As winter passed into spring, Mike and Nann's love grew stronger, they realised, that whatever the navy threw at them, they would be able to weather the storm. Every week on Saturday night, Nann would sit at the table and write to both sets of parents telling them all the news, and in every letter, she would send pictures of both herself and Mike, and of coarse their new granddaughter, telling them all the little things that Debbie got up too. However Grace was only interested in one thing, was Michael treating her properly, and Nann was able to reply that yes Mike was being a very good husband and the best dad in the world. As she said. "Mike is a wonderful man, yes he still smacks my bottom, but as I now know, this is a love tap, so that when he does it, I know he loves me, and it's not painful, it just makes me feel happy. And as for him being with Debbie, they play on the floor for hours, it's only when I have to tell her that daddy has gone to work, that she gets a little upset, but when he comes home, be it six in the morning, or twelve, she is waiting for him."
On the first weekend in May, Mike sat Nann down and told her that the ship would be sailing back to England in June and that all the wives and their children would be flying home on the same aircraft, the last Tuesday in May. He also told Nann that he was selling the canoe to one of the chiefs on Manoel Island, who had a couple of children aged 15 and 13. Mike had had a good chat with the father and needed to know, that both children were good swimmers. Mike was off duty on the Saturday, so he took the canoe from the sailing centra down to Peita to the old boathouse where the family were waiting for him. The family were called Sutherland, and John the eldest boy was the one who was keen to have the canoe. stood on the slipway, the canoe having been pulled up the slipway by Mike so that it would not float away, Mike asked John how good a swimmer he was, Then he showed John the swimming coarse that he needed to follow to convince him that he would be safe to use the canoe. John's father thought Mike was crazy and said it could not be done, but John agreed to do it. So diving into the water with Mike following they headed for the black buoy, while Mike waited there, John completed the rest of the test, then as Mike lay on his back, John pulled Mike back to the slipway. As John sat in the water on the end of the slipway getting his breath back, both his mother and father looked on, mother with trepidation on her face, but as Mike stood alongside them both, he had a smile on his face. "Well done John, you have passed, I feel it would be safe for you to take this canoe anywhere." Mrs Sutherland had watched her son but needed to know, why such a hard test. Mike explained. "This canoe is made of canvass and timber, if it does go over, it will sink, and whoever is in the canoe, will have to swim ashore," Mike explained that he had invented the test, and everyone who went into the canoe had to prove to Mike that they could swim that far. The canoe had never tipped over in all the time he had had it, but as Mike said, there's always a first. "And did you do the test?" Mrs Sutherland asked. "Yes I did like I said, I invented the test, even the girlfriend I had out here had to compleat the test before she was allowed to get into the front seat." And did she pass?" John asked. "She did," Mike said. "In fact, she passed every test, cooking, cleaning and looking after me and our daughter." Mrs Sutherland had a twinkle in her eye. "I now know who you are." her husband looked at her. "You do," he said. "This is Michael Palmer love." she said. "met a nice girl at the Naval school, fell in love, took the naval entrance exam and went back to England to join the Royal Navy, eight months later returned to Malta and married his sweetheart." Mike was nodding his head. "Yes, that's the story." Mrs Sutherland looked at her husband who still had a blank expression on his face. "Michael's father was the chief writer, as was his father in law." The light suddenly went on. "How stupid of me, your father is Ken Palmer, and your father in law is Roger Taylor." "That's it I'm afraid, they are both chief writers and I am a lowly seaman, but, I do have a fantastic family, and I love them to bits."
Mike sold the canoe to the Sutherland family for £50, Mike then showed John how the canoe worked under sail and for about an hour the two of them went off, Mike showing just what the canoe could do. Back at the slipway with the canoe now out of the water, Mike showed John how they made the alterations from paddling to sailing, and last but not least, Mike removed the canvass bag from behind the rear seat and showed John the content. he explained about the little beach next door to Manoel Island, and how, if he tipped the canoe on its side, using the paddles and large towel, it made a place to sit in the shade. He showed him the torch and the reason it also was there, he handed over the two cans of 7 up and the £5 note, only to be used in emergencies. Then shaking hands with the family, he wished them well with the canoe. "I hope it will bring you as much happiness as it did for me, it bought me everything I ever needed." Mrs Sutherland wanted to know what Mike meant by that statement. Mike smiled. "This canoe bought me the girl of my dreams, who became my wife, and is now the mother of my child. My family made this canoe some four years ago, it took ten weeks to build her, and as a schoolboy was my pride and joy. Then I met my future wife, and this canoe became a big part of our courtship. I went back to England to join up and returned not only to my future wife but to my canoe as well. Maureen and I were married some eighteen months ago, and we used this canoe up until a month ago, this month we go back to England, but the canoe stays, let someone else have the joy we had." As Mike made to leave, he handed John a small notebook, saying. "Just a few notes to keep you in check when using the canoe under the bridge at Manoel Island, plus a few other bits of knowledge that may be useful, he then showed John the back page, it was written in red ink and told of the trip he and Maureen had made into Valletta, as John read it, Mike tapped the side of his nose, John closed the notebook and placed it into his own pocket. Mike walked away from the new owners of the canoe and hoped that they did have a good time with it.
Mike and Shinner went to the airport with there wives and families on the Tuesday morning, all the married men and their wives had been gathered together outside the N.A.A.F.I. club, and a bus had been laid on to take them all to the airport. At the airport, there were a few tears, but they all knew, that the ship would soon be heading home, and both Anita and Nann were use to waiting for their husbands to return from some trip or exercise, so they accepted the situation. Mike handed Nann a small brown envelope, she looked at it. "What's this," she asked. "Its the money from selling the canoe," Mike said. "You take it, it will tide you over until you can sort your allotment money out, oh and just to let you know, I got a small pay rise this month, so I have given you the same." even though Nann had Debbie in her arms, she was still able to hold her husband around his neck and give him a hug, she kissed him on the mouth. "Thank you my darling, you're wonderful." As the two girls went into the departure lounge, Shinner and Mike went up to the observation balcony, they both saw there wives walking across the tarmac to the aircraft, as both girls climbed the steps, they looked over, saw the guys and waved, Mike and Shinner waved back, then watched as both women disappeared inside the aircraft. With all four engines almost screaming, both men watched as the aircraft made its way faster and faster along the runway, then as the wheels lifted off the tarmac, and they got higher in the sky. soon they were but a small dot and both Mike and Shinner turned and headed back to there respective flats. Mike's flat was now empty, both Mike and Nann had cleaned right throughout so that in their eyes, someone could move in, that afternoon if needed. Mike was sat on the sofa, his small kitbag alongside him, there was a knock at the door, Mike went and opened it, it was the landlord, he walked into every room nodding his head. In the lounge, he looked at Mike. "Very clean, you look after flat like your own home, you good tenants." he then handed Mike a white envelope, Mike handed the landlord the two sets of keys, they shook hands and Mike picked up his kit bag and headed out of the flat for the last time.
Onboard the ship, Mike stowed his kit away in his locker, then sitting at the mess table with a cup of tea he opened the envelope. Inside was £70, £20 for the bed that the landlord had said he would buy from Mike and Nann, and £50 which was there deposit when they first moved in, this was to pay for any damage that might be done by Nann or Mike, but as the landlord found to his liking, both Nann and Mike were the very best of tenants and were keeping the flat spotless. the rent was paid monthly, by the navy, so that Mike didn't need to worry about it, all he and Nann had to do, was make sure they kept within there budget. The same was true with Nann's money, she was given an allotment every week, to look after her and Debbie, all other bills were paid by Mike, and Nann was very good with money, in fact, she was always able to say to Mike at the end of the month. "Sweetheart, if you need a little extra, I have spare cash in my purse you can have." not that Mike did, he also was good with money, as long as the bills were paid, whatever was left, was there's to enjoy.
On the Monday morning, H.M.S.Bossington said a sad farewell to the Island of Malta, sailing out of Sliema creek for the last time she was piped away from the pontoon and the other ships around her all cheered her, even the Admiral came down to see her off. The weather was hot and sunny, the sky was cloudless and the sea, although a slight swell was perfect for a quiet run to Gib. They planned to take five days to get there, every night, they stopped for an hour and the crew went for a swim, then she would sail on overnight at ten knots giving the whole crew the time to enjoy some quality time, in fact, it was like being on a small crews liner than a warship, the food was good, and everyone was having a great time.
They arrived in Gibraltar on the Saturday in the early morning, and after storing ship and taking on fuel for the trip back to Portland, the crew were allowed to have a spot of leave. Mike and Shinner were both duty on the Saturday, and agreed to do there shopping on the Sunday. Shinner was on duty first, doing the twelve to six stint, then Mike was duty from six to twelve. The mail came down the mess at around two in the afternoon after being sorted, Mike was sat reading a letter from Nann, Dinger walked into the mess to pick up letters for himself and Shinner then took them back to the gangway. Reading what Nann had written, he found out from her that the flight home, had gone very well, Nann had made sure that she and Anita had sat together, the middle seat being big enough for both the children, who were sat together as well, the flight back had been very smooth, and when they had landed at the airport, Nann found her mother and father waiting for her, It was decided, that as Anita was a complete stranger to England and English life, they would take her and James back to Weymouth with them, Roger was the chief at Portland naval base, something to do with Sea Training, and as such, he knew that Bossington would be coming to Portland, and would be joining the sea training squadron. With both Anita and Nann's husbands being stationed at Portland, he would see to it that he could arrange accommodation for both families on the Island. As Mike continued to read his letters, Shinner came into the mess. "Have you heard," he said. "My misses has got us a two bedroom flat on Portland, someplace called Southwell." Mike looked at his messmate. "That's great," he said. Shinner then headed back onto the gangway. Mike carried on reading his own letter, then his heart missed a beat, he sat, rereading the line over again. Nann and Mike had been given a flat in the same block as Shinner and Anita, but she also wrote, she was four weeks pregnant.
H.M.S. Bossington sailed from the rock at eight o clock on the Monday morning, she was planning to get to Plymouth Sound within seven days, the crew would then clean her up and touch up her paintwork before heading for Portland, arriving on the Friday. As the little ship headed out into the Atlantic then turned north, all onboard knew they had hit trouble, big trouble, they were side on to a storm, with seas that were hitting the bows with a lot of force. The skipper spoke to the crew over the main tannoy system, saying. "Do we head back to the safety of Gib, or do we carry on, If we do carry on, we will have to more or less zig zag up the Spanish coast, it will take longer, but we can make it doing it that way. The whole crew agreed, they had started this last part of the run home, so let's continue. The captain said. "In that case, we won't stop in Plymouth Sound, we will carry on into Portland harbour, paint job, or no paint job." he then turned the ship into the Atlantic and with the waves coming over the bows on every other wave, they did a zig zag run of two miles in and out, the runs in were not to bad, the sea was up their stern, so they were being pushed towards the coast, it was when they turned back out int the Atlantic, they felt it, The chef got the pot mess on the go and everyone on board went into a four hour watch system, when on duty, you looked after the ship, and the rest of the crew, when off duty, you tried to sleep and rested. Mike had the middle watch, midnight till four, he was on the wheel, he looked at his watch, it was 04-15 and he was still on the wheel, wondering what was going on, then Mr Baker called down. "Palmer, are you ok, there is some trouble on the 40/60 gun deck, can you stay on duty for a little longer," Mike called back. "Everything is in safe hands at this end." he thought her heard Mr Baker smiling. Mike stayed on the wheel until six am when he was finally relieved, he was told, that when the ship had done the turn and headed out into the Atlantic, a huge wave had ripped the 40/60 out of its deck bolts, and it was nearly lost overboard, it was only the fact, that Jan was on the upper deck having a fag and saw it happen that he was able to get some of the lads up to lash it down. Mike went to his bunk, but he couldn't sleep, he was being tossed around all over the place, he ended up laying on his back, holding on to the safety rail and closing his eyes.
Mike was being shaken. "Come on mate." it was Jan, he had a cup of tea in his hand. "You have been snoring your head off for the past three hours, here you are, a cup of tea. Mike grabbed the cup and took a drink. "What's it like up top," he asked. "It seems to be easing," Jan said. "The waves don't seem to have those white crests on them like yesterday, and the waves seem to be a lot longer between each crest, also the wind has eased a hell of a lot. Mike finished his tea and went on deck, as he stood under the bridge, he could see that the rollers were a lot longer than when they first hit the storm, now, it was like being on a roller coaster, a steady up and down, Mike looked at the 40/60, now lashed down with a canvass cover over it, she looked a bit of a mess, but as Mike knew, once in Portland, the local dockyard would soon put things right. As Mike stood looking out to sea, he was joined by Mr Baker. "You did a great job this morning Palmer, you did your job, and then some." "That's alright sir," Mike said. " The ship comes first, she is, after all, our home from home, and we have to keep her looking as smart as possible, even in bad weather. By the way, sir, will this die down soon, this zig zagging must be using up a lot of fuel." "It is Palmer." Mr Baker said. "But looking at the weather forecast, I think we will be turning for home within the next twenty four hours." And Mr Baker was right, At 16-00 with Mike on the wheel, he was told to steer 005, which he did.
H.M.S. Bossington entered Portland harbour at ten o clock on the Monday morning, she was three days late, and apart from some minor damage, namely the 40/60, she was in pretty good shape, there was a paint job needed on the hull and superstructure, but apart from that, she wasn't looking too bad. As she slowly made her way to the bottom end of Q11 jetty, all the wives and girlfriends were there watching her come in, Nann and Anita included. Once alongside the wall, the engines were stopped, the shore power cables connected and the gangway put on board, all the crew went ashore to the N.A.A.F.I. canteen in the dockyard, and a police officer was stationed at the ship's gangway, to stop anyone going on board. As Mike held Nann in his arms and kissed her, he placed his hand on her tummy. "How's the new baby coming along." he asked her Nann put her hand over Mike's her face bright red." Please love," she said. "You're embarrassing me in front of my friends, and yours." "I don't care," Mike said quietly. I am going to be a proud father again, I feel great, I feel wonderful."
That night in their new married quarters, as Mike and Nann lay in their king size bed with her arm around Mike's neck she said."Michael, I want you to make love to me, its been so long, but I don't want to hurt the new baby." Mike looked into her eyes, he kissed her mouth. "Roll on your side," he said. "Pretend your on the balcony at Msida creek." Nann giggled. "I do remember those days, we really were wicked weren't we." she kissed her husband and rolled over.
Epilogue
Mike and Maureen are still together 50 years down the line, they have a couple of grandchildren, and Mike completed 27 years in the Royal Navy, he left as a chief gunner but spent his last two years in Devonport as the buffer. On leaving the Navy Mike and Maureen moved out of Devonport and moved to Somerset where his elderly parents lived, and within driving distance of his mother and father in law. On leaving the navy, Mike took an H.G.V. driving coarse that he passed and joined a local delivery company, where he stayed until he retired at 65.
Today both Mike and Maureen live in a small flat in the West Country and even in there 70s they still reminisce about there wonderful life together, Debbie has a family of her own, as does the son Daniel. Both Maureen and Mike went back to Malta many times over the years, back to Pieta, Mosta, Rabat and of coarse Valletta, and the cafe in the square, that today is still selling cheesecakes, and to Tonys bar in Sliema where they could still watch Maltese life pass them by. And at home on those long winter evenings when there was nothing on the T.V. they would sit and ponder, what would have happened if they hadn't hit it off, and that canoe, that little green and white boat that really bought them together. And Maureen would say in almost a whisper. "We made love in that canoe for the first time properly, that was the start of something so wonderful, I wonder whatever happened to it." And Mike would wonder the same thing, did John find love in her, he hoped he did because that canoe was made for love. It was part of a love story that even now carries on, and even the canoe is not there, the thoughts of her are, within the hearts of two people, two very special people, who without that funny little craft may never have fallen in love, married and been able to tell this beautiful love story.
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