Read The Chase: One Courageous Skipper Battling The Perilous Evil Out To Destroy Him. (Sea Action & Adventure) for Free Online Page A

was unpleasant. The fiberglass dust itched and irritated his sweating skin to a red rash. He knew it would be like this for the rest of the day and there was nothing he could do about it. After the area was cleaned with solvent, it was ready for surgery. He chose a piece of thin Formica board, about two feet long by eighteen inches wide, waxed it well and placed it over the hole on the outside of the boat. Using wide masking tape to hold the Formica in place, he taped it all around. He was lying on the deck throughout, his head and shoulders hanging over the toe rail.
    Getting out of this position and having his head above his feet again was indeed a great relief. He now mixed about a quart of gelcoat with a few grams of a purple liquid catalyst marked "accelerator". He looked around to make sure that everything was ready for the next step: brushes, cleaning solvent, clean rugs and wood spatulas. He then measured twenty grams of hardener and mixed it well into the gelcoat. Using a soft bristle brush he laid the thick paint-like gelcoat onto the Formica board from the inside of the boat. He laid a very thick layer of gelcoat over the entire patch area using long smooth strokes. He had to wait at least a half an hour before laying a second layer of gelcoat.
    When the gelcoat part was finished, Avri inspected it closely against the black backing of the Formica board. It looked well and evenly covered and he was satisfied.
    Using alternate layers of mat and woven glass fiber material he patched the hole, building up the surface until it matched the thickness of the original. It required a total of eleven layers to do that.
    It was almost seven o'clock in the evening when Avri finished his work, cleaned up the tools and stored everything back in place. Bruised, exhausted, but satisfied with a job well done, he took off his clothes and dipped into the bay water, floating lazily in the tranquil sea letting the cool water soothe his aching body. He summed up his injuries and it added up to a total wreck; his ribs were still tender, his head pounding and the wound still painful, his hands and arms itching from the glass fiber. Floating womb-like in the water, he could actually feel the pain seep away. Avri stretched these moments of pleasure for another fifteen minutes, washed himself with a bar of saltwater soap, and swam back to the boat.
    After a light meal and over a good cup of coffee, he sat by the table staring thoughtfully at the Russian antenna. He contemplated its mission, its purpose, and the people who operated it and the reasons for any of it being here. It was a kind of meditation, though intellectualized and spurious, rendering neither solution nor understanding, yet highly suited for a tired mind and a cool evening.
    That night Avri Keren was sound asleep before nine o'clock.
     
     
    * * * * *
     
     
    With no antenna to be repaired, Captain Poliakov decided there was no reason for staying even one more minute within the Turkish lagoon. He lifted his head and straightened his neck rendering him two inches taller, at least. Captain Poliakov needed and created this gesture as he thought it gave him gravitas, and enhanced his self-esteem. The officers were too tired to be enthralled by this, except Major Grisha Kaganovich, the Chief, who, in contrast to the young graduates who comprised the bulk of the officers, was an old salt. Grisha, like the Captain, had worked his way up, and, consequently, respected his Captain.
    "Recall the men, gather all equipment from the deck and be ready to sail within thirty minutes," Captain Poliakov looked at his watch and continued, "It is 0605 now. At 0625 first lieutenant Kroog will bring all sailors from the shore after checking, personally, that no incriminating evidence of our visit here is left behind. I myself shall inspect the deck, and at 0635 we dive and sail out. I want the ELINT equipment tested before we submerge. I want a status report on water, fuel and batteries by 0615.