A young Boy seeing the States from a Yacht
Written by Leon in 1981, 17 years of age
Imagine me, Leon, 17 years of age, visiting the USA for the first time with these wide open eyes still existant with youth. I was invited to join the beautiful 63 foot Sparkman&Stephensen designed yawl REFANUT built in Sweden in 1955. REFANUT was currently on her winter voyage from Newport, Rhode Island, where she had stayed and been raced during the summer of 1981. She was to be delivered to her winter berth in Placida Harbour, on th west coast of Florida. I joined as crew in Norfolk, Virginia, heading south.
Let us begin with my original logbook, written as we sail back in 1981.
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The captain, named Olle Bergmann, got out of the companionway and greeted me friendly and welcomed me to come in. When I stepped down the companionway, a very specific smell of diesel and coffee became apparent, further to four girls sitting in the saloon. One of the girls was Swedish, Malin. The other three girls were American. It didn't take long, until we got to know each other, sitting and talking in the cosy interior of REFANUT. Malin, Sue, Marine and Hootie all seamed all right to me!
Since I had merely arrived from Europe, I turned in early that first night onboard REFANUT, with the four girls giggling in the background, having observed me entering my pyjamas my Mom had thoroughly packed for me. That was the last time for a long time I wore my pyjamas, I can confess, but that was more for practical reasons, rather than the girls' reaction at that first night.
At seven o'clock in the morning people started to move around in the boat. All took breakfast whenever they felt for it. They seem to be on a sort of "Grape Fruit Diet". At least that's all there was for breakfast during these days in Norfolk. The girls explained it was very healthy to have grape fruit for breakfast, but I think I could hear some muttering from Olle in the background. But why just grape fruit?
I learnt that one more guy belonged to the crew. Ron, was his name. He was up in the mountains or somewhere, and was to return to the boat the following day, Olle said.
The entire morning, Olle was working on the starter motor for the engine. My job was, in the mean time, to repair the toilet, which I was told to have clogged up. So, I took it apart and learnt the hard way how a marine toilet pump works. Interesting job, so to speak.
All girls went to town with just Olle and me remaining in the boat working. After I had succeeded in repairing the toilet and Ole the starter, we could charge the batteries again. Now it was my turn to go ashore and look around. We were moored in “down-town”, which apparently means in the middle of the town. But all rich people seem to have moved out to the suburbs. Left are striptease bars in huge business buildings, more or less ramshackled. I went along in down-town and found a snack-bar and ate a “Ham-Steak”. I had heard so much about these great American steaks you can get here, so I was really looking forward to a fantastic piece of meat that was soon to be served. My disappointment was obvious, when I just got a fried slice of ham. On the other hand, maybe not so surprising, since it was the least expensive “steak” on the menu and, in all honesty, was very inexpensive.
Thereafter, I went to try to send a telex home telling that I had arrived all right in Norfolk. A “dime-bus” passed by (“dime” = 10 cents, yes, it actually says “one dime” on the coin!). I paid a dime and got a ride taking me to the “post-office”, but they had never heard of a "telex", and, instead, sent me on to some sort of "Telecommunications Administration". The clerks at the Telecommunications Administration, on the other hand, explained to me that it was impossible to send a telex, at least from Norfolk. So, I had to ride back to REFANUT on the dime-bus, without any greeting home.
Back on the boat, we did nothing special all afternoon except that I went to “Norfolk School of Boatbuilding” next door, since that's the place where we could take a shower. I must say this was the most filthy and yucky shower I had ever seen, not talking about ever having had. But it was feeling good, nevertheless, and I am still alive.
Here in close vicinity there are many old, empty and destroyed factories (and somewhere in between these, the bespoke shower!). While there are two showers onboard REFANUT, we could unfortunately not use either of them, since the engine did not work properly, so there was no hot water onboard currently.
Later that night, suddenly two guys with a huge bottle of rum came aboard. They invited us all to a “Halloween party”, since it was Halloweens "tomorrow" (!). But we all stayed onboard.
A couple of days later, the big day had come: we were finally to cast off and start our sail! Ron had come back from his mountains and after a last visit to town, we were told to get ready. With captain Olle at the helm, we slowly motored around the corner a few hundred meters further up to fill up water (which smelt awfully from chlorine, even the hot chocolate from then on tasted swimming pool). The good news was that I, finally, could take a hot nice shower onboard, since we now both had water and a running engine!
Leaving port, we passed a lot of huge ships. Especially impressive were the war-ships, since Norfolk was one of USA’s largest navy bases. Loads of huge, but relatively slim, gray vessels which looked frightening, as well as several submarines.
Outside the shelter of the harbour, the sea quickly became choppy. After a while, Olle stopped REFANUT and jumped into the dinghy with its 6 hp engine, we were still towing behind and got ashore “to get some alcohol”, as he said. The rest of the crew stayed onboard, sailing round in circles or just drifting. When Olle returned with a strange looking bottle, I started to understand that this was possibly not primarily to entertain the crew, but rather for pre-heating the paraffin stove.
The dinghy was hoisted onboard and the engine put into place on the pushpit and we were ready for the open sea.
The sails were hoisted: Mizzen, jib and main sail with two reefs taken in. REFANUT was beating into the rough sea. Waves were huge from my perspective and swept over the deck. REFANUT was heeling so that the water level was dangerously close to the coach roof, I felt.
Being wet was no expression any longer. The water had since long found its way through my foul weather gear and into the boots. REFANUT’s bow cut into the waves and heaved tons of sea water on deck each time her bow lifted in thee waves. The sea then splashed and rushed along the side decks back to the cockpit, where I was. It was time to take down the main sail altogether, Olle said, so we continued under just the jib and the mizzen in this increasing gale.
Some of the crew stood by the mast fighting with the halyards. They seem to stand more in the sea than on deck with all the water around them. It became difficult to see not only due to the sprays but also since dusk approached.
By now, all wore safety harnesses. I had a life west as well. In the beginning, the others, especially Ron, asked if I couldn't swim, since I had this floating device on as well, but I explained that it was a safety precaution I was used to from Sweden.
REFANUT had become more stable with just the two sails and I turned in at about 5 p.m., to get some rest for the night sail. When I finally almost had fallen to sleep after a long time of listening to the strange noise of a wooden ship making its way through a gale, Olle came down and explained that we were taking “3 by 3 watches”, meaning that we were to be on watch for three hours and then may get 3 hours rest. My watch was now, together with Ron and Hootie.
There was thus nothing else to do but to climb into my soaked clothes again. But I hardly noticed how uncomfortable they were, anyway, since I was dead tired by now having been unable to find any sleep in this excitement.
I had to give up and get on deck, before a major disaster happened. The necessity for fresh air became vital. It was totally dark outside. Just the red and green nav-lights lit up sprays of water, which were tossed up by REFANUT’s bow. Anyhow I felt a great relief by standing in the companionway getting some fresh air.
Suddenly I heard a mysterious sound, at that time still unknown but eventually becoming very familiar to me. I looked to the lee side of the cockpit where the roaring came from. In the dark, I noticed two shadows hanging over the lifeline. While I tried to figure out what was going on, still standing in the companionway, I got a push from down below with the urging words “Excuse Me!”. I stepped aside, and Hootie rushed up the companionway, passed by closely and joined the other two at the rail.
I immediately understood what they were doing out there. Within seconds, me too, I joined them watching the black sea rushing by. All four of us were now provoking that roaring sound in a chorus.
Ron, who was a very experienced sailor, was one of the ones who fed the fish the most. He could hardly leave the gunwale, when it became time for him to get back again. And each time the relieving words by Ron afterwards: “Ahhh, that was good! Back to work guys!”.
The only one, who never felt anything was captain Olle. He just sat there in peace and quiet at the navtable under deck and navigated.
My hunger pushed me to eat a bun, but that I should not have done! It came out just as quickly again. Thereafter I did not eat any more during that night, which saved me from further roaring into the waves.
Suddenly the helm was given to me for the first time! What a feeling! What an exciting moment! Ever since I came onboard I had imagined myself standing there at this beautiful helm and steer REFANUT through the seas. The wooden steering wheel resembled of Pippi Longstockings on her vessel Hopetossa. And now it would become my turn!
This time, however, the Pippi-Longstocking-feeling faded away more than quickly. Instead, I fully concentrated on course, wind and waves, so I really did not feel much at all. It was hard work to keep her on course in the middle of the black night in a gale.
When I had stood there controlling REFANUT for an hour, the 3 hours had passed and my watch came to an end. Tired and wet I went down under deck. I had hardly taken off my gear, and that horrifying feeling in the stomach came up again. Should I rush out? Without any foul weather gear? I would get more than soaked then! Maybe better to find those dam pills. I dug and dug but all I could find was “cramp in stomach”. Ohhhh, I wanted to through those stupid “cramp in stomach” pills overboard!
With my stomach in my throat, so it felt, I finally turned in and fell to sleep, more or less immediately.
After three hours, I was woken up again. Next watch! This time my watch commenced with an hour standing at the helm and thereafter I was just dozing in the cockpit. There was really not much else to do. Sitting there, I started to shiver.
Another wonderful 3 hours of sleep followed. During these weeks on REFANUT I really learnt to fall to sleep within seconds. It became a practical quality and very useful.
Eventually the weather eased, the sun came out and it became really warm. We were, after all, heading southbound!
It for sure takes its time to get used to things, so also to sail REFANUT – in English! Ron made me understand during that day that my sailing terms in English had a chance of improvement, so to speak. I think he thought I was an idiot, really. It took three days until I had learnt enough sailing expressions in English, so the frequency of being abused by Ron decreased significantly.
The following three days were just gorgeous: sailing in sunshine during day-time and through beautiful nights with millions of stars above during the nights. Every night became warmer than the proceeding one. The wind was around 10-15 knots North, so we could set the mizzen spinnaker and pole out the genoa.
After some days of motoring, we had run out of fuel and were forced into Georgtown to get some more diesel. All night long, we had sailed in just 5 kts of wind with the sails hanging, so we really needed fuel to get going.
In Georgetown, there were washing machines and the girls immediately started to wash all their clothes. It costs some 50 cents per wash and just as much for the dryer. Georgetown was a typical south state small town. The crew thought that this was a hole, since there were no bars an no partying around.
Many of the yachts were much larger than REFANUT with her more "moderate" 63 feet, and all had crew onboard. In port, crew goes ashore to “have fun”, which primarily consists of getting a booze. On smaller boats, say under 100 feet, the captain often joins the crew, while on the even larger yachts the crew seemw to prefer sticking to themselves. For the crew, the owners are not very important and some have even never seen the owner. Of greater importance is the fact that everyone has “friends" everywhere on earth, as they say. There is Joe, for instance, on the neighboring boat, and Jim on the Bahamas, while, if you need a job on a boat, you should really talk to John, he knows where the jobs are, - they eagerly explained to me. Further, Carol is said to be a good cook, but you should really beware of German captains! All very useful inputs for a vagabond of the seas.
The type of people I met during my time on REFANUT were thus “crew”, boys and girls between 20 and 35 who had no hurry to find a better paid job or even going to school. Instead, they prefer to “see the world”, at least for a while. The guys are often not specifically handsome, more of the unshaved type and not seldom huge and strong like bears. The girls, on the other hand, are of the type - how shall I say - you know, the type of girls who are easily being kissed, especially after a booze. Very few seem to smoke, however, which obviously is very positive.
While onboard, on the other hand, they behave very differently: they act very carefully with the boat and its equipment. Things are kept in perfect order and even the crew members themselves seem to turn ship-shape onboard. Hard to believe how people can change so between ashore and aboard!
In between these two extremes I stand, with my 17 years clearly the youngest, observing a kind of living I had never experienced before. The people I meet here are all so happy, always cheering, never having any financial problems, just enjoying their lives, always seeing opportunities, relying on helping each other whenever needed. Nobody back at home, thus, needs to feel sorry for me! No, not at all! I'm having the time of my life, actually! Everyone is so kind to me!
On the other hand, I would recommend this sea life only to those who are enterprising enough to take their lives into their own hands or, possibly, for the ones who are tired of school and want to get some adventure in the mean time. It is definitely not good for someone who is used to have others fixing problems for you. For me, this great life style is a fantastic experience, possibly never to come again.
I could now hear our own crew on REFANUT complaining about Georgetown being “no good place”. I didn't reveal that I disagreed, enjoyed looking around in this sleepy town, with the midday heat hanging over me. I felt like a cow-boy in a western movie where I was strolling along the streets. The horses had been substituted by pick-ups, and the wooden signs by neon lights. But the grey or brown wooden houses still looked the same.
I thought I'd cut my hair here and walked into a barber shop with a red and white turning sign outside. The lady explained one needs to book an appointment several days in advance, so this was no place for a sea-man like me. I continued to stagger down the road. My legs felt soft and I even got a slight feeling of being sea sick ashore. The entire American soil seemed to rock slightly.
I found a telephone booth and continued my efforts from Norfolk to call home, but the operator in the telephone explained that “Germany doesn't accept collect calls”. And since one only could pay with quarters (= 25 cents) and not with bills at a post office, for instance, the phone call had to wait until some other day.
Next stop – barber shop! I continued on the shady side of the street to avoid the hot sun. Within shortly, I found a great place, much nicer than this other fancy barber shop where one had to “make an appointment”.
My days now consisted of steering, navigating and sleeping, while the others laid in the sun or were reading. I was eager to learn as much as I could. I was even allowed to try the sextant, but that position put us somewhere ashore far inland.
This place really was great, the crew proclaimed. Here, there were loads of bars with “Happy Hour” and “Dancing”. Off we went! And I followed with them, of course! In the beginning I was a bit nervous, since I was told that one needs to be 18 to be allowed for soft-drinks even, and 21 for alcohol, while I was just 17. But who cares?
It was great fun, at least in the beginning. We went from bar to bar and the crew got more and more drinks, - it was happy-hours after all. This "hour" seemed to go on for quite a while and the crew got an increasing share of the "happy" part as well. At midnight, some of the crew started to think about the possibility that it soon might become time to consider to return. At one o'clock the first actually went back to the boat, including me. But that was easier said than done! We had gone from bar to bar in various directions and even used a taxi in the end. Finally we had ended up at a place that was more than 4 miles away from REFANUT and no taxis were available at this time of the night.
Olle fell to sleep on a park bench, so my job became to look after Olle while the girls tried to get hold of a taxi. After an hour listening to Olle's snoring on the park bench, the girls had actually found a guy who was kind enough to drive us back to the boat. It was time for me to wake up Olle and get him into the car. Needless to say, we all fell asleep pretty fast onboard, quite thankful that we finally had made it back to REFANUT.
The last one who returned to the boat was, of course, Ron, who showed up at 10 am the following morning, mumbling something about a woman who was a millionaire. But he confessed he couldn't quite remember how he had found back to the boat in the end, obvioulsy without this millonaire. All day long, everyone was complaining about head-aches, except for Olle and me. But Olle said he had been very tired last night (obviously), but I honestly don't think he had had too many drinks.
So the second day on Hilton Head Island became a very calm one. I went for a walk in the rain for 2 hours looking for alligators, which this island is said to be famous for. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I didn't find any. On the other hand, I found loads of golf players who plaid golf in the rain. Maybe not so extraordinary as such, but for me, it was really surprising to see how they were moving around on the golf course. For the first time in my life I saw golf-carts driven by eager players on specially paved roads next to the green fairways. And I, who thought that golf would be an outdoor sport, where walking was part of the game!
In the evening that followed, we had some friends from Marine onboard, who joined us for a great dinner.
Wonderful sailing days followed with a sun that by now had become really hot in these lower latitudes.
Nobody felt for steering, instead they wanted to stretch out on deck, sunbathing in whatever they had on, or lack thereof. Also captain Olle let go, lying on deck together with the others, so for 4 hours I was fully responsible for sailing and navigating by myself.
Having previously been used to extremely short "dips" into a freezing Skagerak of Sweden, this was a totally different way of enjoying a swim. We could stay in the water as long as we felt for it, rather than being driven out by a terrifying water temperature.
We continued along the very flat coast of Florida. Olle, who was from Skåne in Sweden, said that if we thought Skåne was “flat”, that was nothing compared to Florida. I gave him right in that respect, although I was not quite sure about how flat Skåne was.
At 8 p.m. we arrived at our destination: Ft. Lauderdale. This was celebrated with champagne. Since Ft. Lauderdale was equally to Hilton Head Island considered as a “great place” by the crew, it was time to go ashore again, to have some fun. Sure, I came as well! I wanted to see America, that's what I was here for, wasn't I! So we all went to a place called “South Port”. That was not so fun, so after a very short while we all continued to the next place. I was “smuggled” in at all these places due to my age, or lack thereof. The new place was a “steak-bar” and that was a great place with a guy with a guitar playing. I met a lot of fun people and talked with them all.
After that steak-bar place they wanted to go dancing, but I went back to the boat together with Sue. Later, when I asked how the dancing was, they said that it was some sort of rodeo place with an electrical bull. The aim was to remain sitting on that bull as long as possible while it was moving wildly, which they said was really difficult. Especially after a couple of drinks, they added. Sounded fun to me! A shame! Maybe I should have gone with them, after all!
But Sue said she was tired, so I followed her home to REFANUT. All the way to the boat, Sue told me about her life and her problems. Ft. Lauderdale was the final destination for part of the crew, who had sailed REFANUT from Newport, RI, so also for Sue. From here, the owner Peder was to join us for a week-end cruise. Sue complained about the fact that she soon would not know where to stay the night, that she was mad on the whole world, that… The rest I can't remember.
Back at REFANUT, she copied some memorable “REFANUT-Music” we had listened to while sailing. Christopher Cross and Supertramp will for sure always stay in my mind as our REFANUT-music. I'm not sure exactly what she did during the rest of the night, since I went into the forecastle, closed the door and fell to sleep.
I hope I could pass over the right tone in my message during these short 3 minutes, namely that I was having a great time, but still not too “exciting” seen from their perspective. I also explained that the American Express Card I had kindly been given by them, did not quite work so well in the type of places I went with the crew, which they found surprising, since American Express had always been accepted when they had been in USA. I tried to explain that cash worked best after all, and that there was a slight lack of this, currently. But as long as I was at sea, there was no worries, I assured them, since there, it was impossible to spend money, cash or credit.
Back at REFANUT it was time to move her from the fuel dock to a berth we got at Pier 66. It was not easy to find a place for a boat with a 9 foot draft. At Pier 66, they took 70 cents per foot and night, so the three nights at Ft. Lauderdale cost 150$ !
Next task for me was to get cash some money from my American Express credit card. I didn't have a car but a dinghy, an since Ft. Lauderdale was built up by hundreds of canals, a boat works just as well as a car. I called AmEx from the telephone booth and they kindly explained that I had to go to an AmEx office, since a bank would not cash my card. No problem, I just had to get to them on NE 32nd Street.
Fine, no worries, I thought, until I found out that NE 32nd Street was 4 miles long with the canals running at a right angle to that street crossing it like a fork. Driving the dinghy in this labyrinth of canals let me decide where to turn left or right in every Y-junction. For sure there were many and each time it was like a gamble.
The gentleman drove me back to his villa and back to my dinghy. I don't even remember his name, but left in great gratitude. It had become high time for me to return before dark! The Coast Guard is really picky over here. If you get caught without a flash light and other stuff at dark, you are in deep trouble, so I had better hurry!
I had already driven a good distance back to REFANUT, when the engine suddenly coughed and finally stopped entirely. I had run out of gas, had no oars and the tide was running against, pushing me back to where I came from. You talk about problems?
I shook the gas tank and pumped the last few drops of gas into the engine and with a coughing engine, I finally succeeded in reaching shore, all while the sun was turning red. The engine had already stopped for a second and final time, when I jumped ashore and tied up the dinghy. Puuuh, that was close! And who will believe it? Wasn't that a gas station over there, just some 200 yards further up?
I ran with my bare feet to the gas station, asking if I possibly could get some gas in a small cup that would take me from where I had left the dinghy to the gas station where I now was, to fill it up, please?! The man at the gas station stared at me and, after a while, asked “Du from Deutsch?” I nodded my head slowly, without being quite certain if it was good or bad to be German at that time. He shone up and exclaimed “Schööön! Gut! Gut!”. Then he gave me half a gallon of gas without even wanting to get paid and just said “Nix! Nix! That’ll take you to Pier 66. Auf Wiedersehen!”. There seem to exist helpful angles at all places in this country, I thought.
I ran back to the dinghy, filled my half gallon treasure into the tank, a quick pull, and off I was into the setting sun, keeping a sharp outlook to avoid any hidden Coast Guards.
I was greeted with a great applause by the crew on REFANUT, when I finally made it back to the mother ship. I was at least 1.5 hours late, my pals expressed. They had eagerly waited for my return since they wanted to go out to a new "great place" they had heard of. So off we went to get some food and beer. For sure, I had some cash now, so no problems! It was a fish place across the bridge. I enjoyed fried clams, thereafter steamed clams, after that I ordered the raw buffet, consisting of two oysters, raw clams and shrimps. The oysters were so good, so I immediately ordered another dozen of oysters. Money was not the issue, any longer. All for 15$ including beverage. What an evening!
When the others went dancing at midnight, I went buying some soap and stuff. Strange feeling to go shopping at midnight! What a great country!
Peder, the owner, was due that day, so we better get REFANUT in perfect order! I cleaned the entire hull together with Marine, while the other girls cleaned up under deck. Olle was where he usually was: ashore in a phone booth to “arrange things”.
Since we had done a good job, Olle invited us all for brunch. What I had? Oysters, of course! And clams!
It felt almost empty with just the three of us left onboard: Olle, the captain, Marine as a cook, and me. Peder, the owner, was to arrive at 6 p.m. None of us really knew if he was to come by himself or with any friends or colleagues. Finally he came onboard with a lady called “Ann-Sofie” whom he apparently had invited for a week-end cruise onboard his yacht. Ann-Sofie was maybe 24 years old and studied music in Sweden to become a pianist. “REFANUT Music” was now abandoned for the sake of Mozart and Haydn, who could now be heard playing from the cassette player, instead. All Ann-Sofie talked about was music. In the beginning, this was interesting, but after a while… And you bet, nothing was good enough onboard! I suppose she had never been on a boat before and I wondered why she was here, really. The pillows were said to smell mould and our four (4!) cheeses we had bunkered were not tasty enough, etc, etc… Oh, dear! We did our best to get used to her, not quite understanding the reason for being so picky, especially since we had cleaned REFANUT so thoroughly. It is, after all, a boat, and the most beautiful around, anyway.
Peder, on the other hand, was very stressed in the beginning, having brought shore-life stress with him onboard. But after a while, also he winded down and became more pleasant for every step down in speed. And, you could tell, he loved his REFANUT and handled her with precision and care!
Peder was fun to have onboard, always up to “doing” something or just joking. He new loads of Limericks, for instance.
Peder wanted to sail to an island that was for sale and which he was interested in. So we tried to get as close as possible to get a look at the property, but REFANUT, with her 9 feet draft, put us aground. “Great!!” Peder said, “now we have something to write in the logbook: Going Aground in Florida!”, which I herewith have done.
This first night we anchored in Miami outside an island called Key Biscayne. Peder invited us all to a bar called "The Rusty Pelican”. We took the dinghy ashore and walked over the parking lot, zigzagging between Mercedes, Rolls-Royce's and BMW’s. It goes without saying that this was fancy and elegant place and for sure it was nice! I really loved the atmosphere in this resort.
The following day, our “holiday sailing” continued. We sailed further south into the Keys and again we stayed overnight on the hook.
In the following morning all of us, except for Peder, took the dinghy ashore to watch how rich Americans lived. Peder said he had already been there before and knew how it looked. But I wanted to come, of course!
We walked along a large road with no sidewalks for pedestrians. On the other hand, there was a “side road” for golf-carts. Instead of walking, people used their golf carts here! The area was interesting to watch, yet a bit sad. The joy and laughter I had gotten so used to on REFANUT and its crew ashore was very different to the atmosphere here. All faces lacked expression, they seemed so strict, so without joy, so bored.
In the afternoon we returned to Miami, since Peder had an appointment with the broker selling that island we had looked at the day before. The broker came onboard in Miami and we all enjoyed a great evening in the tropical sunset.
In the following morning, first Peder and then Ann-Sofie left REFANUT. Their week-end sail had hence come to an end. Shortly thereafter, to my big surprise, Malin and Hootie suddenly showed up again! They had stayed with Hootie's Dad over the week-end since they had not found a new boat to crew on. Whether this was planned or not, and if at all Sue had a clue about this, I don't know. Ron wouldn't have cared, anyway, wherever he was right now, presumingly sailing on a new boat under a new captain.
For me, it was great to be with the old gang again!
We left immediately and motored in the weak wind all the way round Key West and then heading North on he west coast of Florida to Placida Harbour south of Sarasota. Placida Harbour is a condominium resort owned by Peder which was the final destination of this trip.
In the middle of the night on the 19 November 1981 the engine stopped suddenly. I could almost preceive a slight coughing. Hadn't I heard that cough before lately? I new the feeling, had I just experienced the same with the dinghy in Ft. Lauderdale! But there was no shore to tie onto out here, or to run barefoot to a nice German speaking man at the local gas station. It was no gas to talk about anyway, since this was a diesel engine. I now learnt a lesson for my life: never run out of diesel! For an engine running on gas, that might be OK, but on a diesel engine this is a big No-No. Who knows what else was pumped into the cylinders from the very bottom of the diesel tanks during these last sucks, other than air, obviously? There was nothing else to do but to get the sails up immediately. We thus continued to sail, while Olle tried to fix the engine all night long as well as the entire following day, with no result, unfortunately.
Olle and Marine followed with Ed and Jim to Placida Harbour in the powerboat, while the rest of the crew stayed onboard REFANUT. There was not much else to do for the girls and me, so we took the dinghy and drove to a close by island with a beautiful romantic beach and had a fantastic afternoon, swimming in the warm water together and sunbathing on the beach.
Finally Olle and Marine returned in the Boston Whaler. From far away Olle immediately observed that the brand new and expensive (50 SEK !) ensign was broke hanging down totally fringed.
Partying through the night was no excuse for neglecting mother nature's tidal stream.
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We all need to follow the tides in life, taking the days as they come, never forgetting to have fun in the mean time!
Thanks for sharing the old memories of my youth.
