What a Week!

Chapter 1: The Gulf Crossing

As planned, we left Crooked Island early Wednesday afternoon, December 12th, and arrived at White City about 4:00 p.m. It was foggy the next morning so Todd spent a little time fishing and came back to the boat with a nice flounder. We left White City at 10:00 a.m., after the fog cleared, and ran in to dense fog a few miles before we reached Miller Marine in Apalachicola. We topped off with fuel and the fog appeared to be clearing about an hour later, so we tried to leave and were back tied to the dock within 15 minutes. It was 2:00 in the afternoon and the fog was so thick on the south side of the bridge that we couldn't see 200 feet in front of us! We waited all afternoon for the fog to lift but it never did.

The Captain took this photo from the Gulf looking back at Crooked Island.

About 4:00 that afternoon we heard a boat hailing Miller Marine on the VHF but Miller wasn't answering so Todd answered the call and asked if he could help. Jack, the captain of the boat "Flagmaker," and his crew member John were headed south in the fog and were looking for Miller Marine. He asked if Todd could shine a light his direction so he could find the dock. Todd turned on the spotlight and "Flagmaker" materialized out of the fog a few moments later. We were both planning to leave to do the crossing that evening but were not interested in trying to navigate through Apalachicola Bay in dense fog, so we ended up spending the night at Miller Marine.

We woke up Friday to more dense fog but it finally started clearing about 11:30 so we left the dock with "Flagmaker" and made an impromptu decision to go out into the Gulf through Government Cut to do the crossing. "Flagmaker" was able to travel quite a bit faster than "Life's2Short" so we lost sight of Jack and John within a few hours and continued on our own.

Sometime that evening, after dark and about 60 miles into the crossing, the oil pressure gauge on the starboard engine started fluctuating wildly so Todd shut down the engine and we continued on one engine which caused our speed to drop from about 9.5 mph to 7.5 mph. This may not sound like much but it added more than two hours to what was already going to be an incredibly long trip. Our auto pilot was also not working which made steering more difficult than we had ever imagined.  When you are out in the Gulf with absolutely nothing to orient yourself to, it is virtually impossible to keep the boat on course without fighting the wheel constantly, and even then you are off course more than you are on!

About 12:30 a.m., twelve hours into the crossing, the wind and seas picked up and we began taking waves on the bow making for a very uncomfortable ride and making steering even more difficult. We arrived at the entrance to the Crystal River channel about daybreak (6:45 a.m.) but had been dodging crab pots with the spotlight for two hours prior, straining to see through periods of light showers. We were just grateful at this point that there was no fog!

Our friend Bob who lives in Crystal River came out to Shell Island in his boat to meet us and escorted us the rest of the way to King's Bay where we tied up in a slip at Pete's Pier Marina. We had planned to anchor out in King's Bay but the forecast for the next day was stormy with winds gusting 40 to 50 mph so we decided the marina was our best option. Bob helped us get the boat secured and then had a couple of Bloody Mary's before leaving us to crash at 10:30 a.m., 23 hours after we left Miller Marine the previous day. At this point I had been awake 27 hours and Todd had been awake 28 hours. Needless to say, we were both beyond worn out!

Chapter 2: "Flagmaker"

"Flagmaker" arrived at Pete's Pier just before noon on Saturday and tied up in a slip a few boats away from us. They had anchored in the ship channel north of Crystal River about 1:00 a.m. and caught a few hours of sleep before making the final trek to King's Bay. We got up mid-afternoon Saturday and were still dragging our tails so we fixed a light dinner of Todd's fresh-caught flounder and were back in bed by 9:00 that evening.

In the meantime, Bob had met Warren & Robin whose boat "Pepi" is also in a slip at Pete's Pier and Jack & John aboard "Flagmaker" and had invited all of us to have dinner with he and his wife Phillis Sunday evening at their house. By Sunday we had pretty much recovered from the crossing, at least in terms of catching up on our sleep! The storms that had been forecast moved in overnight and we received 2-1/2 inches of rain with strong, gusty winds. It was also very windy on Sunday but the rain was gone and the temperatures were still quite pleasant.

Bob picked us up mid-morning on Sunday and gave us their car to use so I went to the laundromat to catch up on three weeks of laundry while Todd ran a few errands with Phillis. About 5:00 Sunday evening Todd went to get Jack & John to go to Bob & Phillis' and Jack told him they had decided to spend their final night on the boat getting things in order so they could leave early the next morning. He and John were planning to rent a car and drive to Jack's house in Waycross, GA to drop John off and then Jack and his wife Linda were going to come back to the boat and take it to its final destination on the Atlantic near Waycross.  At any rate, the rest of us went to Bob & Phillis' and had a most excellent meal of "Rosetti spaghetti" topped off with Robin's wonderful homemade cookies.

Robin and Phillis dish up "Rosetti spaghetti."


Robin & Warren are between Todd and myself with our hosts, Phillis & Bob, in the front. A fun evening with good friends!


The weather turned cold overnight and it was in the mid-30's by Monday morning. We had planned to go with Bob & Phillis to have lunch with Mo and her friend Joe who are stuck thirty miles up the Suwanee River aboard "MOTU" due to wind and low water. Shortly after 10:00 a.m., just as we were getting ready to leave to meet Bob & Phillis, John frantically knocked on our boat and told Todd he thought Jack was dead! Todd immediately called 911 and went over to "Flagmaker" to check on Jack, thinking he might be able to administer CPR. However, based upon Jack's body temperature, Todd immediately knew that Jack had been dead for several hours and had apparently passed away peacefully in his sleep.

A variety of emergency personnel were dispatched to the marina and arrived a short time later. The paramedics officially informed us that Jack was, in fact, gone and poor John was understandably devastated. Not only did John work for Jack managing his company in Tennessee, Jack was also his uncle and trusted friend. They had spent the past week together on the boat moving it from Mobile, AL to Crystal River, FL and had discussed many deeply personal and heartfelt issues along the way, which served to further bond their relationship.

It was several hours before the medical examiner arrived to examine and release the body so Bob & Phillis, who had canceled their plans to have lunch with Mo & Joe, invited us over to their house for lunch. John was very concerned about Jack's wife Linda and wanted to get to Waycross to be with her as soon as possible so he rented a car and we offered to drive him to Waycross as soon as the medical examiner was finished. The medical examiner had arrived by the time we returned to the marina and once John got his personal items off the boat we made the 200-mile trip to Waycross, GA, dropped John off at Linda's house and arrived back at the marina shortly after 11:00 Monday evening.

John was extremely grateful for our assistance and we were more than happy to do anything we could to help him during this most difficult experience. I should also note that Bob & Phillis, Warren & Robin and several other people at the marina were very supportive and did whatever they could to ease John's pain as he struggled to cope with Jack's death. Our thoughts and prayers are with he and Linda and their family as they come to terms with this unexpected tragedy.

The manner in which Jack died is reminiscent of the experience Todd and I had just over two years ago when we lost our best friend, Duane, on the Tennessee River on the last day of our boating vacation. As with Duane, Jack was by all accounts healthy, active and physically fit. Duane was 57; Jack was 60. We believe Duane may have died of an aneurysm whereas Jack appears to have died of a massive stroke or heart attack, but the suddenness with which both occurred is stunning.

Our friends and families are aware of how Duane's death impacted us, but for those who don't know, Duane's untimely death is what prompted us to leave our jobs, sell our home and all of our worldly possessions and do what we are currently doing. Our boat is named "Life's2Short" in Duane's honor and for anyone who doubts that life is, in fact, too short, Jack is another prime example. None of us know how much time we have, so please make the most of it and do what's important to you while you still can. The next breath you take could be your last!

A tribute to Jack and his beloved boat, "Flagmaker." He will be sorely missed!