May 27 2008
Further Adventures With Andy and His Men…
Shortly before cocktail hour at the Current Club on the day I had acted as a lifeguard for Andy and his men, Captain Joe dropped by the office to tell me that “Andy really appreciated your watching out for his boys in the water, it was good therapy for them and something that they don’t get to do very much in Canada.”
“Anything for our guests, Joe,” I replied. “But tell me a bit about your friend Andy, one of his buddies has what looks like a fairly recent wound in his shoulder; he was exercising it in the water and getting teased about being ‘careless’ by some of the other men.”
Joe looked a bit uncomfortable and glanced around to make sure there was no one withing earshot. He then explained that he had met Andy in Miami when he was day sailing off of Miami Beach and advertising the Bonfire Restaurant with an insignia on his mainsail. Andy had chartered with him for several years and had been comfortable with Joe. “He tries to be normal and relax on vacation once in a while…..Andy’s fairly high up in the Mafia in Canada, and has to get away once in a while.” “He’s always been straight with me, pays his bills and is good to all his friends and family….so I like him.”
A couple of days later Joe told me that Andy wanted to sail to Nassau on the “Bonfire” on Thursday, stay overnight at Yacht Haven, and have his plane take them all back to Canada from Nassau. “Could you give me a hand on the way down?” he asked. “Weren’t you going to the Big Island anyway?” Always ready for a sail, I agreed. I figured I could do my errands on Friday and catch the afternoon flight back to North Eleuthera.
As usual, Thursday was a bright and sunny day with a fine northeast breeze, perfect for a beam reach down the chain of islands to Nassau. Andy and his men loaded their gear on the Bonfire and we all set off right after breakfast.
After we cleared Current Cut under power and were on course for Current Light, I took the wheel while Joe supervised the guests and got the sails up. We bore off for Nassau and a short while later, a couple of Andy’s men brought several duffle bags up on deck and proceeded to pass out handguns and ammo to their buddies. Joe brought up a trash barrel with a few weeks of beer and liquor bottles which became floating targets for volley after volley from the men lining the port side of the “Bonfire”. The game of marksmanship lasted for several hours, interspersed with debates on who was the best shot, and by the time we reached Nassau the artillery was packed away, and Joe and I were thanked for a wonderful trip!
This was obviously a sail that I would never forget….and as they say, in the Caribbean the Carnival Never Stops…NEVER!
By Dann Lewis - May 27, 2008
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