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.”