The Inside Passage (Ted Higuera Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

buildings, no
land marks.”
    “That’s not quite
true.” Chris picked up a set of stainless steel dividers.
    Those
do-hickies look like the compasses we used in grade school.
    “See these little
lines?” Chris pointed with the dividers. “They show you the contour of the
land. From the water, you might want to know how high a point is, or the shape
of a hill. Then there’s landmarks. See this symbol? It’s a radio tower. This is
a town. Here’s a ferry dock. The chart has stuff you can see from the water. On
a boat, you don’t care if there’s an interstate running through town, you can’t
see it.”
    Ted saw two
things. First of all, there was a lot more to this navigation shit than met the
eye. Secondly, Chris knew what he was talking about. “What happens at night,
when you can’t see the landmarks?”
    “We’d never sail
at night, but if we had to, there’s all sorts of aids to navigation. During the
day you can see the buoys and channel markers, range markers. At night, you
rely on lights. In the old days, they used to have light houses, now they’re
mostly automated lights. Look at this.” He pointed to the chart. “This is the
light off Point Roberts. The chart says its thirty feet above the water and
flashes once every fifteen seconds. That’s how you tell where you are.”
    Ted pushed back
from the table and looked at his friend. “Damn, you really do know a lot about
this stuff.”
    Ted got up and
crossed the kitchen. He reached in the cabinet for a bowl, then pulled down a
box of Raisin Bran. “Other people do this all the time right?” He reached for a
carton of milk in the old white Frigidaire with rounded corners and a chrome
handle. “You’re the smartest guy I know. You remember stuff that no one else does.
You can’t convince me that those other mensos know more about this shit
than you do.”
    “I know it. I’ve
read a thousand books, but I’ve never done it.”
    “Dude, that’s just
an excuse.”
    Chris thought for
a moment. “Still, my dad . . .”
    “What does your
dad know that you don’t know?”
    “He’s done it all
a thousand times. He’s crossed the border, he’s taken the boat through the
Malibu Rapids.”
    “But he said it
himself. You have to start sometime. Dude, this is gonna be an adventure. I’ve
never done anything like this before. A whole summer. Think about it. No alarm
clocks, no classes. Nowhere to be, no one to answer to. And girls. There’s
bound to be bunches of chicks hangin’ out on those expensive yachts, loungin’
on the beaches. . . “
    Chris waved his
hand dismissively at Ted. “You’ve obviously never gone cruising before. You
sail with the tides. If that means leaving at four thirty in the morning, you
leave at four thirty in the morning. And don’t expect to see many girls in
bikinis. Most of the people up there are older folks or families with little
kids. People our age can’t afford to go cruising.”
    “So, what do you
think? Do we go or don’t we?”
    “My dad. . . “
    “Screw your dad.
This is about us. If he can do it, you can do it. I say that we go for it.”

Chapter 5
     
    Seattle, Washington
    The marina
occupied a narrow strip of land clinging to the foot of the cliffs at the edge
of the bay. A glorious blue sky dotted with puffy white clouds formed a dome
over their heads and the snow-covered Olympic Mountains filled the western
vista across Puget Sound. Row upon row of boats formed a forest of masts. Just
to their left was the ship canal.
    An ugly black
steel railroad bridge crossed Shileshole Bay where it narrowed to a wide canal.
Upstream from the bridge, the Hiram Chittenden Locks lifted boats and ships up
to Lakes Union and Washington in the heart of the city. Along the bank of the
locks, a manicured lawn with precisely trimmed trees and shrubs made up one of
the prettiest parks in the city. Tourist wandered the park, crossing the
footbridge over the locks and descending under the locks in the fall to see