Hank Horsepower

An awkward thing to hold

The haulout cradle that goes under a boat has two ends anybody can point to and a few more a person has to crawl under it to see. Hank Horsepower spends most of his workdays persuading somebody to stand where they can see the same end before anybody lifts. He does that well. His wife Nel came down to the Saltbridge yard one afternoon to bring him the lunch he had left under the kitchen clock, then watched him carry a big roll to the far shed alone. His job on the second half of the day involved telling a younger man that the roll was a two-person task.

He says it is easy to feel heavy work through the soles of your feet. It is harder to feel the moment somebody else has your share. Nel, who does sign repair for the pier arcade and knows her way round a stubborn bracket, knows this about him. When their kitchen table needs moving, she gets one end and calls out when he can let go. He laughs every time. He still lets go late.

A two-bend clip

The Shelby Cobra 427 S/C first came into the garage with a clip Hank was hoping to straighten on the spot. He set up the car on a ramp and shoved the clip with the end of the broadest thing he could reach. It had a second bend by the time he finished. Nel was there that afternoon. She got down on the floor where the clip was meant to sit and asked him to open his hand all the way. He eased off bit by bit until she could reach the piece and show him why it had caught. One other clip, one small hand tool, and a minute of looking at the side he wasn't facing got the Shelby ready to check.

Hank had wanted to race a car that felt quick on a straight with no pause to ask for permission. In practice he can feel the Cobra strain as he tries to use that push before he has opened the wheel far enough. His new request to people who watch him on a closed course is to show him with their arms where they first saw the car straighten. Nel tried it. Her hands came together a foot later than either of them expected.

The shortest trestle

When Boost Willis came looking for a bench low enough to see what the Bugatti's axle was doing, Hank dragged out a flat little trestle. He started telling Boost how to hold the car. Boost unfolded a card from Miles Perhour, set it on the trestle, and spent a sensible amount of time reading. Hank fetched himself a chair. Later he helped Lugzilla hold a stack of boxes while it went back together. He kept his hand on the end even after the pile stood steady.

The mate's side

Hank has been asked to train a new lifting foreman who weighs considerably less than Hank and has seventeen years at another yard. He is looking forward to taking his first day without the keys, provided he can find something else to do between eight and noon. The Cobra is booked for a practice on the far lane. He has asked Nel if she'd come down and watch the next try from the opening of the bend. She has asked if she can drive it first.