There is such a small portico on the north coast of France. For some incomprehensible order, all that was needed was to change the team. The people gathered from everywhere: from time off, holidays, from other motor ships. It was necessary to get used to the flight. Our cook arrived last. When she entered the mess room, everyone opened their mouths. A lush bust and a wide mill, with a fairly proportionate addition, necessarily attracted the eyes. Puffy lips gave her pretty face a special attraction. And all this - with growth somewhere meter ninety!

- My name is Marina, - having greeted, she introduced herself and blushed. As it soon turned out, the girl was modest. It is not surprising that from the very beginning of the voyage of admirers, obvious and secret, Marina had more than enough. But all their efforts were in vain. She did not even reject the courting of her fans. She simply ignored them. Did not notice and everything. Some it just depressed. Somehow we checked with the boatswain cargo securing. And so, while walking on the deck, he did not stop complaining.

- Well, what time? What kind of women? Earlier, it happened, you get to know each other, buy ice cream for thirteen kopecks, roll it on a tram - and it's yours. And now? ... - a handsome man shook his head sadly. Nevertheless, Marina in the team fell in love. She was kind, she was not offended at the jokes, and very soon no ship sittings without her became impossible to imagine ... Screws stubbornly ground the water. Watches were replaced by watches. So we got to this very Boulogne. The English Channel met with heavy rain and heavy waves from the Atlantic.

“In ten minutes we will be at the meeting point of pilots,” I reported to the captain. “Navigator, go yourself, make sure that everything is the way,” he turned to me. I put on my raincoat, pulled on my hood, and went down to the deck. The pilot ladder was securely fixed. At the open semi-shake the wet boatman squirmed. We didn’t have time to spread a few phrases when the boat, which jumped out from behind the wall of rain, approached us and stopped the course. A man in an orange raincoat started climbing the ladder. The boatswain and I grabbed him by the arms, put him on deck, and looked at each other in surprise. The fact is that the pilot was, to put it mildly, a height well below average. Tall heels and huge fields of the cap only emphasized this. But our views did not bother him at all. He responded to my greeting in good English, and we stomped upstairs.

Opening the cabin door, I missed it forward and entered next. I really wanted to watch the captain's reaction, but he looked menacingly, making it clear that it was time to do business. And that's right, because visibility was almost zero. The pilot, dropping his cloak and taking off his cap, asked a few on-duty questions and got involved in the work. The teams fell one after the other. Posting has begun. They went on the numbering, but it was necessary observatory place to control. The captain, looking over my shoulder, had already impatiently clinked his tongue several times. Finally, hooking a few reliable landmarks, I put a point. The captain, looking at the map, smiled. The pilot worked cool. And he did it with some special dignity. Passed the entrance dam. Tension subsided.

- Call the galley. We should feed Mr. Pilot, - the captain leaned towards me. “Everything is ready with me,” answered the receiver in the voice of the cook.A couple of minutes later the door opened, and Marina appeared before us! In a snow-white jacket, in a starched cap (this is with her grenadier growth!), Flushed from walking along the ramps, she stood and held a tray with treats in her hands. The pilot turned, and his eyes began to round. But just started ... He instantly pulled himself together, jumped to the cook, straightened his tie as he went, grabbed the tray and set it on the table. None of us even had time to figure out what was happening, how he pulled up a chair, jumped on it, and, equaling its height with Marina, loudly smacked her cheek. “Oh-la-la, mademoiselle,” he cooed gently, and jumped off his chair. Marina, suddenly, became crimson. Rescued her captain.

- Marinochka, thank you. You are free, - he said with a smile. She turned around and, like a swan, swam out of the wheelhouse, followed by the admiring glance of the Frenchman. Then there was a mooring in the pouring rain. When, seeing off the pilot, I shook his hand, I felt that I was saying goodbye to a real man. Later, going to the mess-room and hearing the explosions of laughter, I already imagined what was happening there. Premonition did not deceive me. Around the table sitting at the table, the mariners were rolling with laughter from the sailors, probably not the first dozen times retelling in all ways just what had happened. I was immediately struck by one detail. As soon as the story approached the description of the pilot, Marina’s eyes were clouded with a strange lilac mist, and her lips were spreading into a smile. - Gee, - I thought: - How many and what guys have been storming this fortress for almost a month, but some underdog French have enough minutes to touch an impregnable heart. So understand after this women ...