No More Room in Hell [IC]

[TheOneRonin]

Skipper’s Log: 10:45AM EST, July 15th, 2015 – St. Augustine Marina

Mr. Carlisle called this morning and asked me to pull out the 78 and get her cleaned and loaded for a trip to Barton’s Cove. Apparently Dr. Mark and a few of his friends have some sort of vacation planned and will be spending a week at the villa. I’m a little worried about the weather, it being Hurricane Season and all, but the forecast is clear. I’m going to drive her down to McRae’s this afternoon for a tune-up, wash, and trim. 1st Mate Tyler is going to handle linens and supplies.

[TheOneRonin]

Skipper’s Log: 2:07PM EST, July 16th, 2015 – McRae’s

The 78 passed all her checks with flying colors. I still have my doubts about the radio…it’s been buggy for the last few months, but we can’t seem to get the problems to reproduce when Sam is checking it out. No worries…We will have the sat-phone with us, so we should be fine.

We’ve got the hold packed with supplies for the trip. There’s enough for the sail to Barton’s Cove, 1 week on the island, the sail back to St Aug’s, and probably some extra left over. Though I’m betting the booze will be gone before the sail back. Tyler even insisted on bringing his personal fondue set. Yes, Tyler has a fondue set. The wonders never cease.

[TheOneRonin]

Skipper’s Log: 5:45PM EST, July 18th, 2015 – St. Augustine Marina

Bad luck all around. 1st, Tyler’s got the flu, so I’ll be down a first mate. Dr. Mark just told me that one of our passengers, “Bill” I think, is an experienced sailor, so that should help. I think I’ll miss the fondue the most.

The 2nd issue is the weather. Reports are showing a tropical storm forming in the Atlantic. Looks like it should miss us, but might make the trip back a little rough. I’m going to have to keep my eyes on the radar and the reports for the time being. Dr. Mark was pretty adamant that we can’t cancel the trip, even though it’s smarter to wait out the storm.

The 3rd issue is the damned radio. It’s still cutting in and out. I’m going to try and get Sam to take one more look at it before we depart tonight, but there are no guarantees.

[TheOneRonin]

Skipper’s Log: 7:05PM EST, July 18th, 2015 – St. Augustine Marina

Dr. Mark and his guests are loaded up and ready to depart. Good thing Tyler came down with the flu…we have maxed out the bunk space without him. Speaking of the flu, apparently it’s going around like crazy now. It’s pretty strange since it’s a little warm for flu season, but I suppose it happens.

We have a pretty diverse group of guests on board. I had a chat with Bill, the boat owner. Nice guy…retired cop of some sort. Amateur sailor, but he understands the basics well enough and is handy with a wrench. That’s more than I can say for Tyler.

Then there is Aaron. Carries himself like a soldier…prob Army…I would have expected a Marine to be more familiar with a boat. But, he did help everyone get organized and loaded up on the boat like he’s done that sort of thing before.

Next is Trent. This guy is a walking Jock trope. He is a bit of jackhole, but at least he has a sense of humor, and is a pretty good story teller. My bet is he drinks his body-weight in alcohol before we even get underway.

Merle is farmer by trade, and is really interested in doing some deep sea fishing. I figure we should have some time for that on our trip. He also shared his concerns about the weather (glad I’m not the only one who pays attention to these things), but I let him know that Mark said we are going, rain or shine.

Finally, there is Juno, who really doesn’t fit in with the rest of the guys. He looks like a Cuban gangbanger, but Dr. Mark trusts him, so I have to as well. Some of the questions he was asking about the boat makes me think he’s got some sailing experience, which could come in handy. Bill’s already made it clear that he isn’t very fond of Juno…so let’s hope Dr. Mark can keep the peace.

Everyone is settled in and having beers and telling stories on the fly deck. Time to get this show on the road.

[TheOneRonin]

Skipper’s Log: 6:37AM EST, July 20th, 2015 – Atlantic Ocean

Day two out in the open sea and it’s mostly good news. The passengers all seem to be getting along…no fistfights or stabbings, so I consider that a good sign.

The weather is holding up nicely, and we are making good time. We should make it Barton’s Cove a few hours ahead of schedule.

The bad news is that Tyler never brought the sat phone onboard. He must have had it in his luggage…again. Sam never made it out to check the radio, so let’s hope it holds up.

[TheOneRonin]

Skipper’s Log: 2:15PM EST, July 25th, 2015 – Barton’s Cove

It’s our 2nd day on the island and everyone seems to be having a great time. We had a very nice ceremony on the beach yesterday afternoon where Bill spread his wife’s ashes and everyone took turns saying some words about Helen. She sounded like a wonderful woman…a real “Mother Theresa” if you will. I’m sad that I didn’t get a chance to meet her. That night, Aaron made everyone something he calls “Kabul Margaritas”. They tasted awful, but no one cared after the first few sips. I think I lost consciousness after my 3rd one.

Right now, he and Trent are out on the beach throwing a foot and showing off for no one in particular. Bill and Merle are getting ready for some fishing…I’ll be taking them out for a couple of hours…let’s hope the rest of the kids play nice. Dr. Mark and Juno are out getting coconuts…apparently Juno is determined to beat Aaron’s bartending with his own “special” pina coladas tonight.

[TheOneRonin]

Skipper’s Log: 1:50PM EST, July 31st, 2015 – Barton’s Cove

Well, looks like we aren’t leaving today as planned. It’s been raining and windy since this morning…that tropical storm must have turned north. The water is way too rough, so we will have to wait it out.

[TheOneRonin]

Skipper’s log: 9:06AM EST, August 3rd, 2015 – Barton’s Cove

The weather is FINALLY letting up. Seems that tropical storm/hurricane parked its butt right over us for almost 3 days straight. Good thing it’s past us…we have just enough food and drinking water to make it back to St. Augustine. If we were stuck here any longer, we’d have to go to Bermuda for resupply, and that would just delay the return trip even more. Dr. Mark and Merle seem to be the most anxious about getting back home.

Bill and I just finished checking out the 78. She’s in mostly good shape, though the fly deck really took a beating. The radio antenna and radar dish both snapped clean off, so that means no radar, and only very short range radio (when it works) for the trip home.

It’s been fun, mostly, but I’m ready to get back home.

[TheOneRonin]

Skipper’s log: 5:31PM EST, August 8th, 2015 – Just off the coast of St. Augustine, FL

Something is most definitely not right. We started seeing smoke coming from multiple areas along the coast this morning, and now we are close enough to tell there are several fires burning all over St. Augustine and points north. It looks like it is even worse up by Jacksonville. We’ve also heard lots of sporadic gunfire and a few explosions. Bill pointed out a complete lack of police fire truck sirens, which is really scary considering all the chaos that seems to be going on. Juno mentioned that he had no cell service on his phone, and so we all checked ours…same thing…no service. And we are plenty close enough to get some sort of signal. The radio has been mostly worthless, so we are all completely in the dark. Aaron suggested we wait until sunrise to anchor…he said it should be less dangerous once the sun is up.

[TheOneRonin]

Skipper’s log: 8:45PM EST, August 8th, 2015 – Just off the coast of St. Augustine, FL

Things just keep getting stranger. Just before sunrise this morning we were approached by a Catalina 18 sailing in from the south. Bill, Aaron, and Mark had a few words with them before letting them board. The crew ended up being a family…the husband, Carlos Romero, his wife Stephanie, and their 3 kids…Elizabeth, Matthew, and Lucas.

According to Carlos, everything started falling apart around the time we left. Apparently there was a mass outbreak of what everyone thought of as the flu all over the country. People were getting sick left and right, and no one knew why. Hospitals were filling to capacity, and people were starting to panic. Then about week after it started, the infected started dying, en mass.

I’m not sure about the rest of what I’m going to write here, but Carlos swears on his life it is true. The people who died started…coming back. It’s like they never were really dead…but they were…changed. Reports were that they violent, hostile, inarticulate, and unable to communicate. That’s when the **** really hit the fan. There was shooting and violence and looting and all sorts of hysteria. Carlos grabbed his family and was able to get out on his Catalina. They initially sailed south towards Daytona, but they saw the same thing…fires burning, gun shots, and just anarchy. So he decided to turn around and head back north, and that’s where he found us.

Carlos was hoping to find some supplies…they are running short on food and water. Carlos drives a Culligan water delivery truck, and it’s parked near one of the marinas just south of Jacksonville. At the very least, he was going to try and get his family some drinking water and maybe scrounge some supplies.

Stephanie also let us know that they are running low on asthma medication for Lucas, and she doesn’t know what they will do when he is out.

Mark has called everyone to the upper deck to talk about the next steps. We don’t have very much left in the way of food and water…maybe a couple of days at best, and the 78 is very low on fuel…there isn’t enough to get us very far, but if we stay anchored and just run the electrical systems, we are good for a least a week.

Regardless of what we do, we cannot stay here on the boat forever. I don’t know what is waiting for us inland, but it sure scares the hell out of me.