Jazz Plus

Last Saturday's NYTimes obituary page ran a feature on one "Teddy Charles , 84, Jazz Musician turned sea captain." When I still worked in Philadelphia in the 1970s I joined a sailing club working out of City Island in the Bronx run by Teddy Charles who had a schooner berthed there and took club members out on Long Island Sound for a week-end sail. The wind dictated whether we headed north to Connecticut for lobsters or to Greenport or Shelter Island in New York waters. One sunny Sunday afternoon while motoring back to base he suddenly cut the engines and we drifted right out in the middle of the Sound. Teddy then inflated six innertubes and threw them in the water followed by sunburned sailors and we had a water ballet going that would have impressed Billy Rose. Teddy had a U.S. Coast Guard license and taught me all about sailing. He was quite a character - his New York patois and bald head resembled Phil Silvers (Sgt. Bilko). We knew he was a musician but had no idea of his achievements as listed in the obit. He once told us of sitting in with Benny Goodman at the Paramount theater one New Year's Eve and said "the joint was jumpin". I sailed with him up the Hudson and down in the West Indies where he ran the 90 foot schooner TIKI among the islands. With passengers scarce he decided to carry cargo inter-island and won a contract (handshake) to carry rum
which denoted reliability and respectability. He knew I worked in the shipping industry so one day called me to ask "How much should I charge?" He was planning to sell the TIKI so I joined him in Antigua for the final voyage - he had his youthful crew stowing the cases of rum in the staterooms which the American Bureau of Shipping would frown on. So sailing down to Montserrat and Martinique we could hear the cargo creaking in the "hold". He had lumber lashed on deck and we felt like a genuine "rum runner." I bade farewell to him in Martinique as he was preparing to turn the boat over to the prospective new owner.
During the Bicentennial Celebration on July 4, 1976 Ted Charles had three boats in the spectator parade. The boats were being hosted by the yacht clubs on the Sound and I joined the MARY E  at Mamaroneck Y.C. and on Saturday we sailed down the East River single file and anchored just north of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to await the Tall Ships on Sunday which was the greatest sight on water for this landlubber. Perhaps they can use a Coast Guard certified vibraphonist in Heaven.
tjs
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