gone through. I was told my log book played an important part in the decision which was made regarding which Captain was at fault.
You can’t believe how happy I was when I heard our Captain, the Captain of the Greenwood, was found not guilty of having made any wrong decisions. In fact, due to the things I had written down in the log, he received accommodations for his wise and quick actions taken to prevent a tragedy.
God has a way of repaying acts of kindness. The Captain was the one who had gotten me reassigned, and given the job of writing the ship’s log.
Chapter Six
A WELL EARNED VACATION IN MONTEGO BAY
Adventure time in Cuba now over, it was time to have some new adventures in Montego Bay, Jamaica – Moan (Man). Having had enough fun in Cuba, Montego Bay was our next port-of-call. This was to be our reward for having lived through all of the adventures so far.
Jamaica is the beautiful Island Paradise which postcards and people who have been there often claim. We had been warned about the Communist element there. They try to elicit information as to the destination of your ship. As stated previously, we had a contingent of Sea Scouts on board. Three chose accompanying me into Montego Bay. I was interested in visiting the Straw Mart. It was supposed to be a place where you haggle with vendors for the best price. I had heard they had a variety of unique things for sale.
As soon as we left the dock, about half a block up the street, a guy started following us. He was trying to get information. “Hey Sailors, you are going to Viet Nam?” Turning to the Sea Scouts I said out loud for him to hear, “Now don’t any of you let him know we are headed for Viet Nam.” One of them started to say, “But” I quickly said, “No buts, just shut up, and don’t say a thing about Viet Nam!” When he said, “You going to Viet Nam moan (man), and you goanna get your head shot off,” I knew I had suckered him in to believing the USS Greenwood was headed for Viet Nam.
Later, the Scout I had told to shut up asked me why I had done what I did. I said, “If that moron actually believes the Greenwood could sail all the way to Viet Nam without sinking, let him and those he reports to worry about it. As we walked on we passed a book store having for sale in its window, Birds of the West Indies, by author James Bond. I recalled how Ian Fleming had said he found his spy’s name from seeing that book while in Jamaica. A car beeped its horn, and one of the Scouts forgetting the warning we had received, narrowly missed getting run over. They drive on the left side of the road in Jamaica.
We continued on to the Straw Mart. Once there we began to look at what the vendors had to offer. We soon discovered it to be a family kind of place. The people were very friendly, and extremely competitive. I was looking for a pair of hand carved, hand painted maracas, not the gourd type, but the smooth and even hand carved.
One guy said, “I don’t have any, but maybe my brother over here has.” The brother said, “I don’t, but maybe my cousin over here has.” When I was offered an item at a price, let’s say $10.00, the guy next door would say, “No moan, don’t buy from him, he’s too high. I sell you same thing for $8.00” But then the guy across the aisle would blurt out, “Hey moan! Forget those guys. I sell you same thing for only $5.00.
This made things better for me, as I was used to paying the set price, unless advertised for less. I was no expert at debating over the price I would pay. Their competitive debate helped my cause.
We had been warned not to wear our watch, as it was a favorite item to be stolen, or offered to buy. I had my watch in my pocket. It was a tight fit in that small pocket. Sure enough several times I and the Sea Scouts accompanying me were asked if we had any watch to sell. When we said no, most of them just walked away, but then there is always the “exception.”
The “exception” would not take no for an answer from me. After I had told him I had no watch, noticing the bulge in my front pocket, grabbing at it with his hand he asked, “What’s that?” Quickly removing his hand I answered, “That’s none of your business!” One down and one more to go!
It happened as a high powered salesman tried to get me to buy from him. Grabbing me by the arm, as some were prone to do, he physically pulled me over to his store. As he was doing so he asked: “Hey moan, how about some nice beads?” Jerking loose from his grasp I answered with, “No thank you.” He came up to me again physically pulling me to his shop, saying, “How about a nice Straw hat?” Pulling loose from his grip again, I answered a little louder, “No Thank You!”
Apparently not liking “no” for an answer, as I was walking away I heard the sound of a click. “Hey moan!” Turning around to face the determined salesman, I could see at his side he was holding an opened switch blade knife in his hand. Then, for about a minute of time he said nothing more, just looked intensely into my eyes. We had been warned not to start anything, as it would give Jamaican’s the opportunity to hold us and demand a large ransom from the U.S. government to get us back. So I just kept silent and stared just as intensely back at him.
I was thinking, “Go ahead buddy, make your move.” And secretly I was praying, “Dear God, when he does make his move, please help me to come out on top in this.” A minute of silence can become a l-o-n-g time when someone is silently looking at you with an open switch blade in their hand. So halfway into it, I decided to crossed my arms and stare him down. As time dragged on, I was thinking, “Come on Buddy, do something.” The crowd which had gathered around us just looked on, waiting for something to happen.
Understanding I was not going to panic and do something foolish and his high pressure sales tactics were not scaring me, he grinned as he closed the knife and asked: “Want to buy a switch blade knife?” I then answered, “No thanks. I don’t think I could get it back into the states.” He then proceeded to walk back to his store saying, “O.K. Sailor, have a nice trip home.” My Sea Scout friends came up to me and said, “I thought you were in real TROUBLE!” I answered them with, “So did I!”
I finally located the maracas I had been seeking, and bought them at a good price. I have them to this day. They remind me of my Jamaican adventures at the Straw Mart. I hope to go back there someday, and no, I didn’t “Leave A Little Girl in Kingston Town.”
I “Left The Little Guy With Switch Blade Knife.”
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