Sailors log

People who often read the Coffee Plantation Blog would know that "Mike" Mongo, our island's own KING of Key West, is a very regular customer of the Coffee Plantation.
Mongo lives on his Sailboat in the Key West historic seaport harbor, just past Wysteria Island.
To travel from and to his floating home he has a 9' little boat with a little outboard engine. Very cute...
Last Monday, the first coldfront hit the Florida Keys, and boy it got cold! The wind was blowing worse than hurricane Ernesto, and the temperature dropped to a chilly 70's degrees.
A sailor's nightmare was about to happen, a sailor's nightmare was about to come true.
Read how Key Westers take care of Key Westers,
A True story
In his own words......

Here's what happened yesterday.

I was taking my skiff across the harbor at 4 am and had a passenger I was taking to ashore to another island. The wind was blowing 35 (!) knots from the North.

Somewhat further than mid-way between my boat and the harbor from which I had left, the boat stalled, and I was blown hard to the shore of another island. I managed to get it re-started with out getting my leg chopped by the prop by getting out of the boat and pushing it hard against the wind, jumping in, and pulling the starter cord like hell.

We proceeded on. Then the big wave hit.

It swamped the boat, and sunk us in less than 10 seconds time. In the pitch black darkness, everything began moving away, including the guy, Terry, who I was giving a lift. I commanded Terry to grab a life preserver. (I had wisely kept at least three in the skiff at all times.) He did. Then he began to quickly be swept away. That's when I made that, " UNIVERSE THIS IS MONGO I AM IN THE WATER AND NEED HELP HERE NOW," sound I can make. Like a really freaking loud fog horn sounding with intense demanding authority . Intense. Scary. Iffy?

But it worked, and another live-aboard nearby heard me, jumped out of bed, and immediately reacted. (Incidentally, it was a friend, an older rugged weathered guy named Tony.) He realized it was me, and I shouted to him that "I'm okay," and that "there's another man in the water." Tony gets into his dinghy, cuts it loose, and goes after the other man.

Now here's the part I don't remember. Somehow, I swam my submerged dinghy/skiff (with attached engine) from where I was in the current to Tony's boat. Then I do remember tying it off, and climbing aboard. Later this same day, I barely move it with another man and a powered boat. Like I said, somehow, right?

Aboard Tony's boat I quickly stripped down and watched a bobbing safety light for twenty minutes that was Tony's headlamp as he fought the wind and waves and current to retrieve Terry. It turns out that Terry cannot swim at all. Not only that, here's wearing boots, which he actually kept on. (When Tony got to him, he was in control but terrified. When I saw him he was indeed visibly shaken. Tony said he "looked real paniced." I'll bet.

Nonetheless, after that period of time, I see Tony's lamp headed back in my direction. And in a few tense moments, I see that he has Terry. Tony makes it back, and gets everyone out of wet clothes and into dry towels. Than he makes a bed for Terry and for me, and everyone crashes.

Wow.

Yesterday, I spent retrieving my skiff, and my engine (which at last fell off and sank 20 feet into the ocean). And wow its good to be the luckiest, loudest guy in the room.

M