Went by but knew better than to stop and
anchor back in the early 1980s
The drug activity was extensive in the Bahamas back then and was risky to be somewhere where drug transfers were taking place i.e.isolated
anchorages esp. on nights w/o any moon. These were not small operations and were carried out by serious dudes with modern motherships and small plane surveillance . I once spent an anxious night an a
remote anchorage as a transfer occurred that involved a Boston whaler that took a number
of
men the whole night to complete ,only a few yards from my
sloop.Anybody remember the Trinka?
There were other nights when I dashed below
deck to turn on my spreader lights to warn a helicopter skimming the surface at high speed that my
mast was there to trip him out of the sky_____no running lights of course,wouldn't have been pretty.
These pilots were unemployed vets fresh out of Viet Nam and already had been to Hell and back ,and had become addicted to an adrenaline soaked existence .Some also drove high speed watercraft as well ,and made interesting bar companions once the liquor began to flow.
Anybody remember the Cigarette
boat Blue Thunder?
Interesting times indeed, these midnight transfers often meant that some"cargo" would end up in the
water and since they were well wrapped they would ultimately be fished out by cruisers and gave new meaning to beach potluck gatherings.
................................luv you all................mike........................... ..