Chapter 5. Maggots, Sea Snakes and Stuff.

Thursday June 29^th

When Captain Boxer Shorts and the Admiral woke up on Thursday it was very windy outside. The Flag was blowing straight out behind the Good Ship Mithril.

The Admiral was looking at the hinge on one of the lockers.

“It's not right,” she said.

Captain B.S. Took a hammer and knocked it straight. As he did so something fell out onto the floor.

“What's that?” asked the Admiral.

Whatever it was it was wriggling alarmingly. Captain B.S. Got out his magnifying glass.

“It's a maggot!” he exclaimed.

“If it's a sea-going maggot, it had better go in the sea.” said the Admiral, as she examined it carefully.

Captain B.S. Put it on a piece of paper and took it outside.

“I hope you can swim,” he muttered as he threw it overboard.

The Admiral shut herself in the front toilet to have a wash and clean her teeth. Whilst she was in there she heard a loud hissing sound coming from the main cabin.

“Oh my goodness!” she exclaimed, “Whatever is that? It sounds as if a huge sea snake has come on board!”

There was no noise from Captain B.S. “Perhaps it's eaten him,” she thought.

When she looked in the cabin there was no sign of a fearsome sea-snake. It was just Captain B.S. Putting some more gas into the fridge to make it work better.

As the day wore on it became more and more windy.

“It's too windy to pump up the dinghy,” exclaimed Captain B.S. “I'll put my computer on, in stead.”

He looked at the chart table, where his computer was buried under a heap of 'stuff'. There was an empty sardine can, a pile of wires, two rolls of kitchen paper, a roll of toilet paper, an old box of cheerios, several books and a spotty banana.

“It must be here, somewhere!” he exclaimed as he picked up two dirty mugs, two multimeters and a pack of indigestion tablets.

The Admiral smiled to herself. “He'll have to tidy all that stuff up if he wants to find his computer,” she thought, and she was right.