“The next morning found me, crouching in ‘The Bucket’, hands clenching the sides like two lumps of ice, once again questioning my life’s choices as I was steadily hauled aloft by a team of workers. They had been kind enough to attach a rope to my waist, at my insistence, that should the wicker basket fail, at least I could hang from the yardarm like some oversized seagull snack. Once they had hauled me high enough the ropes holding the basket were tied off to sturdy hooks to make sure I stayed in place.”

  “Over the next week, I slowly got used to working at such heights and even took some pleasure in the views. Thankfully I quickly forgot my fear of falling and was able to do my work in peace - the sound of workmen busy far below was mostly muted by the wind, and I would only leave my nest for lunch with Master Burley before once more returning to work amongst the curious gulls.”

  I interrupted Silas’ story with a question, “What sort of things did they have you making so high up on a mast?”

  “Ah, well you know how sailors are naturally superstitious”, he said and I nodded, “Well they wanted protection from storms, wind, lightning and the like and so they had me carve pictures of birds and other flying creatures into the mast to confuse the storm gods and make it seem like we were nothing important, just another flock passing by.”

  “Once I had finished with the masts, they had me affix some giant carved eyes just below the prow to scare off any sea monsters that might try to attack the ship.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Sea Monsters!” I chortled, interrupting his story once again, then reconsidered when I figured that a boat with eyes might possibly confuse a nearsighted belligerent whale. “I suppose the eyes at least may have some bearing in reality.”

  Silas grinned, “Apparently it worked on pirates as well, or so I was told a few years later. They had been approached in the fog while at anchor one night in a bay and the captain had had the foresight to have hung lanterns above the eyes, all they heard were the screams of frightened men and a lot of hurried paddling.”

  Silas continued, “Anyway, after the successful completion of that job Master Burley and I worked on many others over the next few years and became good friends, I even managed to pry some of the secrets of shipbuilding from his head and, with his encouragement, I decided to try my hand at designing a boat of my own - nothing so grand as a ship, but something simpler like a small skiff.”

  “I went to pester him often during the process, asking advice on the correct woods, what structural things would make it the most stable - for I still could not swim, and what sort of finishings I would need to make her watertight.”

  “Was that the Galaxia”, I asked confused, for it sounded like something a lot smaller.

  “No, this was before I built her, this first boat of mine was called The Bean.”

  “The Bean”, I replied in a deadpan voice giving him an incredulous look.

  Silas laughed, “She ended up looking a little like a bean pod that had been split open, hardly my finest work but at least she floated.”