The following stories are to the best of my knowledge. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. I take full responsibility to the accuracy of these stories as I was present during every one of them. These stories will continue to be updated as time goes on & distant memories continue to surface. I’m enjoying this trip back through time. One note: I’m highlighting the best events as there were numerous other events that were not so positive. I’m avoiding those as why would anyone want to relive them? I know I don’t. So I’ll just go with ‘Selective Memory’. Also, I’m not a very good photographer so the photos are somewhat crude. Many of these photos was taken using E-6 developing & the developer obviously didn’t clean their tanks very frequently so the dirt shows in the photo. I could clean it up in Photoshop but wanted to stay with original material.

1985 - Destination: The Cayman Islands

The opening of the Hyatt Regency on Grand Cayman was a huge event. The Hyatt sent their best & brightest employees to open this extravagant hotel & make it a success. The best chefs & the best servers, bartenders etc. So once these people started arriving on the island, it was only natural that they would seek out the local establishments for enjoyment during their time off. Mainly water-sports. So obviously, deals were made where bartering was agreed upon in that for example, we will take you diving in return for free or discounted meals at the restaurant. The Hyatt was more than agreeable to these terms. I personally had many a fabulous meal at the Hyatt during this time. The one event that stands out is the Friday Night All You Can Eat Buffet at the Hyatt Restaurant. It was a an incredible event with an elaborate seafood buffet that I have not seen since anywhere in my travels.

So this leads to an event that took place there where all parties were present.

  • Friday night at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. All you can eat seafood buffet. Oysters, clams, shrimp etc. Mongo & the German are going to have an oyster eating contest. After 6 dozen oysters each, if I remember correctly, the German calls it & says I can’t do any more. Mongo orders another dozen just to seal the deal. Man I wish I had photos……

1986 (Best Guess)

Destination: St. Eustatius (Statia)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sint_Eustatius

  • The building of a dive shop with equipment originating from a mechanical shop in New Jersey. A list was made up as to what it take to complete a dive shop on an island with limited resources. A container was rented to load the heaviest equipment. The remainder was flown down on a commercial airliner.

    So to start this off, my supervisor sends me up to New Jersey where he has contacts. It’s a mechanics shop where air compressors are built. Once I arrived there & started working with the owner, I’ll call him ‘Big J’ because he was big. He & his other 2 partners tipped the scales at over 300LB’s each. Jersey guys. No more needs to be said.

  • So for a about a month, we are putting together the materials we will need to build this dive shop. Air compressor, storage tanks, hose, fittings, electrical equipment etc.

  • The container gets loaded with all the heavy equipment, gets picked up by the shipper & is on its way. There is still a lot of equipment that didn’t get loaded into the container but I was told no problem, we will just take it down with us. I was skeptical on this. Prior to arriving at the airport for our departure to St. Martin, we had 13 duffle bags packed with equipment. I’m looking at this & thought they will never let us on the plane with this. We arrive at the airport & Big J immediately picks out a baggage handler & starts to throw money at him. The guy says ‘hold on’. Big J then explains that he is the Director of Photography at the University of Pennsylvania & this is a field trip for his students. The guy says ‘give me some time & I’ll see what I can do for you’. So while he is holding the 13 duffel bags, we go to the counter & check in for our flight. We are scheduled to depart Philadelphia & fly to Miami where we change planes for our flight to St. Martin & then on to St. Eustatius.

  • Somehow the baggage handler is able to get all of our 13 bags checked in & on the plane. Big J pays him appropriately.

  • We depart Philly & land in Miami mid morning. Our flight to St. Martin is in a few hours so we head to the bar, naturally. After a number of cocktails, we head to the gate for departure. We get to the gate & we see the plane pulling away from the gate. We freak, we asked the gate attendant what is going on & she said ‘Didn’t you get the notice, the flight is departing early’………..So needless to say, we missed the flight, with out 13 bags on it……..The attendant routes us on a flight to Puerto Rico & then on to St. Martin arriving at midnight.

  • So, back at the bar, we are contemplating out predicament with more alcohol. We depart for Puerto Rico & layover there for a few hours, more time a the bar & then depart for St. Martin. We arrive at midnight on St. Martin & are met by a couple of friends from our supervisor back in Philly. I have no idea how he knows these people. I’m so hungry I could eat a horse. They suggest that we drive over to Bobby’s Marina Restaurant which is open late. We get there & order cocktails. The menu is just all about seafood, of course. I order Lobster Thermidor as it looked good & I’ve never had it. It was the best lobster I have ever eaten. Hands down. The fact that I can remember it to this day attest to that & if my memory serves, it was $16. Try buying this dish today for that price……

  • So after dinner, a trip to the hotel for the night. The next morning we head off to the airport to catch our flight to Statia. At the airport, we are obviously concerned about our 13 duffel bags of equipment. We inquire to the flight attendants & nobody has a clue. So we have no choice but to board the plane & hope for the best.

  • The small planes that fly between the islands of the Netherland Antilles are called Twin Otters. I believe they are Canadien planes & the reason they are used here is that they can fly & stay in the air at 40 knots, which is roughly 60 mph & can land in very short distances. Flying these planes between the islands of the Netherland Antilles can be treacherous. I was told that before any pilot can Captain one of these planes here has to train for at least a year in Holland & then train for another year as co-pilot in the Antilles.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Canada_DHC-6_Twin_Otter

  • So Big J & I are boarding the Twin Otter & get in our seats & I look out the window & see the pilots walking toward the plane. I stared & told Big J, look at this. The pilot was this huge black guy, dressed all in a black uniform, mirror sunglasses, black finger gloves etc. He looked like a Hell’s Angel biker out of some movie. Both Big J & I are just speechless.

  • So we take off for the island of Saba which is on the way to Statia. Saba is unique in that it looks like the top cone of a volcano sticking out of the water. The runway on Saba is cut out of the side of the mountain, or volcano, whichever is accurate. So on each end of the runway is a drop-off into the ocean. Depending on which way the wind is blowing depends on which end of the runway the pilot decides to attempt to land on. On this day, the wind was blowing straight across the runway. There are times when the pilot refuses to land due to these crosswinds. Not this guy. He lines up & starts down to the runway. The altitude alarm is is going off sporadically as the plane dips below the 40 knot speed limit. The crosswind causes the pilot to tilt the plane on its side into the crosswind. He hits the runway & lands on one wheel, slams the other wheel down, feathers the props & stops the plane in 50 yards. Probably one of the finest piece of flying I’ve ever seen. You could drop a pin in the plane among the passengers cabin & it could be heard, that’s how quiet it was in the plane.

  • So after dropping passengers off, we took off for Statia. The landing in Statia I was told could be even more treacherous than Saba because the runway sits between two mountain ranges. The crosswinds that can whip through there can flip a plane easily. It’s happened. So we land safely, depart the plane after thanking the Captain for an adventurous time, we walked into the airport terminal. As you can imagine, its a very small terminal, only one room really & there along the side of the wall was our 13 bags. I couldn’t believe it. This was the 80’s man, when anything was possible. When we landed in St. Martin at Princess Julianna airport, we checked in with immigration. I then looked around for Customs. Didn’t see any. I asked where do we go for Custom’s Check. The answer was, there is no Customs here. Unbelievable. So we collect our bags & move on……..

  • So the rest is history, Big J & I installed the equipment for the dive shop in an old 18th century brick building next to the hotel called ‘The Old Gin House’ over a period of a few weeks. The Texan & his Aussie wife arrived to run the place & for a few years it was successful.

A view looking down on the Old Gin House Hotel & the dive shop. In the upper left hand corner is Fort Orangie. From this fort, the first 13 gun salute, in recognition of the 13 American colonies, was fired via cannon when the U.S. Warship Andrew Doria sailed into Oranjestad Bay. It was the first international acknowledgment of American Independence.

Historical Note:

President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited St. Eustatius for two hours on 27 February 1939 on USS Houston to recognize the importance of the 1776 "First Salute". He presented a large brass plaque to St. Eustatius, displayed today under a flagpole atop the walls of Fort Oranje, reading:

In commemoration to the salute to the flag of the United States, Fired in this fort November 16. 1776, By order of Johannes de Graaff, Governor of Saint Eustatius, In reply to a National Gun-Salute, Fired by the United States Brig of War Andrew Doria, Under Captain Isaiah Robinson of the Continental Navy, Here the sovereignty of the United States of America was first formally acknowledged to a national vessel by a foreign official. Presented by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President of the United States of America

The Surfside WaterSports Dive Shop after construction completion.

The Old Gin House Hotel

There are so many sub stories that could be included in this article that would almost make it endless. This period of time took place during weeks & months. A few side notes. There was a place where these island women cooked bread in a stone fired ovens. It was the best bread I’ve ever tasted. We went there almost daily to get it. There was a local guy who cooked chickens on a charcoal grill. Man, it was delicious. We picked up chicken from him at least a couple times a week. This is island living at its best & it is worth noting that its a very good living on a very basic scale totally away from world politics, world BS & world intrigue. There is something to be said about this way of life compared to what the news media reports.