Five for Forever by Alex Ames Read Free Book Online Page B

here.”
    “Do you know anything about wooden boats?” Hal asked.
    “Nope, that’s why I’m hiring you guys.”
    “There is this builders’ joke: There are only two kinds of wooden boats—they are either in good shape or they get sold.”
    “What is the joke?” Josh asked.
    Louise laughed her multimillion-dollar screen laugh, and all the men looked over at her. “Sorry, that is funny. Josh, it means that you inherited a piece of junk, and it is very expensive to fix. Remember what I told you earlier, your old coach chose you because of your money.”
    “Louise is right,” Rick explained. “A wooden boat is a living thing. It’s not like you set the fiberglass hull and then the lifespan of the boat is determined by the lifespan of the hull. A wooden boat is like a thousand-year-old Japanese temple. Made of simple wood and constantly rotting away. Within those thousand years, every piece of the temple will be replaced many times over; it might even burn down completely once in a while. But still, in spirit it remains the original temple. The purpose or the provenance is not determined by a single piece of it, but it is always seen as a whole complete structure.”
    “Okay, I’ve seen those temples myself, and I always wondered how they preserve the wood for a thousand years. Now I understand, they don’t. So it is like the spirit remains, but the body gets upgraded now and then.”
    “Sounds like in our profession,” Louise threw in.
    “About right. Same with a wooden boat,” Rick said. “And I might tell you in advance that it is most likely cheaper to take the measurements of your inheritance and build a completely new boat from scratch. And scrap this one here.” He tapped with his pen on the monitor.
    “Forget about that. John had a reason to pass this boat along to me. There is some hope or some spirit connected to this, so I plan to honor his legacy.” Josh stood by his former coach and mentor.
    “And we stand by our evaluation. This summer is out. Anything on timing and cost after we have had our hands on it for the first time,” Rick said.
    “I’ll ask a logistics company to move it. It can be here by next week.”
    “Got any information beside what we’ve seen? Anything on its history, previous owners?” Hal asked.
    “You know as much as I do, guys.” Josh spread his hands. “John Scott was my sailing coach in my early twenties. We lost track of each other when I started acting. So, are you in or are you in?”
    “We are in, of course . . .” Hal started.
    But Rick brought the discussion back to commercial terms. “I suggest the following: You have the boat transported here. We evaluate its condition and the options to restore it to its former glory, and we’ll do an investigation into its history for a flat fee of ten thousand dollars. In return, you receive a cost estimate, which you can use to order the restoration with us, or you can use it to have a discussion with any other builder.”
    “Ten thousand dollars sounds steep for a simple offer,” Josh said thoughtfully.
    “We are the best builders on the West Coast, ask anyone on the East Coast. You save five thousand dollars to either fly in someone from the East or transport it there. And be prepared that this cost might be the tip of the iceberg. The full restoration will go into seven figures.”
    “Jesus, man, you are scaring me. This sounds like a bottomless pit.”
    “Welcome to the world of wooden ships. It’s peanuts compared to real estate, but definitely more than historic cars,” Rick said.
    “All right, you got yourself a deal on the ten thousand,” Josh said, and he and Rick shook hands. “To whom do I make out the check?”

Rick
    As the little Porsche left the yard, Rick and Hal stood side by side, their eyes following the disappearing superstars.
    “Now that’s what I call a classic case of boatstruck !” Hal said. Among wooden boat lovers, this was a regular term that indicated both the passion