A Life Afloat (Maybe)

Chapter 22

A Ships Chandler' advised Alec, was the supermarket of supplies and or goodies for all sorts of vessels, a bit like Tesco's but more like Waitrose, which as you will know, is a little more upmarket than the others. Whatever you need, you will find it in the larger chandlers', not like the one we are just about to visit, this is more like your corner shop. Alec cut the engine and allowed the tender to drift up to the jetty where he had Pete secure the bow by its painter while he secured the stern, after lithely jumping onto the jetty, Alec, followed more slowly by the less nimble Pete strolled down the jetty to the chandlers' entrance and stood waiting for Pete to join him while looking through both the large window and then at all the goodies on display outside the chandler's.

Outside the entrance where Alec stood, he pointed out to Pete some larger items that could be purchased from this mini emporium, Pete could see the drums of rope, chains in various sizes, a fairly large selection of anchors, fuel cans, large and small and strung above their heads, what to Pete, looked like both long heavy aluminium and wooden poles, on seeing what he was looking at Alec assured him that they were replacement booms, wooden for the older yachts like his and aluminium for the modern versions of Alec's yacht, as well as some very special ones for racing yachts, "bit pricey if the weather breaks one for you or even worse, if you lose one " was his comment, "come on in and we'll have a look around and I can show you some parts that you will have to get used to very quickly" with that Alec pushed his way through the heavy wooden doors and strode in without a care in the world, or so it seemed to those already in the store. Slowly making his way from one side of the store to the other, Alec pointed out simple things like 'blocks' a pulley to you he said, there are some 'cleats', what are they for, he asked Peter, "securing lines and ropes" Pete told him with a bit of a smile, "good" was Alec's only comment, " those drawings on the wall over there" he pointed towards a distant wall, "those are the charts, sketches and drawings that allow you to tell a sail-maker what you need, should you damage one while out on the water, try not too" he said, "they're damned expensive, so it's best to take real good care of the ones you have", as they continued to wander along and between the aisles, he continued to point out items that he thought of not only interest but also importance. re-joined my old ship as soon as I left the navy's dockyard. Spent my whole life sailing around the world, ended up as Chief Engineer on a cruise liner, not many places I haven't been, he told Pete, it was almost the end of his story as he finally told Pete that after he had reached retirement age, plus a couple of years, he had said with a laugh.

Then, he had gone very quiet, with a faraway look in his eyes, after my Cissy passed, he went on, I hated being on my own, so I came down here from Lincoln, bought a houseboat a couple of miles upstream from here, set back in a cutting it is, you can't see it from the river itself, he told Pete, story is, that it was part of a training area used by the American's during the second world war, has its own entrance road, great little place, only six boats there, room for twenty I would say, council won't allow any more though and we're all happy with that, the boat owners that is, keeps it nice and quiet, best move I've made in a long time, he continued with a deep and contented smile, it's always good to be on the water, makes me happy, well, more like content. Still,  get on with my work, he told Pete, I see there are a few more customers lurking round the back, excuse me if you will then, see you around he said and walked away towards more potential sales.

Pete, taking his cue from Martin had walked away from the clothing department to look for Alec and was, of course, complete with his new soft brown canvas shoes, safety soles included, Martin had assured him, totally amazing, he thought, never met the man before and he gave me his life story. Not truly looking where he was going, it was Alec who found him and stopped him from making a complete fool of himself by stopping him from walking into the window display, letting out a real belly laugh Alec caught hold of him just in time, taking him by complete surprise, it ended up with Pete making a spluttering apology to all those around him who had noticed his faux pas. He himself soon burst into laughter, more from embarrassment than his sense of humour, which was sadly lacking at that moment in time, guiding him away from the window and towards the main door Alec was still finding the whole episode hilarious, it seemed as they tried to walk down to the tender it was as if all they could do was to hold onto one another to stop themselves falling in the water, as luck would have it, they reached the tender with no further incident, successfully gaining their places on board and managing not only to cast off but also start the tenders outboard, successfully make their way away from the chandlers jetty, heading back towards the mainstream of the river and eventually to Alec's yacht, with much hilarity around their movements, they gave the impression of being well and truly inebriated.