A new day dawned at the same instant a coconut fell from Bill’s favorite tree in his back yard. The morning light caressed the many mangos on Zack’s tree that grew between his house and the canal. Today some of them would reach full mature ripeness. They were the best mangos in all the Keys; it was whispered among his friends.
Bananas hung full, ripe and temptingly, dangerously close to a neighbors fence five houses away. Bananas have a way of disappearing on Big Pine Key if left too vulnerable, too yellow ripe with in sight and reach of a friendly admiring soul that just happens to pass by at the wrong, or, right time.
Coconuts however, were covertly gathered up out of yards and contributed to vacant lots or any place out of easy sight. Coconuts get around, seemingly, all by themselves in the Keys.
Blue skies. Lime green water. A slight refreshing breeze from the South East. It was a day made for high adventure out on the Buccaneer Sea. Or at least the Florida Straights.
The Holly Lynne was stocked, loaded and ready. Wesley and Junior had gone ahead and bought scuba gear on their credit cards so there was plenty of full air tanks on board.
Zack was to start out in the Two Nickels twenty four hours from now. Larry was to follow forty-eight hours from now. The Tight Schedule sat in the waters of the canal, filled up and ready to go on an instants notice, but Marcy would only come out if called in an emergency. She was more into fishing than bottle hunting.
Bill, Dennis, Wesley and Junior waved good bye to Marcy and Amy again as the lines were cast off and the Holly Lynne was set free from land once more, headed for the deep sea out front where legendary things really happened, in the past, and possibly today. Excitement, fun and thrills of many kinds might lie in store. Each man had his own level of anticipation building in his heart and mind.
A tropical storm was south of Cuba and was expected to go rather straight to the Yucatan Peninsula. Nothing to worry about there. Another system was about half way across the Atlantic but did not seem to be building. Now the sun was just barely above the horizon climbing into a clear blue sky. It was as smooth as Dennis or Bill had ever seen it. As they went under the bridge and looked far away over the vast water out front, they were amazed at how calm the waters were there.
The Holly Lynne slipped along through the water with glee. She really seemed to be happy out there on the sea. Wesley and Bill looked everything over again until they were satisfied all was ready and in proper working order. Junior stood by Dennis watching him pilot the boat out through the sea and helped keep a lookout for anything on or in the waters ahead of them. As the miles slowly went by, the water became an ever-deepening blue. Dolphins played along the side of them now and then. A great frigate flew high overhead out to sea also.
It was feeling like time to eat to Wesley when Junior yelled out, “land ho”.
“That should be it,” Dennis said. A key had appeared on the far distant horizon. Mangroves could be seen but so could some tall palm trees.
Dennis called Bill and Wesley over to him and Junior. “As soon as we see on the depth finder that we are in shallow water we will anchor and study the place a bit with the binoculars. Everything is ready I suppose.”
“Absolutely,” Bill stated in no uncertain terms.
They were rather close when Dennis shut the engine down and gave Bill a signal to anchor. The anchor splashed into the water. It became eerily quiet. Only the lapping of the water against the Holly Lynne was heard. No wind stirred the water, mangroves or palm trees. They were a long ways from Big Pine Key and so much farther from Arkansas that it wasn't even funny, or maybe it was just a little, in an excited kind of way.
Just as Bill and Wesley were finishing getting into their scuba gear Junior noticed the bow of a boat coming out from behind the key on his left side. It moved into full view slowly and revealed someone in it that seemed to be leisurely fishing. It was a small sailboat and it had a set of oars also. No motor could be seen on her at all. Dennis checked it out with his binoculars.
“It's an older man fishing way out here!” he exclaimed in disbelief. “Now how in the world, why would he want to be this far out in such a little sailboat. It doesn't even have a cabin on it. It would be a hard two, maybe three day sail in that boat out to here.”
“What's he doing,” Bill asked?
“He's just fishing” Dennis returned.
“Has he seen us?” Wesley questioned.
“Can't tell. I don't think so.”
“He must really know what he's doing to be out this far all by himself,” Junior commented.
Dennis took his fishing rig out and made it up. “I'm going to fish off this side of the boat while you two slip into the water on the opposite side.”
Wesley and Bill eased off into the water where the fishermen could not see them while Dennis fished off the other side. Junior watched the other boat as well as searching all around for any other movement or objects on the water or land.
He was not where the fishermen could see him easily.
Dennis caught a thirty inch Scamp Grouper. “Who would have thought I'd have caught a fish with Bill and Wesley in the water.” Dennis said in surprise as he took the hook out of the fish. Bill and Wesley pulled up on their side of the boat. As they took their mask off and spit out their mouthpieces Wesley said, “ Now that was the wildest thing I've ever seen underwater. That thing came zipping around under the boat to our side and almost got Bill and me tangled up in the line. He was sure fanning the sand and you could hear the line singing as he pulled it tight behind him through the water. It sounded eerie. Hand me my diving knife Junior. I forgot to put it on.”
“Yea. Hand me mine too,” Bill said.
Junior put the binoculars down, gathered up their knives and handed the equipment to them. “See anything interesting yet?” he asked.
“No,” Bill answered, “ there is a lot of fish though.”
“Yea!” Wesley added. “They are everywhere!”
“You two go to the bow and look around,” Dennis suggested. “I'll fish off the stern.”
“Au-k,” Wesley agreed. He and Bill were just about back down into the water when a clear, calm, friendly voice called out, “Ahoy there".
Junior was startled as was Wesley and Bill. Dennis calmly turned around with his fishing rig in hand and answered, “Ahoy there”.
“You picked a fine place to fish. I most generally catch a good one or two on that knob. Where do you hail from”?
“Big Pine Key. We're aboard the Holly Lynne. How about you?”
“Live on that biggest Key there. Got everything I need there. It's a great place to live. My boat is, The Key Clipper.”
“She is a nice little day sailor. Do you sail her all the way to the mainland for supplies? It's a long ways from here to there,” Dennis said.
“Well it just depends on where you're a goin’. We can make it to Key West in three days, Big Pine in two. Key Largo takes us about three days also. Marathon about two. Now that's under sail mind you. It used to make it in less than a day and a half to Key West back when I had the steam engine in her.”
“Steam engine!” Dennis exclaimed. “In a sailboat?”
“Yes sir. I helped make that little lady myself. You've seen the African Queen haven't yaw?" Well we designed the Key Clipper similar to it. A little wider, a little longer, added a main sail and a jib. Even got a spinnaker for her. Had a friend on the mainland that was a machinist. He acquired the blueprints to a little steam engine and made me one for it. So she was originally equipped with three sources of motive power. Sail, steam and muscle, meaning the oars. Used a lot of wood if we powered all the way to Key Largo or even Big Pine Key. We used to camp on Baha Honda when waiting for friends or anyone.”
“No motor now?” Dennis asked.
“Oh yes. It's a four cylinder Honda, five speed transmission and it will really scat.”
“Doesn't that prop have a lot of drag when you're sailing or rowing it?” Dennis asked.
“It does if I leave it on. Most times around here I take it off and keep it in a secure box on board. I can have it attached, back on, and ready in less than two minutes.”
Dennis laughed, “Now that is quiet a design”.
“Works good for me,” the old man replied. “You gentlemen enjoy yourselves.
All four of you. Just watch out for Old Tom when you dive or snorkel.”
“Who is Old Tom?” Dennis asks.
“He is a big great white shark who comes around these parts now and then. I never bother him and he’s never bothered me. He does just naturally like to eat though.”
Wesley and Bill were quickly out of the water. The old man laughed and said, “Names Titus Bartholomew. Come on into the canal over there and you'll see my dock. Current runs from West to East through there, just so you know what to expect. Stay near the middle and it runs 15 feet deep all the way through. You'll see my cabin about the time you see my dock and other boats. Got to make the rest of my rounds now. Fine day for it too. Just another calm before one more storm. Always something happening out here on The Deep Blue Sea. Keep a good look out. See you later mates.” The old man put power to the oars and moved surprisingly fast away from the Holly Lynne.
“Names Dennis and thanks for the visit.”
“Well want do you think about all that?” Wesley wondered.
“I haven’t seen anything as big as a white shark except those dolphins,” Bill said in a low voice as he looked around.
“He knows these waters,” Dennis stated with confidence. “If he says a great white shark comes around here now and then, I'll be one of the believers.”
“We've got to be in the water to hunt for the gold,” Bill reasoned.
Dennis smiled, “He didn't say not too snorkel or dive. He just said to watch out.”
Junior looked at the sky all around and said, “He spoke of it being just the calm before another storm. I can't see a stormy looking cloud anywhere. There’s only a few very small white clouds drifting along low in the eastern sky.”
“Well it's a calm before another storm.” Wesley smiled. “He didn't say how long it would be before a storm comes along did he?”
“I'll turn the weather radio up so we can catch what it says about this part of the Straits weather,” Dennis said as he walked toward the radios.
“I'll turn my cell phone on and see if I've got another Cone report,” Junior said.
“That's just for hurricanes isn't it?” Wesley asked.
“It reports on tropical storms too,” Junior answered. “It even says when a storm gets a name.”
Bill asked as Junior studied the screen, “Anything?”
“Nothing," Junior answered.
“He's gone out of sight already,” Dennis said as he looked around from the radio. He cast his bait into the water off the stern of the boat. “Bill, you and Wesley tell me when you're done searching this location and we'll ease on around the Key.”
“There's no need in looking around here,” Bill stated as he looked all around at the water's surface. “We need to get in the triangle. We haven't even found it yet.”
Dennis’ rod bent down and he went to work. A 20-pound groper was landed. “Good fishing here,” he said as he put the fish in a live well. The fishing rod was placed in its holder, the engine fired up and the anchor hauled in. The Holly Lynne gently moved forward through light blue water. Soon they spotted another Key to the south. Dennis cautiously maneuvered around the south west side of the key the old man had disappeared around. His depth finder showed a sudden drop off in the floor.
“Third island on the far distant horizon in the east, southeast,” Junior called out to them all.
“How deep is it here Dennis,” Bill question?
“Deep. It dropped from 20 feet to 50 almost immediately and has steadily dropped to 150 now. Still dropping too.”
Wesley looked around; “This water sure looks blue here.”
Junior turned and reported again, “Some kind of fish is breaking the surface out there, between us and that last Key I spotted.”
Dennis suggested, “Bill, Wesley, get your fishing poles baited up to cast out when we get close to them. Might as well fish if you're not going to dive.”
Wesley laughed, “I'll fish while we are moving but I'm going to dive too.”
“Oh I'm going to dive more too, when we find Snow Top,” Bill said.
Eight minutes passed as the Holly Lynne eased through the calm waters that lay between the three keys they could see.
“Fish jumping just about 200 yards ahead,” Jr. reported loudly over the sound of the diesel motor.
“The depth went to 500 feet but is coming up faster than it went down,” Dennis announced.
“Fish in less than 100 yards,” Junior yelled with a bit of excitement in his voice, adding, “some big ones too.”
Bill cast out far to the starboard side and said, “Wes, cast out to the port side.”
Wesley cast out and as soon as his bait hit the water a fish consumed it and the fight was on. “I've got a big one!" he proclaimed.
“Dennis!” Junior yelled. “It looks awfully white out there just past the fish.”
“Depth is 100 au-75 au-50, shutting off all power!” Dennis shouted.
“Fish everywhere but it is snow white just beyond them,” Jr. exclaimed.”
“Full reverse," Dennis yelled. "Brace yourselves!"
Just as they all achieved a good hold on to something and braced, the Holly Lynne came to a swift but smooth stop. They had run aground on soft white sand that was only inches under the waters surface. Dennis tried reverse but she didn't budge.
“Bill!” Dennis yelled in a distressed voice. “You and Wesley dive in and look her over on the outside. Junior and I will check things out on the inside.”
“Sure,” Bill and Wesley answered the call to action.
“Man! That came up fast. Was going slow. Hope it's all just soft sand she's on.” Dennis talked mostly to himself.
An hour later it had been determined that her hull was not damaged. She was riding up on soft white sand. The tide was going out and she was soundly aground now.
Dennis reluctantly announced, “We'll anchor here tonight.”
CONTINUED TO BLOG SEVEN (7) BOTTLES
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