This is ridiculous, thought Dani as she stood at the bow of the captain’s motorized whaleboat. The young sailor had heard of the pranks some shipmates often pulled on newer crew members. It was one of many “sea stories” she’d heard since entering boot camp more than a year ago.

She carried the gear she needed to hook a mail buoy—a gaffing hook, and a harness connected to a heavy line—as she prepared to join the captain’s deception. Dani knew about the hazing of a new ship’s crew person and used that knowledge to steer clear of most unnecessary and sometimes risky pranks. But she had no way of avoiding this prank, especially when the skipper himself entered the fray.

She’d also heard about the activities when a ship crossed the equator. The rituals almost always included a crawl through the bilge. Dani would rather remain a Pollywog if that were the case, a fact she concealed from even her closest friends. After all, didn’t every sailor want their Shellback certificate and the bragging rights that went along with it? Uh, no.

Captain Lee stood at the rail, watching as the Boatswain’s Mate lowered the skiff into the ocean. Dani felt insignificant as she looked out at the dull blue of the sea reflecting the cloud cover, then back up at the hull rising from the water. Waves heaved the boat to the crest, then plummeted the craft into a trough. Even though Dani wasn’t prone to seasickness, her stomach protested every time the wave-coaster dropped the skiff into the trench.

As they cut across the waves, Dani tried to anticipate the next dip. The bosun delayed just long enough to make sure she turned a new shade of green.

“Really, Boats?” she asked her friend. “Should I lose my lunch now, or let you have a little more fun?”

“Killjoy,” Tammy answered with a mischievous grin as she checked her compass and the satellite navigation system on the skiff. “Believe it or not, there really is something out here you need to hook, so stand by, landlubber!” She cranked on the throttle, and the boat bounced from wave to wave.

Indeed, about a nautical mile from the ship, they found a small object floating along the surface. Tammy replaced the heavy line with a more manageable line and secured it first to Dani’s harness, then to a mooring hook inside the boat.

“Okay, here’s what you do,” said Tammy. “You have to trust me, so…” she trailed off.

Dani looked at her a moment, then gave a sharp nod.

“The boat’s going to move around, so I have to keep it steady and make sure you don’t fall overboard.”

“Yeah, that would be nice.”

“You need to balance on the seat there,” Tammy pointed to a small platform near the prow. “We need to coordinate our movements, so when I get within gaff range, you need to lean out and try to hook the buoy. Got it?”

“Lean out when you get close, hook the buoy. Got it.”

“Don’t try to lift it into the boat yourself, just get it close.”

“Aye, aye, Boats,” replied Dani with a mock salute.

She took her place on the edge of the gunwale, then tested the security and tension of the rope. She nodded to her pilot, bracing herself for what was to come.

As she squinted toward the object, Dani spotted a dolphin push something in their direction as she peered out at the water. She leaned over the gunwale, stretching as far as she could. The hemp rope, and her friend, groaned at the effort. The animal lifted itself out of the water, chittering the entire time. An old television show, Flipper, flashed through her mind, and she almost laughed. She remembered the task at hand, trying to hook the object one more time. And failing.

“Three feet,” she yelled to Tammy over the engine noise.

The engine revved. The boat inched closer. Dani hung over the side, making herself as long as her five feet seven inches allowed, mindful of the slick surface under her boots. The dolphin nosed the object toward the boat for those last few inches. Dani grinned.

“Thank you, Beautiful,” she said, looking into its dark eyes as she pulled the buoy to the boat.

The dolphin chirruped again as it lifted out of the water, dancing backward on its tail before executing a perfect pirouette as it dove into the ocean. Tammy removed the classified contents and tossed the buoy back into the water. Dani tucked the folder beneath all her layers to keep the package concealed. She handed it to Tammy just before they attached the lifting hooks to the skiff and climbed the rope ladder to the main deck.

When they reached the relative stability of the deck, Tammy handed the packet to the skipper while everyone’s attention focused on Dani and the “prank.” The young sailor was savvy enough to play along.

“So,” said Capt. Lee, with a wink, “we finally got you! And here you thought you’d get through your first voyage without having to catch a ‘mail buoy.’” The captain leaned in close, “debrief, my office, one hour.”

“Aye, sir.”

Dani stripped off the harness and life jacket. For the first time on this voyage, she felt unencumbered. With the prospect of more attempts to send her hunting a bucket of steam, or a handful of relative bearings behind her, Dani felt like a true Sailor.