After we had toured Fort Jefferson, we all joined the crew of Mariah aboard Mariah. We brought beer and scotch, as they were out of alcohol, and we had a...
We awoke at dawn and had a big breakfast. We were impatient to get started, but the crew of Mariah was more kicked back, and they took their time getting...
The night eventually ended, with no Cuba in sight. Tom was starting a consistent pattern of showing up late for his watches, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes....
Although the winds were somewhat calmer than the previous night, this night found us in a peculiar swell predicament. We were in this quasi-region between the...
11:00 Cabo San Antonio sighted. Course set south. We're taking more water than the Gusher can keep up with. We find that on a port tack the starboard side ...
February 13th, 1978<br>02:00 Fire in starboard side hanging locker, cause by short in electronics. Liliane had been seasick just about the whole time we had ...
February 14th, 1978<br>08:00 Breakfast after a rough night. <br><br>10:30 Spotted 3 shrimp boats.<br><br>11:00 Whales alongside Jolanta. A 50 footer and a ...
Yes, the day we arrived at Isla de Mujeres was Valentine's Day. After showering in our hotel room Lili and I went out to do the town, eager to be away from Tom...
A little dialog on Roberto; he was a fisherman, as his family had been for as long as they could remember. He had a little 20' flush deck fishing boat which he...
Back to work on the boat. I removed the temporary fix on the through-hull fitting and did a better job at the fix. Now the fitting would drain the cockpit ...
February 16th, 1978<br>Tom and Betty grabbed the ferry in route to Cancun International Airport. It was a major relief to be rid of him. Tom was planning on...
February 17th, 1978<br>El Doctor has the 'sailor's stack' apart and finds the reason for our exhaust problems. Seemed that the interior of the thing was ...
February 18th, 1978<br>Liliane and I continue to enjoy the island. It was so much nicer when Tom wasn't there. That afternoon the green catamaran 'Mahria'...
February 19th, 1978<br>All's well. Lili and I enjoying our last full day together.<br><br>February 20th, 1978<br>Lili and I up early to catch the ferry and get...
February 25, 1978<br>Kim and I had been swimming on the other side of the island, and when we returned we found Wally waiting on Jolanta. Here is what happened...
March 1, 1978<br>We ran out of kerosene and can't find any on the island. Wally can't find the short-circuit on the electrical system. I say Wally can't, ...
March 7th, 1978<br>04:00 Wind for the south gusting to 40 knots, bringing all the swells we had previously experienced in that situation. Everybody but me was...
March 8th, 1978<br>We completely replaced the exhaust system, from the engine out the afterside of the cockpit with 3" galvanized pipe. We had a galvanized cap...
March 11th, 1978<br>05:00 All hand up and ready to sail. Weather and seas much better. <br>05:15 Engine on, up anchor, up sails and away we go.<br>06:00 Out of...
March 12th, 1978<br>06:45 We decide to send me ashore in the dingy to try and find help. I provided no argument against this course of action, so the next time...
March 13th, 1978<br>Tom is up at dawn and with minimum conversation he split for the Cozumel airport. He took no chances with the possibility that we could ...
March 21sh, 1978<br>We took aboard a guest in need, waiting his boat, Desperado, to arrive from Houston. 'Chief' MD Sprake, USN (ret). With a squid aboard we...
April Fool, 1978<br>The diaphragm repair on the Gusher breaks again. I repaired it again, this time using double-ply. By using the double-ply the mechanism of...
April 11th, 1978<br>Light airs throughout the night but dawn came with no winds. Becalmed, all day. Evening again brought light airs with it.<br><br>April ...
April 17th, 1978<br>Made it to Fort Lauderdale, arriving at the mouth of the harbor around 07:00. The current coming out of Fort Lauderdale is marked to be ...
Pier 66<br>We called Tom and he came down to Fort Lauderdale and he rushed down. Tom freaked when he saw I'd painted over his mouth and eyes, I laughed at him....
Repairs<br>We trimmed back the copper bottom and injected marine-tex into the Torino worm hole, the re-coppered that piece of the hull.<br><br>We also found ...
The Accident<br>While Wally and I were left down in Fort Lauderdale, Tom had left us his truck. Tom didn't have insurance for that beast. Wally and I had gone...
The Sale<br>A fellow from Louisiana, who worked on the oil rigs had his interest piqued by Jolanta, and offered $16,000. We were sick of the whole business and...
The Incident<br>Back on the Space Coast I was leaving a hardware store when Tom drove up in his van. He skidded to a stop in front of me and opened his door....
