by Bob Kranich
Robert’s Best, (Part 2, Excerpt 87)
This is a new story. Robert’s Best is a sail boat. Grandfather Roberts is going to sail it on the Intercostal waterway from Texas to Key West, Florida. That will be an adventure. Then his grandchildren and their parents will come to Key West on a visit. There will be a lot of funny happenings until the criminals from a previous story get into action. A side note is that a 1935 antique Chris-Craft Model 557 Cabin Cruiser is going to play an important part in the rest of the story.
Roberts’ Best
Harold Junior and Grandfather Roberts could hear the ‘50 Ford pickup heading out as Harold Senior was shifting the three-speed floor shifter through the gears.
“Well, Junior, let’s head out to the pier and do our repairs.”
They took the dinghy out to the sailboat and brought the boat over to the pier and tied it up. Then they did the work on her, or mostly Grandfather Roberts did the work as Harold Junior tinkered. The sailboat, Roberts’ Best, was a very nice craft, a twenty-eight foot sloop, mast a few feet forward of center, with two sails.
“Junior, let’s grab lunch. Then we’ll take the dingy out rowing and fishing.”
“Yes Grandfather, let’s do it!” Harold said clapping his hands.
“Junior, you will have to help me make these sandwiches. You know I’m not the best cook, I need some help. Then tonight we’ll eat out.”
“Tell you what, you make yours, and I’ll make mine!”
Harold Junior proceeded to pile on the peanut butter and strawberry jam, then banana slices and more peanut butter.
“I’ve got some ice cream in the refrigerator for dessert, so save some room,” Grandfather grinned.
“Okay,” Harold Junior said, as his mouth stuck together.
They cleaned up, brushed their teeth, and headed out to the pier.
“Here, Junior, you carry your pole and this pail of bait, and I will carry my fishing pole and this tackle box.”
They put their gear in the dinghy. This dinghy was a small boat about eight feet long. It could be pulled along behind or placed in the rear of fair size sailboat. It was propelled by two small oars and was used to run back an forth between the anchored sailboat and the pier.
“Now, Harold, the first thing we have to do is put our life preserver vests on,” Grandfather instructed.
“Why, Grandfather?” Harold asked.
“Just in case we fall out and can’t swim, like you.”
“Oh,” Harold said.
“Now we’ll row out a’ways and then go up that way,” Grandfather Roberts said as he pulled hard on the oars.
Harold Junior was sitting in the rear, taking turns first dragging the tip of his pole in the water and then skipping his hand over the ripples from the boat.
Then he got a new idea. “Grandfather! I could row for you. That way you wouldn’t get tired.”
“Well, Harold let’s let you try.”
They swapped seats, and Harold Junior tried to row. That was when they started going around in circles.
“Ok, Harold, listen up. Pull both oars at the same time towards your chest. Then push down, put your arms out in front, raise them, and the oars will go down, then pull together again.”
Harold Junior tried and tried. He did make some progress. However, it wasn’t long until he said, “There Grandfather, it’s your turn.”
“Thanks for your help, Harold. Let’s start fishing right here. We will let the boat drift. Let’s bait your hook with this worm.”
“I can do it,” Harold said very independently.
Together they got it accomplished.
“While you are fishing for a blue gill, I’m going to cast this spoon out and see if any large mouth bass are biting. Harold, you use that side of the boat, and I will use this side.”
“Grandfather! Grandfather! My pole is bent. I got one!” Harold Junior yelled.
Grandfather put his rod down. “Let me help you. Pull the pole up. Look it’s a big blue gill,” Grandfather said excitedly.
Z... Z!...Z! Grandfather’s reel sang.
“Now I’ve got something!” he hollered, as he grabbed for his shaking reel which was starting to move across the seat. He started to reel in his line. “That’s the way, Harold, get it in the boat,” Grandfather said as he slacked off his line and looked around.
Z...Z...Z! There it went again. A big largemouth bass broke the surface on Grandfather Roberts’ side of the boat. It rolled up and over as it dived down with a splash.
Z...Z...Z! He fought the reel as he wound it in. The drag was letting some line out. It was a big one!
“It’s in the boat, Grandfather. It’s flopping all over the boat. What should I do?” Harold Junior screamed.
“Keep your cool, Junior! Just put your foot on him until I get this bass reeled in.”
Ka-flop! Ka-flop! The blue gill flopped all over the boat bottom, with Harold Junior trying to stomp him. Grandfather Roberts was concentrating on the biggest bass he had ever seen in this lake! It came up to the side of the boat.
“I forgot the net!” Grandfather Roberts exclaimed. “Well here goes nothing.” He gave a big yank, and the clunker bass flew up out of the water, over the side of the boat, and onto the floor. Now there were two floppers.
Grandfather Roberts grabbed his glove and stringer out of the tackle box and took care of that problem real fast.
“Harold Junior, what do you think. We both caught big ones.”
“Yes, Grandfather, very big ones!”
“I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough fishing for this day. Let’s row back, clean these fish, clean up ourselves, and go out to eat supper. What do you think?”
“Let’s do it, Grandfather Roberts,” Harold Junior said with much enthusiasm.
They rowed back and tied up at the pier. Grandfather Roberts had a fish-cleaning stand nailed to a tree near the pier. He started by showing Harold how to scale the two fish. Of course when Harold Junior scaled, it was scales flying everywhere. It looked like a snow storm.
“Now I’m going to gut and clean the fish. Be careful of the knife Junior. Stand back!”
“Grandfather, is Grandmother in Heaven?”
“Why, yes Harold. She loved God.”
“I remember her a little bit from when I was three. Will I be able to see her in Heaven some day?”
“Why yes, Harold. But you have to be sure you are going to Heaven.”
How do I be sure, Grandfather?”
“Well it’s easy Harold. You have to just believe and do three things.”
“What are they, Grandfather? I want to be sure.”
“Well, number one, believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save us. Number two, realize that you are a sinner, make mistakes, and ask Jesus to forgive you of all your sins, and number three, ask Jesus to come into your heart and make you a new person.”
“Grandfather, I believe and want all those three things. Now am I going to Heaven some day?”
“Yes, Harold Junior, I believe that you just made God very happy.”
“That’s good! Now can we go to supper?” Harold Junior said with a cheer.
Robert’s Best, (Part 2, Excerpt 87)
This is a new story. Robert’s Best is a sail boat. Grandfather Roberts is going to sail it on the Intercostal waterway from Texas to Key West, Florida. That will be an adventure. Then his grandchildren and their parents will come to Key West on a visit. There will be a lot of funny happenings until the criminals from a previous story get into action. A side note is that a 1935 antique Chris-Craft Model 557 Cabin Cruiser is going to play an important part in the rest of the story.
Roberts’ Best
Harold Junior and Grandfather Roberts could hear the ‘50 Ford pickup heading out as Harold Senior was shifting the three-speed floor shifter through the gears.
“Well, Junior, let’s head out to the pier and do our repairs.”
They took the dinghy out to the sailboat and brought the boat over to the pier and tied it up. Then they did the work on her, or mostly Grandfather Roberts did the work as Harold Junior tinkered. The sailboat, Roberts’ Best, was a very nice craft, a twenty-eight foot sloop, mast a few feet forward of center, with two sails.
“Junior, let’s grab lunch. Then we’ll take the dingy out rowing and fishing.”
“Yes Grandfather, let’s do it!” Harold said clapping his hands.
“Junior, you will have to help me make these sandwiches. You know I’m not the best cook, I need some help. Then tonight we’ll eat out.”
“Tell you what, you make yours, and I’ll make mine!”
Harold Junior proceeded to pile on the peanut butter and strawberry jam, then banana slices and more peanut butter.
“I’ve got some ice cream in the refrigerator for dessert, so save some room,” Grandfather grinned.
“Okay,” Harold Junior said, as his mouth stuck together.
They cleaned up, brushed their teeth, and headed out to the pier.
“Here, Junior, you carry your pole and this pail of bait, and I will carry my fishing pole and this tackle box.”
They put their gear in the dinghy. This dinghy was a small boat about eight feet long. It could be pulled along behind or placed in the rear of fair size sailboat. It was propelled by two small oars and was used to run back an forth between the anchored sailboat and the pier.
“Now, Harold, the first thing we have to do is put our life preserver vests on,” Grandfather instructed.
“Why, Grandfather?” Harold asked.
“Just in case we fall out and can’t swim, like you.”
“Oh,” Harold said.
“Now we’ll row out a’ways and then go up that way,” Grandfather Roberts said as he pulled hard on the oars.
Harold Junior was sitting in the rear, taking turns first dragging the tip of his pole in the water and then skipping his hand over the ripples from the boat.
Then he got a new idea. “Grandfather! I could row for you. That way you wouldn’t get tired.”
“Well, Harold let’s let you try.”
They swapped seats, and Harold Junior tried to row. That was when they started going around in circles.
“Ok, Harold, listen up. Pull both oars at the same time towards your chest. Then push down, put your arms out in front, raise them, and the oars will go down, then pull together again.”
Harold Junior tried and tried. He did make some progress. However, it wasn’t long until he said, “There Grandfather, it’s your turn.”
“Thanks for your help, Harold. Let’s start fishing right here. We will let the boat drift. Let’s bait your hook with this worm.”
“I can do it,” Harold said very independently.
Together they got it accomplished.
“While you are fishing for a blue gill, I’m going to cast this spoon out and see if any large mouth bass are biting. Harold, you use that side of the boat, and I will use this side.”
“Grandfather! Grandfather! My pole is bent. I got one!” Harold Junior yelled.
Grandfather put his rod down. “Let me help you. Pull the pole up. Look it’s a big blue gill,” Grandfather said excitedly.
Z... Z!...Z! Grandfather’s reel sang.
“Now I’ve got something!” he hollered, as he grabbed for his shaking reel which was starting to move across the seat. He started to reel in his line. “That’s the way, Harold, get it in the boat,” Grandfather said as he slacked off his line and looked around.
Z...Z...Z! There it went again. A big largemouth bass broke the surface on Grandfather Roberts’ side of the boat. It rolled up and over as it dived down with a splash.
Z...Z...Z! He fought the reel as he wound it in. The drag was letting some line out. It was a big one!
“It’s in the boat, Grandfather. It’s flopping all over the boat. What should I do?” Harold Junior screamed.
“Keep your cool, Junior! Just put your foot on him until I get this bass reeled in.”
Ka-flop! Ka-flop! The blue gill flopped all over the boat bottom, with Harold Junior trying to stomp him. Grandfather Roberts was concentrating on the biggest bass he had ever seen in this lake! It came up to the side of the boat.
“I forgot the net!” Grandfather Roberts exclaimed. “Well here goes nothing.” He gave a big yank, and the clunker bass flew up out of the water, over the side of the boat, and onto the floor. Now there were two floppers.
Grandfather Roberts grabbed his glove and stringer out of the tackle box and took care of that problem real fast.
“Harold Junior, what do you think. We both caught big ones.”
“Yes, Grandfather, very big ones!”
“I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough fishing for this day. Let’s row back, clean these fish, clean up ourselves, and go out to eat supper. What do you think?”
“Let’s do it, Grandfather Roberts,” Harold Junior said with much enthusiasm.
They rowed back and tied up at the pier. Grandfather Roberts had a fish-cleaning stand nailed to a tree near the pier. He started by showing Harold how to scale the two fish. Of course when Harold Junior scaled, it was scales flying everywhere. It looked like a snow storm.
“Now I’m going to gut and clean the fish. Be careful of the knife Junior. Stand back!”
“Grandfather, is Grandmother in Heaven?”
“Why, yes Harold. She loved God.”
“I remember her a little bit from when I was three. Will I be able to see her in Heaven some day?”
“Why yes, Harold. But you have to be sure you are going to Heaven.”
How do I be sure, Grandfather?”
“Well it’s easy Harold. You have to just believe and do three things.”
“What are they, Grandfather? I want to be sure.”
“Well, number one, believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save us. Number two, realize that you are a sinner, make mistakes, and ask Jesus to forgive you of all your sins, and number three, ask Jesus to come into your heart and make you a new person.”
“Grandfather, I believe and want all those three things. Now am I going to Heaven some day?”
“Yes, Harold Junior, I believe that you just made God very happy.”
“That’s good! Now can we go to supper?” Harold Junior said with a cheer.
From The Author:
My second full-length book , Florida Keys’ Watercolor Kapers is composed of 336 pages. There are 12 stories running from 6 pages to as many as 72 pages. It is fully illustrated with 88 watercolors and sketches. The watercolors I made roaming around Key West after I finished my 750 mile hike from Georgia to Key West. (See book or Don Browne’s SouthWest Florida Online News records, A Walk Across Florida.) As you read these stories you will experience Key West, the Keys, and the Caribbean. These stories span the time of the early 1800’s to 1969. bkranich.wixsite.com/bobkranich
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