CRUISING ADVENTURES AND GUNK HOLING IN SMALL SAILBOATS 3

Article By Richard Frye

Part 3 of the series: Backpacking On The Water

I walked into the "hole in the wall" sheriffs office. The locals called it that, and that's just what it was! Every bit of 8 feet by 8 feet and room barely enough for a desk, a tiny trash can and a phone with a base station radio on the back right corner of the desk. Not much room and the smallest police station in the world! The coat/hat rack and shotgun rack was on the back of the front door and painted with a nautical them. It was very homemade! A rough looking and very large heavy set deputy sheriff sat behind his desk. He was even big just sitting down! This huge man was seemingly preoccupied by something he had been reading. He looked up over the Life magazine with raised his eyebrows and said, "What can I do for you young man?" I was shocked for a moment at the pleasing voice with which he spoke! "I was just wondering sir, if I might tie up my little sailboat here for the night?" He looked out toward the pier and over at the other dock and saw my tiny ship, my Sea Mistress, and without changing his expression or voice, spoke softely. "Looks to me like you are already tied up son!" He allowed a faint smile, then confirmed with a chuckle, "Yeah...it'll be fine there, nobody will bother you except the waves. "Where are you from? Where are you going? ... and what does yo momma call you?" I told him my name and that I was raised around the area, went to school here, and that seemed to clarify everything after we had chatted for a while. His name tag said, "B. Sloan, and he remembered that my dad had an Electric Service for many years before he had developed some serious health issues, and had done electrical work for just about everyone in the county at one time or another. The deputy didn't asked further questions concerning family.

Deputy Sloan looked at me in a hard and serious way then said, "It might get a little bumpy out there tonight if the wind picks up! You should've gone further down and stayed at the inlet. It's about a mile south and the first little opening on your right! There is a lighted marker there on some trees, and I can understand if you don't know what I'm talking about. Most people don't know it's there unless you live in that area. You'll see it if you go down that way and there are some private docks just inside that are pretty well protected from bad weather. Most will have smaller fishing boats and such like Boston Whalers tied up at them. Drop anchor off to the left after you are well inside the inlet and before the first house on the left, but don't go onto any property. I'll inform the other officers and security guards that you might be there sometime during the night. If you do go there, stay in the water, and don't set foot on a dock or dry land. It's all private and they get testy when someone they don't know uses their backyard without asking but they don't mind if someone is fishing or crabbing or just spending the night." I thanked him and went on my way. At least that information gave me another alternative and he said that he felt sure that I would be leaving when the tide started rolling in. He was right. I did have to leave but I will get to that later.

Being away for a long time from where I grew up changes things as the time slipped by over the years, and things had really changed a lot! More about the past later. The temporary dock was there for a reason and later would be removed, and it was not really a good place to moor for the night or anytime except in an emergency. After all, I was facing the sound between the islands and just a few miles east was the Atlantic. If the water got rough and the wind picked up it would pound the dock against the pilings and there was no doubt that a lot of damage would be caused if a boat wasn't pulled away quickly. The deputy also said that it was only there for a few more days and had been used soley for the ocean rescue training programs for various agencies so they could tie up their boats for a while, have lunch or go to a nearby class room for the past two weeks. All of that was over now. I discovered too that the old ramp was going to be closed to the public in the near future, and had something to do about the beach and trying to protect it better as well as beautify the area. So it weas going to be destroyed and things put back in a natural way. Any one could see that it wasn't a good launching ramp for the public.

With a safe place for the night taking worry off my mind, I wandered over to the bath house carrying a large paper grocery bag containing a change of clothing, a few toiletries, a towel, etc. There was NO hot water! Cold water only! This was for rinsing off sand and seawater after swimming in the ocean and being on the beach all day! Yes it was an extremely cold shower, but I felt clean but the water smelled like rotten eggs! It was sulphur water and it had a very very stong odor, but I knew that wouldn't make me smell that way. That's what we had at home during my childhood. Forty five minutes later and back at the dock, I put things away and locked her up for safe keeping during my absence. I noticed the deputy leaving for a while in his car but he was never gone long. My main concern was my boat's safety. She was all I had and my pickup truck was over 100 miles away!

I headed down the street, did a little window shopping at a few of the local stores. It had been a long time since I walked down this street and new shops seemed to be springing up everywhere I went! Most were gift shops for tourists. The Island Hardware store had the #48 and #72 seine twined I needed for making roped bottles as well as a few extra trolling sinkers, a spool of 30 pound test braided stuff for hand lines, some 1/0 and 2/0 hooks, and a long cork float to use when I wanted to fish at a certain depth. A big shark broke my other set up and took hook, line sinker and float then headed for England the moment I got him beside the boat!

A local restaurant caught my eye called Millie's, and I wanted some home cooked food advertised on the sign. The first thing I saw on the menu was Country fried steak, mashed potatoes with gravey, black eyed peas and peach cobbler for desert made my mouth water! That's what I wanted. "What are you drinking young man?" That was the second time I heard that phrase! I said, "Uh....sweet ice tea." then looked up at a very stout and robust woman that was old enough to be my mother! She looked like a Russian wrestler that didn't take any crap from anyone! I said, "Yes mam!" to anything she asked me! She immediately said that she heard there was a small sailboat at the dock, and was it me! Word gets around fast in a small area. Come to find out that she was a lot younger than she looked and was the wife of the deputy I just spoke with! He must have called her! They even looked alike! He seemed nicer than she was, but she wasn't rude to me at all, and I said yes that I was sailing along the coast and heading back to where my truck was at Otis's Fish Camp. "That's my cousin!" she bellowed out. "He's a good man!" In fact she was very nice..but it took some time getting used to her demanding actions, and not jumping out of my skin when she spoke in that dominating loud voice that really got your attention instantly! When this woman yelled her order to the cook, everybody looked up! I don't think she handed him paper off the pad she had written my order on. I could have sworn that I saw her slam it down on one of those spike type thingies and looked like an ice pick sticking straight up with some other order papers! Those things could be dangerous! I had a vision of that spike going completely through her not so delicate hand that was much larger than mine! She should have been a deputy! Saturday nights would be peaceful with her on duty! Yes sir!...I mean... yes mam!

Waiting for my meal was uneventful. A few local patrons wandered in and out, some ordering meals to go, and others just sitting at the counter for a cup of coffee. The only waitress there brought my meal and told me to enjoy it and actually gave me a warm smile then went back behind the counter speaking in the same tone to what appeared to be her regular customer! Needless to say the meal was delicious! I had been eating out of tin cans and catching my food from of the ocean for almost three weeks now and this was a welcomed change in my diet. I payed my bill and gave Wilma Lu a good tip. That was the name she wrote! Wilma Lu?...ok...Enough said!

Before I could turn to leave she said, "Hey...you be careful out there son!" and handed me a grapefruit size package of aluminum foil that was folded and sealed tight around the edges. "Take this here, it's for later on tonight and I'll tell Otis that you came in to eat. I'll probably call him tomorrow!" I said thanks without asking what it was that was inside of the foil, and returned the smile she gave me, and said thank you again.

Feeling renewed after a shower and a great meal I wandered down the street to a local market. I think most of the produce there was locally grown, except for a few items that came up from Florida. After getting my shopping needs full filled, I went back to the Sea Mistress and unloaded my supplies and went back down the main street. As dark was nearing I stepped into local bar and grill and had a seat at the middle of the bar. A few locals were present, and only glance up and then contiued their conversations when they didn't recognize the only person now sitting at the bar. The bartender looked up and said, "Yeah?" I said, "Miller High Life on tap if you got it please sir." "I got it kid!"and within seconds there was an ice cold beer sitting in front of me. Before sitting it down he asked, "You old enough to drink son?" I answered, "Yes sir!"...He smiled and sat the glass in front of me on a cardboard coaster that said Black Label Beer!

The older folks always referred to a person younger than them as son, kid, youngster, young feller, whippersnapper, or young lady or missy, and so on for the girls too! I had laid some one dollar bills on the counter and he took one and brought back some change, a quarter and two dimes and a nickel, laying it on top of the dollar bills. I chugalugged the ice cold beer, and the bar tender had another sitting in front of me before my empty glass hit the counter! I sipped on the second one........slowly this time!

I relaxed and sipped on my third beer while listening to songs like Tutie Fruity, You Ain't Nothing But A Hound Dog, and then somebody slowed things down by feeding the juke box more dimes, and pushing the buttons for easy listening songs like Harbor Lights, and Red Sails in the Sunset, and Cupid Draw Back Your Bow by Sam Cooke. After the forth beer I was feeling sleepy and probably nodding when John the bartender yelled very loud! That brought me back to the real world, "Hey ya'll hush! I wanna hear this!" It was his radio that had given a weather and report for the evening and next couple of days. Some of the shrimp and fishing trawlers would be returning in few days with their boat full, and he was now informed so he could re-order and get ready for the expected crowd. When the shrimpers returned his place was always packed for at least three days to five days from opening till closing time..no matter what day it was during the week or the weekend. It was all the same. He had to buy a lot of extra food, tripple his stock on all the beverages he served, and call in some bar maids that worked part time for him as well as a few "waitresses" too! I looked at my Elgin watch and didn't realize how late it was getting but did realize the effect that 4 strong Miller High Life beers were having! I rarely drank alcohol except on special occasions. This was one of those occasions, but late for me anyway at 11pm. So I picked up the remaining bills, finished my beer and left some change for John as a tip.

As I walked back toward the pier I noticed that the wind was picking up a little as a warm ocean breeze caressed my face. The deputy was gone the restaurant now closed, but folks were still fishing and probably would continue fishing. Some stayed on the dock all night long just to fish as the night was comfortable but air off the ocean had suddenly chilled an now warranted having a light blanket or jacket if you planned to stay for any length of time! The radio had reported very fair weather for the next few days with steady winds out of the south at 9 to 12 mph. Wow...that was good new for me!

When I got within sight of my little boat, I suddenly thought otherwise! I knew right away that I had to get her away from that dock or she would get beat up pretty bad! Her full 21 feet was pitching up and down a couple of feet, her mast was swaying back and forth, and there would be no sleep with that kind of movement, plus a fender had slipped and her port bow was banging against the piling. No damage was done but it was covered in fresh tar that needed to be cleaned off. I threw off all lines and headed away from the dock under the jib only since I could raise it quickly just to get moving. This was actually faster that trying to start the motor while being washed in toward the beach. Now that I was away from the fishing pier and out in deeper water, the ocean seemed to smooth out and calm down a bit! The mysterious chill also had also vanished! But sometimes strange things like that do happen!

About 20 minutes under jib alone, just poking along and heading south, I finally saw the marker that the deputy spoke of. He was right about being small. It would have been all but impossible to find the opening if you didn't know it was there! Even with the lighted marker you still couldn't have found it but would have sailed on past unless it was a full moon. Even then, locating the mouth of this tiny inlet would have been difficult. I shoved the tiller over hard to port and made a 90 degree turn into the inlet. Now protected by some huge Live Oak trees, I lost all wind and just sat there with a limp jibsail and we glided to a full stop! I raised the centerboard about 80% of the way up so that she would track straight by leaving a little of the board down. Recollecting what the deputy told me I decided to take and oar and try sculling in but found that just moving the rudder back and forth did the same thing. This method was working fine but much slower. That was better because I didn't know the area, and I wanted to be quiet as not to disturb anyone. My eyes were fully adjusted to the moonlit night, and after I had traveled a hundred yards at a snails pace the estuary opened up into a quaint little lagoon! I entered and let her drift to port as the deputy instructed and dropped anchor in almost complete silence!

Several homes surrounded this unique inland lake that was half a mile across, and lights were still on in most of them. As I mentioned earlier, it really wasn't that late but late for me! I was feeling the effects of the huge meal and the 4 glasses of beer. I was very tired.

I lit my little kerosene lantern for my mast head light, and raised it on the main halyard with my heavy wire spring attached. This wire spring with the halyard wrapped into the coils, and thru another coil allowed the lantern to be held away from the mast and out at a safe distance of about 9" or so from the halyard and above the mast head so it was in clear view for 360 degrees. The extra coil kept the wire spring from tipping the lantern that wound around underneath the halyard. I liked the lantern because it would burn for 8 hours on a single fill. The good thing was that it would not come unhooked until I brought it down. The bad thing is that kerosene was the one thing I hated to have on board but I needed it for my lantern. It was stinky and made a nasty mess if a spill occured. I liked to keep it empty until needed. Less chance of a mess that way but it was difficult to fill in rough weather! I was contantly on the lookout for a nice candle lantern that would give the same light and burn through the night. No luck yet in that department, so I thought about designing my own that would hold a fairly large candle made from aluminum. The battery powered lights just didn't last but a few hours, and they were expensive to boot!

The jib was furled as well as the mainsail, and all was secured for the night when I looked up at the jewels overhead, and marveled at the night sky! It wasn't pitch black because there was a half moon still high over head but it was crystal clear and peaceful while dotted with millions of twinkling stars, and not a cloud in sight! I didn't bother putting out a second anchor even though the tide would change while I was asleep. I figured she'd swing around through the night and be facing the inlet when daylight came.

Inside of my cabin, I lit a small candle lantern, made my bunk ready then crawled in the port quarterberth. I liked the quarterberths better than the v-berths for sleeping. They were much easier to get in and out of, and I had more headroom if I had to get up quickly during the night for some reason like if nature called, etc.. That happened once in a while, and even then I would occasionally receive a smart rap on the noggin if I wasn't careful! Not a nice way to wake up! But when cruising in small boat you just get used to some things! Those little accidents become a way of life on board when you are half asleep!

Sleep? I did! I went out like a light! One great night of rest!...Hmm...I thought to myself, I need to do this more often as I awoke with the sun just peering over the horizon, and throwing it's bright beams into my cabin! What a beautiful day! Sea Mistress had swung around as I had predicted, but I lay there just staring at the ceiling when I heard some spashing sounds! I sat up!...this time without banging my head and opened the hatch. A woman was standing on her dock throwing something in the water and havoc was taking place when what ever she was throwing out hit the surface. I squinted from early morning brightness, and she waved, then yelled across to me that was about 50 yards distance to my boat, "You traveling through son?" Son? Word really gets around fast! Without hesitation and mostly from habit I answered, "Yes mam." She yelled again as she threw something else in the water, "Well you are welcome come over and have coffee with me and Claude if you want!" "Thankyou," I said, and went forward to raise my anchor. By the time I got the anchor up and the mud cleared away, I had drifted within 20 feet of her dock.

She stood there smiling and threw in the last piece of what every it was from her bucket, and the water went crazy again! "What was that?"...She laughed, "oh...I'm just feeding my babies!" I got a line ready to throw over a piling and thought...BABIES? When I looked I saw some beady eyes looking at me with curiousity! She was feeding alligators! BABIES? Maybe I should hoist the main sail and get out of here! Anyway, she picked up the line when I missed and threw it over the piling. As I tied up she said, "I'm Dorothy and Claude, my husband is over there on the back porch reading the paper. Come on in when you get her tied up!"

Alligators! Hmmmm......I have to admit that I did have second thoughts about stepping foot on her dock! I am not that afraid of them and have even caught a few over the years and it's some might fine eating, but it's not a regular thing. I do keep my distance from them when possible and give them a lot of respect. They aren't afraid of anything! Nor do they respect anything except their own eggs! Strange things went through my mind as I approaced the screened in porch. Another, "Come on in." greeted me as I reached for the door handle. She introduced me to Claude and pointed to a chair that had a cup of coffee already poured that was steaming hot and waiting for me.

Claude folded the paper and put it aside then extended a hand to shake mine. Didn't take long to figure out that both were retired and just enjoyed life. I wanted to ask about the alligators but figured I'd keep quiet for the moment...thinking of my own best interest! She could tell I was curious just by my actions and my continually looked back at my boat! "Don't worry about those babies! I have been feeding them for several years now. I don't know where they came from, and the biggest one is only about 5 feet long, and the other one is just under 4 feet. I think somebody that lived here before we moved in had them as pets! You know...babies that are only a foot long!...Then they must have turned them loose when they moved. Some of the other neighbors don't like it that I feed them and threaten to call the game and fish commision to get them out of here, and we might have to do that ourselves when kids come down to swim, but it's really not fit for swimming. Too muddy and too many oyster shells to get hurt on and there is also part of boat that's just under the water over there!" She pointed toward the end of the lagoon and contiued telling me about the alligators. "But these babies are going to get big and might get dangerous too! AND...they do have to eat too you know! So the state boys will have to come and get them in a few months or so, and send them to Atlanta." she paused a moment, " To the zoo." They had no children of their own, and welcomed any company that came to visit! Then she said, "I bet you could eat some breakfast young man! Want some? I have enough for all of us." "Sure...yes mam!"

I drank my coffee as the man in his mid-60s told me about the crab traps he had set around the area, and that he checked them with his little 9 foot pram about every other day. He said he rowed the boat most of the time but occasionally took her out sailing on nice calm days. He pointed to a plywood catamaran and said, "That's her boat there! I built it three years ago, and thought it would be fun! It is but it's too damn fast for me!" and he laughed..."That thing will really move out!" As he continued I discovered that the couple had lived aboard a 39 foot ketch for almost 15 years before deciding to settle down where they were now.

Soon we had a big breakfast of bacon and egg, grits and cheese toast with butter and homemade Fig preserves. My favorite and most likely always will be! What a meal! Much better than cold Spam on plain bread, washed down with black coffee! But I was proud of my coffee that I made on my little single burner stove. It was just nicer to have someone offer me some that was even better! The breakfast was great and I had planned on setting sail early but the time had flown by and it was almost noon! The converstaion was wonderful and then I was invited to stay the night at their dock! That was great for them to offer and I accepted the offer then suddenly thought about her babies!.....those two alligators! I almost changed my mind because I would be moored where they ate! Claude and Dorothy were both avid and very competent sailors, and Dorothy said she needed to go to town as it was her grocery day, and asked if I needed anything. Claude on the other hand wanted to check his crab traps and asked me to come along and then he asked if I would take him sailing on Sea Mistress after we checked all of his crab traps. I said, "Sure...we can do that!"

Before long we were launching his pram which had been under their carport, and gathering a couple of wire baskets to act as holding pens for the crabs so they wouldn't be crawling all over the boat. We set off with him rowing and me just sitting! One by one he rowed over and I pulled up the traps and dumped a crab sometimes two or three into one of the wire baskets. An hour or so later we had emptied all the traps, and rebaited each one before putting them back if it needed more bait. All but a few of them still had chicken meat and bones wired to the bottom of the traps and were promptly thrown back to catch more. We had over 4 dozen crabs when we returned. His wife Dorothy would be cooking them tonight and freezing some of the meat for later. From what I could tell, BBQ'd chicken was on the menu for dinner with fresh lima beans and baked sweet potato! I was ready for that! With such a good dinner last night and now another one in the making, I was getting spoiled and thought about the sardines, Spam, and pinto beans....IN CANS! That thought was turning into a bad dream! But some sacrafices must be made when cruising and it was my choice! So I just enjoyed the moment and forgot about canned food. As we approached my boat Claude noticed that I was being cautious and he started laughing. "Those little gators won't be back till tomorrow morning! They show up about 7am each morning like they just ate a clock or something!" I laughed or tried too, acting like I wasn't worried, but I still looked around!

We slipped away from the dock as the little motor purred like a kitten and down the slew we went and out to open ocean! I hoist the main and kept Claude at the tiller then I also hauled the jib up and he knew what to do. He fell off to port, trimmed the sheets and away we went across the sound in 2 foot seas with a 15mph wind from the SE. He had a big smile as my Sea Mistress heeled and gathered speed. A half hour later we were near a 25 foot Hunter streaking across the bay. My Sea Mistress was closing the gap between the two boats, and about 20 mintutes later we passed the Hunter. They waved at us, we waved back, and crossed the shipping channel while they went out into open ocean on their way to who knows where. No ships were in sight today and it was a gorgeous day for sailing! Observations of Claude's expressions showing happiness at the moment as he expertly handled the tiller told me that we would be out till dark! It was only 2pm! He was a sailor indeed. But these conditons would have been a little rough for his tiny pram. Claude handed me a canned Coke and he opened one and sat it in the Bar Bouy. I opened mine, then leaned back and enjoyed watching this man sail my boat! After about an hour I took over for a while and he said, "I just might get me one of these!" I loved our ketch but this is like a big daysailer and easy to maintain! Dorothy would like it too! Yep...I just might get one." He looked all around the inside, poking in every pocket or place to store things, and then got up on deck and checked out everything as we cut through the waves. He stood for a while just looking out to sea with his hand on the mast. He was silent during this time. After about 5 minutes the silence was broken but with another smile. It was his turn back at the helm again now! That's what he said!