Page 167 of Inbetweeners
If this hadn’t been Heaven, Nix wouldn’t have risked sailing without a map or a working radio. They had a radio, but it wouldn’t turn on, though they were unlikely to get into trouble. Now they were out of the shelter of the bay, Nix could see they were sailing away from what looked like an island. Steep barren slopes fell down to the sea and there was no sign of any roads and still no other boats.
“What was that?” Emmett pointed.
“A flying fish. Not that I’ve ever seen one before, but it was flying and it was a fish.”
“Oh, there’s another.”
“Or the same one.”
Emmett smiled. He looked so much better already. His face less drawn and anxious. Nix found it hard not to look at him. He let his gaze fall down Emmett’s chest, along the dark trail of hair running from his navel and under the low waistband of bright orange swimming trunks.
“Look where we’re going!” Emmett yelled.
“I like where I’m looking.”
“If you don’t stop staring, I’ll get hard again.”
Nix put out his tongue and curled it.
“Oh yes, because that is so attractive. I would like to point out that we’re heading towards the beach.”
“We need to turn the boat across the wind. I’ll handle the mainsail but you need to be on the wheel.”
“Me?”
“You’ve seen how to steer. Tacking is easy. Once you’ve given the instructionReady about, I’ll sayreadyand then you turn the wheel hard towards the wind. But don’t wrench it.”
“Right.”
“The sails will switch sides and flutter. I’ll be tightening them while we come onto the new tack. Once the sails are full, you straighten the wheel and keep the sails full while I use the winches to tighten the jib sheet and mainsheet.”
“Okay.”
Nix raised his eyebrows. “You got it?”
“Ready about!” Emmett called.
Nix laughed and moved into position. “Ready.”
The tack was a good one and by the time Nix was back at Emmett’s side, the sails were trimmed and they were sailing away from the coast.
“Well done.”
Emmett beamed. “Nobutto add to that?”
“Nope. You made a good job of the tack.”
“What do you do if you need to go the other way?”
“You gybe. With the wind behind you, it’s fast and violent. You need to be careful because if you’re too sharp turning the wheel, the boom will swing hard across the deck and might catch someone unawares. Not difficult to get propelled overboard, or knocked unconscious and sometimes killed.”
“Should we practise man-overboard procedures?”
“I’m not going to fall in and I know what to do if you fall in.”
“Now I’m worried. Tell me what to do if you fall in.”
“You tack. Hard. And keep turning leeward, away from the wind. It’s like a crash stop. The sails will be all over the place, but you’ll slow and stop. Hopefully, the person overboard will swim back to you. Don’t worry about it.”
