Seafarer

Chapter 2

“Claire…” Leo said in a soft voice “Claire?” his voice grew louder in his shock and amazement. 

“What is it Leo?” Claire responded in a sleepy voice. “Is it my watch already?”

“No, but come up here anyways. You’ll want to see this.” His voice had a tone to it that reminded Claire of a child during christmas time.

Clair grabbed her rain coat and slipped it on, put on her the rest of her rain gear, and stepped outside. Most of the storm had passed but there were still pockets of rain from the trailing clouds. She only made it to the point where her head was just peaking out of the hatchway when she stopped. 

“Is that what I think it is?” she muttered, almost to herself.

“Yeah, its a submarine. It looks old, I’d say World War II?” Leo said, pointing to markings on the port hull “Looks like its German” The U-Boat in front of them was pushed up on the shore 80 feet in front of them, with its stern still deep in the water. “What’s it doing out here?” Claire asked. She had gone back down below and grabbed a pair of binoculars and returned with them and started to scan the visible portions of the sub. 

“I don't know” Leo said as he scratched his head “See anything?”

“No, it looks like a lot of rust. If I had to guess I’d say it was sunk at some point and the storm pushed it up on the beach.” Claire passed the binoculars over to Leo so he could have a look.

“See there, on the bow. It says U-641 on it” Leo passed back the binoculars

“Yeah I see it, so it is German then” She passed back the binoculars and heading back down into the cabin and returned a few moments later with the iPad. Claire typed in U-641 submarine into the search box and waited for the response. Internet access was slow aboard Serenity, powered by high-speed packet radio which at its top speeds of 56kb/s, far slower than todays broadband. “Nothing, there is no mention of a U-641 submarine, but Nazi subs were active in the area during World War II”

“ I wish I knew more about World War II, but I have a funny feeling we are about to get a crash course” The sun was starting to rise now and Leo reached for his sunglasses “So” Leo’s voice trailed off “do you want to go over and check it out?”

Without hearing her husband, Claire continued in an excited voice “The Nazi’s took out British and American naval ships, The  took out 14 ships before her itself was taken out by three British destroyers that were hunting for her”

“Did you want to board her?” Leo said again, pointing at the U-132

Claire looked up from the iPad, a concerned look on her face “I don’t think its safe? What if it shifts and slides back under”

“Good point, so what do we do now?” Leo said, clearly disappointed

“Let me call Fiona, maybe she can do the research on what our options are; the internet speeds are just too slow. Then, I think we should stay put” Claire was always the clear headed one, and though she took risks, she never took them unnecessarily. Leo knew she was right, and had a good plan moving forward. He passed her the satellite phone.

Claire quickly dialled her daughters phone number in Massachusetts, it picked up after the second ring “Honey, cant talk long; I’m on the sat-phone.” Leo could only hear one side of the conversation “No we are ok” Claire continued “We came across something interesting, are you able to look into something for me?” After a few minutes of describing the find Claire hung up and looked over to Leo who was still scanning the U-Boat in front of them. “She said she’d look up shipwreck finder laws and call us back in a few hours. I guess its time for some breakfast, huh?” She turned around and headed back down into the cabin area. 

Leo kept looking out at the sight before him. What an amazing find, this was truly an adventure.