Sailors may be drawn to this craft, this way, this life, because it jibes with the manner in which they’re already livin’. Forgive me, I should speak only for myself, but I want to assume that every sailor has within them the fickle adventurist; the character whose soul, having been trained, battered and bruised in that rat race, only wants to take off his shoes and become abysmally small, insignificant, no one, out on the big blue balloon. A sailor grants his naked existence to the water. A destination is imminent, though not determined by exact time and place. For now, it’s this, whatever this is. Allow me safe passage but be not hasty, for this is my life and I simply, humbly live for now and by the whim of the wind.
In late August of 2009, I bid farewell to the only region, people, and life that I really know. In the grand scheme of historical time and place, it’s not that big a deal. Life had grown ordinary. Oh, Lord, I’m fine with being misunderstood, but please, please don’t let me be ordinary. And so I sold and disposed of my stuff — all the years and piles of Me. Sentimental shit like a nickel-plated piggy bank that I’ve never not owned, pictures of awkwardly lost adolescence, and cards from my ex-wife. I watched Thursday morning garage sale rats sniff and rummage through tokens of my past. I wondered what it must be like for them. That is, so detached from those little things that I’m so attached to. They give me sweaty pocket change and waddle off with the tangible replica of my psyche tucked under flabby biceps or stuffed into a faux leather purse. Little did they know that the sentiment of those valuables stays right here with me.
This lady said, “You’re getting rid of this?” as she held that aforementioned piggy bank. It was a four-inch silver cube adorned with the alphabet and zoo animals.
“I’m getting rid of everything, lady,” I reminded her, since I told her the same thing when she arrived. “I meant everything.”
She continued to rummage and finally purchased the piggy bank.
I asked if she had kids.
“I have a three-year-old boy.”
“Perfect, it’s his now.”
“We’ll take care of it,” she replied and I wondered at the time if I’d just passed on the very amulet that’d been responsible for all the juju in my life. I wondered if her little boy would be blessed with wonderful people in his life; if he’d fall hopelessly in love over and over; if he’d dream bigger dreams than his little world could handle.
Anyway, I sold most of that stuff and, as my departure date approached, I set the rest of it out on a curb for the dirties to rifle through. On the mailbox, I taped a big sign that said, “Free”. Hell yeah, that shit was free — and so am I.
Okay, so Fort Lauderdale — or Fort Liquordale, as the chuckles like to put it. I’m going to judge the city having only lived there for three weeks. It’s got a long, beautifully established beachfront with bars and restaurants and a slithering short wall with a neon light that changes colors. The water is warm and pretty clear. I spent a lot of time at the beach, because it was free. I’d go to the bar just to nurse a $7 coconut rum and pineapple juice and hope to strike up a conversation with someone who would be part of my path. To me, what I’m doing is pretty interesting, but evidently I’m not so interesting to folks in those parts. There are good people everywhere in this life. I think that I just hadn’t found them in Fort Lauderdale in the short time I was there.
The crewhouse where I stayed while I was there is a duplex. Each unit of the duplex is a two bedroom apartment. Within each bedroom are two single beds, one dresser, and one closet. I shared a room with Kelvin, who is a 37-year-old Jamaican who’s been in the yachting industry since he was young. Kelvin is delightful and reverent. He works on a yacht during the day, comes home, fixes a stew of chicken, potatoes, and curry (I think), and flips through some American television. As reverent as he is, he has a healthy disdain for black males in American culture.
“Dey are eeediots, mon, all a dem. I guh down to da skeeting rink and dees eeediots walk aroun’ wit dey undawears showin’, totchin’ demselves. Fockeen eeediots, mon,” he exclaims. Oh, and when Kanye West grabbed that microphone from Taylor Swift, he was livid. Great guy, Kelvin is. He worked pretty hard to talk to his people to find me a job. Nothing ever came, but I’m grateful nonetheless.
Our other housemate was Arol, an older guy from Turkey who is very soft spoken and, in simple terms, quite insightful about the industry. His English is well established, but he claims he could improve his reading and writing. I admired the way he would sit at the computer and read Wikipedia pages about whatever was on his mind and take notes — electrical currents, the Galapagos Islands, baseball, whatever.
I spent the first two weeks feverishly and fruitlessly talking to crew job search agencies around town and walking the docks talking to people who may need work. The job market is very discouraging; more so than I’d expected it to be. I’d have lengthy conversations with well-traveled captains who were concerned about their jobs. The prospect of them hiring a dude from Kansas who’s never been on the ocean was grim. Most people at the agencies and on the boats were very cordial, admired my plight, and wished me well.
Several unforeseen financial setbacks and the disheartening job market had me sitting at home a lot after those first two weeks. I’d peck around the internet and submit my resume to jobs that sounded the least bit suitable. Nobody would respond. Trying to live in the moment, I’d head to the beach for a swim, listen to the iPod, or read. I also downloaded the four seasons of HBO’s The Wire that I hadn’t seen yet. (I know, not quite the adventure you were thinking I was on. But, goddamn, that’s some quality freakin’ programming. The Wire is a well written series that details Baltimore’s drug problem from all points of view — the users, street level dealers, kingpins, foreign suppliers, the detectives who want to solve crimes, the politically motivated upper echelon cops, politicians, and media. Interesting and deep character development. Oh, whatever, best show ever, in my opinion. But I digress.)
I’ll highlight a few notable happenings in Fort Lauderdale. It’d been my goal to seek out musicians in the area, so I’d been combing Craigslist to see what’s out there. Three days after I arrived there was an open mic night at the Octopus Garden hosted by a band, who would open with a set then take a break for some amateurs to come up. These guys were all plugged in to their amps and sounded great. They played a few songs and there weren’t many people there, so I signed up. I brought my acoustic up there and plugged it in for 5 songs — Bananas and Blow and She Wanted to Leave by Ween, Driftless by Greg Brown, Redemption Song by Bob Marley, and One by U2. The applause was light and no tomatoes were thrown by the growing crowd, so my ego was fed. The band was quite established and working in the area, so it wasn’t quite the circle of pluckers I’ve been seeking out; like, for me, the greatest musicians alive, who play whatever, however, and to whomever is walking by the landing at Perry Yacht Club.
About a week and a half after I’d been in Fort Lauderdale, I was sitting out back of the crewhouse on a picnic table playing guitar. This lanky, disheveled and dreadlocked character peered out from the porch of one of the other crewhouses — there are about 7 of these places that share a common rear courtyard. He walked over to find out if, indeed, someone was playing guitar. He asked if I’d join them for a beer. He and his two buddies were some gypsy-looking bros with combat boots, black jeans, long hair, plaid, denim vest, etc… Everyone I’d met in Fort Lauderdale to that point had a standard haircut, khaki shorts above the knees, collared polo tucked in, white sneakers, and a digital watches. Their laughter is timed and exaggerated like a bad sitcom (i.e., According to Jim, King of Queens, anything with Jeff Foxworthy or his idiot friends). I’m a bit out of place in trying to look for work on yachts in Ft Lauderdale with my little ponytail, baggier shorts, and Air Jesus sandals. Now, these hippie bros stood out like Fred Phelps at a Scissor Sister’s concert…and it was much welcomed. These cats were in town for the past week taking a course for certification at Maritime Professional Training (same course, same school that I attended in March). They were on their last night here and found some microbrews at a local market for $3.50/6-pack. They also had some bourbon, some fresh lime from that tree over there, and a freakin’ coconut that the lanky dude climbed a tree for. He had forearm abrasions to show for it. We spent the evening talking about humanity, the establishment, spirituality, and music while sucking down good beer and cocktails concocted of bourbon and the fruits of Florida’s climate. I brought out my laptop and we listened to Ween’s 12 Golden Country Greats (only 10 tracks on this album, by the way) and a shuffle through Air albums. I also played a few songs on guitar for them. Nick, Kyle, and Chris were their names. Chris, the lanky one, as grimy and disheveled as he was, reminded me of my good friend Cameron Bond from Washington High. From the moment he spoke, I felt the same kinship with him. The night was a little slice of reality that I’d needed at the time; a welcome break from the superficial regimen of almost scripted conversation I’d had to that point.
I also met a young man from Johannesburg, or JoBurg, South Africa, who was on the same type of wandering as me. He was the only one of three brothers to have finished college and his father advised him to go on a little adventure before he gets shackled into a career. So, Fletch — yeah, that’s a variation of his middle name, Fletcher, which he uses because he doesn’t like his first name — came to look for work on boats. We found comfort in the similar lack of success in finding work and also music and movies and other topics. Fletch is a little cleaner than I am, superficially, and he’s also a dive instructor. He’ll have no trouble finding work if he sticks to it. I got a call to help a guy shrink wrap a yacht in preparation for shipping. It was just a day job. While on the phone with the guy, I told him I had a friend, Fletch, who was also in need of some work. This guy obliged to have Fletch along as well and Fletch thought the world of my mentioning him to this prospective employer. We spent the next day shrink wrapping a boat, which, I’ve heard, wastes more plastic than grocery bags each year. Unfortunately, this is no concern to the super rich as they are not affected, being also made of plastic. I haven’t heard from Fletch for a couple weeks, since I’ve somewhat relocated.
There are other things to mention like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches; the dearth of Camel Wide Menthol Lights in Florida; the hookers that corral about The Booby Trap adult store around the way from the crewhouse; how you wake up to sunshine thinking about the beach and, by the time you scratch your ass and roll outta bed, it’s goddamn monsoon season again; the lizards that eat most the bugs; pretty sure the maid stole my Bluetooth earpiece; the night I and this Australian bosun partnered to run the pool table; and seeing the end of my financial stability.
Seeing an end to the means by which I would pay to sleep some place, I’ve been blessed with having my good friend Gene Glover in the area. He has moved into a new apartment. He’ll have a roommate moving in around the end of October and I have a place to crash for a bit in Margate, FL, about 25 minutes northwest of Fort Lauderdale. Gene works tirelessly as a high school teacher by day and personal trainer by night. Though we don’t see much of each other, by his good graces, I’m able to keep my head above the figurative waters of pricey South Florida.
This past week has been a serendipitous, exciting shift in winds. At the moment, I’m sitting at the table in the cabin of a 2005 47-foot Beneteau, which is a sailboat for all you landlubbers. College football is muted on that flat screen, coffee on the table, and a Sam Cooke channel on Pandora filling the air. Last week, my brother Jonny’s fraternity brother, Robby Haas, called to see how things were going for me. He informed me that his father, Jim, would be in Jupiter, FL, on Wednesday and staying a week to do some work on the sailboat he keeps at the Jupiter Yacht Club. I called Jim on Friday and he invited me up for the night.
As soon as I was granted permission on board, I was also drinking Tanqueray on the rocks, while Jim showed me around this beautiful vessel. He pointed out the battery project that he would, for a few days, mentally and physically toil over. (Stop! At this very moment, I’m having deja vous about writing this. If you know my theory, you know that I’m right on track in life. Fuck yeah! Okay, back to the boat.) I finished my gin and had a subsequent Sierra Nevada Pale Ale — thanks, Robby, I hear it was yours. Then, we went out for a delicious dinner at Leftovers. Jim has been a perfect host and tour guide as we ran errands and worked on his boat. He’s also introduced me to Rob King, who seems to understand my plight and is working tirelessly on the phone to find me a voyage. Rob is an energetic character who knows many people around the area. He’s got a delightful, humorous personality and it’s no wonder that people would do him a favor. I gather he’s done many people many favors over the years.
Jim and I met Rob for lunch at a hot dog place on Monday. This would be my first meeting with him. I told him that I had a nice conversation with a sailboat captain up in New England who had very politely turned me down for a position about which I was inquiring. This man said he couldn’t possibly take the risk of traveling over the Gulf Stream with a crew member that doesn’t know if he gets seasick. Fair enough.
Rob asks, “Well, do you get seasick?”
“I dunno, I’ve never been on the sea.”
“Well, we need to find out,” Rob suggests. The next day, we were out on a 32′ fishing boat bobbing around in about 5-foot swells, nothing major. Jim took me out for Margaritas the night before to give me a bit of a disadvantage. I also ate a pretty big sub sandwich on the boat. I didn’t feel any seasickness and Rob says, “Now ya know.” Good enough for me.
Since then, he’s called me several times saying call this guy, call that guy, email your resume here. Yesterday, I went out on a 65-foot Stuart sport fishing vessel with a guy who needed a hand while he checked out his new transducer. I’m very fortunate to have met Jim Haas and Rob King.
The first story I remember about Jim Haas took place about 10 years ago. His daughter Stacy severed her foot in a riding lawn mower accident. I remember hearing shortly after how Jim was working diligently at designing a prosthetic foot for his daughter, talking to prosthetic manufacturers, and learning the details of this practice. That always stuck with me the way some stories do. I’d never met Jim before last Friday, but I would remember that story about him forever. I pictured a man distraught over this tragic disadvantage inflicted on his daughter, spending days and nights eagerly learning about how to make it right, and believing wholeheartedly that he could. It’s a beautiful thing.
Now that I know Jim, I wouldn’t expect anything less from him. He tinkers and designs and learns and tinkers some more. He’s got a big, big heart and a good sense of humor. He’s letting me crash here for a few days while I knock off some detail work from his to-do list. Maybe Rob King will find me some work or maybe I drift on to something different. But, for right now, I’ve been blessed with this little break and I’m very much enjoying — somewhat indulgently — my time.
I can’t grow disgruntled at poor weather, I did that in Fort Lauderdale — mad as hell, wondering why people don’t call back, pouting about being uninteresting to those who don’t know me, pessimistic about what this little adventure has in store. I really can’t do that anymore, because the universe will provide for me what I need as long as I let it, trust it. Yeah, it’s some hocus pocus shit, but I’ve seen it happen. Fighting it, muscling it, willing it to fit my needs doesn’t work. Letting it does. Just being does. That’s what this adventure was supposed to be about — subjecting myself to the whim of the wind.
