Page 128: FUN AT SEA
Togetherness of Helen and me has boating and fishing as recreational pleasure. As oung marrieds in the 1930’s our first water craft was a small cat boat for picnicking off Cape Cod. Our last one, acquired in 1976, was Chin-Chin, a 42′ Bertram “stinkpot,” double cabin diesel-powered yacht.
Early in marriage it seemed right to have, with cousin Jack Paterno, a Crosby cat boat for joint ownership on Cape Cod where he lived. Helen and I could enjoy it there for seaside visiting.
Just what we wanted was located in Boston Harbor. While motoring it from the harbor the engine conked out. We had the sail, of course, but neither of us was skilled for sailing. We did get the little craft into a village port south of Boston, however, for a mechanic to fix it.
Next day the trip was resumed toward Jack Paterno’s place on Cape Cod and all went well except for fuel. Near our destination the engine stopped again as fuel ran out. By lucky coincidence a U.S. Coast Guard vessel was just ahead and so we were towed into harbor. Finally our little boat, Sea Fox, got into Hyannisport.
(Photo) Caption: SYMFONI in full sail.
Page 129: When Helen and I, with Toni and Patti, vacationed on Cape Cod our little Sea Fox used to take us to where Helen could get a basket of lobsters. Then we’d sail out to a little spit for picnicking.
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Well remembered is the day when Phillip and Rae Bondy, our neighbors of North Salem, came up to the Cape for a visit and a sail. He and I bought captain’s hats with patent leather visors for eye shading from bright sunshine. I thought we both looked mighty handsome.
But as we came into the wind I reached for the line to pull the sail and, as the boom swing around, my captain’s hat was knocked off into the water. That meant a quick decision – jump overboard to recover it and whether Phil could manage the sailing enough to bring her about and pick me up. Flustered, I dropped the line and the gaff hit Phil so hard it knocked him out momentarily. My proud new captain’s hat vanished under the waves!
When we had the Bondys on a picnic on the sandy spit I told Phil to leap overboard with anchor as the boat got to the beach. Up to its shore line the water was deep. As I steered the boat I could not see just how close we ere. Actually, Phil jumped into nine feet of water as he feared to let go of the anchor, not realizing that it was tied to the boat. When I went forward to see what happened to him all I could see was bubbles. But he did emerge blubbering in an episode of odd funny things that do happen.
Page 130: THE ELCO
In 1939 we bought a 30-foot ELCO boat. Many trips were taken from Greenwich on the Connecticut shore across Long Island Sound to Flushing to see the New York World’s Fair. These were enjoyed with such good friends as Vi and Whitey Wilson. Whitey was a schoolmate at Riverdale Country School back in the early 1920’s.
Jaunts up the Hudson River and northward to Lake Champlain were great fun, with stops at a canal lock so we could hire a taxi to witness the famous thoroughbred racing at Saratoga. There we would join Joe and Irene Campagna. Joe was my favorite gambling cousin pal. The Campagnas returned to New York via a lovely cruise down the Hudson River with us.
Then It’s The Symfoni
After looking around during the late 1940’s, it was our decision to have a Swedish built ketch which was named the Symfoni. This one had to be completely renovated, so Captain Norman Bates was engaged. Norm was so knowledgeable and personable that he became our fast friend, too. He stayed with us eight years. The children loved him as he taught them much about boating.
He also showed the girls how to whistle through their fingers for the kind of shrill noise that might even be envied by a traffic cop or a football referee. There is more to this. I remember times in the clogged traffic of the big city when I would try to hail a taxi and fail until one of the girls would blow loudly through her fingers a whistled summons which would get the taxi to us.
Page 131: On one November 7th Election Day we left City Island in New York City for a sail on the Symfoni all the way south to the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Sea. This was a great journey.
I bought quite a bit of rum. Rather than label it as rum, it was put into gallon jars with paste-on labels as “Tung Oil” so as to pass custom. Arriving at Port Evergaldes in southernmost Florida, the Customs Inspector found everything in order. From there we proceeded to Fort Lauderdale and had to go through the same custom ordeal for a second inspection and to again refer to the liquid in the gallon jars as “Tung Oil” and not rum. This was really a frustrating experience.
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Calypso Named Pavaan
Our next sailboat was a calypso – a 39-foot steel hull which we called the Pavaan. Our captain was Bruce Bates, son of Norman Bates. The only problem with Bruce was the color blindness as it pertained to differentiating a green light from a red light. This became evident one night as we came into port at New Haven on the Connecticut shore. It was most confusing as he did not know which side of the buoy he should go as one was red and one was green.
Big If
As we grew older Helen and I gave up sailing and acquired our first power cruiser. When we settled in Naples in 1970 our pleasure craft was a 36-foot Grand Banks 2-cabin yacht of the trawler type. Big If was its title as namesake of a horse.
Page 132: By coincidence, that same day of arrival in Naples there was in the Miami Herald its daily feature, “Today’s Chuckle.” The item read: “Life has a big IF in the middle of it.” We felt that way too!
Reason for ultimate disposal of the Big If was because it cruised at about 8.5 knots and we aspired to take part in some cruises of the Naples Yacht Club. This meant a boat showing more speed than the Big If could do. Its sale entailed a trade for a 26-foot MAKO fishing boat with two big outriggers. This we name the Ciao. In Italian, this has the same meaning as “Aloha” in Hawaiian.
Helen and I had great fun catching the king mackerel in the Gulf of Mexico between Key West and the 10,000 Islands around Marco Island. This vessel was hand built by MAKO’s owner for the Miami Boat Show. Its big cost was due to the hand crafted teak decks and accessories. After that marine exposition in Miami the Mako manufacturing plant burned down so the mold was gone.
The Ciao turned out to be a uniquely smart pleasure and fishing boat. Finally, it was given to our daughter Mimi, and son-in-law Bill Schultes, as Helen and I did not want two boats to care for.
Chin-Chin
For the Naples Yacht Club participation we had a 42-foot long fiberglass Bertram double cabin cruiser driven by two large Cummins diesels. Its speed enabled us to be competitive in the cruising and going up and down the Gulf and Atlantic coasts and southward to Key West.
Page 133: This was the Chin-Chin. Translated, it is defined as: “Used as a toast and to express greetings or farewell; to talk, especially casually or at random; idle chin-chin to pass a hot afternoon.”
Chin-Chin went out of our lives upon advice of Dr. Michael DeBakey, the renowned heart surgeon who operated on me in Houston in December 1975. This terminated our fun-at-sea careers as a yield to Nature’s inexorable process of aging.
(Photo) Caption: Our “Chin-Chin” at Captiva Island in 1974. Bill Henderson and I were playing golf while Helen and Mary remained on board.
NEXT: CHAPTER XVIII • BOATS ON WHEELS
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