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Published: February 8th 2008
I know this is hard to believe from the Northeast in February, but it can get chilly in the tropics. Seriously. Especially after the sun goes down, the wind is blowing 20 knots, and you are in a small boat completely soaked from the spray coming over the bow, you’ve been drinking and dancing at the Willy T’s off of Norman Island and it is 2:00 AM. I think fear has something to do with the chill too, cuz the seas are running about 6 feet and the boat is slipping sideways in the swells. You can’t hug your sides to try to stay warm, cuz you have a death grip on the sides of the boat. Several times you lose your grip and think, ‘this is it, I’m going over’ as you lose your footing and you desperately grab onto anything within reach. Nancy keeps asking, “Are we going to drown?” and that doesn’t help raise your body temperature at all. When Davo, experienced captain of 80 foot sail boats, says to Gene who is trying to drive the boat, “Whoa there Gene” you know the situation is a bit serious and you feel your body temperature drop another degree or two.
It is only after you get back to the dock that you start to feel the warmth generated by the knowledge that you will live another day. Even the bats with two foot wing spans dive bombing your head don’t bother you.
Someone asks, “Where you nervous?” and you are reminded of Frank Ferendo’s reply to that question whilst in the back of a speeding French taxi, “Nervous? No, I’m nervous when my tax preparer tells me he is going to be aggressive with my return. Right now I’m feeling sheer terror.”
Oh, I almost forgot. We had worked on the engine the whole day before. Four year old gas had to be taken out, the tank cleaned of gunk, the heads cleaned of broken plastic from the impeller (None of these means anything to me either) so this was our test run…..we had no idea anything would work.
The plan to test the work and the boat was hatched in Bomba’s while we watched a small swell work into Apple Bay. Locals Hulk and Crispen both said don’t go that it would be too rough. So we waited until the sun went down and the wind came up to try it out.
Oh, and since we are pirates, we had no radio, horn or flair. I just learned today we did have life jackets, but I still don’t know where they are on the boat.
Good to still be telling stories.
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bobby g
non-member comment
sounds eerily familiar
buck and I did the same kind of a white knuckle ride from the block. Kentucky derby day.gagged, 50 degree water, 6ft seas chicks a crying not a pretty picture. cheers b.g.