High Seas Series: The Brandon Saga ~ Escape

The Carl

Both ships returned to Limon Port, and Evelyn had a stack of cargo orders for Charlie to distribute to both ships. The Junior was sold out before they had even painted her name on the bow and stern plate! Business was so good, they had the loan paid off in a year, and they owned the ship, free and clear! The local coffee growers considered both ships as national treasures; they had feared they would never get their crops to a decent market again, now, they were planting additional trees! The papaya and pineapple farmers were equally as happy; their crops were getting to Rio and BA with little or no spoilage and commanding premium prices on the market in those cities. Juan Pedro was able to bring his family to join him in Limon Port, a happier man could not be found in the town! Captain Drysdale told John, "If you guys get another ship, make damned sure Juan Pedro Jeromes was appointed Captain!" He was worth any two mates he had ever sailed with!

With two ships to keep loaded, Charlie had to enlist the help of John, and they had to run two additional telephone lines into the new office they had established in John's House. The new shipping company was gaining a reputation all over South and Central America for speedy, on-time delivery. It was, however, with a price. The boys were hardly ever in port; their two sons missed them something awful, and the boys themselves were beginning to look a bit ragged around the edges.

Charlie had hoped the additional ship would slow the pace down a bit, and it did, at first, but soon their reputation caught up to them, and shipping orders again surged. Not even in the past, had there been a ship based right there in Costa Rica, and growers from northern Brazil to Belize were using their services.

After the first time, the only cargoes they would not haul were live animals and dried fish. Both times, it took them weeks to get rid of the smell!

The Domingo was in Puerto Barrios in Guatemala, they had taken on a load of new tractors from Sao Paulo, and as the last few tractors were lifted from the hold, Ben thought he heard something. He signaled the stevedores to stop lifting while he went to check.

He rode the hook down into the hold and started looking around. He was pretty sure what it was he had heard and he was correct! He hollered up to the mate and asked him to send the Chief Engineer down in the hold.

When Carl arrived, he found Ben sitting on a crate of machine parts, holding a small boy in his lap. The child was filthy dirty, and there were tear streaks running down his face.

Carl knelt down and asked, "Qué pasa, Hombre Porqueño?" (What goes on, Little Man?)

The boy had cried so hard, he had the hiccups and could barely speak, "Me spek Onglish, Señor. Me 'fraid policiá, me hide."

Carl asked, "Why are you afraid? No one will hurt you here."

The boy replied, "Me run from bad escola eeer, school. It not be school, it be farm for boys not have Mamma an' Pappa. Policiá send there make live un work. Look my back, señor!" The boy pulled up his shirt, and it was all Carl could do not to scream! The child's back was a mass of bleeding and oozing sores, scars and whip marks!

Carl jumped up on the cargo hook, and Ben handed him the child. Both men rode the hook up and carried the boy to their small sickbay. The boy told them he was fourteen, but he looked more like eleven or twelve. It turned out, he WAS fourteen. It was malnutrition that made him look so small!

Ben completed the offloading while Carl cleaned the boy up and treated his injuries. While they waited for the delivery papers, Ben joined Carl in the Sickbay, He asked, "What are we gonna do?"

Carl replied, "We sure as hell are not going to send him back to wherever he came from! That's for damned sure!"

The boy looked up hopefully and asked, "Me live you? Me see you with small boy when you come here with big bags in ship."

Ben asked, "Son, how long have you been on our ship? Where did you come from?"

The boy replied, "Me get on ship in Sao Paulo, me hide quick!"

Carl asked, "Have you had any food today?"

The boy shook his head in a no, and Carl snatched him up and headed to his and Ben's stateroom. As soon as he set the boy on the couch, he stuck his head in the galley and ordered three bowls of soup and three ham sandwiches, "Muy pronto- RAPIDO!"

As soon as the food arrived, Carl placed a bowl of thick beef soup in front of the boy and handed him a plate that had a major portion of the ham between two slices of bread. The boy wolfed both down and then sat back, rubbing his extended belly.

Ben joined them, and after they had all eaten, Ben asked, "What is your name, and do you have a family anywhere?"

The boy replied, "Me nombré is Santiago. Me gots no familiá no got nombré de familiá."

Ben looked over at Carl and said, "Hoo, Boy, we can't just dump him on the pier." Carl replied, "Nope, so I guess Domingo has another brother, huh?"

The boy had an ear-to-ear grin and said, "Gracias, Papá!"

Before they had finished their discussion, Santiago was asleep on the couch, the first sound sleep on something soft that he could remember!

Ben had the Radio Operator send a message to Charlie, "Need more boy clothes." When Charlie read the message, he groaned, "What n' hell are they doin,' collecting boys?"

Against their better judgment, Charlie had accepted an order for a complete hold of limestone fascia blocks on pallets to be picked up at Chetumal, Mexico. They didn't like doing business with Mexico for a variety of reasons, but the freight rate offered was too good to pass up.

As it turned out, it was a valuable stop. Ben negotiated a continuing contract for hauling the limestone. There was a lot of construction going on in South America, and the demand for quality limestone that could be polished was very high; there were very few ships operating that could load such heavy units and still negotiate the small seaports.

Their next stop was Cartagena, Columbia where they had an entire load out for the after hold waiting for them, bagged coffee beans on pallets. The limestone was for Cienega, Columbia, and Charlie was looking for a load there that would bring them back home for a bit. He finally located a loadout of tropical hardwoods that he could sell locally in the Limón area. Furniture making was making a comeback in the area, and demand for quality lumber was high.

When the Domingo finally got home, both Ben and Carl were exhausted, and having to restrain an active young teen had not helped. It was not that Santi was a bad boy; he was just curious, and his favorite word was "WHY?" He also loved the words, "HOW DOES IT WORK?" Carl saw a budding engineer in the boy and hoped to get some schooling into him to see if he could develop another Marine Engineer.

They finally got the Domingo offloaded, and they all staggered home to unwind. Carl said, "Unc, we either gotta slow down or get us another ship. I don't know what is going to break first, the ship or us!"

Charlie chuckled, "Funny you should mention that, the bank up in Panama called the other day and they have a ship they want us to look at. I got us a load of rice that will take us up there; even if we have to come back riding high, it will be worth the trip."

Ben and Carl both agreed to take a few days BEFORE they headed to Panama.

Santi was fast becoming friends with Domingo and Little Carl, and the two men loved to sit on the back porch of John's home and watch the boys toss a baseball around. None of them was very good, but the healthy laugh of delighted boys was like music to them. To hear Santi giggle after he had been hurt so badly, and see the delighted look on his face, made all their labors seem worthwhile.

Every time Ben or Carl went down to the Domingo to check on the crew's efforts to clean up the ship, Santi demanded to go with them. He could usually be found crawling around through the Engine Room; the machinery fascinated him.

He became particular friends with Jose Pedroso, a young oiler they had taken on. Jose was only twenty-three and had a brand new wife and baby son. He took an interest in young Santi and was patient in explaining how the machinery in the Engine Room works and what its purpose was.

Every time Santi came back from a visit to the ship, he would sit down with Ben and Carl and breathlessly tell them about what he had learned. Both men were now convinced they had a new Engineer in the making!

When they had gotten all their business matters squared away, Charlie managed to find a partial load of plywood and a whole hold of copra for delivery to Panama. The copra was destined for a soap manufacturer, and the plywood was going to a building contractor.

By the time they got to Panama City Port, copra had been added to their banned cargo list! Fortunately, most of the stink was confined to the burlap bags the stuff was in, and as soon as they had offloaded it, the smell began to dissipate.

The contractor was frantic for the plywood and sent his own trucks to pick it up as it came off the ship.

As soon as they were offloaded, Ben went and paid their dock fees before they all went to see Señor Almiria at the Banco Federal de Panama. He was eagerly awaiting them; the previous owners of the vessel had stuck the bank for a quarter of a million Panama Dollars before they had seized the ship.

It was another motor vessel with two holds and was only six years old. The men all liked the ship, and they had allowed the boys to come with them. Santi came back, covered in oil and a huge grin on his face. Ben looked at Carl, and they both shook their heads in a yes, that boy WAS going to go to school!

Charlie haggled a bit with the bank officials, but they were adamant that the loan be paid off. Charlie shrugged his shoulders and thought, "Well, I tried." He asked that a wire be sent to their bank in Limón; by the next morning, the ship was theirs.

They arranged for the ship to be towed to a local dry dock; the last time they had been there, the dock was not in operation. They had the bottom cleaned and inspected, and the entire ship repainted.

Charlie wired Lloyds and made arrangement for an inspection and the ship to be insured as the MV Evelyn. Getting a crew was not that hard; there were plenty of out-of-work seamen looking for a berth. He found an American he had known casually back when he was sailing; the man had been a Second Mate then and was a graduate of Texas A&M.

The man, Thomas Goodings, was so thankful for a job that Charlie was afraid he was going to kiss him. The man was crying, "I have been on this damned beach for two years, eating scraps and sleeping on a park bench, I thought I was never going to get a job again!"

Tom had a few local connections and was able to assist Charlie in collecting an entire crew for the ship. Tom was not married, and the man that they had hired to be Chief Engineer, Gilbert Boles, seemed to be very close to Tom Gooding. Charlie thought to himself. "Well, if they don't cause a problem, it ain't none of my business."

The two men looked at Charlie, and finally Tom said, "I, eer we are together, Gil n' me, is that gonna be a problem?"

Charlie replied, "Nope, not as long as it don't cause problems, yer private life is your own." They looked up and saw Ben and Carl standing with grins on their faces, holding hands.

Nobody said anything, but Tom and Gil had relieved looks on their faces as they went about getting a crew for the Eve together. It took two weeks for the ship to be cleaned, inspected, and painted. The paperwork from Lloyd's was faxed to them just as the ship was leaving the dry dock. The tug took the Eve over to the pier they had rented, and they began to fit her out for sailing.

The provisions were brought on board, the water tanks filled, and the fuel barge delivered enough fuel to top off her tanks. Carl was present when Gil turned the main engine over for the first time. It ran a bit rough until the engine had warmed up and cleared itself.

Gil wanted to change out the engine lube oil before they sailed, so Charlie authorized the expenditure, and oil was delivered the next day. He had located a light cargo for them locally, to be delivered to Limón, and the Domingo was scheduled to load out both holds with new automobiles from Mexico.

They didn't like doing business with any Mexican company and wondered why the automobiles were in Progresso when the factory was in San Luis Potosí, but the cargo was financed by Banco do Brasil, so they figured it was legitimate.

The automobiles were consigned to a factor in São Paulo.

The two ships sailed at the same time, the Eve turning south and the Dom headed north to Progresso. Charlie sailed on the Eve after having warned Carl and Ben to be ultra-careful in Progresso.

Dom and Santi had insisted on staying with Carl and Ben, and their partner in crime, Junior, soon had himself and Santi standing watches in the Engine Room.

Domingo was busy with his painting; he had sketched the Evelyn, and he was filling it in in full color to be presented to Captain Tom.

They sailed around the north shore of the Yucatan and tied up at the Progresso Municipal Pier, where they saw many new automobiles all lined up on the pier.

Carl ordered double rat guards placed on the mooring lines. He figured if anyone was to try boarding by climbing the mooring lines, the double rat guards would ensure they went swimming! He also placed two armed sailors on the gangway.

It was later to prove a wise move.

The loading of the automobiles went slowly; the stevedores were dirty, slovenly, and seemed not to know what they were doing. After they severely damaged one car, Carl put First Mate, Andrew Collins, in charge of inspecting each automobile before it was lowered into the hold.

It seemed forever before all the automobiles were loaded and the battens put in place. It was pitch dark by the time the hatch covers were down and locked tight, so Ben and Carl agreed to stay at the pier until the next morning.

They took in the gangway and posted two sailors as roving patrol. Both sailors were armed with shotguns, much to the displeasure of the Port Authorities, but Ben reminded them that the Domingo was sovereign Costa Rican Territory.

Carl and Ben tried to get some sleep, but they both were wound up like eight-day clocks; they both had a feeling that "something" was wrong!

About three AM, the Engineer of the Watch reported hearing a "thud" against the hull, just above head level in the engine room. He called up to the Bridge, and Second Mate "Toledo" Williams took the call. He didn't hesitate; he pushed the button on the Collision Alarm, waking everyone with its screaming clamor.

Carl and Ben rushed out on deck, each carrying automatic pistols. They first spotted both sailors on roving patrol, pointing their shotguns over the side, and then the loud boom of the twelve-gauge weapons sounded with a bright flash of gunpowder, followed by a loud scream of pain from below the ship on the starboard side.

Carl and Ben rushed to that side of the Domingo and looked. There was a power boat swarming with men trying to climb rope ladders that had been thrown over the railing on the main deck.

After several minutes of steady firing, the small boat sped off, carrying at least twenty dead pirates on its deck. During that time, nor at any time after, did any port official or police ever show up! They made a thorough inspection of the ship and found two wounded pirates hiding in the cleaning gear locker on the main deck. Ben had them marched off the ship and left them on the pier, wounded and bleeding.

At first light, Carl fired up the main engine, and the Domingo slowly pulled away from the pier. The three boys, Junior, Dom, and Santi, had slept right through the ruckus!

It was a six-day trip to Sao Paulo, the seas were high, and they had to fight rain and winds the entire way. They didn't emerge from the storm until the night before entering port. The factor in Sao Paulo had directed that the automobiles be delivered to his representative in the small port of Ubatuba.

It was a near disaster; the port had no cargo handling facilities, and they had to rely upon their own cargo booms to place the cars on the pier. There was only one cargo pier, and it was not equipped to handle heavy freight. It was three days of unloading the automobiles.

Ben could hardly wait to get away from the situation. As soon as they had their acceptance documents, they were out of there, riding empty and high in the water.

Their return to Limón was a relief; they had kept Charlie in the loop, and he didn't even try to get them a return cargo! The only one who had profited from the voyage was Santi; he now had a mission and a purpose!

Santi arrived back in Limón Port with a single purpose driving him, he wanted to be a Ship Engineer! He could read and write, just barely, and his English was miserable, but that didn't faze him; he KNEW what he wanted and was willing to work for it!

Charlie located a tutor for the young man, and Santi about drove the man to drink; he insisted on being schooled from early morning until the exhausted man had to go home each day. The only day Santi agreed that his tutor could have off was Sunday. The results, however, were amazing. Within a week, Santi could converse in reasonably good English, and he proved to be a "whiz" at mathematics.

Six months into the program, an exhausted tutor, Pablo Ramierez, came to speak with Mr. Charlie. He told Charlie that Santi needed a more advanced tutor, that he, Pablo Ramierez, had nothing more he could teach the young man. Charlie asked, "Is he ready for the University?" Pablo replied, "Not quite, Señor. He has squeezed me dry; he requires a tutor more able than I, I would suggest a University Student, ready to graduate, would be best. Be sure the student is a strong man, otherwise Santiago will terrify him, and he will run out the door screaming!"

Charlie located Eduardo Duenes, who agreed to work with Santi. The two got along famously, and Eduardo, an Engineering student himself, suddenly found himself with an interest in ships. The two prowled the waterfront, having been given free rein on any of their own ships and talking their way aboard most other ships that called at Limón Port. The two young men clambered over any ship that would allow them on board, and they soon were well acquainted with every type of ship's power plant in existence.

Charlie recognized early, Eduardo's interest in ships and persuaded the young man to go down to Brazil and sit for his Third Engineer's License. He passed it easily, but it would not become official until he had garnered some "sea time". That was easily fixed. After Eduardo had graduated from the University, Charlie arranged for both him and Santi to sail on the Evelyn. Gilbert Boles and Thomas Gooding were perfect men to teach and guide both young men.

Since both Eduardo and Santi wanted to be engineers, it fell to Gil to lead them through the grease and oil, chasing out knowledge and experience. When Santiago was finally ready to enter the University, he already had his Oiler's Certification, and his friend, Eduardo, sailed on the Domingo as Third Engineer! Santi was not content; every holiday found him down at the waterfront, crawling through the engine room. By the time he graduated from the University, what he did not know about ships was probably not worth knowing!

Charlie considered the two young men as jewels in their crown; both men would remain with the company and would have to be forced to retire. Eduardo would eventually become the Chief Engineer of the MV Evelyn, a position he stubbornly refused to leave until he was forced to retire.

Santiago entered the University as a Freshman and soon stood at the head of his class. He was an accomplished speaker, but it was in mathematics and mechanics where he outshone all others.

University went by like a flash for him and seemed a very short time to him when he was receiving notification that his Third Assistant Engineer's License was being activated. He delivered the notice to "Uncle" Charlie and stood there waiting for an assignment.

He requested that he be assigned to Chief Eduardo's ship. He would remain on the Evelyn until he became a Chief Engineer himself and was forced to take another ship. By that time, of course, Domingo Marine Services had become a much larger company.

How many more ships are they going to acquire? Will they ever be able to return to North America, and will the United States ever become reunited with its parts?