock where Dave had left it. He jumped in the dingy and started the motor, but the monk hesitated on the dock, waiting for the boat to rise up on a wave and lessen the distance between him and the dinghy’s bow.
“Come on, get in,” said Dave, “We don’t have all day.”
As they motored past the end of the public dock they heard a commotion, and when they looked back they saw Barrack the rooster racing down the hill with a monkey, an angry Rastafarian, and an irate crowd of voodoo parishioners all hot on his heels. When Barrack reached the end of the dock he took flight and flapped his way out to the dingy, where he made a perfect landing on top of the dinghy’s outboard motor.
“Cock a doodle doo,” crowed Barrack.
Dave and the monk were glad to see Barrack even if he was a troublemaker.
The three friends left the irate crowd in their wake and wove their way through several anchored sailboats. Dave knew each boat by name, and he told Brother Lamb what type of rig it had as they motored past it.
Dave pointed to a sloop and said, “There’s only four types of sailing rigs. That one is a sloop because it has just one mast. A schooner has two or more main masts, with the short mast (mizzen), in front of the main or mains. And there are two other types, yawls and ketches. On them, the short mast (mizzen), is located after the main mast. If the mizzen is aft the main but in front of the rudderpost, it’s a ketch, and if the mizzen is aft the main and the rudderpost both, it’s a yawl.”
“Ahoy, Shark boy, who’s that with you?” the skipper of the schooner African Queen shouted to Dave.
“Rooster Barrack and Brother Lamb,” answered Dave, “Barrack and Lamb are on the lam.”
“You don’t say,” laughed the Queen’s captain, “they’ll fit right in here!”
“Is Boss Penny aboard her boat?” asked Dave.
“She was, but she went ashore to clean up after the big brawl last night.” “Pop sent more ammo with me for her sling shot,” said Dave.
“Well, if you see her, whatever you do, don’t stare at her armpits; she’s been super sensitive about them ever since she overheard the busboy say, “When Boss Penny raises her arm it looks like she has Don King in a headlock!”
“There’s a love-hate relationship between those two,” Dave snorted.
“Yea,” said the Queen’s captain. “A few nights ago Penny shot him in the butt with her slingshot because he wasn’t moving fast enough; it raised the poor devil right up on his tip toes.”
“That’s where he spends most of his time anyway; those heels of his seldom touch the ground,” said Dave.
“Yea, he’s light on his heels,” said the captain.
“What does that mean?” asked the monk.
“Never mind,” said Dave. “Let’s head out to the reef and see what the catch of the day is going to be. If we have enough time, maybe we can make it over to Lovango, and I’ll show you around the island and we can leave Barrack there where he’ll be safe; there’s not much he can get into over there.”
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