Chapter 11. Fleas and Wet Bottoms.

There was a horrible noise inside the Good Ship Mithril.

“Whatever is that?” grumbled Captain Boxer Shorts.

“It's the phone ringing!” replied the Admiral as she searched for her bag to find the phone.

“Hello? Hello? Who is it” she asked when she had found it.

“It's Jenny.”

Jenny was an old friend of Captain Boxer Shorts and the Admiral. She wanted to meet them for coffee in Ferragudo. 

The town of Ferragudo

Ferragudo is an old town by the side of the river Arade, near the place where the Good Ship Mithril was at anchor.

Captain Boxer Shorts got the dinghy ready to go ashore and off they went to meet Jenny.

The old fort of São João

They had to motor past the old fort of São João to get to the town.

When they arrived in the town they tied up the dinghy at the quay and climbed up a big smelly ladder covered in barnacles to reach the road. The town was very, very busy.

A flea

“Oh good,” exclaimed the Admiral, “There's a Flea Market today!”

“A flea market!” exclaimed Captain Boxer Shorts. “Why would anyone want to buy fleas? Surely nobody wants fleas!”

“No, they don't, a Flea Market is a market where people buy and sell things they don't want. There are all kinds of things for sale, like a Car Boot sale.” laughed the Admiral.

After a quick look round the market, Captain Boxer Shorts and the Admiral found their friend Jenny and had a good chat over cups of coffee at a cafe in the town square. 

Musicians were playing in the Square.

Some musicians were playing instruments to entertain the customers.

Jenny said that she would like to see the Good Ship Mithril. When they had finished their coffee they went to the dinghy and climbed down the smelly ladder. The water was getting a bit choppy and splashed into the little boat, By the time they reached the Good Ship Mithril they all had wet bottoms.

Jenny stayed on the Good Ship Mithril to have some lunch. When they had finished eating it was time for Captain Boxer Shorts to take her back to her car in Ferragudo.

“I hope you don't get too wet this time,” said the Admiral.

Chapter 10. Propellers and a Very Big Fish

At the back of the Good Ship Mithril is a propeller. It's what makes the ship move when the engine is driving her. 

When the ship is out of the water it is easy to clean the propeller. 

When she is floating in the water, the propeller is not so easy to clean!

Captain Boxer Shorts wasn't very happy with the propeller. It was covered in seaweed, barnacles and all kinds of other sea creatures.

“I need to clean the propeller,” he announced.

“The seawater is very cold,” warned the Admiral. “You'd better wear your wetsuit – if it still fits you.”

Captain Boxer Shorts looked at his expanding tum. “Of course it will fit me!” he boasted.

He started to pull on his wetsuit.

He pulled....

                         ..and he pulled....

                          and he pulled.

He put on the tight-fitting hat

and the tight fitting boots.

At last he was ready to jump in the water with his scrubbing brush.

As he was scrubbing away at the propeller, he felt as if someone was watching him. 

He turned around and saw a Very Big Fish.

“Go away!” bubbled Captain Boxer Shorts. He bopped the fish on its nose and it swum away.

At last the job was done. The propeller was shiny and bright.

Captain Boxer Shorts heaved himself back on board the Good Ship Mithril in time for tea.

Chapter 9. Boxer shorts and signal flags.

Captain Boxer Shorts was running out....... of boxer shorts.

“I've worn all my boxer shorts,” he moaned.

“Then it's time to do some washing,” suggested the Admiral, “I need some clean knickers, and I need a shower.”

The Admiral put a big bowl on the floor in the shower and dropped all the knickers and boxer shorts into it. She sprinkled in some washing powder, then had her shower.

As she showered herself the water ran down into the bowl full of washing. She jumped up and down on the knickers and boxer shorts to get them clean.

When all the washing was done she pegged it out on a line.

The washing was on the line.

After a while there was a shout from a man in a passing dinghy.

“Ahoy there! Are you in trouble?”

“No,” shouted back Captain Boxer Shorts, “Why would you think that?”

“I thought you were flying a distress message with your flags!” he shouted back.

“Oh no!” laughed Captain Boxer Shorts,”That's not a distress message, That's my boxer shorts and the Admiral's knickers!”

Everybody laughed.

(Editor's note)

*Signal Flags are used to send messages at sea. Here is a picture of those that are used. Can you write your name with signal flags?

Chapter 8. A Teeny Tiny Ship, socks and sparks.

“Wow” shouted Captain Boxer Shorts as he was looking out of the cockpit. He was using his binoculars to look at a ship coming into the harbour.

What the Captain saw

“What is it?” asked the Admiral.

“It's a very teeny tiny ship!” he exclaimed.

“Let me see, please.” asked the Admiral. She took the binoculars and had a look for herself.

What the Admiral saw.

“It's not a teeny tiny ship,” she laughed, “It's a great big one! You had the binoculars the wrong way round!”

Captain B.S. looked again.

“So it is!” he laughed. “It has four big masts. It makes the Good Ship Mithril look teeny tiny!”

The Admiral was using her sewing machine. She had lots of white material and was sewing long white shapes.

“Whatever are you making?” asked Captain Boxer Shorts.

“Socks.” replied the Admiral.

“Those are very big socks! They're much too big for me to wear.” puzzled Captain B.S.

“They're not for you!” giggled the Admiral, “They're Fender Socks. They go over the ship's fenders to keep them clean when the ship is in a dock. The old ones have lots of holes in.”

“Just like my socks do!” retorted Captain Boxer Shorts, and he wriggled his toes.

“Have you been able to mend the outboard motor yet?” asked the Admiral.

Captain Boxer shorts looked miserable. “Not yet,” he muttered. I need to see if the spark plug is making a spark. It's a very important part of the motor. The sun is too bright for me to see.”

“We'll try looking at it tonight, when it's dark,” suggested the Admiral.

That evening they went outside onto the deck to look at the motor, Captain Boxer Shorts pulled the starter and looked at the spark plug.

“There's a spark!” shouted the Admiral.

“Hooray!” shouted Captain B.S. “Now we can put it back on the dinghy and go ashore.” 

Chapter 7. Wobbly ladders and sea-going dogs.

“I think it's time we went ashore,” said the Admiral. “We need some more fresh bread.”

Captain Boxer Shorts and the Admiral climbed down into the dinghy and set off for the shore. They went up the river until they came to a boatyard.

“This will do,” shouted Captain B.S.

They tied the dinghy up to a pontoon, then had to climb up a very wobbly ladder to get ashore. The Admiral didn't like the wobbly ladder. The higher she climbed, the more it wobbled!

Captain B.S. and the Admiral went into the boatyard to see a friend of theirs. His boat was on the shore and it was very high up.

“Oh no!” exclaimed the Admiral, “another wobbly ladder!”

After they had had coffee with their friend, Phil, Captain B.S. and the Admiral walked to Lidl with their rucksacks on their backs. It was a long walk. They took their shopping back to the dinghy and had to climb down the wobbly ladder with their heavy bags.

“Off we go!” shouted Captain B.S. and he untied the dinghy. They set off back to the Good Ship Mithril at a fast pace. The wind was blowing quite strongly by this time.

Suddenly the motor stopped running and the dinghy came to a halt. It was a long way from the Good Ship Mithril.

“Oh no!” cried the Admiral, “What shall we do?”

“We'll have to use the oars and paddle our way back.” said Captain B.S.

They took up the oars and began to paddle the dinghy towards the Good Ship Mithril.

“It's no good,” moaned the Admiral, “It's a long way and the wind isn't helping us.”

Just then another dinghy came past. In it were a man and a woman. The woman was wearing a very large sunhat. In the bottom of the dinghy were two dogs.

“Can we help you?” asked the woman in the hat.

“Yes please!” exclaimed The Admiral.

Captain Boxer Shorts passed a rope to the other dinghy and it set off towing Captain Boxer Shorts' dinghy towards the Good Ship Mithril. Soon they were there and able to climb on board.

“That was lucky. Thank you so much.” said the Admiral.

Once they were on board they put all the shopping away. Captain Boxer Shorts climbed back into the dinghy and took the lid off the motor.

“Now I wonder what's wrong with you?” he mumbled.

He took up his favourite spanner and began to work.
"You can't have too many spanners!" he said.

Chapter 6. Spotty Bananas and Sticky Goo.

“I'm fed up with eating spotty bananas,” grumbled Captain Boxer Shorts, as he looked at the fruit that the Admiral handed to him.

You have to eat the spotty ones first!

“You have to eat the spotty ones first,” she argued. Captain B.S. pulled a face and muttered something rude under his breath. “There's always too many spotty bananas, I never get to eat the good ones!”

It was time to pump up the dinghy so that the Admiral and Captain B.S. Could go ashore. It was tied up with rope in a huge parcel in the front cabin of the Good Ship Mithril. It was very heavy.

It was very heavy

Captain Boxer Shorts managed to get it to the ladder, but it was too heavy to lift on deck.

“Shiver me timbers,” he cried, “I'm not as strong as I used to be!”

“We need a long rope,” suggested the Admiral. She tied a rope to the dinghy. With Captain B.S. pulling, and the Admiral pushing, they managed to get the rubber boat onto the deck.

Captain B.S. Connected up the footpump and began pumping. His foot was very tired when he had finished.

Captain Boxer Shorts works the foot pump

They lowered the dinghy into the water with a splash. Captain Boxer Shorts sat in the dinghy whilst the Admiral passed down the wooden pieces of the floor. With much heaving and struggling he managed to fit it in place.

The dinghy in the water

“Hooray!” shouted the Admiral, “Now we can go ashore and buy some fresh bread. You can't have too much fresh bread!”

Captain Boxer Shorts was sitting in the cockpit looking at the scenery. “I think we will move the Good Ship Mithril closer to the shore,” he said. He started the engine and pulled up the anchor. It was covered in a thick, sticky goo. “Yuk!” he shouted as dollops of sticky goo sprayed all over his feet.

The Admiral steered the Good Ship Mithril round in a circle.... then round in another circle... and round again.... and again, until Captain Boxer Shorts was happy with the new spot for anchoring.

“This will do!” he bellowed. The Admiral stopped the boat as Captain Boxer Shorts began to lower the sticky anchor back into the water. He let out lots of chain to make sure the anchor held firm.

The anchor on the bottom of the sea

“Reverse!” he shouted to the Admiral. The Admiral reversed the Good Ship Mithril so that the anchor was pulled down into the sandy mud at the bottom of the sea. The boat stopped going backwards with a jerk and Captain B.S. fell over on his bottom.

“You can't have too much reversing!” laughed the Admiral.