Day 209 - The Rock Pile — Captain Father John

Miles cruised 64, fuel purchased $0, slip fee $75, daily high temperature 76°f

It was a very quiet night at the Osprey Marina. The majority of the boats are tied up long term while the owners are away. It is a very safe cove tucked into the ICW. The Osprey in known for having the best swag bag on the ICW. They provide two breakfast rolls, two cookies and a jar of Hot Pepper Jelly.

Last night there was a gathering of the few boaters at the marina for sundowners. Two of the couples were Loopers we had met along the way. Another couple had a story to tell. They had sold their home and bought a new Beneteau 45 to cruise the east coast and Bahamas. They had sold their old boat, an NM 36. Just as they were in the process of moving their gear from boat to boat, Bruce was hit by a pick up truck while riding his Honda Goldwing. He had extensive injuries and required several months in rehab. His wife readied the boat for their cruise. He has a broken wrist which makes it difficult to operate a sailboat so they are motoring everywhere until he heals.

Along the way on the ICW we passed several shrimp boats.

Some of the shrimp boats are in better condition than others.

As we approached the Rock Pile, I made a securité call on VHF 16 to announce our entrance into the “Rock Pile” and find out if there was any other traffic, especially commercial barge traffic, heading southbound. (“Securité, securité, securité. This is the motor vessel Changing Latitudes entering the Rock Pile northbound. Any concerned traffic please contact us on 16. Changing Latitudes standing by.”). Nobody hailed us so we proceeded onward. Over the next half hour, we carefully stayed in the center of the channel.

Staying in the middle of the channel is important.

We cruised 64 miles to Southport NC. We are already in another state. We will stay here for two days and visit with the Looper harbor hosts Bob and Kay Creech. There are two restaurants here. One is a sports bar and the other is Italian. The sports bar called the Dead End Saloon has $6.00 hamburgers tonight. Guess who wins.

Here is commentary from Pete (Willard) Fisher who has embellished our story from yesterday regarding transiting the ICW with limited visibility due to a forest fire.

The tragic end of the Great Loop Adventure. We pick up the story as CL enters a fire area along the ICW. Captain John is on the fore deck and yells back to Dale who is at the helm, “smoke, secondary burning”.

Dale replies, “Can’t see nothing. We’re stopping”. “You’re not authorized to stop this boat, Dale”. “I said I can’t see a thing, captain. I’m stopping this boat. Ain’t risking any lives.” I’m in command here, godamn it! You do what I say”. Captain John runs back to the cockpit and confronts Dale. Dale begins to yell, “You got us into this mess and you can’t get us out ‘cos you don’t know where the hell you’re going, do you? Do you, you son of a bitch.” The two men begin to fight.

Just then Prisicilla and Andy emerge from below and attack both men with long steak knifes. The long knife penetrates Dales back and comes out his chest, He looks down in disbelief. Both men die. Under the cover of the smoke, the girls beach the boat and weigh down the bodies and cast them off into the swamp. Andy is no longer able to speak and Prisicalla takes her back to the boat. She fires up the engines, switches off the radio and turns the boat around to head back South. Priscilla looks at Andy and says “I told you some day this cruise is going to end”. They set course to return to the Bahamas, scuttle the boat, and take up with….

Bonus photo.

Carl (Chef) Wooden – quote of the day.

“The least movement is of importance to all nature. The entire ocean is affected by a pebble.”

Blaise Pascal

Blaise Pascal ; French: 19 June 1623 – 19 August 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Christian philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. Pascal’s earliest work was in the natural and applied sciences where he made important contributions to the study of fluids, and clarified the concepts of pressure and vacuum by generalizing the work of Evangelista Torricelli. Pascal also wrote in defense of the scientific method.

In 1646, he and his sister Jacqueline identified with the religious movement within Catholicism known by its detractors as Jansenism. His father died in 1651. Following a religious experience in late 1654, he began writing influential works on philosophy and theology. His two most famous works date from this period: the Lettres provinciales and the Pensées, the former set in the conflict between Jansenists and Jesuits. In that year, he also wrote an important treatise on the arithmetical triangle. Between 1658 and 1659 he wrote on the cycloid and its use in calculating the volume of solids.

Pascal had poor health, especially after his 18th year, and his death came just two months after his 39th birthday.