Well, we did it! Don’t ask me how, because the main mast snapped five miles offshore, nearly flipping the ship on her side. Thank the good Lord, the ship righted herself, though the entire main sail sank into the sea. Another blessing was the free tow into land we were given by a nearby vessel. They’d seen the whole thing and rushed into give aid… Sailors are some of the nicest folk you’ll ever meet!

Anyways, the ship was pulled up onto shore. ..

The damage from that snapped pole was extensive! It caused two other beams to splinter, tearing through most of the other sails. That wouldn’t have been so bad, in and of itself, but when everything crashed over the side of the ship, it ripped all the side railing off and tore into the actual frame of the ship. Honestly, looking at the ship from dockside makes me glad to have made it to land, at all!

While I’m quite sad at how much damage was sustained, there were two huge pluses in all of this mess. The first huge plus was the fact that I’d already sent Brutus and the babes off in the little dingy, to land further up the coast. With the ship up on poles, along with scads of workers climbing in and out of it, there’d be no way to hide anybody. Something told me to send them on ahead. Thank Goodness for small favors, lord!

The second huge plus was the surprise that had been waiting for me on the dock…

You guessed it! Creed was standing there smiling at me as I climbed off the ship, like he’d been expecting my arrival. How on earth did the man do that? He always seems to know when I need him the most. Love is such a funny thing, always showing up in ways we never saw coming.

Oh! I think that I’ve settled on a name for our ship. How does “The Torrent” sound for our soon-to-be seaworthy vessel? With Creed in charge of the repairs, she’ll be right as rain in no time!