The Voyages of Seadog #1

The Voyages of Seadog #1

The Voyages of Seadog

1990

I have always wanted to write a book about an event in my life. There were times when I thought this was a period to put it down on paper, events that would be of interest to someone or maybe anyone. I think this is the time. First of all I don't feel like I'm your everyday person and then maybe I am. This story could be fiction but I hope you think it is not.

I am getting out of bed on a slow morning, thinking of the job ahead at the Marina. After having breakfast, feeding my dogs, I have two Dobermans, their names are Bear and Roxy. The male is bear and the female is Roxy. I gave my wife a kiss before I left, went downstairs, started my truck to go to work and put in another day. I noticed the clouds are turning a dark shade of gray with a pink tint and just a hint of red. "Red sky in the morning, sailor be warned". A sailor's omen. I open the Gates at the front of my property, head down the dirt road to the old brick road, as it is it is called in my neighborhood. The birds are everywhere as this is springtime and now is when my nightmare begins. As I turned left and accelerate down the road I notice a gray car parked maybe a couple of thousand feet in front of me. It starts out at a high rate of speed towards me and he seems to have a purpose, I sense is not in my best interest. Also at the same time in my rearview mirror I see three more vehicles rushing towards me also at a high rate of speed. The gray car pulls right in front of me and stops. My first impression is confusion and apprehension about what is to occur, why are these people in front and behind me.

The answer to my thoughts, is blue flashing lights on the dash of the cars, police? The vehicles behind also have blue flashing lights on as they pull up behind me. The gray Chevrolet has stopped and three people emerge with guns drawn and pointed at me. The first thing I notice other than the guns are the blue jackets which say FBI, DEA, US customs and US treasury on the front and back of their blue jackets. As the first FBI agent approaches the car and tells me to roll down my window and that is exactly what I did the first question asked is my name, which I give him. The FBI agent informs me I have to go back to my house, he has a search warrant for it. Being an inquisitive type and also in shock, I want to know what is going on? The response is "we have a search warrant for your house". "You will accompany us back to the house!". I start to get back in my truck and the FBI agent tells me he will drive me back and for me to get in the passenger side. I would have protested other than the fact he has the gun and seems to be in charge. As we drive down the road back to my home, he is asking questions. "Who else is in the house?" And I respond, "my wife", do you have firearms in the house?". And I reply, "yes!" At this point we are approaching the house, and all four cars pull into my driveway.

Actually I am getting way ahead of myself. I need to go back 23 years to 1967 to really start my story on why this is happening to me.

1967
I am 25 years old and I work for the airlines as a mechanic (Heli- arc welder). I am divorced with two young boys and I live in a two-story apartment complex of about 30 separate apartment units. It is a nice complex, close to work, swimming pool and lots of young couples and singles, especially young women. Nice neighbors and friends. My apartment is a one bedroom, since I am single of course it is decorated with a water bed, black walls in the bedroom with black lights and Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and several other posters on the walls. One of my neighbors Debbie is an artist and painted Day-Glo drawings on the wall( KEEP ON TRUCKIN) and the normal things that go along with being a hippie. I hope you get the picture, I guess if you were my age then you would understand,MAYBE?.

On a Friday night an old neighborhood school chum, actually two of them come knocking on my door. I haven't seen them in years and was quite surprised to see them. I asked them what they have been doing and why the surprise visit. I invited them in and opened up the fridge to get us all a beer. Well, it seems they just returned from Mexico in Michael's Corvette. They somehow smuggled 95 pounds of marijuana in the spare tire through customs. They wanted to know if I knew anyone who could help sell the pot. First of all I did not do drugs of any kind. Second I knew only two people that actually smoked pot. My artist friend and a hippie buddy at work. I said I would check it out. They spent the weekend and we partied. As I said I have never done drugs. The next day was Saturday and we were just hanging out at the apartment when Debbie the artist came by. She along with my buddies were drinking beer and watching TV, when Michael asked Debbie if she smoked pot. Positive answer and they started rolling up and smoking joints while watching TV. It didn't smell bad at all, a kind of sweet aroma. I was asked to partake or at least try it. Boy! Was I in for a surprise. We were watching cartoons and I could not stop laughing, it started to hurt from laughing so much. Everything was funny, my first experience with pot but not my last.

For the next couple of weeks I helped sell some of the stash. It was not a very good experience, I had a lot of trouble getting paid and chasing down the deadbeats. I made about $900 but I don't think it was worth it for all the trouble. Anyway my two friends left happy and said they would stay in touch and get back with me. After they left I rolled myself a joint and had a beer, went to work the next day and resume my regular schedule.

1968

Months later I get a call from them. "We have a proposition for you and we are coming down to discuss it, will you be available?" I asked, "when are you coming?". "We will be there this weekend". Sure enough they come a knocking on my door. Not only my two buddies, but there are three other guys with them from Ohio. These three guys are introduced as racing sailors, they have been racing for years. I am introduced to them as Jerry, the Hulk and Frank. After introductions and a few beers, Michael asked me if I would be interested in making $10,000 in a month? "Wow!". That really ticked my interest. "What do I have to do in order to make that much money?" The answer was, since I am a pretty good mechanic I will be the engineer and keep the mechanical part of the boat running. "Boat?" "Yes" said Michael, "we are going to go to Jamaica and bring back some ganja, known as marijuana. This proposition was starting to sound very interesting. I told them I would think about it and let them know in a couple of days after I thought it over.

I had to think about my job, my kids, if I got arrested and what would happen. Serious stuff! Back then the penalty for smuggling and believe me that's what it was, in the early years, the penalty wasn't as serious as it is today. Much, much less.

I talked to my boss the next day and asked about a leave of absence. No problem at the time, austerity program at work and he said I could take off. I would not receive a paycheck, but retain my seniority, flight benefits since I worked at the airlines and my health insurance. I had enough savings to be able to take off for about two months, for paying child support, rent etc.

So what do I do? I call my buddies and ask, "when are we leaving?, I am ready to go".

First of all I am considered a boater. Had boats with my dad, friends etc. so I was familiar with being on the water, you know like lakes, canals, Biscayne Bay. I had no, nada, experience in a sailboat, never crossed the Gulfstream. Never any real Bluewater experience at all. And here I am getting ready to sail almost 2000 miles to a remote island and back with a load of marijuana. Exciting and also a little scary.

Michael calls me and tells me next week to meet them in Fort Lauderdale at a marina, to check out the sailboat they are renting and set up a schedule for our vacation? I schedule with my boss to take a leave of absence for a month and take care of other personal things before leaving.

The following week, I meet them at the Marina along with the three sailors. They have chartered a 34 foot Gulf star sailboat. Later to be called a golf ball, roly-poly. They have rented the boat for a month in the Bahamas, starting the following week. While inspecting the vessel in the engine room, I realize this is not a gasoline engine but a diesel. Oh! Oh! I don't know the first thing about a diesel engine, other than it doesn't burn gasoline. I explained this to the crew and they do not understand. So I explain, "I have never worked on a diesel engine, I have worked on a lot of gasoline engines. Two different animals". Michael says, "not to worry, we would just go out and buy a diesel engine book that tells you how to repair and do maintenance". "Okay"!, I can read a manual and do the repairs. Which I ended up doing on more than one occasion. With the manual I was able to figure out what spares would be needed on the trip.

That evening we start making our list for provisioning the boat. We are going to need food for a month, even though we will be stopping at ports on the way down. Spares such as engine parts, tools, the repair kits for the things that are going to break and have lots of booze. The following two days we shop and shop and shop. We then Stow and organize all of our supplies. We are ready to leave the next day.

It's early in the morning and my girlfriend has dropped me off at the Marina. I have my tools, clothes, diving gear, foul weather gear and engine manual in hand. I'm ready to go! You have no idea how scared I was. But I am a tough cookie and almost willing to do almost anything to make $10,000, as long as no one gets hurt!.

After disconnecting the shore power and dock lines, we leave the dock under engine power. We follow the channel out to the entrance of Fort Lauderdale. After going through the inlet and setting the sails, we set our course for the Bimini island chain in the Bahamas. It is roughly 50 miles from Fort Lauderdale to Bimini, due East. The Gulf star cruises under power at about 7 kn. With the sails up, the boat can cruise with wind conditions at up to 8 kn.

Since I am the mechanic and responsible for everything working in order, I go down into the engine room and start making sure everything is running proper. The engine in the sailboat is a four-cylinder Ford Lehman diesel engine. To keep the engine running I must make sure that all the filters are changed on a regular basis. These filters are both oil and fuel and need to be checked on a regular basis. I also have to check the belts for the freshwater pump and alternator, check the packing gland at the shaft on a regular basis to make sure it is not leaking excessively. You don't want to sink your home away from home in the ocean.

Bimini is approximately 50 miles which means under good conditions about a 8 to 10 hour run. This is my first trip across the Gulf stream. The wind is out of the North, about 10 to 15 kn. The seas are about 2 to 3 feet with a slight chop. We have raised the sails and turned off the engine, we are cruising about 6 kn and expect to be in Bimini by 5 PM. It is kind of neat to be sailing with no engine and so quiet except for the rushing sound of the ocean against the Hull. Jerry is our navigator and has set a course, plotting with the RDF a radio direction Finder.I Am going to learn everything I can about navigation, RDF and dead reckoning are what we are going to be doing this trip

At around 4 o'clock in the afternoon we can see the radio tower on Bimini, the tower is about 200 feet high, so we can see it a long ways off. As we approach the island we dropped the sails and start the engine. We motor into Bimini and tie up to the dock. We have raised our quarantine flag and wait for customs and immigration. According to protocol, you are not allowed to leave your vessel until you clear customs and immigration. This is normal procedure when entering a foreign port. As we are waiting, outcomes the rum and Coke and snacks to celebrate our first landing in a foreign port. Shortly after, customs and immigration arrived and cleared us for cruising the Bahamas. We could now cruise throughout the whole Bahama's without checking into each port. When they left we put up our Bahamian cruising flag and took down the quarantine yellow flag we are now cleared to cruise the whole Bahama chain

Bimini consists of two main islands, North Bimini island and South Bimini island and numerous cays. The history of Bimini is as fascinating as the islands themselves. Just 50 miles to the United States, they served as a convenient offshore speakeasy and liquor store during prohibition. Rum runners use to store their stash in the nearby shores, for making their runs to smuggle booze into the United States. And speaking of rum, Ernest Hemingway called Bimini his summer home. Jimmy Buffett spent time here while writing his book and Martin Luther King Junior even composed parts of his Nobel peace prize acceptance speech while sailing with local boat builder, Ansell, who still lives on the island today.

After checking into Bimini, I got my first taste of the Bahamas customs, clearance, quarantine flag and flying the Bahamas courtesy flag. I was in heaven. Crystal-clear waters you could look down 30/40 and 60 feet and see pure white sand, fish and coral. It was fantastic. Next morning after eggs and lobster for breakfast, we left the dock to cross the bank between Bimini and Chub Cay. The trip to chub Cay our next stop was 80 miles across the bank. We motored out from Bimini heading South to Gun Cay for our trip across the Bahama bank. On the way down to Gun Cay we put out two fishing rods to see if we could catch some fresh fish. We caught a lot of barracuda, some almost 5 feet long and releasing them to terrorize another angler. We also caught a tuna and dolphin. We put them on ice to keep fresh fish on board. As we approach Gun Cay between North Cat Cay, we made our turn heading due East at 97. We were now on our way to Chub Cay approximately 80 nautical miles across the Bahama bank which is relatively shallow. The depth across the bank was anywhere from 6 feet to 30 feet deep.

On our way to Chub Cay, we decided to cook some of our fresh caught fish. The dolphin is put in the oven and the tuna is prepared for sushi. Our chef has really done a great job, he sure knows how to make good sushi and bake dolphin. We are really anticipating our arrival to Chub Cay, mainly because it is a great sport fishing ground. Chub Cay is at the bottom of what they call the Tongue of the Ocean and is one of the world's best fishing grounds. Arriving at Chub Cay early in the morning we proceed through the channel to the Chub Cay club and check in. After arriving we talk to the locals about the fishing, lobsters and conch. One of the dock boys tell us they will take us out to where we can get lobsters and do a little exploring. I tell him to be here around noon to take us to a good spot where we can find the lobsters, Noon comes around and he's ready to go with us. We motor to an area called Diamond Rocks throw out the anchor. We put on our masks and flippers and snorkels and jump into the clear sea. The water is so clear you can see 20 feet to the bottom. The fish and coral are just gorgeous, it is hard to imagine such clarity. The dock boy was not kidding when he told us that the lobsters were everywhere. During our dive we also observed a airplane wreck. Swimming around the aircraft wreck was kind of surreal. Someone must have died looking at the damage. One engine was separated nearby and the cockpit was destroyed. The dock boy told us that there were a lot of wrecks from drug smugglers in the area. I realized that just maybe, this is not such a good idea. We caught enough lobsters for everybody including the dock boy and headed back to Chub Cay. At Chub Cay they have barbecue grills at the club and we enjoyed grilling enough lobsters for everybody.

The Bahamian people have to be the friendliest people I have met in my young life time. The next morning the dock master, asked if we would like to join him for fish stew on the beach. We accept, buy a case of Heineken beer and enjoyed a morning on the beach, the fish stew was absolutely marvelous. I am loving this life, more to come, I hope.

The next morning we depart for Nassau head out of the Marked channel and make a heading of 125 for Nassau, which is approximately 40 miles away. After motoring out we set sail for a perfect beam reach and shutdown the engine. The wind is coming out of the East and blowing 10 to 15 kn. I am sure enjoying sailing and listening to the sound of waves slapping against the Hull. We have the mainsail and a 120 jib set. We are making almost 7 kn, no engine, Jimmy Buffett playing from the stereo, beer in hand and relaxing, while the autopilot takes us to our destination. The trip to Nassau should take us approximately 5 to 6 hours. It is unreal that sails on a boat can move through the water with little effort. Late in the afternoon we see the Nassau light house.

Nearing the island we head to the lighthouse at the entrance to Nassau harbor. Arriving at the entrance we are required to call the harbor pilot for instructions. They asked our destination and we tell them Hurricane Hole Marina. They tell us to proceed into the harbor and be aware that Chalk Airlines will be arriving in half an hour. We are to be clear of the harbor for Chalk Airlines to land on the water. The harbor is there landing strip on water. A vessel is restricted when Chalks arrives to land. Believe me you don't want to be in the middle of the channel when this flying airboat comes in. We were exactly there when the port authority told us to move out of the channel. What a sight to see, the plane comes in and lands on the water, taxis to a ramp, goes up the ramp, parks and unload's tourist and the locals. Chalk Airlines flies from Miami to Nassau on a regular basis. They also go to other destinations in the Bahamas.

We check into Hurricane Hole Marina and are given a slip to tie up in. The Marina is on an island across from Nassau and connected by a 65 foot high bridge. This is where the casinos are located. Oh boy! Las Vegas, blackjack! By the way, I lived two years in Las Vegas and went to dealer school. I know how to play blackjack, I'm fairly good. I don't lose very often. Once we get tied up, checked in we all take freshwater showers at the Marina. This is a pretty fancy facility with plenty of amenities. There are two fancy yachts docked on the outer docks. These are million-dollar yachts, highrollers. In the Marina there are sport fishermen, sailboats, powerboats and sightseeing boats.

That night we hit the casinos and the party girls hit on us. I am familiar with that scene. They were gorgeous and mostly from Canada. I decided to gamble and the boys disappeared. After gambling, I went back to the boat to crash for the night. We are going to spend a couple of days here at the Marina, get fuel, supplies and relax. Next morning after my chores, oil filter change and basic maintenance on a diesel engine, I am ready to explore Nassau. My diesel book is a godsend. Easy to read and very informative, in fact it suggested a few spares I did not have. The best one was a spare injector and seals  for the fuel system. Since Nassau would be our last major city to stop in, I went to the ships chandlers to see if I could get extra spare parts. I walked over the bridge to Nassau on the waterfront. This is where most Marine shops, restaurants and marketplace are located. My first stop, Marine shop, Lehman dealer and went in. To my surprise they actually had all the spares I needed. Remember this is a long trip and no stores along the way. And I was surprised to have the spares I needed. Talked to the owner, he told me he supplies the whole island chain with parts and supplies. We talked for over an hour about cruising the Bahamas. I told him we were cruising the Bahamas for a month. He made a lot of suggestions on where to go and what to do. I loved it, good to get local knowledge. With my parts in hand, I was ready for lunch. I found a Bahamian restaurant on the waterfront and went upstairs. What a view of the harbor! I have really developed an appetite for conch salad, cracked conch and a couple of beers. The view off the balcony was really neat, conch has been a staple in Nassau for a long, long time. Believe it or not most of the waterfront has been developed from the conch shells as landfill. You have to see it to believe it.

The next morning we decided to do some shopping and sightseeing. I decided to go to the marketplace on the docks. Glad I did. There were local merchants selling fresh fish, vegetables, conch etc. I met a lady who was selling fresh conch straight from the sea. She also made fresh conch salad that she sold in quart jars at two dollars each. I bought four of them after she gave me a taste, fantastic. She gave me her recipe, I still have it. The only ingredient I can't find is the pepper from Haiti. It is hot, hot, hot. Wear gloves if you find it because the heat gets under your fingernails and do not rub your eyes. I feel like I'm turning into a Bahamian with all the fresh seafood, also the Bahamian bread is fantastic I love it. We have been in hurricane harbor for two days and getting ready to leave for our next leg of the trip. We have to leave at approximately 9 AM to go across the bank due East for Ships Channel Cay. The reason being, it is not very deep. But you have to have visibility because of coral heads. Sometimes these coral heads come up from the bottom within one or 2 feet underwater. Believe me you don't want to hit one and put a hole in the Hull or worse sink. With the sun overhead you can spot the coral heads easily and there are a lot of them. Just turn around them since the water is so clear that they are very visible. Unfortunately we don't make Ships Channel Cay as planned. So we have to anchor for the night. Only a few miles, but we don't want to take any chances. No Coast Guard or Sea Tow out here, nothing but open water. So we settle in for the night, with a watch set up to make sure no one boards us, Pirates or the anchor drags. Next morning we have coffee, conch salad and scrambled eggs and wait for the sun to come up at approximately 10 AM. After breakfast we take our morning swim to get cleaned up and maybe find some conch. I am turning into a conch nut. I know how to get them out of the shell, clean them and make conch salad or cracked conch. By the way we have a refrigerator and great galley, it is small but efficient also the propane stove has an oven.

The water is clear enough now so we pull anchor and are heading to Ships Channel Cay. After leaving Ships Channel Cay, We are now entering Exuma Sound, we will make a turn to head South towards our next destination, George Town, Exuma's. The next leg of our trip is 150 nautical miles at 135. We are now heading Southeast with a 20knt. Wind behind us. We are sailing about 6 kn, no engine and a nice set sail. One of the sailors brought a bunch of CDs with island music to listen to as we sail along. I am learning a lot from these three sailors and it's fun. I can now trim sails, tack, reach and I'm feeling more like a real sailor. I am also becoming a pretty good navigator

Eleuthera island is on our port side (East) and the Exuma islands are on our starboard(West). Sometimes we see a glimpse of them. The Exuma's are a chain of islands approximately 100 miles down Exuma sound. We are going to be on the water cruising for a couple of days, depending on the weather. Little San Salvador is on our port side, but we can't see it. Christopher Columbus was supposed to have landed there as his first stop in the New World.

We are on our second day in Exuma sound, and are going to stop in Georgetown. Georgetown has a very nice Anchorage and we toss our anchor and secure the boat, and take the dinghy to shore. The dock master meets us and informs us they do not get many cruisers this far down, this time of year. Wants to know our plans and we tell him of our one-month cruise and would like to spend overnight and get fuel in the morning. That evening we went ashore to eat at a local restaurant, drink a lot of Heineken and rum, then made our way back to the dock, rowed out to the sailboat and and crashed for the night.

The next morning after breakfast, we pull the anchor and motor to the dock for fuel. The dock master has helpers bringing 5 gallon fuel jugs to the boat. We get six cans equals 30 gallons and put it in the fuel tank. We pay the dock master, leave the dock and are now headed to Long Island. One thing I am going to really learn from this trip when we leave Georgetown. Always filter and check fuel before putting it in the tank.

We are now headed to Long Island and beyond. The wind has died, so we start the diesel and motor South. After about four hours, the good old, no problem diesel starts coughing and black smoke is coming out of the exhaust and filling up the cockpit. I shut the engine down, the sailors put up the main sail and set the jib sail, while I troubleshoot the engine. I go below into the hot engine room,(remember, I am the engineer). I don't see anything wrong, no overheat, no leaks, nothing. Okay! Research! I get out the manual, go to troubleshoot section. Black smoke equals, lack of fuel, dirty injectors or dirty fuel filters. First step, check fuel filter, fuel filter is full of water??? Bad fuel, George Town! Drain water, change filter, bleed system, engine starts and runs smooth, no black smoke. "Wow, I did it". We are back on our way! The engineer did it! I start to wonder how much water is in the fuel tank? I go back into the engine room, where the fuel tank is located. I'd check to to see if there is a drain at the bottom of the tank since water is heavier than diesel. No drain! I pray that was all the water! Anyway our next stop is crooked island a few days away.

We have been sailing and motoring for the past three days with me changing the fuel filter twice again. The next morning just before the sun came up we could see the flashing light of crooked island light house, which would be on our next stop. The sailors tell me they have been here before, one time. They said we would anchor off of Pitts town for a rest.

After anchoring nearshore, it appears there is an airport near where we have anchored. In fact the runway ends not far from where we anchored.. I check with the sailors to see if there were any stores on the island. They asked me what I needed. I explained, that I would like to make sure I have all the water out of the fuel tank. I would need 10 feet of hose, prefer half-inch diameter, hand pump or 12 V to pump fuel from the tank. They left in the dinghy and headed for the small airport off our bow. The airport had a small shop and I got my hand pump and hose. I proceeded to drop the hose down the fuel tank to the bottom, connected the hand pump to the hose and pumped 2 gallons of water from the fuel tank. I sure feel a lot better, knowing that the fuel tanks are clean. I only have three fuel filters left for this trip. I might need more if the problem persists.

The one sailor I call the Hulk tells me the diving is excellent and he knows where there are lobsters. He tells me the lobsters are stacked up just like a condo and they are large. We put on our flippers, masks and snorkels and jump over the side, the Hulk was not kidding, I have never seen lobsters this big. Just like he said a condo full of lobsters in the reefs. That night we went ashore built a fire and grilled three of the biggest lobsters I have ever seen. I learned that the large lobsters are kind of tough. We will be going after the smaller ones, 1 lb. to 2 lbs. from now on. Now at this point there are five persons on the boat three sailors, me and Michael. We devour the lobsters and couldn't eat it all. Talk about being a glutton.

The next morning before leaving, the Hulk gets six more lobsters to go and we are on our way down to Long cay,  through the Acklins, then to hit Mira Por Vos cays and Castle island light house. This leg of our trip is 44 nautical miles. We are starting to get the Tradewinds off our port side and sailing a beam reach. The winds are pretty constant at 20kts. now we are making almost 6 or 7 kn heading Southeast. Our next stop is Great Inagua, at the end of the Bahama chain of islands Great Inagua is 76.6 nautical miles away and we are trucking. "Sorry! SAILING".

Around noon, we see the light house on Castle Island, which is on our left side. On the right, but not visible is Mira Por Vos Cays, . This channel is used by most Bahamians going North and South through the Bahamas. As we passed farther South, we are definitely picking up the Tradewinds. The wind is coming out of the East and blowing approximately 20 to 25 kn. With only the sails up, we are cruising at 7 to 8 kn. This is a beam reach and very good sailing. We are now headed directly South, South East to Great Inagua. The next morning as the sun comes up it's a beautiful day. We notice the clouds building where we are headed. The wind has picked up 25 to 35 kn and the seas are starting to build 3 to 4 feet. We have the main up and the headsail is a 120 Genoa. Later in the afternoon it looks like we are going to have a nasty storm. As the day progresses the sky is starting to turn gray and very black. The sailors  inform us, we need to prepare for a storm. We pull down the Genoa and reef the main, preparing for the storm, we deflate the dinghy and secure it on deck. We removed anything that should not be on deck. We close all hatches and wait for the storm, that hits as soon as we are secure. Thank goodness for good sailors with good sense, because the storm is horrible. The seas build and build and now it's dark, can't see it. Rain and then hail is pounding the boat with terrific speed. We estimate the wind at 35 to 45 nautical miles per hour. We have to take two hours shifts steering with our raingear and life vest and safety lines to make sure no one goes overboard. It was a miserable night, wet and cold. The storm ended the next day around noon, but the seas were still miserable 6 to 8 feet. I now understand why the sailors call the GulfStar a golf ball, should be called a ping-pong ball.

That night we ate a decent meal, cleaned up the mess inside the cabin from all the tossing and heavy seas. Fortunately nobody got sick, pretty amazing under the circumstances.

The Closer we get to Great Inagua, the seas are becoming pretty mellow and because of the Tradewinds we had no engine to run. That morning as we are heading South a pod of porpoises are directly in front of the boat. I am leaning over the pulpit and can almost touch them as they line up in front of us like a marching Army in a perfectly straight line from left to right.. They are so graceful and as I'm whistling they seem to notice. I think I'm going to be a real sailor.

I decided it was time to start fishing again. I put out my heavy duty fishing rod, reel with a heavy blue lure. We have not caught as many fish as I thought we would. Right after I put out about 100 yards of 80 pound Dacron line out I got a hit. The line screamed off the reel before I get to it. I yell to the guys, either to tack around or drop the sails. Rather than dropping the sails they tacked and do a 180 turn, amazing. I knew I had a big fish. I walked along the starboard side to the bow of the boat and started to reel like crazy. Mikey grabbed a gaff and after about 45 minutes we had him alongside the boat and Mikey gaffed him. He put the tuna inside the cockpit which really made a mess, blood everywhere. He was jumping everywhere and making a real mess, someone grabbed a towel, threw it over him and held him down. Once we knew he was dead we put him alongside the cockpit, bled him and gutted him. We made 1 inch steaks out of him. Out came the Ziploc bags to put the meat in and put in the freezer and fridge. It took over an hour to clean up the mess. But I know we were going to have some fresh tuna for the rest of the trip.

As we near Great Inagua, we notice white mountains, which we later learned our salt. Morton salt company has an extensive salt reclamation on the island. Morton salt company is the mainstay of this island at the southern tip of the Bahamas. We pull into a protected harbor and tie up to the dock. The customs and immigration people meet us and see if we have the proper papers to be in the Bahamas. We give them our papers and documents and that we explain we are in the Bahamas for a month and will be heading back North. You and I know we are going to continue South.

After customs and immigration left, we go into town to check it out and see what is available and maybe resupply. While meeting the local townspeople we learn that Morton salt company is there mainstay. We also learned that Great Inagua has one of the largest flamingo populations on the Eastern Seaboard. After returning to the boat we start checking out the vessel to make sure nothing is wrong. We have gone through a terrible storm and want to make sure all the rigging is okay. The sailors asked me to go up the mast to check out the rigging. Remember, I am the mechanic! They rig up a boatswain chair and hoist me up as I check out the rigging. I do not see anything wrong until I get to the top. At the masthead I see a crack in the aluminum casting that holds all the rigging. If this were to break while sailing we could lose our mast. They lower me need down and we discussed this. A real problem. They asked me if it could be fixed and I said being the mechanic, maybe.

That afternoon I went to the Morton salt company office to see if they had someone who could fix the masthead. They asked me the problem and I told them it needed to be welded and was made of cast aluminum. They said their welder was off the island. Since I worked at the airlines as a welder, I asked them where the machine was. They showed me, I told them I knew how to operate the Heli-arc welding machine. The foreman said I could use the machine as long as I could do some repair work for them, a kind of trade-off. He showed me what needs to be repaired and I told him, "you got a deal".

Went back to the boat, told the crew we had to rig up temporary rigging to hold the mast in place and remove the masthead. After we had temporary rigging in place, I removed the aluminum masthead to be welded. I went back to Morton salt company, checked in with the foreman and proceeded to weld and repair the masthead. I told him I was going to take it back to the boat to be reinstalled, which I did.. I went back to the shop and did all the repairs with the foreman standing by my side. Boy! Was he happy! His welder was not expected to be back for two more weeks, we became real buddies. He said he would take me out to the mountains of salt and show me the facilities. Also, said he would take me for a drive out to the salt flats to see the flamingos. Pretty rough trip, but it was worth it. As far as you can see, nothing but pink flamingos. I wish I had brought my camera, the view was pretty surreal kind of outrageous. Great Inagua is pretty much a flat island. Morton salt company has been here for many years and has benefited the island, both with employment and prosperity. Someday I would like to come back and explore more of the island.

The next morning we departed Great Inagua heading due West. We wanted to make sure no one knew we were heading South for Haiti next. Around noon we turn and headed south for the tip of Haiti. We took down our Bahamian flagged and put up our US flag. We are now headed for the Windward Passage, the Windward Passage is between Haiti and Cuba, we wanted to stay about 25 miles off of Cuba. Cuba maintains their coastline with gunboats, to protect their island from invasion. Now that we are flying a US flag no one knows we stopped in the Bahamas. We have 286 nautical miles to end up in Jamaica at Port Antonio. This is approximately 3 or four days of sailing, going with the trade wind blowing 20 to 25 mph. After 2 1/2 days of beautiful weather, perfect sailing weather we pass Navassa Island on our port side, which is approximately 90 nautical miles from Port Antonio. The next morning we see a gray haze on the horizon. We are still some distance from Jamaica, I am guessing we are seeing the blue Mountain, which is one of the highest points in Jamaica. Three hours later we can see the mountain and the island. This is the eastern end of Jamaica and also the highest. I understand now why they call the mountain, "Blue Mountain". It is blue. Late that afternoon we put up our quarantine flag to enter Jamaican waters. I have never been to Jamaica and it looks like a paradise. I have seen pictures of Hawaii, but there is no comparison.

Near the harbor entrance, we drop our sails and start the engine. After looking at the charts, there are two harbors and we need to be the one on our starboard. There is an island at the entrance of the harbor's entrance and it is called Navy Island. It is privately owned. We call ahead on the VHF to notify of our arrival. We are given instructions to anchor in the harbor and customs and immigration's will be out shortly. After dropping the anchor and cleaning up, we break out some snacks and drinks. The harbor is unbelievable, I have never seen such a lush tropical vegetation. It goes all the way from the shoreline to the mountain and beyond. It is beyond me to be able to describe without pictures the scene before me.

I will give a little history of Jamaica, sugar is one of Jamaica's key crops, as are bananas, citrus, pimento, coconuts, Ginger and tobacco. Other crops are mango, Papua, pineapple, sour sop, avocado pear, ackee and the breadfruit. There are almost 3000 different kinds of plants and over 500 kinds of ferns. Many are only found in Jamaica and nowhere else in the world. The names of towns give hints of Jamaica's past. Bloody Bay, Cutlass Point, Black River and Spanish Town. There is also "Land of Look Behind" in the Western center of the island. The British tried to stop a band of  Maroons in 1600, made up mostly of free and runaway slaves, but they failed. Today it is better known as the Cockpit Country and is still home to the descendents of those original runaway slaves. This is technically a separate country inside Jamaica. There is a settlement called "Me No Send, You No Come" it has a very interesting history in itself.

As customs and immigration come out in a boat to check us in, we get our documents together and explain how long we are going to be here. Since it was the weekend, we will have to pay overtime to check-in. They board us and ask for our documents which we give them. While they are checking our paperwork and identification, I asked them if they would like some refreshments. The response is do you have any Johnny Walker scotch, yes we do. While they per use our documents we break out a bottle of Johnny Walker red and glasses. They really liked our attitude. Needless to say I am getting a real education on the islands. According to one of the sailors, Johnny Walker red scotch. You can't get it on the island unless, you guessed it, smuggled him.

The next day on Monday, Michael Rents a car and goes to meet his connection in Ocho Rios. I did not get to go, I was not invited. So that day I took a short stroll into town to see the sights. The Marina is fenced in and has a guard gate to keep out the local people. I introduced myself to the security guard and told him I was going into town. He said Port Antonio is a very safe place and enjoy my stay. If there is a Garden of Eden, it has to be Jamaica. Fruit, vegetables, jerk pork, jerk chicken and a wide variety of whatever you can imagine. I never saw anyone hungry in Jamaica. Granted a lot of poor people, but not hungry. In Jamaica they have "common law" that says you can pick food off in a tree anywhere, but you have to consume it under the tree. I like that law!

We are here for at least 2 or 3 days, so I asked the sailors, let's split a rental car for a couple of days and go sightseeing. We rent the car, get a map of Jamaica and set up an itinerary. Itinerary; number one, smoke ganja. Number two drink red stripe beer. Number three drink Appleton rum. Number four drink Tia Maria. Number 5 eat ackee and codfish, lobster, jerk pork and jerk chicken. Not necessarily all in that order.

After renting and driving around the local area, we check out a place called the Blue Hole. This is where the locals and tourists come to go swimming. As we take the road, which is very steep going downhill to the Blue Hole, this is freshwater coming out of the mountains from underground into the bay. The blue hole is over 400 feet down to where the water starts. It was pretty amazing to see a sight like that.

On the way back to the Marina, there are a lot of little beggars alongside the road to deal with, in Jamaica, with the tourists, their idea is we are rich and they are poor, so give us some money. We check with the guard at the gate, to see if we could hire a couple of boys to work on the boat in the morning. He said, "there are some boys that are allowed to come into the Marina and work". " We told him we need two boys for a full day to help cleaning in the morning." The next morning, I went to the guard, he had two young boys ready to work. He also informed me someone had to supervise them because of theft. Boy! I was pretty impressed how hard they worked, scrubbing down the boat, including the hull and shining the chrome. At the end of the day, not only was the boat washed and waxed, it shined like a new yacht. I was thoroughly impressed.

The boys we hired, knew everybody in town. They knew the best merchants to get good deals on, fish, lobster, vegetables, breadfruit and the local money changer. This was new to me, about a money changer. The Jamaican dollar was worth a lot less than the US dollar. So I could buy $12 of Jamaican money for one dollar. I guess this was illegal, but everybody did it. So they took me to the money changer and I exchanged $50 US to $600 Jamaica. I really kind of felt rich. The boys we hired, really liked us and since we had a car, why not go up to the Blue Mountains to a place called "the Caves of Athenary" and Botanical Gardens. The roads up there were very narrow, twisted and you had to be very careful not to go over the cliff  edges. When we arrived the boys said they would watch our car while we went to the caves and Botanical Gardens. The caves were pretty impressive and had a lot of history to them about the maroons. As I said before, Jamaica has a wide variety of flora and fauna. During our tour the guide explains to us so much information that it was difficult to absorb it all. It was a very interesting and informative tour. After having lunch at the site, with the two boys and my crew, we headed back to the boat

The next morning, Michael has come back to discuss the rest of our trip. He has good news about what we are about to embark on. All the arrangements are made for us to be at our location Sunday night. He also tells us he will be flying back to the states for our drop off. There is protocol when the crew member is leaving the ship. We call customs and immigration to find out what we have to do in order for Michael to fly back to the states. They tell us to bring our cruising papers and Michael to customs, so they can process the paperwork and he can go back to the states. Michael is off our paperwork and heads back to Montego Bay to go back to the United States. We call customs on Friday and tell them we want to check out on Sunday to go back home. They remind me that we will have to pay overtime.

Sunday morning, customs and immigration did show up, they were the same ones who checked us in. Johnny Walker scotch is sitting on the table, when they boarded and we invited them to the main salon. It is amazing what a little liquor can do. After all the paperwork was completed, they instructed us not to leave the Marina property, since we had our cruising papers. We said okay! We also gave each one a bottle of Johnny Walker to remember us by. You should have seen the grins on their faces as they left with the bottles in their briefcases.

Michael has told us our location to pick up the ganja and we are to be there at 9 PM off the coast of Jamaica at Port Maria. After motoring out of the harbor and turning West to our destination at Port Maria we set our sails and start cruising along the coast with our Jamaican flag flying. We have approximately 30 miles to travel down the coast, since we are early, we turn out to sea to kill some time. After the Sunset, we waited a couple of hours to head in to Port Maria. We are supposed to see a flashing light from shore, just like Paul Revere. At 9 o'clock we are approximately 100 yards off the beach. We have turned off all our lights and wait! About 20 minutes later, we see flashing lights on the beach, and flash them back.

The reason Michael picked Sunday night for our offload was the Jamaican Defense force, similar to our United States Coast Guard do not usually work on Sunday, so he was told by his connections. As we are waiting offshore, now anchored and waiting for our pickup we hear voices that appear to be coming towards us. I hope it is our contraband coming our way. The closer they get, I hear Michael telling us to get ready and boy are we ready. We have the fenders hanging over the side, when they get here, we're surprised that this is what they call a cayuca. This boat is almost as long as the sailboat. There are bales stacked so high you would think it would capsize. Michael climbs aboard and we start loading the bales into the sailboat. While we are loading the bales, outcomes the biggest joint I have ever seen. They call it a spliff.. So smoking and loading we are done in less than an hour. The bales cover half of the sailboat forward into the main cabin. I am guessing the bales weigh 40 to 50 pounds each. I asked Michael how much is a total weight, he says about 2500 pounds. We won't know the exact weight until we get back and weigh it. After we are loaded the Jamaicans come aboard and we break out the Heineken and Red Stripe beer. Just Jamaicans have rolled spliffs, this is what they call a joint. It is about midnight when we untied the cayuca. The Cayucos leave with Michael and the Jamaicans, we pull anchor and head out to the Caribbean, our heading is due north. We want to be a long ways off shore from Jamaica. We take down our Jamaican flag and put up the American flag.

As the sun comes up we make our turn to head back to the Windward passage and go home. We are going to have to motor and motor sail most of the way back to the Windward passage. The current is against us and the wind is almost dead ahead. We actually have 60 gallons of fuel lashed in 20 gallon containers to the aft stanchions. Michael thought we might need the extra fuel so he brought it out with our load. At times, due to the direction of the wind we are able to raise the main and use it as a steadying sail. Nothing too eventful on our way back through the Windward passage. As we passed the northern tip of Haiti and turned north we were able to put up our sails.

Once through the Windward passage, we are sailing towards the Bahamas. Once in the Bahamas, we put up our Bahamian flag and our legal again and Bahamian waters. "See we never left!" We are cruising back the way we came down without stopping of course. We wouldn't be able to explain the bales.

Meanwhile, Michael is back in Miami getting ready for us to come and do our unload. Back during this time, there was not a lot of law enforcement back then. People renting waterfront homes were not as suspicious of renters. The home was rented before we left and made ready for the offload. The house was in Miami, plus, Michael has connections to sell a large amount of pot to two buyers, according to him. I don't want to have to sell it, I already had that experience, and did not like it. I want to be the one to go get it. That is the part of this game that I really enjoyed and want to do it again.

Going through the Bahamas was pretty uneventful. Arriving through Gun Cay, we took down our Bahamian flag and put up our USA flag. Also during this time you did not have to check out of customs from leaving the Bahamas. After leaving the Bahamas and as we cruise back to the US, we got rid of our Jerry jugs on the Stern and started cleaning the exterior of the boat to not alert anyone we had been at sea almost a month.  Nearing Government Cut in Miami, we furled the sails, put on sail covers and did a general check.

Entering Government Cut, seeing all the cruise ships on the port side as we made our turn North up the Intracoastal to our destination. It was late afternoon by the time we pulled up to our new dock.and temporary home. We tied up and secured our sailboat, which is been our home for almost a month. We were met by Michael with a big grin on his face. "I see you guys finally made it". We locked up the boat and went into the house to relax and unwind. And relax we did. We waited two days before we unloaded the 2500 pounds of real Jamaican ganja. It took a week after we return the boat which we have deodorized, sanitized and looking better than when we rented it. Then came our payday, $10,000 in 20/50/and hundred dollar bills, it came in a brown bag. I was hooked, line and sinker and I am looking forward for more to come. I went back to my job at the airlines and contemplated on my new future.

1968 December

It has been three months since I did my first trip to Jamaica. Guess what? I get a call from Michael, "I want to come down and discuss another venture, are you interested?" My reply is, "of course I'm interested, when are you coming down?" Michael says, "this weekend". "Great, you know where my apartment is and I will see you then".

That weekend, Michael shows up with his partner, Rick. Rick is an old high school chum as is Michael and we have known each other for a very long time since school days. Rick was in the military and served special forces in Vietnam. I learned he and Michael have been partners in various illegal activities over the years, including their trip to Mexico.

They have a new venture. To offload a shrimp boat off the coast of Florida in three weeks. Rick is to go with me, I am to locate a third person to help with the offload. I elect to use my brother Mikey. The pay for each person is $25,000. I am ready! Michael has rented a 38 foot Striker Sportfishing boat for two weeks. We are going to offload the shrimp boat with the Striker.

During the first week, we run the Striker in and out the inlet to see to make sure everything is in shipshape. We are going to use the same house in Miami for the offload. The weekend coming up, we fuel up and head for the Bahamas. The shrimp boat is foreign registered and the captain does not want to be in US waters. We are heading for Grand Bahama Island and this is going to be a round-trip with no stopping. Grand Bahama has a very large bank on the west and north of the island. The bank runs north for a long way before heading east. There is a light on the bank to warn ships of shallow waters in the reefs. The light is called Memory Light and it is to be our offload point on the bank.

As we are cruising to our offload, the weather takes a turn for the worse .The weather has come earlier than expected. The Gulfstream has a current that runs 2 to 3 kn on a northerly course. When a Norther comes down, the seas can build very rapidly. It is not unusual for the seas to be 10 to 15 foot high and sometimes higher. The longer it blows and harder it blows the steeper the seas get. We have had to slow down because of the building seas. We are quartering the incoming waves to maintain Seaway. Some of the waves are starting to break over the bow. Tthis is a wet and rough trip. We have put on our life vest for safety, we don't want to end up in the ocean. We have our running lights on since it is dark and we are in the shipping lanes. We are looking at our radar and see there are a lot of ships going North and South through the Gulfstream. We are starting to wonder how we are going to do this offload.

We had originally planned on tying alongside the shrimp boat to transfer the load. A shrimp boat has rigging extended over each side for pulling nets and also to put stabilizers out in heavy seas to keep the boat stable. With the seas being 10 to 12 feet, I am very concerned about our safety!

As we near Memory Light, we call out to the shrimp boat on our CB radio, hoping he hears us. Every body uses CB radio throughout the Bahamas just like a telephone. After a few minutes he responds, "nasty weather, ain't it?" I reply, "pretty dangerous". After another 30 minutes he appears on the radar, very close. The captain's name is Dan and suggests we go on to the bank, since it is too rough in the Gulfstream. I agree and we follow him onto the bank. It is still pretty rough, but nothing like out in the stream. The seas here are 4 to 5 feet, with a close chop and a lot calmer water.

Dan suggests we go Stern to Stern, since his outriggers are extended. With the rock 'n roll the outriggers could do serious damage if we tried to load on his side. Dan has three crew members and they put three very large, orange fenders on the Stern. These will keep us hopefully from smashing the hulls together. I believe he has done this before. His crew has heavy duty lines ready to toss to us and cleat off when we are ready. The captain says he is going to stop heading into the seas and for me to turn around and back down to his Stern. Easier said than done. His Stern is going up and down 4 to 5 feet, my Stern is doing the same. After turning and aligning up to start backing down, my two crew members were hanging on to retrieve the lines when they are thrown. It took almost a whole hour to get close enough for the lines to come across. The captain told me to have the crew cleat off the lines in an X shape to help stabilize the two boats. We are now about 8 feet off his Stern and the lines are thrown and cleated them down. His crew members start pulling on the lines till we are up to the fenders and cleat off so that we are tight on the Stern. At this point the captain puts his boat in forward at a slow speed to maintain heading into the sea. This seems to work pretty well, I feel more comfortable.

The shrimp boat already has the bales on deck and they were throwing them as soon as we were secure. We set up a chain, one guy in the cabin stacking and two guys on deck passing. We took on 120 bales at about 40 pounds each. As soon as the last Bale came on board the captain said, "undo the lines, we are out of here and good luck".

After securing all the bales inside the cabin, I headed back to memory light to leave the Bahama bank and head for Miami. As soon as we hit the Gulfstream, the seas were 12 to 15 feet high with some breaking over us. Fortunately, we were heading the same way as the waves. Plus with the extra 4800 pounds the boat was pretty stable.

Rick went below to make coffee and snacks while we made a slow trip back. The conditions are very, very nasty.  We have our radar to look out for ships so I feel comfortable knowing where they are. We have 80 nautical miles to go at 224 to get to Government Cut in Miami. The going is slow at 6 to 7 kn and the time is 3 AM windy and wet. One good thing about the nasty weather is not too many boats out, except for the big ships. It is great to have the radar, the ships make a pretty clear picture on the screen and are easy to avoid.

After nine hours of cruising we have picked up speed and can see the skyline of Miami, almost home. On entering the port we breathe a little better now that we are in Government Cut. After entering the channel we cruise to where the Intracoastal goes North and South. We turn North to our destination for the offload. Arriving at the rental house, we motor to the dock and tie up. The time now is almost 6 PM and it's already getting dark.

If you have ever been in Miami there are thousands of waterfront homes. Some with canals, some are on islands that have a bridge connecting them. The one Michael has rented is on a island with a connecting bridge to the mainland. Pretty secluded with a large, high hedge and fence around the property. We go inside and meet some new people that Michael introduces us to. These are the buyers and they have a moving van parked in the garage. This is called in and out in case someone was watching the unloading. We now have eight people to unload from the striker to the van. Sure did not take long for this to happen, then they were gone. The last time we weighed all the bales, this time we didn't

The next day we scrubbed, cleaned and vacumned the boat. No evidence of what we did. We then sanitized with deodorant to take away any smell.

Two days later after a long, peaceful rest we return the boat to the charter company. "They asked how many fish we caught?" I told them, "just a few, the weather was pretty bad, we will try it again in the future".

That weekend I received my brown paper bag with $25,000 in cash just like before, only more. And I didn't have to take off from work. What a life, maybe I can buy Miami?? More to come.




February it is my birthday, guess what? I get a call from Michael. "I want to come down and make you  another proposition". "Again?" "Yes, I think you will really like this one". So during the weekend Michael and Rick show up my apartment again. Once inside, he pulls out  envelopes and gives it to me. "This is a bonus on the last trip". I opened it and it is $100 bills. "Count it", he says . I  count 50, $100 bills and I do not understand. He tells me that there was more than 450 pounds extra in the load I brought back, so I'm sharing it with the crew. "Wow! I made $30,000 total." And my brother Mikey made the same.

Then things get really interesting. Michael says, "let's be partners, there is a lot of money to made if we have our own boat"  " I now have the contacts in Jamaica and the buyers here in the states, you now have the experience to do the hard part, going down and bringing it back". We make a plan.

Buy          a boat.          
         Register          it in the Cayman Islands.
         Outfit          it for total roundtrips.          
         Hire          a crew of 3+ me as Captain.
         Be          able to load 4000 pounds.
Equipment; single sideband radio, emergency liferaft, loran C, a VHF with direction Finder, refrigeration.

This is my criteria to find a suitable sailboat. Michael and Rick will finance half to buy a boat, I will finance the balance. I talked to Mikey my brother, who helped me with the last trip. Remember he was paid $25,000 plus a $5000 bonus and he says "let's go find a boat!"

There are lots of sailboats out there. They are wood, steel, aluminum and fiberglass. My problem is before the Internet came about, where you could scroll down, find exactly what you were looking for: size, engine, type of rigging, where built, and price. Fortunately, I lived in Florida where there are a lot of sailboats, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Tampa and Jacksonville.

I still had my job at the airlines, so I took a week's vacation and started looking. I contacted brokers in Miami and Fort Lauderdale to find my boat. One of the brokers I talked to called me and said, "I have a sailboat you might be interested in". He explained that it was in South Carolina and the owner was desperate. He had dropped his price from $42,000 to -$30,000. He described the boat and after receiving the information, we scheduled to meet the broker and seller in two days at the Marina. A long drive, but my brother and I were really interested.

I have a friend who owns a Marina haul out service in Fort Lauderdale. I went to see him and find out if he knew anything about the boat or manufacture. He said the boat is manufactured in Lunenburg Nova, Scotia. The people who build these boats are noted for building a very seaworthy boat. They are designed for the North seas, cold weather and great quality.

On our way to South Carolina, we discussed my sailing experience. I told him about the trip to Jamaica with the three sailors. He did not know this, because I told no one, even my girlfriend, other than I was hired as a mechanic. Mikey says, "I want to learn how to sail".

We arrived in Charleston, South Carolina around noon at the city Marina. Went to the dock master, introduced myself and Mikey. He said the broker was already there on the dock and the name on the  Ketch is "CHER". My brother and I went down to the dock and found the vessel. The broker was on the vessel with the owner. We were invited on board and introduced and told to come aboard. Looking around at the sailboat, I really liked it.

When you inspect a wood vessel, the first thing you look for is rot. Some boatbuilders, use inferior wood, not all but some. I asked the owner if I could go through the vessel and inspect it. "No problem, you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask". Mikey and I started in the forward cabin. The first hatch in front of us is the rope and chain locker for the anchor. Mikey says, "there are two sides and one side is nothing but chain and the other side is chain and rode. This is a good sign for a seaworthy vessel.

Next we pull hatches in the floor of all the cabins to see any rot or water. The bilges are very clean. We go to the galley and inspect the propane stove with an oven. The refrigeration system is engine driven, built by SEA FROST an American manufacturer. I like the galley and so does Mikey. The engine room is next and guess what? A four-cylinder Perkins diesel with 1100 hrs. on the hour meter. I pulled the dipstick to check the oil in both the transmission and engine and it is clean. The engine room is very clean and well-maintained.

This is a ketch rigged, with a main mast and a short mast behind the steering pedestal. There is also a small cabin behind the pedestal with a bunk and a head. After checking the rear cabin we proceed back up on deck. The owner says, "we can pull up the sails for you to inspect, if you want?" "Okay" my brother and I help pulling up the sails to inspect them. There is no wind at the Marina, so this is a safe procedure. The sails look to be in pretty good shape, and they are heavy duty. The owner says there is a storm jib and a spare jib. Plus there are considerable spares aboard.

I asked the owner, "how soon do you have to sell her?" He replies, "I am the first person to look at her". I replied, "would you take $25,000 cash now and we can close tomorrow?" There is always a moment when people have to make a decision. "Cash?" "Yes, cash!" He looks at the broker and says, "can you have the papers ready by morning?" "Yes, no problem!"

I did not ask for a survey, he already had one, it was recent and it was great. The next morning, Mikey, myself, the broker and owner met on the boat. I had my money, the owner had all his legal papers and the broker has checked out all the documents to be assured everything was okay to do the transaction. I signed papers, the owner signed papers, the broker signed papers and I gave the owner $25,000 US cash. The owner paid the broker his commission and I was now the proud owner of  "CHER".

Mikey and I spent the night on the sailboat. The next morning, I called my girlfriend to come and pick up my El Camino. I told her to fly to Charleston and I would pick her up. That afternoon I went to the airport and picked up my girlfriend. We went to the boat and spent the night. The next morning after breakfast, I explained, I bought a boat and Mikey and I are going to take it to Fort Lauderdale, I need you to reserve a dock for a month at the Marina. I gave her the location of the Marina, enough money for two months dockage and sent her South in the El Camino.

The next morning Mikey and I cranked up the boat and proceeded to the inlet under power. We were stocked with plenty of Kentucky fried chicken, snacks and beer. After leaving the inlet we raised the sails and headed south to Fort Lauderdale. My brother took to sailing as much or more than me. We had perfect winds to put up all the sails and were cruising up to 8 kn. We traveled almost 400 nautical miles to Fort Lauderdale on sails only. The one thing we wish we had on board was an autopilot to steer with. One of us had to be on the wheel at all times. Four days later we pulled into Fort Lauderdale and checked into the Marina. I am loving, the sailboat it is fantastic and kind of mine.

Mikey, Patty and I stayed on the boat for a few days. We went through the inventory, and I was surprised at all the spares. Pretty neat owning my own sailboat with partners. I called Michael and Rick to come down and see our new yacht. Item number one has been completed, we now own our new boat.

I have been going to the Cayman Islands since 1964. My dad had a fabrication company that made aluminum handrails and balcony rails for Howard Johnson's hotels. We had a customer come in one day and wanted my dad to fabricate handrails for an apartment building he was building in the islands. I knew how to make the drawings and was elected to go to Cayman with Mr. arch and make the drawings. Never have I expected what I experienced on this trip. We left Miami in a DC three twin-engine plane and landed on a grass strip on the island. After landing and going through a rudimentary customs, we went directly to the construction site for me to measure his stairs and walkways for the railings. After making sketches and measurements he drove me into town to have lunch on the waterfront. The next plane didn't leave for three days. Mr. arch introduced me to a lot of Caymanians. Names like Bodden, Kirk Connell, Avery, Smith and the list goes on. The people were as nice as the people in the Bahamas. This is the reason I am going to go to the Cayman's and register our new boat.

I call Mr. Kirk Connell's son, York to see what I have to do to register my boat. He tells me to come down with my paperwork and he will introduce me to the family attorney. While I am down, we can do some scuba diving, since the Cayman Islands are noted for their superb diving. York lives on 7 mile Beach, his house, you open the back sliding doors and the beach is right there.

I make arrangements to go to Cayman and stay with my friend. He picks me up at the airport and takes me to his home to relax. The next day, he takes me to meet his family attorney and explains, I want to register my boat in the Cayman Islands. "No problem, you form a corporation in the Cayman Islands and register the vessel under the corporation name" I left all the information that he requested and he told me to come back tomorrow afternoon. The next day I pick up my new registration papers. Number two item on my list is completed. I now have two sets of registration papers, the US and Cayman. during my stay , I went with  York to scuba dive off the beach and it was phenomenal. York was an excellent host, not only could he cook, he told me a lot of Cayman history. He introduced me to turtle steaks, which are a staple on the island because they raise turtles. They not only raised turtles for food but also to reintroduce them back into the ocean. He took me to the turtle farm to show me what they do. I have never seen so many turtles from little babies to full-grown turtles weighing almost 200 pounds.

After arriving back in the states, I make arrangements to price out my next item. The single sideband radio is designed to call anywhere in the world if this is set up proper with the correct frequencies and antenna system. The following day I met with several electronic companies to see what is available, cost and length of time for installation. After learning how to operate a single sideband radio and getting prices, I call the company that gave me the best information and contracted to have one installed at a cost of $1750. The next item was a life raft for four people in case of an emergency, cost $1200. The VHF with direction finding capability, was a new product on the market at the time and I had the company installing the SSB to install the VHF, $1150 last on the list. With refrigeration that was already on the boat. The refrigerator was a top loading box divided into a refrigerator on one side and freezer on the other. The only drawback was that it was engine driven. The holding plates could keep the box cold for three days without the engine.

Okay! The sailboat is ready to go cruising. My brother Mikey, Rick and me make three crew members. We need one more I call Michael and he tells me he has a friend in Alabama working on his own boat. He says he will call me back. Later he calls back and tells me I have an engineer. "When do you need him?" I tell Michael, "when you are ready for our next trip". "I will let you know". My brother is ready, I am ready and he is very excited to go cruising. I think about my first trip and understand his feelings to actually go cruising on a sailboat through the Caribbean. A week later Michael calls and wants to know if I am ready, but there is a change in plans. He is coming down to  explain. When he arrives the next day, I am curious as to what the new plans are. He says "I have been paying $10-$20 per pound in Jamaica. I have one of our buyers that you met, can get me pot for three dollars a pound in Columbia. It is a much better product to sell in the states. We can get a higher price for Colombian than Jamaican. The only problem is it is a long ways to go"

I pull out my charts and determine, that the trip one way is 1600 nautical miles. 600 miles farther than a trip to Jamaica, one way. "Let me discuss this with Mikey and Rick, okay?" "No problem, just let me know as soon as possible". Mikey, Rick and I look at the charts and determine we can do it. I let Michael know our decision that afternoon. I have to make arrangements again to take off from my job. No problem, same conditions except I want to take off for two months. My boss says, "just let me know how I can get in touch with you in case we need you". "Okay, I will give you my girlfriend's number".

The following week I meet our new engineer from Alabama. He tells me he has worked on oil rigs and boats for years. He is repairing a steel Hull to do his own gigs and needs this job to finish. I said, "okay, you got the job" later on this would be the biggest mistake I have ever made, more on this later. By the way his nickname is Red, I guess because of his red hair.

During the next couple of days we finished stocking and preparing for a trip to Colombia. I asked Red a lot of questions pertaining to what his job is on this trip. I needed to know if Red really knew what was going to be expected of him and could he do the job. I didn't want a liability, just an asset. Most of his answers pertain to boats that supplied oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. He maintained the mechanicals, engine, fuel etc.

The next day Michael came down to check out our new sailboat. "How is it going?" "Fine" I said. "You know one thing that would be nice to have before we leave is an autopilot". "An autopilot", he says. "Yes! When Mikey and I brought the boat down, someone had to steer at all times. And this is a long trip". "Well, what do you want to do?" "Let's have an autopilot installed".

Michael called his electronics guy to come by when he could. This guy had a shop in Fort Lauderdale and installed all of our electronics. He said he would come right over, since he already knew the boat. On his arrival he checked our steering and said since we have hydraulic steering this is an easy installation. "How much?" I said. "And how long will it take?" The reply was, "$2400 labor and materials to install. I can have it ready by the weekend". A new expense, but we agreed to split the costs.

The boat is now ready to leave this coming weekend. After saying our goodbyes, fully loaded with fuel, food, booze and spares, we cast off. A new adventure as we head out of Fort Lauderdale through the inlet, we are ready for this. The total round-trip is approximately 2400 miles and should take 25 to 35 days on the open ocean, with no stops on the way down or back. There are four people on this trip, myself, my brother Mikey, Michael's partner Rick and our newcomer Red.

We are heading east with the sails up and headed for Northwest Passage in the Bahamas. We are going to sail due East for about three or 400 miles into the Atlantic Ocean. We will then head South Southeast for the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. It should be a nice sail all the way down. After four days, we are out of the Bahamas and into the deep Atlantic. We have now changed course to 145 and are headed to the Mona Passage approximately 500 miles away. The trip down to the Mona pass was pretty uneventful. The autopilot worked like a dream, all the crew seem to be pretty content. My brother has turned into a natural sailor. Red seems to know pretty much what his job is. We are on a beam reach with all three sails up and are making over 120 nautical miles per day.

After four days we can see the mountains of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic on the horizon. We are near the Mona Passage where we will make a new course change for Columbia 620 nautical miles away. Once we get through the Mona Passage, we will change course to a heading of 225 to our destination in Columbia. We have been using our radio direction Finder to triangulate our position as we have been cruising. We have also been learning how to use the loran "C", it has been a learning experience, depending on the time of day or night you have to use tables and the special map to see your location. We have also been dead reckoning on some of the cruise. We are feeling more confident with the loran "C", as we have been cruising. The RDF uses AM radio signals which transmit for thousands of miles. We have been using signals from the Bahamas, United States, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic . So far we have been pretty accurate on our position. After passing through the Mona Passage we change course for Columbia. Once in the Caribbean Sea, we start to notice the seas are a lot higher than the Atlantic. This is due to what they call the Christmas winds. The northern fronts compress the Tradewinds and the seas become very tall. The Caribbean Sea can sometimes feel to be a very strange place, especially during the winter season. We set course for Columbia 650 nautical miles to the south at 225 the wind is blowing a constant 30 to 35 kn. The seas are from 12 to 18 feet and we are quartering them on a beam reach. We have taken down the main sail and set the headsail and jib, this is known as jib and jigger. We are cruising at 6 to 7 kn, it is pretty comfortable considering the height of the seas, but they are spaced very well apart and not breaking or curling on top. We should be off the Colombian coast in four or five days at this speed.

During the trip down, which was miserable, we occasionally ran the engine to keep refrigeration and freezer up. We also ran the engine to keep the batteries charged at the same time. Cooking was not too bad, we ate a lot of soups, stews and whatever else comes in a can. If you have ever cruised, there are good times and there are bad times. This was not a good time for cruising, the bare minimum. On the fourth day in the morning, Mikey says "I think I see Columbia" we are skeptical. After a short time we can see the top of a mountain. Unbelievable, we are almost 100 miles away and can now see Columbia or at least the mountain in Columbia. Our spirits soar after getting so beat up on our way down. We are almost to our destination, we don't want to arrive at night, because we haven't been here before and are not familiar with the coast. We need to arrive at daybreak, so we slowed down to be on the coast in the morning.

There is a cove we are to go into that is very hard to see until you are almost on it. We have used our RDF to get as close to our mark as possible and now are using dead reckoning from the chart. The RDF has put us pretty close. We have been taking signals from Maracaibo in Venezuela and Cartagena in Columbia, we have also used weak signals from Jamaica.

As the sun comes up, we are about a half a mile offshore looking for our cove. We were told no one lives here except local natives and Indians? Motoring down the coast heading west in 10 to 15 foot seas, under power, no sails up, we see the inlet to the cove and turned in. The cove is nothing what we expected, mountains were all around us and it was huge.

Entering the cove, it is kind of strange after five days of constant rock 'n roll to be in a flat and calm water situation. There is an eerie silence except for the engine when we enter. As I said the cove is much larger than I expected after entering. The cove is surrounded by jungle and cliffs. We are totally protected from wind and wave. There are a couple of areas with white sandy beaches, what a place to put a resort. We motor around the cove, checking depths, looking for shallow areas such as boulders, reefs etc. there is not a soul around, the whole area is deserted. So we put down the anchor in 30 feet of water near the farthest from the cove entrance. We are totally isolated, the only sounds come from the jungle, birds, monkeys and other sounds we are not sure of.

We decide to have a feast, lobster, steak and all the trimmings. Everyone gets involved fixing food including cocktails and beer. After everyone has had his fill, we clean up and take the dinghy to go explore the area. We leave one person on the boat, Red is elected. This is amazing, almost like Gilligan's Island. Like no one has ever been here before, we discovered it.

After checking out the area to make sure no one is around we returned to the boat. After returning to the boat, Red had serviced the engine, changed oil, and all the filters, checked out all the sails and rigging. Been pretty rough coming down and a lot of wear and tear. By late afternoon we were in pretty good shape for our return. We have done all the maintenance, checked our fuel, food and things we might need.

That afternoon about 1:00 PM, a fisherman came through the inlet in a Cayuga and we were quite surprised to see Michael is on board, with Indians? He calls out to us and then they tie up alongside our boat after we put out fenders. They come aboard, "well it looks like you made it, I have been coming here for the past few days to check and see if you were here" Michael introduces us to the chief, "Raffi". I shake his hand and introduce myself and the crew. He speaks very good English and explains he went to school in the United States.

We sit down and start to discuss when we are loading and what supplies we will be needing. "I need fuel, 120 gallons to fill the fuel tanks and 60 gallons of spare fuel." Explaining the conditions in the Caribbean, "we will be motoring almost 600 nautical miles back to the Mona passage. After that we should be okay. I also want fresh veggies and fruit . After that, we should be okay". "No problem", Michael says. He tells us he has 5000 pounds of first grade pot. "Really!" "Want to try some now?" Michael says. "Sure, why not?" We all replied at once and start rolling and smoking. I have to admit, Colombian is much better than Jamaican. We were lit up. We all are in very good spirits, it is very calm and quiet here in the cove, except for the parrots and monkeys in the jungle.

After a relaxing afternoon, Michael says, "we will load up tomorrow!" What time I asked?" "In the morning!" "In the morning?" I asked "yup, this is different than Jamaica, we are totally isolated, no one to bother us". After they left in the Cayuga, we clean up the boat and get ready for the loading in the morning. We set up our watch for the night and the rest of us sacked out.

The next morning as the sun comes up, here comes five Cayugas into the inlet. Loaded with bales of pot, fuel and food. Almost forgot, and Indians, real Indians from the interior. I mean they were dressed like they just came from the Amazon. Michael boards our boat with the headman from the village and introduces him again, custom. While the chief, Michael and I sit in the cockpit we discuss things in general. The crew and Indians start loading fuel first and food. Once everything is secure, they start loading the pot. By the way we checked the fuel to make sure there was no water in the diesel. We topped off the tanks and have 6/20 gallons spares tied off at the Stern. That gives us more than enough fuel to motor all the way to the Mona and beyond. There was a total 125 bales. When we are all loaded, four of the Cayugas leave. Michael, the chief, myself and crew relax, make lunch, drink booze and talk about when we get back and where to offload in Fort Lauderdale.

Michael says, "if we have any problems, to use single sideband and a lot of discretion in the discussion". We are to try to keep radio silence, because the Coast Guard is now monitoring all transmissions in the Bahamas and the Caribbean including Guantamo Bay, and Cuba.

At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Michael left with the chief, we pull anchor and head back out to the Caribbean Sea. We thought it was rough coming down, this was worse. We could not maintain are heading back to the Mona, too rough. We change course and headed due north with storm jib and mizzen. After a couple of hours we had to turn on the engine to maintain our heading. Even the autopilot couldn't handle the seas. This meant someone had to be at the helm at all times. We set a schedule for each crew member to be at the helm two hours each on a shift this is going to be a long, slogging trip. By the third day, we had only made a little less than 300 nautical miles. We were beat to hell and also the boat. During the third day,Red, switched tanks. Unknown to us,Red made a very, very bad mistake. He forgot to switch the return to the proper tank and pumped about 60 gallons overboard. He denied it!. My boat, I went into the engine room and checked the fuel manifold. Sure enough, he had them backwards. I switched them correctly and we put 60 gallons of the spare fuel in the empty tank. I explained to red what he did wrong and he exploded. "You don't know what the fuck you are talking about! Don't tell me how to do my job, I am the engineer, we just used too much fuel motoring". It took me a second to cool down, bear in mind, it is still nasty out with 14 to 16 foot seas on a beam reach. Thankfully the seas were not breaking, just very uncomfortable. "Red, I am the captain of this vessel and you take your orders from me. Secondly, I put this vessel together and know how it works! Thirdly, I will tell you how to do your job, that's what you're getting paid for. Enough said.!" No one responded. Everyone knew including Red, I was pretty pissed off. "Okay! It's finished, let's head home".

On the sixth day out, way west of the Mona passage, we are on the south side of Haiti, near a town called Jacmel. We did not want to go to the windward passage, so we started to head due East to the Mona directly into the incoming seas at 3 to 4 knots. We had almost 130 nautical miles to go against the wind, waves and current. So we decided to put up sails and quarter the seas, motor sailing with jib and jigger. All night we beat against the seas and the boat took a real beating. By morning we were exhausted, totally. Just after the sun came up the clevis came off the bowsprit at the bottom of the bow. Total disaster, the mainmast and mizzen mast became totally unstable. We dropped the headsail and mizzen sail, we were in emergency mode. We cranked up the engine and under power we turn to be in a following sea, heading back the way we had just come. Since being in the following sea there was not a lot of violent movement.

On the Ketch Rig, there is a head stay that goes from the bowsprit up to the top of the mainmast, then you have a cable called a triatic from the mainmast to the mizzen mast. From the mizzen mast there is a cable that runs to the transom. This is what keeps all the masts stable from fore to aft.

The next step was to stabilize the two masts. My brother Mikey had Red and him take down the main sail halyard and run it up to the bow and attach it to the cleat on the bow with a shackle. Then they winched the halyard down tight to hold the two masts in place. During this time the bowsprit is destroyed, but may be repairable. The mizzen mast was trying to go through the aft cabin roof from all the violent motion. We were so tired, but now we were kind of stable. We put the boat on autopilot in the following seas and set a watch till morning.

The next morning, I elected to go over the side to see how to fix the chain plate and chain back to the eye in the bow. With ropes tied around my waist the crew put me over the side so I could check the damage to the pulpit. Not good, but repairable with the right materials. I told Rick to get me a clevis and turnbuckle and I could fit the chain to the pulpit. Remember these are rough seas and even though we were in the following sea, I am going underwater every second wave. Rick gives me the clevis, two of them and the turnbuckle. I connect the clevis and turnbuckle to the eye and bowsprit. Not too bad, then connected the turnbuckle to the chain. Really tough, but I finally connected them to the turnbuckle. After turning the turnbuckle enough to tighten up the chain to the bowsprit, I had them pull me aboard, totally exhausted. We can't put the head stay on the bowsprit, there is too much damage and it wouldn't hold up.

Mikey, Rick and Red suggest we can set up a sea anchor and we might be able to make the sailboat more stable in the following seas. Rick and Red take two empty 20 gallon fuel containers and fill them up half full with sea water. They use some of the anchor chain to tie them together, then take a shackle and thimble to attach the anchor rode. We put up the mizzen sail aft of us and I turn the boat into the head seas. Rick and Red drop the two fuel tanks at the bow just as we crest a 12 to 15 foot wave. I backed down with the engine and they let out about 20 to 30 feet of anchor line and cleated it at the bow. All of a sudden when the anchor line is tied and tight ,the boat stops into the wind and we become very stable. Coming up on the next wave, I can't believe after almost 8 days we are not getting beat up

That first night everyone that was not on watch,. Slept like a granite stone or rock. The next day, we took an assessment of fuel, water, food and supplies we would need. We ran the engine and charged the batteries. I called Michael on the single sideband radio and explained our situation and what we would need to proceed on our vacation. He asked me to call tomorrow night and he would see what he could do.

The next day we figured we had 10 to 15 gallons of diesel to keep the batteries charged for a week or maybe 10 days. We had 30 gallons of fresh water. Half a gallon per day per person equals 2 gallons per day equals 15 days. Water is for drinking and cooking only. Food equals rice and beans, lots of Ritz crackers, peanut butter and jelly. We still have a small amount of canned goods plus some meat and fish in the freezer. Plus we could always fish for fresh fish. We are going to survive, even if I have to throw the load overboard and then we could slowly sail to a port to the West.

The next evening, I call Michael on the single sideband to see what we are going to do. He says to turn the VHF on in two days and listen to channel 68. We will know then and good luck, see you in two days. Two days later, we have the VHF radio on. Myself and crew are fairly comfortable, the boat is stable, we have hardly moved from our position off of Haiti.  So our sea anchor  seems to be our Savior. This is a little strange considering the easterly wind and waves. In the last three days, according to our RDF readings, we have only drifted three or 4 miles west, really weird. We are still off Jacmel, maybe 20 miles south and we can still definitely see the mountains.

About 3 PM we hear on the VHF, " Seadog,Seadog, can you hear me?" I jumped down to the cabin to the VHF radio and replied, "you got Seadog, where are you?" "In the area, but the seas are pretty high and a lot of Whitewater." Mikey says, "I hear a plane". I tell Michael, "we can hear a plane" Michael replies "that is us". Mikey says "it's going away". I replied to Michael, "it appears you're going away from us". "We are turning around". After a short while, Mikey says, "it's coming back". I relayed this to Michael. He says "we can't see you". I tell him I will send a flare up and get the emergency flare kit.. "Ready",  " "yes"    said Michael. I shoot off the flare and watching it and waiting for a reply. " I don't see it". We are going to have to come back tomorrow, we are low on fuel. "boy!'! What a disappointment, now I have to wait another day.

Unknown to us at the time, Michael has hired a D 18 Beechcraft  aircraft to help us out. I think, maybe a smuggler he knows or contacted. They landed in Haiti, I learned about later. They were loaded with all of our supplies. When they took off the next day they were told not to come back after they left that morning. I guess that the local officials of Haiti were kind of suspicious as to what they were doing.

The next morning on the VHF, "Seadog, Seadog". I replied, "we are still on-site and haven't left yet". "We think we have you spotted and are going to come down low to check you out". I replied "okay!" A few minutes later, here comes an airplane about 100 feet off the deck, with  Michael hanging out the open side door, strapped in of course. What a sight to see, almost like in the movies. They come around and start throwing blue 20 or 30 gallons plastic containers out the side door. Each time they made a pass, they kept throwing them out. After the third pass, I guess they were finished. Wish I had a camera to film it just for me and maybe for the news or movies. It was totally awesome. " Thank you, thank you, Michael."

As they flew off, Michael comes on the radio, "hope you enjoy the snacks, see you in a couple? Take care!" As soon as they left the crew pulled up our storm anchor. We proceeded to the containers,  Rick and Mikey  jumped into the ocean to retrieve them. Some of them were very heavy with fuel and freshwater. After about four hours we had them all on board. We threw out the sea anchor and proceeded to see what Christmas had brought. It was a long day, we had I think 30 blue containers kicked out and we recovered everyone.

The plane could not go back to Haiti and they were low in fuel. So they requested landing in Dominican Republic. They fueled up and were escorted out of Dominican Republic airspace by the Dominican Air Force. Supposedly the radar and Dominican picked up the airplane that dropped our supplies and they were very suspicious. They left the Dominican and went back to the United States with no more problems.

We started separating the containers by their markings. Fuel, water, food, repair goods and one marked number one very special. Well, it was the first one we opened. Guess what! rum, frozen pizza, candy and all kinds of snacks. After having our snacks and rum, we started unloading the rest of the containers. I have to admit, Michael didn't miss one item, pretty impressive. We secured all the containers, set a watch schedule and crashed for the night.

The next day we started repairs. The pulpit was priority, I elected to repair the pulpit with the supplies that were delivered. With strips of Oak, epoxy and nails I started and laminated the pulpit to the hull. It took me a full day to do the repairs. The rest of the crew fueled the tanks, stored food and supplies, prepared sails and prepared to leave in the morning.

During the day, while we were repairing and preparing to leave the following morning, we had overflights from the Coast Guard, U.S. Navy from Guantamo Bay Cuba and the Dominican republic aircraft, checking us out. I guess they must've thought we were invading somebody. Nobody called us on the radio so I guess we were not a threat.

The next morning, before connecting the head stay to the repaired pulpit, all four of us stood on the pulpit and jumped up and down. The only thing that moved was the whole boat. We were ready! Mikey and Red hooked up the head stay, removed the temporary rigging and we were ready to sail. We decided to stay fairly close to Haiti and motor sail with jib and jigger. We were making about 100 miles per day, on the second day in the evening we entered the Mona passage. Yahoo! We are on our way home, heading North through the Mona Passage.

The next morning listening to the weather on the single sideband, as we left the Mona passage and head out into the Atlantic, there is a low-pressure system coming our way. Very unusual for this time of year. We are about 10 or 20 miles past the Mona Passage with all sails up on a beam reach. We are cruising a good 7 kn in 20 to 25 kn winds. This is fantastic! The crew is on deck, good spirits, Robbie the autopilot is happy, music playing and we are cruising. I am in the galley fixing food for everybody.

Rick called down, "Capt. I think you should come out and see this !"I go up to the cockpit and Rick says, "what is that?" I look where he is pointing to the east. I have never seen anything like this except in Las Vegas when we were hit with a sandstorm. All total black and I don't mean gray, a black wall coming across the horizon, coming our way and fast. "I tell everyone, the first thing is for all sails down NOW!" The crew is pretty well seasoned after all we have been through. Everything is closed, removed or tied down. We put on our life vest and safety gear. This is going to be really, really nasty. Two crew on deck and two below, we get hit! I mean after all we have been through, this has to be the worst. If you can imagine a tsunami or wall of wind and water, that's what hit us. I have been in situations not quite like this, but I turn the sailboat right into it. The boat is tossed, twisted, Knocked down and waves are coming over the whole boat. I and Mikey are topsides, steering into this black madness, trying to keep us safe. Meanwhile, Red and Rick are down below trying to keep everything in its place.

After Mikey and myself end our two hour shift, we call down through the hatch and it is Rick and Reds turn  to be in this maelstrom and keep us all safe. Rick and Red are now steering and hanging on. The wind is blowing so hard, the waves and spray are blinding, This is beyond anyone's imagination unless they have been there.  Rick and Red said they will keep the helm till morning. They were evidently enjoying this part of the trip. By morning Red had called down for me and Mikey to take the helm. By this time the storm had passed and we changed course from due East to North Northwest. We have approximately 850 nautical miles to travel back to Fort Lauderdale.

Seven days later after leaving the Mona passage, we are preparing to leave the Bahamas and cross the Gulfstream. We changed the boat name back to"CHER", clean the hull sides discard the fuel tanks after putting the rest of the spare fuel in the fuel tanks and set course for Fort Lauderdale.

Nearing Fort Lauderdale we dropped the sails, put on the sail covers and finish tidying up. We are going to motor into the inlet and we don't want to look like we have been out to sea for any length of time. We were just out for a leisurely day cruise.

Entering the inlet to Fort Lauderdale we passed a Sheriffs boat, then a Coast Guard cutter heading out to do patrols. No problem! After entering the inlet we turn North to head up the Intracoastal Waterway. After a short trip up we come to our turn. We come upon our canal that heads to the house we have rented. We tie up to the dock, Connect to  the shore power and lockup the boat. We then proceed into the house for a long needed rest after more than a month at sea.

You should have seen the look on Michael's face as we entered. "You guys are amazing, other than breaking down, I wasn't sure you were going to make it. Over 2000 miles, round-trip and yet here you are safe and sound. Tonight we unload and ship out the load. Same two guys are going to cash us out". That night we unloaded and the two buyers left with the whole load, 5000 pounds.

We all had a good night sleep and woke up in the morning and Michael cooked up breakfast with omelets, bacon, sausage and pancakes. It was great to eat normal food again. The crew and I clean, vacuum and deodorize the boat, an all day job. Michael had already made arrangements for us to take the boat to a local boat yard for repairs. The damage was pretty extensive.

When we arrived at the boat yard and she was hauled out. "Yard foreman said, who repaired the bowsprit? It looks like a house carpenter did it!" I looked at him thinking, if I could only tell you the story! We discussed all the repairs needed, signed the agreement to make the repairs and left. The boat yard foreman said it would probably be two weeks or more for all the repairs.

Returning to our rental house, Michael is figuring out all our expenses. "Okay!" He says, "after figuring all the expenses, trip down and back, payment to the crew members Rick and Red and Mikey, merchandise (pot), house rental, the trip to Colombia and the chartering of an airplane to get you your emergency supplies. The total is $92,500. Not too cheap, but we made lots of money".

During the next few days, the crew and myself just relax out at the house, using the swimming pool and sauna. We were waiting for payday and were ready to go home. We have been through a lot for the past month and really want to unwind and relax. The following day, Michael left and said he would be back later in the day. Needless to say we were excited. When Michael came to the door about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, carrying two suitcases in each hand, with his usual grin, smile or whatever, we were ready to get paid.

I have never seen so much money in one place, personally. I have seen it in the movies but not in real life. Almost $800,000 in cash and this time all 50 and hundred dollar bills. After dividing the money and paying everyone, Michael makes an announcement. "The buyers are taking everyone out to a fancy restaurant for dinner and then to a disco in town.

At 7 PM, would you believe a long white limo pulls up to the house and we load up. Michael, Rick,Red, Mikey, Seadog(that's me) and the two buyers. On the way to the restaurant, we are smoking pot and drinking champagne. The name of the restaurant is, Le Veil Maisson, a super expensive French restaurant located on the Intracoastal in Palm Beach. We entered the restaurant and are escorted to a private room. This is out of my league, but it's fantastic.

After everybody is seated, Michael makes a toast, "to the day, let's enjoy this night like it is our last!" After an unbelievable meal, we leave the restaurant and the limo takes us to a place called the Gold Key Club. A gentleman's club with beautiful, gorgeous women. I guess the buyers know a lot of people,because, we are the only ones in the club. The club is ours for the night. We partied till 2 o'clock in the morning with all the girls, champagne and pot. After leaving the party the limo takes us back to our rental house and everyone crashes.

The next day everybody has a hangover. Everyone is eager to head home with their cash and some stash. I load up my personal things and money call my girlfriend to pick me up and take me home.

The next morning I call my boss at my job and ask, "do you need me yet?" The reply is no. Then I ask, "how about another month?" The boss replies, "just keep in touch in case I need you". The next day Pattsy and I go to three different banks and opened up checking accounts and safety deposit boxes. I was afraid to put all that money in one place.

I asked Patsy, do you want to take a vacation? She replies, "I have to work, I have a job." I replied, "then quit and let's take a vacation". The next day, she quits and we made plans to visit her mom in Washington DC. She has not seen her mom in a few years and is very excited. It is very hard to visualize or imagine  the amount of money I just made. I am on a roll and I'm going to enjoy it.

Going to Washington DC was an experience in itself. The government buildings, the museums, restaurants etc. We spent one week, visited her mom and did all the sites, first class! Patsy and I have been girlfriend, boyfriend for over a year. I decided to give her a present. Note! I forgot this part, I saw the new 1972 Chevy Monte Carlo at a dealership while in Washington DC. So I went to the Chevy dealer in Fort Lauderdale ordered a brand-new car with everything included. White with black interior, moonroof, swivel buckets seats, cruise control and all the extras. Total cost was $2700 plus tag and tax. I was the first person to order the Monte Carlo in Fort Lauderdale. When it came in I took Patsy to the dealership. When her and I picked it up she cried. Women get so emotional. This is the first car I have ever bought brand-new and paid cash. This was her present from me.

Patsy and I did not live together, she had her place and I had mine. Since she quit her job, I paid all her bills and expense money. I could afford it, and she has been very good to me.

Things settle down, picked up the boat, put it in wet storage at a fancy Marina in Fort Lauderdale. Went back to work, took friends out sailing on weekends and relaxed.

LIFE IS GOOD!

         

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