Reminiscences

Reminiscences - My Life’s Adventures By James Baur INTRODUCTION People tell me I should write about my sailing adventures all the time. I don’t think they are especially noteworthy and I also don’t think I’m a very good writer but I’ll give it a try and let people see for themselves. I figure I’ll write for a half hour a day and see what happens. I’m now in George Town on Great Exuma Island and I’m stuck here for the winter. I could think of many places that are a lot worse to spend 5 or 6 months. This might be a good place to add that I never wished to risk my life doing all the things I did. Each adventure was read about, carefully planned and I felt relatively safe. In reading a book about Teddy Roosevelt exploring the River of Doubt he said: “I have already lived and enjoyed as much life as any nine other men I know; I have had my full share, and if it is necessary for me to leave my bones in South America, I am quite ready to do so.” I would never make such a statement. A kid in class (I was a 6, 7 and 8 th grade teacher in a Staten Island public school) once asked how we knew the Bible was true. Before I responded another student spoke up and said it had to be true because no one would write that much if it wasn’t. This was from a group of kids who were not academically inclined. I feel a little like that except what I’m writing is true, at least based on my memory. We all know what happens to our memories -- the good things are remembered and the bad things are forgotten or modified to the point where they become interesting and fun. The agony and terror have long since dissipated. A friend, David Trenbirth, from Nova Scotia made several ocean trips with me and said we should start an organization called “Offshore Anonymous” and whenever the urge to sail offshore rears its ugly head we should call upon its members to remind us of the discomfort, expense, bad food, wet bunks, cramped conditions etc., and then forget about going back out on the ocean. Despite this, going out on the ocean, out of sight of land and everyone else is magical and beautiful. 1 CHAPTER I I began boating when I was in the eighth grade and a classmate of several years who I barely knew, Jack Kirkwood, invited me out on his new motor boat and I accepted his invitation. My mother knew his mother and they thought we would make a good match and they were right. He had a 9 or 10 foot pram with a small outboard, probably about 3 horsepower. His Dad took us down to the Richmond County Yacht Club, near where we lived in Great Kills, Staten Island. This was Jack’s first time out in the boat, which I only learned later and was actually quite honored to be chosen for its maiden voyage. Jack’s father brought us down to the dock and put the outboard on the dinghy and got it started. It was an eye opening experience. I enjoyed the day immensely, only seeing the water from a beach before this. My only experience with boats before this was the Staten Island Ferry and an old wooden box. The wooden box dated back to the time when I was about 8 years old and tried tarring the large open seams to make this box float. It created quite a mess for my mother to clean up. Needless to say the box didn’t make a boat. I was hooked with Jack’s boat and spent every day that he was available with him. We became very good friends and began learning about boats. Back in the 1950’s nearly all boats were made of wood and there were only a few boats in Great Kills harbor. We were required to stay in the harbor by Jack’s parents. Along the shore was an old wrecked rowboat. Jack and I patched some of the seams and pulled the boat back into the water. It floated and I had my first boat. We tied a line around a large rock and used this as an anchor. The boat lasted a few days before the wind blew it away and it disappeared. I hung around with Jack and his boat for two summers. I had a part time paper route delivering the local newspaper and began saving my money to purchase my own boat. After my sophomore year in high school I found an 11 ½’ runabout ( a boat meant to go fast with an outboard motor) that needed repair. I bought the boat for about $50 and made the repairs. Although not a lot of money, it was not insignificant either when a paper route only earned me about four or five dollars a week. I painted the boat and got it ready to launch. Unfortunately I didn’t have nearly enough money for an outboard motor. My father came to the rescue and one Saturday morning he took me down to Smitty’s Outboard Motors and helped me buy a 7 ½ Hp Johnson outboard. This was a great day. I might also add that I had just failed my German regents exam. My understanding German father did not hold this against me. Now I needed somewhere to put the boat; Lundy’s dock at the very entrance to the harbor rented stakes that you could tie a boat to for $20 a season. This was by far the lowest price in Great Kills and I rented a spot. Launching day was set. I rented a trailer and broke a bottle of soda over the bow cleat - denting the cleat. My father towed the boat to the harbor and I was in business. Every free moment was spent on the boat. Jack and I remained close friends but I began to meet other guys my age with power and sail boats and made new friends. Most of the boys I met were members on the Richmond County Yacht Club as their fathers were members. The paper route provided me with money for gas but spending money on anything 2 else was impossible. I was always looking for the extra dollar. Saving money became an obsession that has stayed with me my whole life. I knew every square inch of Great Kills Harbor and all the boats moored there. I followed my parents’ directive of staying near Staten Island and not going to New Jersey. One favorite place to visit was Hoffman and Swinburn Islands. Swinburn Island had been a quarantine station before Ellis Island and the buildings were all in ruin with only the walls standing. There wasn’t much to see there but Hoffman Island had been an old army base last used during World War II. The buildings were still intact although falling into ruins. You could visit the mess halls, the gymnasium, the huge swimming pool, the sleeping quarters, offices, and many other attractions. You had to be careful as one wrong step could see you falling through a second or third story ceiling that was on the verge of crumbling or that already had collapsed. It was illegal to visit these islands and occasionally a helicopter would chase us away but it was too tempting and we continued to go back to go back fairly frequently. I don’t think I told my parents of these adventures. Jack and I still hung out together and usually used my boat for going places as it was larger and had a bigger motor than his. One summer day when the weather was fairly calm we traveled across Raritan Bay to New Jersey (out of bounds, but who was to know) and traveled up a creek that led into Keyport, with marshes on both sides. The boat went fastest with two people when the second crew sat up on the bow. With 7 ½ HP the boat fairly flew along the water. The creek was the perfect place for this and as Jack sat on the bow as I steered up creek. At top speed I couldn’t see the submerged old refrigerator with the leg right beneath the water. We hit this object and we stopped dead. Jack didn’t and he flew off the bow and landed in the muddy creek. Water was pouring into the boat and it looked like we might sink. We dragged the boat into the marshes, stuffed rags into the hole and discovered that if we motored backwards very slowly we would be okay. We did this until we got back to the town of Keyport. We pulled up one of the forward floorboards and broke it about the size we needed to cover the hole. We purchased a couple of dozen screws and some caulking material. We caulked the area, put the piece of plywood in place and put the screws all around the edge. The patch worked so good that I used the boat the rest of the season with the hole. We told our parents we had an accident in Princess Bay Creek and we never got into trouble. Keeping the engine going was a struggle. The pull cord, or the choke, or propeller, or carburetor always needed attention and I knew nothing about mechanical appliances or engines.

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