Schooner TIKI (Part III)

Meandering thru the Virgin Islands. Captain Ted always took on a local lad in the crew who knew the many islands by their mountain silouette against the sky as there were no charts available. One afternoon we heard on the ship's radio that a charter sloop had gone aground nearby. It was manned by four experienced charter boat sailors who somehow let their dinghy go adrift and made the mistake of chasing it into shallow water and their bottom got caught. When we saw them they were at about a sixty degree angle. There were no tugboats in that part of the world - the TIKI was the biggest thing in the neighborhood. By now there was a Coast Guard helicopter overhead and Captain Ted asked their permission to permit his boat to attempt to pull the sloop off the beach. With permission granted he sent our crew and dinghy over to the stranded boat with a line which the sailors tied around their mast. Ted ordered us down below and took a strain on the tow line - the first time it parted with a snap and we were glad we were under cover. A second try was successful and we pulled the shaken sailors along side and we could see their bent rudder which would not sit well with the charter boat owner. But they were safely afloat minus their dinghy and after a sip of scotch to calm the nerves they thanked us and were on their way. All this with a flotilla of spectator boats observing this act. As they used to say "Just an average day in the West Indies."
tjs
(To be continued)

Schooner TIKI (Part II)

My maiden voyage on TIKI would be thru the Virgin Islands (the locals called them Wirgin) with the jump off from Tortola (Br.). A small plane dropped us off at Tortola and I, wearing a yatchman's blue blazer, was sped thru British Customs. But several of my shipmates with long hair and wearing jeans were subjected to a thorough baggage inspection. There is a message there. Tortola is hot, not touristy and is primarily a charter center for the Caribbean. The captain wanted to show us the exotic island of Jost Van Dyke a short sail away where Foxy operated a bar on the beach with a few lanterns hanging (there was no electricity) and a pig on the spit with sweet smoke wafting thru the trees - which was not smoke from the pit fire. Next time I vowed to bring a flashlight. With the islands so close together it was a short sail to St. John (U.S.) where Rockefeller had built the Caneel Bay resort whose logo was a symbol for the extinct Arawak Indian tribe. We dropped anchor off the beach - took our dinghy ashore and were offered yachtman's courtesy as we commandeered their patio where the bar specialty of the day was frozen peach daiquiris of which we consumed a few. Then it was back on board TIKI to await the sunset and the "green flash" as the sun plunged vertically into the sea.
tjs
(To be continued)

Schooner TIKI (Part I)

Circa 1959/1962 there was a TV series on ABC called The Adventures in Paradise adapted from a story by James Michener. Featured in the series was a 90 foot schooner named TIKI and the venue was the South Pacific i.e. Tahiti in the Society Islands. Boats of this type often  change ownership  and about ten years later she was operating as a charter boat in the West Indies. At about this time (1972) I had joined a sailing club working out of City Island in the Bronx run by a U.S. Coast Guard certified captain whose name was Ted Charles (now deceased). Ted was a real character who resembled Phil Silvers with his bald head and glib delivery. When he wasn't on the water he sometimes had a gig playing piano in a Greenwich Village club and once told me that he had sat in with Benny Goodman on a New Year's Eve midnight show. Must have been a blast. One Sunday in the middle of Long Island Sound he stopped engines and we drifted with the current while he threw inner tubes over the side and we had a water ballet rivaling that of Billy Rose. But the real excitement came when I learned that Ted had become part of the new ownership of the TIKI and he invited me to join him some time "down island" and that's when the adventures in paradise came closer to home.
(To be continued)
tjs

Nostalgia

This time of year - July - I recall my first ocean cruise - the year was 1956. I approached it with a mixture of excitement and trepidation as that was the month and year the ANDREA DORIA went down after a collision with the STOCKHOLM off Nantucket. My seaworthy home for a week was the old S.S. NASSAU (pictured above) of the Incres Nassau Line - Italian flag - Genoese crew - with stops in Nassau in the Bahamas and Havana, Cuba.  At the Nassau dock the little boys were diving for quarters with the strains of calypso in the air.  The town had a distinct British flavor. Havana back then was so different. This was several years before Castro came down from the mountains and the dictator Batista was still in charge as viewers of the "Godfather" series will recall. There was the contrast of poverty and luxury. The ordinary folks had their lottery and cock fights to keep them occupied and the plush casinos entertained the wealthy and the tourists. The night life was exotic. All that changed abruptly by 1959.  And the good ship NASSAU brought us home with the ship's band playing their theme "Arrivederci Roma" every afternoon at tea.
tjs
Next - TBA (MON.)

The Elusive Workout pill

Couch potatoes rejoice! Scientists are working on a pill that will simulate exercise without ever having to get off the divan. For now they are injecting mice who were more physically lazy and inactive than they had been before the injections. They were getting a workout minus the effort. Those animals proved to be anti-athletes just like some of us humans. A medical professional opined that the "drug seems to act as an exercise mimic." But don't throw away your gym shoes yet.
tjs
Next - TBA
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/17/exercise-in-a-pill-the-search-continues/

Location, Location

As the song goes "The Bronx is up and the Battery's down!" Our office in Manhattan was at Number One Broadway - a classic address at the bottom of Broadway and adjacent to Battery Park. In 1976 the offices were not air conditioned and we opened the tall windows to take in the sounds and smells emanating from the park - the sweet smoke of "maryjane", the guitar player singing his rendition of Rhinestone Cowboy and a strange fellow who constantly yelled out "Cry Aloud!" for all to hear. In the fall if the Yankees won the World Series their parade up Broadway would begin outside our window and the phones went unanswered. On July 4, 1976, during the Bicentennial Celebration, the Tall Ships paraded up the harbor right past our windows. I didn't mind being excluded as I was on the water that day in a spectator boat topping off a fabulous weekend. (Apropos of the famous address a friend stationed in Japan told me that everyone in Tokyo wanted to be "Chome Number One" which must have driven the postman nuts. Not unlike everyone in New Jersey wanting a Princeton P.O.Box)
tjs
Next -TBA

High Cost of Cruising

Headline - "Cruise ship Hot-Tubbing literally may cost an arm and a leg."
A U.S. District Court class action alleges flesh eating bacteria lurking in cruise lines "hot tubs."
A passenger on a cruise ship in December 2011 claims he contracted  "hot tub folliculitis" from a whirlpool. The severe infection nearly cost him his leg. Slow news day - suggest do not read before breakfast.
tjs
Next - TBA

Rooney Rant

Notwithstanding the flurry of hand held electronic devices, there are still some households with TV sets - each equipped with that marvelous invention - "The Remote" - whoever controls the remote, controls the world! And then there is the "mute" button with its magnetic attraction. Now, I don't know about you, but I have had it up to here (here being my eyeballs) with the incessant recitation of medical side effects i.e. nausea, dizziness, sexual dysfunction - and how about constipation OR diarrhea - there's an option for you.  It almost makes one yearn for a beer commercial.  As I harken back to the big bad 1960s there were no medical alerts when Don Draper cajoled you to smoke that smooooth cigarette - particularly when seventy percent of doctors were using that brand. And the little bellhop walking thru the hotel lobby calling you to try his brand. The siren lure of the Lorelei!
I recall one tobacco brand's motto "Not a cough in a carload!" And on it went. Ah, but no side effects pounded into the eardrums.  Now the lawyers are running the institution - but please don't take my remote away.
tjs
Next - TBA

Blondes Have All the Fun

My apologies to anyone offended by the following submitted by an anonymous F'booker:
A blind man entered a bar and found his way to a stool and sensed a female presence next to him. To break the ice he offered to tell her a "blonde" joke.  Before you do, she said, I want you to know that I am blonde  - six foot tall - and just returned from the gym. And the barmaid is also blonde and has a black belt in martial arts. And the owner at the end of the bar is also blonde and she just finished a triathlon. Now, do you still want to tell that "blonde" joke? The fellow replied "Not if I have to explain it three times!" Ouch!
tjs
Next - TBA (Mon.)

A Double Life

In the break-bulk era on the Philadelphia waterfront we had a steady stream of cargo claims from breakage, loss or pilferage. As the backlog grew we hired a male steno typist to assist in getting current. Merton was unmarried and it was a time when gayness was still in the closet and he proved to be a crackerjack worker and also enjoyed the masculine waterfront environment. Voila! The backlog of cargo claims was current. One morning Merton failed to appear for work. His apartment super was called to look in on him. When they entered his apartment they found him in his birthday suit with five slugs in his body and a wardrobe of womens' clothes in his closet. He had obviously been moonlighting. We made the local papers for one day and the homicide detectives visited our pier office to interview our staff. The crime remained unsolved. I only mention this following my "Corner Man" story as both Merton and Arnold met tragic endings  - and they both came out of our "small world" on the Philadelphia waterfront.
tjs
Next - TBA
(Above excerpted from Eagle Blue No. 28 -April 27, 2006 - Philadelphia Waterfront Profiles)

Brevity, Brevity

The trend today in communications is to keep it short whether texting, instagram or observing the limits of Twitter - forget salutations or felicitations - there is no time for those niceties - and it is a shame. While I have been out of the market place for some time I do recall the overflowing in-box and can sympathize with those of you on the treadmill. Some years ago much of our commercial exchanges were via Western Union. I seem to recall they had a simple rate structure that graduated after ten words so even back then there was economy in keeping the verse terse. Circa 1915 my mother was working for a firm in Kensington - most employees walked to work or took the trolley. One winter day there was a severe snow storm that shut down the trolleys and prevented pedestrian traffic as well. But one persevering fellow made it in to the office and seeing an opportunity for brown-nosing recognition,  sent the following message to the boss via Western Union: "IN THOUGH SICK - FEW OTHERS HERE." - Succinct and self-serving!
tjs
Next - A Double Life

Let'em Eat Cake

Last Sunday, July 14th was Bastille Day commemorating the French Revolution. If I were in Cape May N.J. I would have run the tri-color up the flag pole beneath the Stars and Stripes.My first trip to Paris was in 1964 on a Thomas Cook tour and I hit all the tourists spots. (I opted out of the "sewer tour". But fifteen years later I was back there on company business and they put me up in the Meurice Hotel which I learned had been the Nazis' headquarters during WWII. Hitler had ordered the city to be torched but his officer corps were enjoying the fruits (and vines) of this fabulous city from 1940/1944 and dragged their feet and Paris was preserved.  LeHavre was our port of call for the cargo ships and also for the fortnightly visits of the S.S. UNITED STATES from 1952 to 1969. At the entrance to the breakwater there were the remnants of a German U-Boat "pen." Check the movie CASABLANCA for a stirring rendition of the French national anthem "La Marseillaise" or on You Tube.
tjs
Next -Brevity, brevity.

Criminal Pursuit

The Mob is back in the news - one of the old New York families. There was a time when their activities consisted of loan sharking, extortion, "protection", intimidation and the like. But now they are coming into the 21st century and "upgrading."  The current indictment involves a multi-million dollar online sports betting operation in Costa Rica and also plans to sell pills for E.D. i.e.  Viagra type for $5.00 each. The Manhattan D.A. said "Times have changed since Jimmy Hoffa disappeared."
But he doesn't seem to go away. Anyway, the photo in the NY Times was right out of "Goodfellas".
tjs
Next -Brevity, brevity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/nyregion/new-charges-against-bonanno-family-suggest-it-controlled-a-union.html?ref=nyregion

Doe, a Deer

The east bank of the Hudson River is dotted with charming river towns one of which is the village of Hastings-on-Hudson - all 2.2 square miles- sandwiched between Yonkers to the south and Dobbs Ferry to the north. I once lived in Hastings from 1976 to 1985 and never once saw a deer. All this has changed as the town is being overrun by deer and the deer tick is causing many cases of lyme disease.
Shooting them is out of the question in such a concentrated residential area. To the rescue comes the scientists from Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine offering "birth control" - immunocontraception by vaccine. This is in keeping with the village's "strong character of nonviolence."
tjs
Next - Criminal Pursuit
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/06/nyregion/providing-birth-control-to-deer-in-an-overrun-village.html?_r=0

The Corner Man

The resurfacing of the Jimmy Hoffa mystery recalled to mind the following:
Some years ago we put on the pier payroll a young man named Arnold G. as a combination gofer/chauffer. He grew up in South Philadelphia and his boyhood friend became a prominent middleweight boxer going by the name Joey G.  Arnold would disappear for weeks at a time and the next time we would see him would be on TV from Las Vegas working the corner at one of Joey's fights - wearing the white sweater and carrying the bucket and sponge - he was advising! By and by Joey retired from the ring but Arnold kept his hand in the business and we had heard he was managing several Puerto Rican fighters. One day Arnold disappeared for real and they found his Cadillac at the Philadelphia Airport. The rumor was that something had gone "awry" in the ring and that our friend had taken up residence in the Tinicum Wildlife Preserve near the airport. Baffling and chilling. The Arnold I knew wouldn't hurt a fly.
tjs
(Reprinted from The Eagle Blue Chronicles No. 28 - April 27, 2006)
Next -Doe, a Deer.

A Friendly Game of Golf

Some years ago my colleague Doran was assigned as the U.S. Lines sales manager in Japan. As he knew the Japanese were avid golfers he invited several of our clients to a friendly foursome at a local club. Normally, at the first tee players will exchange truthful handicaps and make some nominal wagers to make things interesting. But this day one of our guests went over to Doran's golf bag to count the number of clubs in his bag. Officially, the maximum limit is fourteen - more than enough to weigh down the caddy. But he could sense that this was not to be the friendly outing he expected.
Banzai!
tjs
Next - The Corner Man

Local Color

Some friends are planning to move to Brooklyn, a borough of neighborhoods. Many apartment dwellers there socialize in rooftop settings. My first summer in New York our offices were located down in the Battery and most of the secretarial staff came in from Brooklyn on the subway. One Monday morning our secretary arrived bearing a considerable week-end sunburn the kind you might get out fishing on the water or at the local pool. When asked where she was she replied "Tar Beach".
That was the first time I learned of the rooftop activity in such heavily populated locations. It just proves "Ya gotta know the territory."
tjs
Next - A Friendly Game of Golf