"we''ll cash in our plane tickets, give you the cash so that you can buy food for your trip, and we'll come along with you."

We have just spent two days driving around the outskirts of Nashville, Tennessee, but haven’t managed to get into the city to see any of the sights! I won’t bore you with the reasons why. We feel tired out, we feel like skipping town and will head to Falls Creek State Park in Pikeville for a relaxing two days in the countryside. This is where Laurie’s grandma grew up, raising and training "Tennessee Walker” horses. Her land was sold years ago to the adjacent state park. Not much to say about Tennessee yet, so I would like to entertain you with a crazy unexpected journey
my father and stepmother took in the sixties. A whole different level of risk and adventure. In my father’s own words:

didi's and my dream island in 1967 happened to be cozumel, just  off the mexican mainland. more or less an unknown in those days. there was no real hotel there, so we stayed at a fisherman's house on the beach. it was great. simple, very quiet and at the end of the world. exactly where two lovers would wish to be. one day, we walked to the little island port. and there, to meet us, was this wonderful sight. moored at the little wooden quai was an ancient 3-masted yacht, its shining wood and gleaming brass fittings shimmered in the sunlight. and on the deck was the crew, all young and attractive looking. this whole scene was like something out of a movie. maybe it was, we thought.

so we got to talking with them. and they told us a strange story.

the captain was english, and a very experienced sailor. he had crossed the atlantic solo, and had commanded quite a few yacht crews. he had been commissioned by the yacht's owner to bring it from tahiti to new york, and with his small crew of 6 they had covered most of the distance uneventfully. but by the time they arrived in cozumel, they had completely run out of money and the ship's owner was unwilling or unable to provide further funds. they had not even enough food for the trip to miami, florida. and a brilliant robin idea was then formed in my mind. on the one hand was this great looking boat, perfect calm sea and brilliant blue sky. on the other hand was didi and robin, who had plane tickets to miami. and who saw this great opportunity. a win-win situation. "we''ll cash in our plane tickets, give you the cash so that you can buy food for your trip, and we'll come along with you." what a wonderful world. the crew thought it was an excellent idea. here was an end to rumbling, empty stomachs. but the captain gave us a word of warning. the gulf of mexico, which lay in front of us, was a most hazardous and unforseeable stretch of water. who knows what conditions lay in front of us? of course, i scoffed at this. just look at the perfect sea and sky. look at this marvellous boat. look at this dream carribean island. all is well  and always will be well, i told the captain. another little problem, the captain told us, was that there was a small leak somewhere in the hull. but that is minor, for the ship's pump can do it's work easily, as it has since tahiti.

with the couple of hundred dollars we gave the boat's cook, she rushed off to buy some food for the voyage. most of it turned out to be either bananas or quantities of tinned bully-beef, which looked like dogfood, but she insisted was also fit for humans. and before the magnificent sunset had faded into a sultry tropical night, we sailed off northwards. miami bound. and believe it or not, within hours, the wind rose. and rose and rose. could it be that the captain's warning might be coming true? of course not, i thought. as didi and i bunked down in ours miniscule cabin.

by the next morning, however, the beginnings of a storm were underway. which would have been not too serious. but it was evident to the captain, who was in more or less constant radio contact with the weather sevice, that much worse weather was in the offing. we were informed of hurricane warnings, and the necessity of avoiding the stretch of sea between cozumel and miami. avoiding? too late. we were right there. and hour by hour, the winds increased. and increased. we joined the crew on deck, helping to dismantle the sails, one by one. leaving one small sail up so as to keep the yacht's nose pointed into the waves. or at least to attempt to do so. and then the hurricane really hit us, and with it an amazing flood of rain, and on top of it all, the spray from the sea slashed at us all. this was getting serious, i thought, but much worse was held in store for us.

within hours, our one sail that was up, was ripped by the winds. the crew sat together for hours to repair it. thread and needle work. and finally, up it went once more. only immediately to be ripped to shreds this time. at the same time, the weather warnings on the radio were really getting serious. no boats whatsoever were either allowed to leave port, or to put into port (miami and key west). more news was unobtainable, and the crew were getting rather panicstricken. and then - our radio stopped receiving anything. but could we send a message? constantly the captain was trying to call for help. " yacht thane - sos" again and again we sent the message  out on our defunct radio. did anyone hear us? who knows. but then. for a few seconds, radio reception. happy moment. was it a sign that rescue was on the way? no idea, for the radio then went dead once more. and for the duration of the voyage.

by that time, everyone was seasick, the captain included. the waves were higher than a house, the boat was constantly shaken around, as though we were a nutshell  on the waters. due to the seasickness, i was in terrible shape. i've never felt so bad in my life, and remained in my tiny cabin, day and night, for the next 5 days. eating, drinking, talking was the last thing i needed. and as for the imminent sinking of our yacht, i might even have been thankful, that it would at least take me out of my misery. once didi asked me if i needed anything, and i croaked out "perhaps a cup of tea". but as she later told me, she went into the little galley, and saw all the food hanging on the walls and floor. so she quickly disappeared back on deck where she spent her days.

that night, the crew's panic went up one more notch. the mast had broken off this time. on top of that, as we were not far form cuba, the question was whether the hurricane would wreck us on that island. as most of the crew were american, that would have been, in those days, a certain sentence in prison for them. we even saw that evening a huge ocean liner passing near us, but as we had no functioning radio, and our little lights were not very visible, they sailed past us as though we did not exist. perhaps we didn't, and had already gone to the ocean floor. and were merely dreaming that we were still alive, even if barely. on deck were the entire crew, including didi, but without me. naturally they were all roped together - a precaution against a wave carrying someone overboard. it perhaps also gave them a miniscule sense of security and togetherness, in what must have been a most frightening close- to- death experience.

our 3 day sunny trip to florida had turned into a 7 day nightmare. but the sea eventually calmed down. what a relief - we were all alive, and i could finally come up on deck. watching the dolphins jump around the boat was the most agreeable sight i had seen in years. we had of course by that time no possibility of sailing into port, and only a tiny reserve of petrol left, but enough to guide us more or less in the direction of key west. we landed there, and took our first few steps on the quai like drunkards after a big night out. we had found heaven on earth.