Opposite was a small island, but here along the buMieaded and stringered shore were the two cavernous boat sheds with their roller boxes and marine railways, the towering gin pole, the rigging-docks, the workshops. On the right, toward the river, were the boat sHps and catwalks, aU but four of which were presently occupied. Spring had been a busy time, and with June but a few weeks away, one of the boat sheds was empty and the other held only three cabin cruisers, two of which were scheduled for launching the following week. Now, in the late afternoon, Donald MacLaren stopped to get a soft drink from the coin machine which stood on the dock against the ancient frame building which served as a combination oflBce-showroom and his summer apartment. Upstream a cutter and a yawl were moored at the rigging-dock, and MacLaren watched idly as the gin pole swung out with the yawl's main spar dangling vertically before it was lowered gently into its step.
