In the Captain's Cabin

Peter was writing an awful lot in his notebook; a lot more than any of the other boys, and curious, Simon craned his neck to see what he was writing.

"Sums," Peter said softly. "Only I need more information. There are too many letters and not enough numbers for them to mean anything."

"Letters?" Simon whispered back, conscious that the captain might snap at them any moment.

To his mind sums meant numbers and nothing more, so why Peter should be including letters was a mystery to him.

Once Crozier had left, Bolitho turned back to the midshipmen. Fletcher and Yates seemed to be whispering about something, and he was mildly disappointed that they had not remained silent as he had requested.

"Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Yates, shall I take this to mean that you already know enough about tacking and wearing, and consquently do not need to listen to the rest of the lesson?" he said, fixing his gaze on the boys in question.

"No, sir." Peter looked soulfully at the Captain. "I am sorry, sir."

Fletcher sat up with a jolt.

"No, sir!" he said, perhaps less composed as Peter. "I mean... No, sir."

"Hmm," Bolitho raised an eyebrow, "Then I suggest you pay a bit more attention."

He gave the two boys another warning look before continuing.

"Now then, I shall cover the process of tacking first. The inital step for tacking is to turn the helm to leeward, which brings the bow to windward. Then the tacks of the lower sails are raised, allowing the bow to move fully into the wind."

Chastised, Fletcher flushed in shame and bent his head to his book, writing out longhand everything that Bolitho was saying, careful to regain the appearance of studiousness and working hard - which he was. Were Captain Bolitho to send a negative report of his conduct back home to his grandfather...

Bolitho noticed Fletcher studiously taking notes now, and he was satisfied that his chastisement had had the desired effect.

"Once the bow moves into the wind, the mainsails must be watched," he said, moving on to the next step of tacking, "When the weather edges of the sails shiver, then the ship cannot go any further into the wind, and the tacks and sheets must stop being raised."

Peter also was carefully writing down what the Captain said, but his mind was elsewhere. Later, when he looked at the notes he would realise that he had barely understood one word, and would have to find his book on seamanship and read that. But sitting in church every Sunday had taught him to keep the alert look on his face even as his mind wandered to the pleasures outside. It might not have fooled his father, but it seemed that Captain Bolitho had not yet learned to be suspicious of Peter's open face.

With Bolitho back to his lesson, Simon dared dart Peter a a look. Catching the other boy's eye for a moment he gave a brief, bashful smile.

Behind them Kinsella was surreptitiously showing Chandos his diagram of a ship tacking - the wind factor being supplied by a small figure which bore a somewhat similar resemblance to their captain.

[OOC: Hee hee, naughty middies! Bolitho would be mightily offended if he saw that drawing. XD]

Glacing around at the boys, Bolitho noticed that Yates, at least, seemed to be paying attention. He thought he caught a quick look between him and Fletcher, but neither of them seemed to be doing anything truly disruptive. Kinsella and Chandos, however, seemed to be sharing a more prolonged exchange.

"Mr. Kinsella," Bolitho said sharply, "Since it seems you are so well-versed in the realm of tacking that you feel the need to impart your knowledge to Mr. Chandos, would you care to tell me the next step in the process?"

Kinsella looked up. "No, Sir - I was just commenting to Mr Chandos that for the first time it was all becoming clear, and at last I might be getting the hang of it, sir." A quick glance down, and two pencil strokes changed the likeness into that of an unpopular Admiral.

Coward, Chandos wrote in his own journal next to a quite detailed ongoing sketch of a miniature Terpsichore that seemed to be sailing in a sea infested by sharks.

Kinsella frowned, and touched the imaginary hilt of his imaginary sword. On the deck of his ship he drew two small figures, with swords drawn.

Anytime, Chandos wrote back.

Kinsella added a sun, just rising over the horizon. Dawn was traditional, and this was no more than fun ...

Chandos smirked, drawing what looked like a hammock with a lump in it, followed by a question mark.

A likely story, Bolitho thought. But he did not want to continue the disruption by further disciplining.

"Well, I would ask that you keep your comments to yourself until the lesson is finished, if you don't mind," he said, "Now, when the ship is in line with the wind, or 'in stays,' the yards must be turned around the masts, to face the opposite direction. This brings the stern through the wind, and then the helm is turned to the weather side."

He paused to let them absorb that, hoping that there would be no extra conversations in the process.

Fletcher scribbled down the notes, but he frowned, wondering what half of this meant. He could ask one of the others later, but he wondered... Could he dare show his ignorance to the captain? The berth as a whole knew he was not very bright, so they might not take it out on him. And the captain would only shout at him, and he was used to that.

"If... if you please, sir," he asked timidly. "What is the weather side?"

Bolitho was mildly surprised to hear that Fletcher did not know which was the weather side, but then, he was still very young. And it would not help his learning to make him look a fool in front of the others.

"The weather side is the one opposite to the side that the wind is blowing, Mr. Fletcher," he said, trying to not sound too harsh, "And the side that the wind is blowing is of course the lee side."

"Thank you, sir," Fletcher mumbled, bending his head to his notebook quickly and writing that down. The captain had not shouted at him, although he had sounded a little bit annoyed. Maybe asking questions of teachers didn't always lead to be shouted at then?

"You're welcome, Mr. Fletcher."

Hoping that the boy understood now, Bolitho continued.

"When the aft sails are full, the fore sails are turned into the wind again. Then, once the yards are brought around and braced up, the tacking process will be complete." He paused. "Are all of you clear with everything, or do you need something explained further?"

Another mumbled chorus of "Aye, sir." came up from the Midshipmen.

"Good. Then I shall move on to the process of wearing. First let me inquire if anyone knows why one might decide to wear rather than to tack?"

Bolitho made a point to look at Kinsella and Chandos as he asked his question.