Jasper Woodbury gets the newspaper from his mailbox.
He goes straight to the boat section of the classifieds. He sees an ad for
an old wooden boat:
'56 Chris Craft Cruiser
Needs work. See Sal at Cedar Creek.
He decides to go to the Cedar Creek Boat Dock to look at the boat. He
looks at a navigational map which shows that his dock is at mile 132.6. He
guesses that it will take him about two hours to get to Cedar Creek if
everything goes smoothly. As Jasper gets in his fourteen foot boat, the
Sweetie ¼, he listens to the weather radio. The announcer says that
the temperature is 91 degrees Fahrenheit (33 degrees Celsius); the sunset
will be at 7:52 p.m. and the sunrise will be at 5:13 a.m.; the relative
humidity is 85%; probability of rain is 50%; and the wind is from the west
at 4 mph.
Jasper goes to Larry's to get gas. The pump at
Larry's shows that the price for a gallon of gas is $1.29.9 with 4¢
off per gallon for cash. Jasper provides a pint of his own oil which he
adds to the tank before Larry puts the fuel in. When Larry looks at the
pump, he sees that Jasper has gotten 5.0 gallons for a total of $6.50.
Larry says to Jasper, "You can't put much more than five gallons in a five
gallon tank, now can you?" Larry gives Jasper change from a twenty dollar
bill, which is all the cash Jasper has.
Jasper begins his trip to Cedar Creek. He is reminded of one of Larry's
favorite axioms: Happiness is a day in the sun with a motor that runs and
a full tank of gas. Jasper soon sees a tow of barges coming down the
river. It was the size of two football fields. Actually it was nine barges
tied together, three wide and three long. Each barge was 35 feet by 200
feet.
As Jasper continues down the river, he hits something
in the water. He checks the propeller and discovers that there is a
problem with it. He remembers that there is a repair shop somewhere
nearby, so he rows to it.
He rows into the repair shop which has the following signs:
Willie Dixon's Boat Repair
Hours 8 5
Mile 140.3
No Credit Cards Accepted
Regular
$1.109
The proprietor of the repair shop, Willie Dixon,
takes a look at the Sweetie ¼. He says that the problem is with the
shear pin and throws the broken shear pin to Jasper. Jasper drops it in
the water and calls himself "Butterfingers." Willie replaces the bad shear
pin. The total bill comes to $8.25.
As Jasper continues down river, he spots the Judge Robert Hickman, a ferry
boat which is driven by a paddlewheel. Jasper is impressed, but he says
that he is glad that a propeller is pushing him along because he is in a
hurry to get to Cedar Creek to see the boat he saw advertised in the
newspaper.
Jasper arrives at Cedar Creek Boat Dock, which is at mile 156.6. He says
that he made it all the way to Cedar Creek on one tank of gas and that it
took 80 minutes to get there from Willie's. Jasper gets directions to
Sal's boat from a man at the dock.
Jasper meets Sal, and she tells him about the boat.
The engines are 'twin 6's', both of them have 185 inch flat heads. They
were rebuilt last year. She shows Jasper a fuel tank that a friend had
built for her while the originals were being repaired. The dimensions of
the temporary tank are 12 in x 12 in x 20 in. Sal tells Jasper that the
boat burns about five gallons per hour at cruising speed. She also warns
him that the running lights don't work, so she always gets home before the
sun goes down.
Sal shows Jasper below deck. She shows him the "head" and tells him that
the water tank holds about 30 gallons. She shows him the galley where she
points out the icebox and describes the two ways she cooks when she is on
board the boat. When she's hooked up to shore power, she uses a hot plate;
when she's out on the river, she cooks with the alcohol stove. She shows
him the kerosene heater that she uses in winter. Finally, Sal shows Jasper
her library, and they agree that Tom Sawyer is a book they both enjoy
reading. Jasper measures the berth and finds it is 76 inches long. He
wanted to check if it was long enough for his 6 foot 2 inch height.
Jasper and Sal decide to go for a ride in the boat. Sal shows Jasper the
ship-to-shore radio and the assortment of gauges on the boat: the
fathometer, which shows how deep the water is; the "sniffer," which is a
gauge that measures the level of explosive gas fumes in the engine
compartment; and the tachometer, which indicates the revolutions per
minute (rpm) of each engine.
While riding on the boat, they decide to find the
speed needed to cruise at 1,600 rpms. They begin at mile marker 156.0 and
end at mile marker 155.0. Jasper's stopwatch shows that it takes 7 minutes
and 30 seconds to go between the two mile markers.
They go back to Cedar Creek and tie up at the fuel dock. Before Sal fills
it up, Jasper measures how much fuel is already in the tank. He finds it
to be about half full. Sal then fills the tank by pumping 6 gallons.
Sal treats Jasper to a pistachio ice cream cone. They settle on a price
for Sal's boat, and Jasper pays her with his last check. He reminds
himself that it is 2:35 p.m.
Jasper Woodbury gets the newspaper from his mailbox.
He goes straight to the boat section of the classifieds. He sees an ad for
an old wooden boat:
Jasper goes to Larry's to get gas. The pump at
Larry's shows that the price for a gallon of gas is $1.29.9 with 4¢
off per gallon for cash. Jasper provides a pint of his own oil which he
adds to the tank before Larry puts the fuel in. When Larry looks at the
pump, he sees that Jasper has gotten 5.0 gallons for a total of $6.50.
Larry says to Jasper, "You can't put much more than five gallons in a five
gallon tank, now can you?" Larry gives Jasper change from a twenty dollar
bill, which is all the cash Jasper has.
As Jasper continues down the river, he hits something
in the water. He checks the propeller and discovers that there is a
problem with it. He remembers that there is a repair shop somewhere
nearby, so he rows to it.
The proprietor of the repair shop, Willie Dixon,
takes a look at the Sweetie ¼. He says that the problem is with the
shear pin and throws the broken shear pin to Jasper. Jasper drops it in
the water and calls himself "Butterfingers." Willie replaces the bad shear
pin. The total bill comes to $8.25.
Jasper meets Sal, and she tells him about the boat.
The engines are 'twin 6's', both of them have 185 inch flat heads. They
were rebuilt last year. She shows Jasper a fuel tank that a friend had
built for her while the originals were being repaired. The dimensions of
the temporary tank are 12 in x 12 in x 20 in. Sal tells Jasper that the
boat burns about five gallons per hour at cruising speed. She also warns
him that the running lights don't work, so she always gets home before the
sun goes down.
While riding on the boat, they decide to find the
speed needed to cruise at 1,600 rpms. They begin at mile marker 156.0 and
end at mile marker 155.0. Jasper's stopwatch shows that it takes 7 minutes
and 30 seconds to go between the two mile markers.