I sail my ship on a course marked by the breeze over crystal clear seas. The women I've known and the ones I will meet have placed me on my lonely journey. I've always had the ability to understand what women want by searching in their eyes; the rewards from this gift have been passion, memories and many a barroom brawl. Men are fools when competition is at stake. Leaving broken hearts behind gets harder with every tear, but I must say goodbye; the wind whispers that wonderful things await just beyond the next sunset. The first full moon of the New Year was losing its battle with daybreak. I had a pocket full of money. I'd just deposited a banker and his girlfriend at Marsh Harbor after a week that began with a crossing from Palm Beach and culminated into a leisurely sail down the Bahama's Northern Cays. It had been an awkward week for me; the Lady could not hide her desires. She tired her old man out with swimming and snorkeling all day... and then by night we'd make moonlit love. I was about ten knots north of the Hole-in-the-Wall Lighthouse when I first saw it about a half a mile out off my port side. By the time I got my binoculars it was gone. My imagination ran wild, but the wind was picking up and I had things to do. I tighten the mainsail and the jib; so it could embrace more wind. A slight shift makes me lose the wind for a moment. It was like I passed over something, but I was in very deep water. Before I even thought about what I saw earlier that day the line of my fishing pole I always have out off my stern snapped tight. I secured the wheel and started reeling, wondering what's for dinner. As I reeled the fish close I could tell by the rainbow of color that tonight I would feast on Mahi Mahi. Out of the deep blue I saw it coming. It swallowed my fish that was as big as my arm. The line broke and I fell backwards. I got back on my feet and looked over the side hoping what I had just seen, could not be true. Worse than I thought. There it was gently floating on the surface, kept up with the boat with rhythmic ease. It was larger than the boat. Son of a bitch I thought. "Size - especially out there - matters." It had one big greenish blue eye in the middle of a face that was mostly teeth. It's tail slowly slapped the water as if it was savoring what I might taste like. It looked right through me and I dared not breathe. Then it slowly dove, I watched it disappear. I turned back to the wheel, turned on the engine and changed my course to due west. I had a strong on shore wind so I set my sails wing to wing. I was moving, my only wish was to run-a-ground. I think I was crying. It came up over my starboard, tipping the boat on its side. I clung to the portside gunnels as its mouth reached for me. The screams were deafening but I can't remember if they were mine or the monster's. I was going to be it's next feeding and there was nothing I could do about it. Then as if waking up from a nightmare, it slipped back into the sea and disappeared again. Before I went back to the wheel I grabbed my gun. The sails were down and the rigging was broken and loose. It kept swimming under the boat pushing it out of the water; it was like the ultimate roller coaster ride. When it came up on my portside I opened fire. It hit the boat so hard that the gun went over one side and me the other. I was entangled in the rigging that hung over the side. I could tell by the way the monster was thrashing the boat around, the shots I fired did nothing but piss it off. I tried to free myself from the lines as I watched this thing - what ever it was - dive to the deep once more. I saw the monster heading toward me; my end was on its way. Right before I was about to be eaten alive the wake from the monster rocked the boat snatching me from its jaws and throwing me back onto the deck. I grabbed the spinnaker boom that was rolling back and forth. I stood there with the boom held high above my head. This thing might eat me but I was going to leave a bad taste in its mouth. I watched it coming up from the deep. When it broke the surface I shoved that boom right down its throat. When its blood filled the air I shoved it deeper. The thing was entwined in the rigging and when it started to sink it began to pull the boat with it. I started to cut all the lines. I heard a snap a thud, all went black. Three days later I came to on the deck of what was left of my boat which was wedged in a rocky outcrop called the Devil's Backbone. Come on Lads - buy another round and I will tell you about the time I was off the coast of Haiti... with a boat full of pot. And the Ton Ton wanted to make a deal that included my girlfriend. |