The Lighthouse Keeper continued Bill - Adrian - Bill

 

The Lighthouse Keeper

 

The waves were crashing into the pier and traveling twenty feet straight into the air before landing. All those waves, when combined with the wind, had created a coat of ice over everything in sight. The lighthouse, being heated from the inside, had a much lighter coating of ice than its surroundings. Rather than being able to see each Christmas light, the ice covering made the whole lighthouse a gigantic light. Add to that the twirling light on the top, the building sent a shimmering sheen across the water.

The lighthouse keeper didn’t normally spend a lot of time up with the light. It was bright and hard on the eyes in the glass encasement atop the lighthouse. He came up to the top on Christmas Eve because when he looked back over the town, he could clearly see all the lights lit up on the town's streets. It was a glorious picture that warmed his heart.

As he turned towards the stairs, he noticed a flash of light out on the water. He moved closer to the rail and focused his eyes on the spot he saw light. He pulled his binoculars closer as he stood there. He saw the light emerge behind a wave. It would be tough going out there tonight. With skill a boat could make it to the inner harbour where a calmer scene awaited. He watched as the light bobbed before pulling up his binoculars to catch a glimpse of what was going on. Slowly the stricken boat inched its way towards the gap between the two piers.

The Lighthouse keeper raced down the stairs and started putting on his equipment to protect him from the raging storm. He added the crampons to his boots, hoping they would give him a bit more traction on the ice.

He hurled himself out the door and worked his way down the pier as great waves of water covered him time and again. The wind worked to create an ice covering for his body. He worked his way over to where the boat had pulled up to the dock, grabbed a rope, and tied the boat to the dock.

“Hello," he called out.

A man in a bright red suit appeared from below deck. He looked a little green around the gills which may have been suitable for Christmas Eve but not so good otherwise.

“Hello," he called out, cautiously.

 

“Throw me your stern line and I’ll cleat ya down!” I bellowed above the roar of the wind and the waves. For some reason the water, usually much calmer at this point in the harbour, was in great turmoil this night. 'Wind must be coming  in straight off the  ocean,' I thought.

He turned aft and grasped the frozen rope between his raw hands and looked up, exasperation clouding his face.

“Can’t do it!” he shouted. “My hands are too numb, and the rope is like wire.”

I looked about and spotted a boat-hook hitched to a post halfway down the pier.

“Hang on! I’ll be right back!” I called down to him.

“Righty-o!” he replied, “I ain’t goin’ no place.”

Slipping and sliding I made my way down the pier. I was very cold now and I wondered how much more of this I could take without passing out. But somehow, I managed to grab the hook and staggered back to the sloop.

“Pass me the bitter end,” I called down, “Run it through the hawes hole, tie it off to your cleat and then put it on the hook.”

“I’ll try!” he replied.

I reached down with the pole while he managed to grab his line between two hands and somehow fed it through the hole. He tied a bowline knot stiffly into the line, hooked it onto the pole and despite the wild bucking of the boat I pulled the line back to the pier. Waiting for the boat to get as stable as possible, I looped the line around a cleat and made it fast. This brought the sloop to as close to the pier as I dared without crushing the hull.

“Throw some fenders over!” I commanded and in a moment two fenders appeared that were sufficient to ward off the heavy wood beams of the pier. The boat was still about two feet below the top of the pier however and I leaned forward and offered my hand.

“Wait until the boat is as high as possible and then take a jump! I’ll try to pull you up!” He did as I asked and just as a wave pushed the boat up the pier I shouted “Now!”

He leapt and I grasped his ice-cold hand, and we fell together onto the pier, breathing heavily.

“Let’s get inside,” I shouted when I’d caught my breath, “before we end up frozen together out here until the spring. He gave a thin laugh.

"Merry Christmas," he managed to get out as together we made our way to the entrance of the lighthouse. 

I found Kris some warm clothes and some food as he sat by the fire gathering some warmth into his body. While he was warming up I set off to check on the lighthouse itself to see how it was holding up from the battering it was taking. All was good.

As I entered the room where I had left Kris I had noticed that he had moved from the chair to standing directly in front of the fire. He turned as I approached.

“It warms the heart to know there are good people in the world. Thank you for helping me out tonight.”

I mumbled,”You’re welcome. It’s a part of my job.”

“Normally I head down the cost earlier than this, but I got waylaid with some unexpected repairs to my boat,” he offered without prompting. “My kids think I am crazy for my love of sailing but I have been at it for over 50 years.”

He certainly didn't look like some of the saltier types I see in the harbour who had been at it for over 50 years. His rather youthful appearance made me wonder about him. 

“It sounds like you are quite experienced as a sailor. What happened out there tonight?” 

Kris looked at me through the warm glow of the fire and contemplated his thoughts for a minute.

“I’ve been sailing my whole life,” he started, " I have sailed this route many, many times but I have seen little like the storm that is out here tonight. Normally I am further down the coast by now but The Holly and Ivy had some mechanical issues that needed to be addressed.” He looked over at me as I sat by the edge of the fire. “By the way, who am I talking to here?”

I was blushing in the pale orange firelight. “My name is Gerry. I should have introduced myself earlier,” I replied.

“I never thought about it until now,” he answered. “You have been so busy providing the necessary comforts that it has slipped both of our minds I reckon.” He continued his story. “I am on my way to my daughter's house. She lives further down the coast. The way this storm came up it caught me by surprise. I have been plying these waters going on most of my life. I have never seen anything like this before. Waves worse than in any hurricane. The winds whipping up such lather that I wish I had reindeer to pull me away.”

“Your boat looked like it was okay, at least what I could see of it.”

“I will have to have a good look when this storm has passed. The rigging will have to be gone over carefully. I think I got it down in time but with the pressure the wind was putting it under I couldn’t really tell.”

Kris walked over and looked out the window at his ice covered boat. He was wondering if his secret stash was surviving well in this weather.