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After the first trip with the storm and the second with the Coast Guard almost catching us, my nerves were in bad shape and paranoia was starting to take it's toll. I decided to myself that this next trip, if I survived, would be my last. This time around, I had complete control over crew and route. I decided to make a "vacation" out of it and invited some very close friends. We started out by sailing to Key West and spending a week at a condo on the waterfront that also had a marina where I could leave the boat. We spent the week relaxing, dining out and taking in the night life on Duval Street.
While we were there. I had the pleasure of meeting Jimmy Buffett. He had his sail boat (Savannah Jane) moored at the same marina. By chance, I invited him aboard my boat for a drink as he passed by. Being as I was playing one of his albums on the stereo, he could not resist. We had a wonderfull time together that afternoon, talking about music and sailing while killing a bottle of rum. At one point, he looked at me straight in the eye and said;"You know, there are people out there who are jealous of us. Please be carefull and (may you have) good sailing." The look he gave me scared the s--t out of me. It was if he knew what I was doing. Did we look that obvious? Or was it just the paranoia? What ever it was, those words and his look just kept going through my head.
We once again went through the same routine of sailing through the Bahamas and on to Jamaica, made the pickup, and then on to Mexico. After leaving the Yucatan, we were again spotted and stopped by the Coast Guard. The leader of the boarding party was a kid from Oklahoma. He took me down below and said; "This is the fourth boarding we've had to do today, and the captain is sure you have drugs aboard. Cap has a video camera rolling, so we'er going to stay down here for a while and make believe we are searching. I don't care if you have drugs or not. I just don't feel like filling out all the damm reports if you do." So, after what seemed like hours we went back up on deck and poked around up in view of his captain. Finding nothing, off they went and I went below for a clean change of underware with Jimmy Buffets words still ringing in my head.
The rest of the trip went smoothly and we were again home safe and sound. When Vito paid me, I told him I wanted to retire. I guess he saw the fear in my eyes and the fact I looked ten years older than I did one year ago. He paid me half of what I had comming and signed the boat over to me. I never saw him again.
I left the boat sit at her mooring and took off for Jamaica (this time as a tourist), alone and stayed there for a month, trying to shake off the paranoia. |
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