The Bouncing Buns Gentleman's Club

Chapter 3

Boats in her marina were docked at right angles to the main pier with these fingers separating them from each other, providing a walking space along the side of each boat. Beverly's boat was an older motor cruiser, with approximately thirty years good use, but it was in great shape having been recently painted and refitted before she bought it. It wasn't what she had dreamed of living aboard, but she'd quickly realized she couldn't afford a nice sailboat large enough to live on comfortably.

Beverly often thought about where her love of sailboats might have come from. Her family didn't sail; she had no relatives with enough money to own boats, at least of any size; and she had never lived on or even near the water. The only thing she ever came up with was that it might have something to do with wind. She was intrigued by how sailplanes and gliders use the wind to fly without power, and even took soaring lessons at one point. But what about sailing? All of a sudden it came to her.

Growing up, Beverly had a favorite TV show about a medical examiner living on the California coast in a sailboat. She had watched this show without fail every week and was entranced by his life, both as a doctor and as a sailor living on the boat. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that her decision to become a doctor may have had its roots there as well. It had been a long journey in life getting to pier number 2.

"Hey there."

Startled out of her analysis of the past, Beverly looked around to see where the decidedly male voice was coming from.

"Up here, topside in the hatch."

She noticed his head and shoulders protruding from a hatch in the deck at the bow of one of the fishing yachts just a couple of boats down and across the pier from her slip. The boat was located closer to the parking lot than hers and she'd walked by it many times without seeing him before.

Beverly knew there was another live-aboard on her pier and had thought this was the boat, but she hadn't seen anyone around it until now. It was lonely on the pier during the week after the weekenders left and she'd been eager to meet the boat's owner and hopefully make a new friend.

Beverly moved closer and to the side of the boat which was docked bow first in the slip. She guessed him to be in his late twenties or early thirties. His long sleeved shirt was buttoned all the way up which she thought strange, but assumed it was for protection from the sun. His face and what she could see of his neck were well tanned, and what appeared to be naturally brown hair had been bleached almost blond by the sun. Except for the shirt he appeared to fit the local norm, at least for the marina hunks Beverly had seen, usually well tanned, blond and muscular.

Seeing that he had her attention, he said, "Hi there, my name is Dan. I've been out of town on business several weeks and haven't had the chance to say hello. You're the other live-aboard on the pier, right? I've been wanting to meet you."

"That's right, my name is Beverly. I've been around a few months now. Glad to meet you at last, Dan. I guess we've just been missing each other."

"You too, Beverly. Do you get that big boat out much?"

"Actually, no. Most people work their way up to a boat this big, but I wanted something comfortable to live on while I learned the ropes. Truth is, I haven't had it out at all since I bought it and had it delivered to this slip, but I'll be taking lessons as soon as I can work them in," Beverly said, somewhat embarrassed by her inexperience.

"It's hard to believe that sixty-footer is your first boat. I admire your gumption. Most people spend a ton of money working their way up to the boat they really want, thinking there's something magical about boat handling. The fact is, all twin screw boats handle the same way and I think the larger they are, the easier they are in some ways."