A few years went by and it became difficult to make ends meet in the headboat passenger trade. Captain Ted announced that he was considering carrying cargo inter-island. He knew I was in the steamship business and he inquired as to how much he could charge. That kind of trade was built on a handshake, a promise and your reputation. And you gained a reputation if you could transport liquor with a good outturn. The thought of carrying cargo in this majestic vessel brought tears to my eyes. Anyway , he found a merchant to entrust him with 200 cases of rum as a nucleus and he was in the cargo business. Mr friend Lou P. and I flew down to Antigua(Br.) and looked for him in the yachting area around Nelson's Dockyard but he had TIKI on the St. John side of the island at a working pier.
And along side were the 200 cases rum, four crates of refrigerators and some lumber to be lashed on deck. His young crew wrestled the spirits on board and stowed the cases in the passenger staterooms along with the refrigerators. Lou & I in adjacent staterooms could hear the cargo creaking as we made our way down to Monserrat and then on to Martinique(Fr.) where the officious Customs & Immigration inspector wearing his kepi style cap greeted us. I knew that a repeat of this cargo operation would beat hell out of the boat. Then Ted announced that a prospective buyer was coming on board for the continuation of the voyage and we parted for our flight back to New York. As TIKI sailed out of Fort-de-France, Martinique I never saw her again.
tjs
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