Son of a Sailor
SmokinDriver
Son of a Sailor
By Smokindriver
This is a work of fiction. No person is being represented here in any truthful way. This takes place in a world where there are no STDs, unwanted pregnancies or non-consensual sex. Enjoy the story.
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Advanced Reader Copy Edition: December 17, 2022
Copyright ©2022 Smokindriver
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
All characters depicted in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 1
There are many families out there where the children follow in the footsteps of the parents and this seems to be the case in my family as well. Going back to the Vikings, my family has gone to sea. My grandfather came to the US at the age of 12 and took after his father fishing in the northwest out of Washington. He did well and moved to South Florida to buy a five-acre piece of land in Ft. Lauderdale and opened a marina on the Intercoastal Waterway.
My father and his two brothers now own the land and the marina. The income is good and they share the responsibilities when they aren’t off doing other jobs. My dad’s the oldest and joined the Navy at age 17. He got out after 6 years as a Navy Seal. He met my mom and both worked together, moving private yachts all over the world. They both have their captain’s licenses and my mom is also a great cook often serving in that capacity on charters.
Dad has two younger brothers; Ken is a master marine mechanic and oversees the marina. Eddie is the youngest and only ten years older than me. He does about everything it seems. He has a boat for charter doing both fishing and dive trips. He’s a dive master and collects tropical fish for sale at pet stores and he buys and sells sail boats and is an amazing sailor.
My name is Bjorn but everyone calls me Bull. When I was 2 or 3, we were all at the marina for Thanksgiving with all the family. I was running around like a kid and accidently grabbed the tablecloth and proceeded to pull about six place settings with me as they crashed to the floor. Grandma was alive back then and said that I was like a bull in a China shop. The nickname stuck and I’ve been called “Bull,” ever since.
I’ve been raised for the most part at sea. I can’t tell you about movies or TV shows. It isn’t something I watch. I’ve been homeschooled at sea since I was three. Six to seven days a week, my mom has me going through the schoolwork. When you move a boat from Miami to Monaco, it takes a while. My typical day is working out with my dad on the back deck, pushups, sit ups, and mountain climbers. After that we do some hand-to-hand combat training. It’s mostly martial arts that he learned in the Navy but he’s taught me and we spar most days.
After a shower and breakfast, Dad will go up to the helm and Mom will change rolls from captain to teacher. She would teach me all the work I had to finish for the day or week and then would leave me to get it done. It would normally take me 3 to 4 hours to finish one days’ worth of work. After school, I was free to do other things. I could read a book, play my guitar or take a turn at the helm.
If we were in traffic or in the Intercoastal, Mom or Dad would be at the helm but after I turned 8, I could take turns out in the open ocean. It gave Mom and Dad some alone time. We were all used to living in close quarters both at sea and in our small 2-bedroom house on the grounds of the marina. We aren’t nudists or anything but many of the beaches we enjoy in Europe are either topless or nude beaches and when in Rome as they say. From the time I was a baby, I was taught to swim, dive, surf, and sail in the ocean.
The other good thing about traveling with my parents is that since I was ten, my parents have been charging their customers for my work as a mate. It started when I was at the helm, hundreds of miles from the nearest land and thousands of feet from the bottom of the ocean. My parents were below and I was just watching the compass and keeping an eye out for other boats. There wasn’t any in sight but then I saw some strange white water off the crest of a wave and after looking closer, saw it was a tree in the water.
The tree might have fallen off a ship or floated down a river but here it was in the middle of the ocean and I was about to ram it with a multimillion-dollar boat. I pulled the wheel hard to port, (left) and pulled back on the throttle on the port engine. I pushed forward on the starboard (right) engine to try to miss this massive tree. As the boat grabbed the water and started to turn, Dad came flying up to the bridge and asked what was going on. He was completely naked and Mom was too, a couple steps behind him. He saw the tree and watched as it flowed past on the starboard side.
That move along with the chores I did on board, led my dad to see that I deserved to be compensated for the work I did. Since then, my bank account started to grow. I was finishing school at an above average pace, seeing the world, and learning to play my guitar with plenty of practice. When we were in port, I got to see the world if we were away from home. If I was home then my parents or one of my uncles usually had something for me to do. I had a few friends that I’d met from near the marina and I had a cousin, Kari who is two and a half years younger than me. When we were in town and I wasn’t helping one of my uncles, I would surf, play, or hang out with some of the local kids.
Things started to change for me when I was about 16 years old. I’m tall, very fit, blonde hair and blue eyes like many of my ancestral Vikings. I’m also hung like a horse or so I’ve been told. Even at 16 I was a little over 8 inches when hard and at 16 I was hard if the wind changed directions. As I said earlier, my family spent time at nude beaches in Europe and weren’t too bashful on the boat or around the house.
We were docked in Saint Tropez, in the south of France. Mom was going into town to restock the groceries and get ready for the owners that were flying in at the end of the week to enjoy the Mediterranean for the summer. Dad was doing paperwork and double checking that everything was ready. They told me to take the day off, so I grabbed a towel and a paperback before I walked a mile or so to the beach. The beach is very popular and, on the weekend, can see tens of thousands of people but it was a Wednesday and it wasn’t too crowded. I put down my towel and kicked off my flip flops. I dropped my t-shirt and shorts as well. I had been swimming and playing at beaches my whole life and nude beaches when they were nearby so this was no big deal to me.
I laid down and started to read. I made it through a couple chapters and was sweating some from the sun. Taking a dip sounded refreshing so I went to the water and waded out. Two girls were behind me as I dove in and surfaced about twenty feet further out. It was about waist deep on me and as I turned to look back at the beach, the girls said hello. They said, “Bonjour,” but I knew what they meant. They switched to English after we introduced ourselves and where we were from. Ella and Patrice were in town for a couple weeks with Ella’s parents and both lived in the suburbs of Paris. They didn’t say their age but mentioned that they would be starting their last year of high school. I replied that I was too. I just didn’t mention that I was home-schooled and had just turned 16.
It seemed that while I was reading on the beach, they were checking me out and were interested in what they saw. I liked what I saw in both. Growing up on the boats and traveling as much as we did, I’ve seen many people of different races, ethnicities, sizes, shapes, and levels of beauty. There are pros and cons to each person. I try to enjoy the pros and try not to focus on the cons. Ella had nice breasts and a pretty smile. Patrice had high cheek- bones and long dark hair but smaller breasts.
They were both very appealing. We drifted further out into the water and hands moved to touch each other. They liked to stroke my cock and were happy to let me kiss them and touch them anywhere I wanted as well. I was just exploring and learning. I think they were both more experienced but were intrigued by the size of my hardness. Ella’s parents were off for the day visiting vineyards and the girls suggested going back to the flat they were renting. I just nodded my approval and got a few stares as I was hard walking to get my clothes and towel.
They both wanted a ride on my cock so they went one after the other with Ella first. She made the sounds of a woman that was enjoying herself more so than Patrice who I could tell was being stretched tight and having some trouble until she got used to the girth and started to feel pleasantly filled. I would love to say that I was a stud and had them begging for more all day and night, but after we were done with round one, we were talking and it came out that I was only 16 and this was my first time. They were both embarrassed to rob the cradle but also took pity on me and showed me a few things as I learned about oral sex and different angles of entry to please a woman from in front or behind.
After some kisses goodbye, I went back to the boat. When asked about my day, I told my parents about meeting Ella and Patrice. They asked some questions and soon pried out of me that I was no longer a virgin. This prompted a discussion about birds and bees as well as women and men. As I mentioned earlier, we were an open family and Mom and Dad both knew about what having a large cock would mean for me with my looks and size.
It was shocking to hear what they had to say. Mom said, “Bull, you are a tall, handsome, and well-hung man like your dad and your uncles. I can tell you that this will be both a blessing and a curse. You know that port that we come into where you can see the Ferris wheel. You always want to go for a ride. You don’t ever wake up thinking about it but when you see it you want to take a ride on it. You will be the Ferris wheel to many, many women. I see it with your dad every day and your uncles too. That’s why Ed has never married and your dad and I have a special arrangement in our relationship.
“I don’t want you to get a big head but most men will do anything to get laid and women think they can just wink and get a guy to follow them. You have many more options and don’t have to settle for whatever you don’t want to. I mean you can define the rules and be in control of what you do or don’t do. I would bet those girls came up to you on the beach. I’ve seen it a hundred times.”
As I blushed at what she was saying, I nodded. “I was just reading for a while and when I got up to cool off in the water, they followed me and started talking to me. Both were together and neither tried to get me alone.”
“Those girls both wanted what you had and didn’t even think about being a boyfriend or a husband. They just wanted what was between your legs and your good looks made it easy for them to do whatever to brag about their conquest. Like a professional athlete or a rock star, sleeping with you takes on a different purpose or meaning for most of these women. You still need to set expectations ahead of time but you have much more control in these situations.”
Dad was just nodding his head. “You’ll make some mistakes, we all do. What your mom says is true. You can always talk to me or your uncles if you want any advice. At your age, I would say to be careful and have fun. Girls your age will most likely be too small or immature and most women will feel bad about someone so young but there will be some that don’t care and will do what you ask or tell them to be able to take you for a ride.”
What they were saying just didn’t add up to what society had taught me up to this point in my life. I tried to accept it but had a lot to think about. We had a couple more days before the owners flew in to take over the boat and we flew back to Florida. It was a little embarrassing to go to the nude beach with my mom and have her pointing out the women that were watching me and if I wanted to, could have. My dad just sat there with his sunglasses on and pretended not to hear her.
We flew home and we had a couple weeks before Mom and Dad had a job moving a boat up the east coast to Portsmouth, NH. I hung out with some of the local kids and actually found one of the local girls that noticed the bulge in my shorts and made me an offer.
Sandy was concerned about her reputation but if I promised not to tell, I could have her and use her as I wanted. Once or twice a day for the next week, she howled as I used her and tried out what Ella had taught me as well as learn a bit more about how women would react to different things. I was observant and took my education seriously.
I noticed some things were similar and some things different in what Sandy liked and didn’t like. By the middle of the next week, she seemed to just say, “Yes,” to whatever I suggested. When I asked my dad, he said that she was what he would call a submissive personality and had submitted the power to me to make the decisions in the relationship. Again, this was something I had to think about and absorb but I was still learning.
Something else happened that changed my life significantly. My uncle Eddie, after having a long talk with my dad, asked me to help him move a boat. It wasn’t the first time but it seemed different. We were both taking sailboats down to the Bahamas and then picking up another to take down through the Panama Canal and up to San Diego. I’d done a lot of sailing and plenty of open water but this would be a big trip for me. I was finished with my high school education and tested for my SAT and ACT if I wanted to go to college. With my grades and scores, I could attend almost any college in the US besides maybe Harvard or Yale.
We were talking a couple days before we were to take the two sailboats across to the Abacos when Eddie said, “Bull, you’re a young man and you probably haven’t really noticed that whenever any of our families need anything, we have the money to do it. This is because we work hard, we don’t have any debt and we live within our means. If anyone asks, we can point to trusts that have been set up for us and we work on and offshore so we have both on and offshore banking relationships.”
He gave me time to think about this but nothing really seemed out of place. He continued. “From time to time, there are things that we can move from one country to another with less scrutiny or inspection than other people or methods. Those things can bring us extra cash and add to the monies that we have in the different banks around the world. I know that your dad has money in the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and Switzerland besides what we get from the work here in the US. If any of us want to buy and sell a boat to make some money, we have the cash to do so if it’s a $20k boat or a $2 million boat.”
When he said, million, that made my ears perk up. I’d never really asked about money because I never paid attention to it. I asked, “What kinds of things do you move? Drugs?” This was the early 80s in south Florida. Everyone knew about cocaine and I knew a couple people suspected of running things onshore.
Eddies said, “Sometimes drugs, sometimes artwork or other things that would have a heavy tax coming into or out of the country. I had a couple lion cubs once, that ended up in Saudi Arabia. I bring this up now because I'm not married and you’re a minor. If we were to get caught, it would be less of an impact than if we both were married with kids. The trip to the Bahamas will be legit but the trip through the canal will be a pickup and drop off of some drugs in California. I don’t want to spring this on you once we’ve left shore and leave you no choice in the matter.”
This was a surprise to me but it made sense. Kids that got caught were only usually kept until they were an adult then released. Adults paid the bigger price. I asked, “How much will we make and how much will be my cut?”
He just smiled. “I have enough cash to buy about a half million in coke. I buy it at twenty dollars a gram and sell it at sixty. When it hits the streets, they sell it for a hundred. I can buy as much as I want from a guy in Panama and sell as much as I want to a guy in San Diego. I figure that it’s my money and I’m taking the bigger risk. I'll take 80 percent of the profit and you can keep twenty.”
Doing the math, that meant he would keep eight-hundred thousand and I would get two-hundred thousand. That sounded a lot better than fifty a day working as a mate. I nodded, and asked, “If I bring some of my own money, do I get eighty percent of that?”
He laughed at me. “Like father, like son. Your dad would ask and expect the same thing. If It’s fair for me, It’s fair for you. Bring as much as you want. There have been a few busts lately and there’s a big demand on both coasts.”
We were ready to leave the next day when Eddie came up to me. “Bull, I hate to ask this but my boat has a problem with the generator and I need a new part. It will be here in 2 days and another hour or two to install it. The boat you have is being chartered in two days and I need you to do the crossing alone and wait for me there. Are you up for it or do we need to find a mate to go with you?”
Making the crossing to the Bahamas wasn’t that hard and I’d done it many times, just never alone. I told him that I could do it and not to worry. He told me it needed to be at Green Turtle Cay marina. It was still early and I had a good breeze so I motored out to open water and then went under sail for the crossing.
It was a nice day and I was about four hours out when I noticed a cigarette boat or speedboat flying across the water. I was used to seeing them along the coast or racing towards shore with a load of drugs as they tried to outrun the Coast Guard. They were about a half mile to my starboard side when it leapt out of the air, went upside down and slammed into the water. I immediately changed course to head to where they were. I was more concerned about getting to them and seeing if they were alright and didn’t stop to run below and call the coasties.
When I got closer, I saw a submerged shipping container that must have fallen off a large freighter. There were no humans floating but the boat was still floating upside down. I quickly slipped a rope around my waist and tied it off to the sailboat. I grabbed my mask and dove in.
There were two guys in the boat, both buckled in and both dead, from what appeared to be broken necks. They were crazy for going so fast in the open water and very unlucky to hit a floating container. I went back and got another breath. I went below again and looked around to see if I could tell anything more about them or get an ID.
When I opened the hatch to the cabin, I saw gym bags half floating and half stacked. I grabbed one thinking it would be coke but when I drug it aboard the sailboat, and opened it, there were bundles of hundred-dollar bills wrapped in plastic wrap. I didn’t know it at the time but a million dollars of one-hundred-dollar bills is a single stack about fifty inches tall. If you put two stacks across the bottom of a duffle bag then it was just over two feet. This meant that each duffle that was there at eighteen inches long would hold about 1.4 million dollars. The way they had it packaged was 1.2 million in each duffle bag in one-hundred-thousand-dollar packs.
Grabbing my mask and dive knife, I dove multiple times under the capsized boat as I loaded fifteen more duffle bags on the boat before I sailed away. I never did call the Coasties. There were probably about three or four more bags left in the boat but when the Coast Guard was finally called, they would report finding money and any missing would be assumed stolen by them and not some sixteen-year-old in a sailboat.
It was just about dusk as I sailed into port and pulled up to the dock and tied her down. I knew the harbor master from the many trips with my parents. He showed me the boat that Ed and I were taking to California and it was only seven slips down from where I was docked. The thirty-four-foot boat that I had just crossed on was a single sleeping berth and a single head. The fifty-eight-footer had two staterooms and two heads. I waited until after dark to grab one of the dock carts and move the bags as well as my gear from one boat to the other.
It was hard to fall asleep, but I finally drifted off some time after midnight. In the morning, I went back to the smaller boat and scrubbed her down until she looked good. The agent showed up around noon and signed off on the delivery. The charter customers showed up a couple hours later but they met with the agent. My job was done and my uncle would pick up the check when he arrived. It was two days later when he sailed in. I hadn’t done much besides run into town to buy some new bags at the open-air market, play my guitar and pick up groceries.
After helping him clean the boat and move his gear to the rear, captain’s cabin, we sat down, and he told me about the big news. A boat had flipped carrying money from the US and was found by a passing boat. The Coastguard said it was a freak accident with a container and they found eight million dollars on board.
I said, “Shit!”
He replied, “I know. How unlucky is that? They were dumb for going fast enough to flip the boat in the first place.”
“Ed, I saw the boat flip. I was saying, Shit, because I only meant to leave three or four million on board and not eight million.”
“Fuck, Bull, How much did you take?”
Shrugging my shoulders I said, “I looked in one bundle and it had a hundred grand. There were twelve bundles per bag and I stowed sixteen bags before I got the hell out of there. That should be just over nineteen million.”
“Why didn’t you take it all?”
“I figured it would be reported like it was. If you had twenty-five million being sent across to get it out of the country, and they reported three or four million was found, what would you think? That someone stopped to steal most of it, or that the Coasties were set when they retire or get out of the service?”
He smiled and then laughed. “You were trying to point them in a different direction. What are you going to do now?”
“Wait for you to show up and tell me what to do.”
“It could certainly change what we can sell in California.”
Getting more serious, I said, “I did buy some new bags since they were all in very distinctive blue gym bags. I would love to stash a good bit away in a bank but having that much so close to the crash may raise some red flags with the wrong people.”
Ed took a long pull on his beer and thought for a few minutes. “Well, the Bahama’s have some good banks and It’s close to home but so do the Cayman Islands and Panama. We can stop in Colonon on this end of the canal and Panama City on the far end and set up some numbered accounts that you can wire money to and from. You can claim it was an inheritance or money earned overseas. You may have to pay taxes on it but It’s a way to launder it or make it legal without having to pay cash for everything the rest of your life.”
“I knew I brought you along for something,” I joked back, and we both laughed and then changed topics to doing a check out sail in the morning and before we finished stocking the boat for the trip. I brought out my guitar and a book of music and started to play some Jimmy Buffet and James Taylor songs. I had to laugh at myself later when I went to bed and complained to myself about all the bags in my room.
Cuba is the one country we didn’t want to stop at but it was right in the middle of making a straight-line sail to Panama. We could either go on the north side of the island to Mexico before turning south or sail through the Turks and Caicos, Haiti and Jamaica before making the long open water crossing to Nicaragua, before turning south down the coast to Panama. The distance was only about 50 miles further but we liked having non-Cuban land nearby so we did the southern route.
With stops along the way and both of us pushing six hours on followed by six hours off shift, we made it to Panama in just over a week. We pulled into the marina and restocked the boat. Ed found a bank that he liked and we deposited five million into an account. The banker was very courteous and helpful explaining the ways to call and wire funds. That left us with just under fifteen million on the boat.
During the long sail down, I practiced my guitar a lot, read some and we talked about how to handle the money. We decided that we would go big and take a huge risk. I was going to invest 10 million and Ed had a half million. It would buy five hundred twenty-five kilos of cocaine. All I was concerned about is the two hundred percent return but we had to find a place to hide it all.
We took some time in port and devised a way to raise the motor and fill the keel with the coke. The first set of locks took us into the heart of Panama. Gatun Lake covers almost the first half of the sail on the eastern half of the country before getting into the actual man-made canal on the western half. We could sail in the lake but would be under motor for the second half of the trip in the canal.
Where the canal met the lake there was a marina where we docked to resupply and top off the fuel tank. We also slipped into town to meet a man that my uncle knew. My family wasn’t in the drug running business but as I’d learned, they did move products from time to time for some extra cash. Ed was friendly with the man and the small deals that he normally made the man be caught off guard when he was told how much we wanted. It took a few days to complete the transaction as more product had to be brought in to meet the order of that size.
Having the order come in smaller pieces made it easier for us to stow it below but also put us at risk of being robbed or caught by the federales. Neither of those things happened and a few hours after leaving the dock we were in Panama City at another marina. It didn’t take long to find a different bank that would take another four million off my hands. It was just before dusk as we slipped out into the open ocean and set sail for the US.
As we crossed into the US two weeks later and stopped in at customs. They looked at the passport and asked about our business. Ed showed them his papers and they never even came aboard the boat. I was told to stay on the boat which was customary while the captain takes all the passports to the customs office.
Later that night we were in a San Diego marina and a man, Francisco, showed up that Ed had called. He came below and we all talked. He was happy to have the supply since the war on drugs had picked up and so many people were being arrested and shipments seized. He said he would need a couple days to get the cash and after doing some random samples and verifying the weight, he would just buy the sailboat and use it to store the goods while he slowly distributed the product. He could sell it when he was done. I think Ed made some money on the boat and we both made good money on shipment.
The buyer, Francisco said, “You know that the supply chains are being compromised and the demand is high. If you wanted to sail back and do the same thing, I know a guy in New York that will pay top dollar for stuff this pure and uncut. He is selling on the street and in his clubs for a buck twenty-five. He would pay you seventy-five a gram.”
Ed thought for a minute and said, “How much do you think he would want because sailing will take a month and a motor would burn a lot of fuel?”
“I would have to give him a call but if I know him, he could use three or four times what you just sold me and not have trouble. He has networks all over the east coast and what he doesn’t sell retail, he could sell at a small mark-up to other cities on the east coast.”
We looked at each other and just nodded. The phrase, “No balls, no babies,” crossed my mind as I thought about taking the money we just made. Not including the nine million I had in Panamanian banks, my now 30 million from the sale could turn into over a hundred.”
Francisco went to make a call to a guy that would drive out and talk to the man personally and then drive back and call a pay phone at a set time. It would take almost 12 hours so we took turns sleeping just like we were still doing watches at sea. Francisco showed up the next day and we turned over the boat to Francisco’s men. We had the money stashed in a van he gave us to use and we went looking for another boat.
We found a couple that we liked for both size, speed and one that we could easily handle with just two people. We also talked about what we wanted to do. Ed was taking a bigger risk because he was a legal adult and it was his captain’s license at risk as well as the rest of his life in jail if caught. I said, “Ed, I know I was going to take 20% on your transaction so I'm giving you 20% on mine. That’s six and with what you made on your investment; I'll round it off at ten million. I'll put up ten million for the guy in New York. If you do the same, we can buy a million grams of coke and walk away splitting seventy-five and retire if we don’t get caught.”
“Bull, I love the excitement but this is the big time. Like throw you under the jail big time. They probably won’t stop a luxury yacht but there’s always the chance.” He did some math and said, “That’s over a ton. A literal ton of coke. I'll talk to Francisco and work out the logistics.”
I said, “Ed, there are certain places where I see big risks. There’s random risk at sea with weather and coast guards or federales. I see the big risk of picking up the drugs and the delivery. When we get to New York, I don’t want to sit around for three days like we did here. I want to get the money and go. I want two things. A boat with the money on board and the big guy there. I don’t want someone that can’t be trusted running the show. I or we may want to do this again and I don’t want to deal with Francisco making a phone call.”
“I hear what you’re saying. But the head guy may see it like a trap if he’s asked to be there. It could be a set up for him as well.”
“The boat with the money is a demand, the big boss is a request. If we tell them what kind of boat we have, they can get the same and we can trade titles or something. We can take it straight to the Cayman’s or the Bahamas to make a deposit.”
“I think that’s doable. It sounds like we're going to move some product and determine our future.”
I could go through all the logistics of the trip. We were on an 85-foot Broward Pilothouse Motor Yacht. We made a stop in Panama City so I could make a deposit and then we had to wait on Jose to get another large shipment but finally made the deal and were back in the states after the crossing in the other direction. We made much better and consistent time using a motor and not being under sail.
We made a quick stop in Florida but my parents were out working. We said hello to the rest of the family and then cruised up the intercoastal waterway up to New York City. Ed made a few phone calls from a payphone in Fort Lauderdale. We had a firm date and they knew how much product we would be delivering. Francisco gave Eddie the name of the marina and even a slip number to park when we arrived.
We backed slowly into the slip with our eyes peeled for police, ready to raid us or armed gunmen about to rob us. Neither of those showed up. The next morning, we were fixing breakfast and a guy came out of the boat docked next to us. He had a cup of coffee in his hand. Most boat people are friendly and are interested in other boats. It isn’t uncommon to get a tour or offer a tour of your boat to others you meet.
We were on the aft deck eating when he said, “Good Morning.”
We said our greetings and he said, “I had reserved this spot for some friends of mine from California. That is a nice boat you have there.”
Eddie smiled and said, “It can be yours for the right price. We just got in from California and hoped to sell her. She’s a great boat.”
He smiled back and asked, “Permission to come aboard?”
“Certainly, can we get you some breakfast?” Ed replied.
“No, thank you.” He introduced himself as Tony Del Rocco and we told him who we were. It wasn’t very clandestine but more like old friends or boat people getting together. This is a nice boat but I’m sure it’s cheap compared to the other amenities on board.”
“The price has already been negotiated. So there should be no surprises.”
Tony frowned a bit. “I know we agreed on a price but the volume is more than what I was expecting and more than I had readily available. I was hoping to see if we could agree on sixty instead of seventy-five.”
I hadn’t said much as the two older men spoke. I started to speak and they both looked at me. “We had an agreement. I can understand that the total is a huge amount to come up with at one time. Why don’t you give us the sixty now along with the boat we agreed on and we will sail down to the Caymans and make a deposit. In a month I'll fly up and pick up the last fifteen and another boat as interest that I can take to the Bahamas to make another deposit and then I'll sell the boat to cover my troubles. Does that sound fair?”
Ed looked at me and then at Tony. He seemed nervous. Tony said, “I think that you’ve come up with an agreeable solution. I really do need all the product and, in a month, I'll have sold most of it and have more than enough. You look young and a boat that would be good for taking to the islands would need to be large enough that one person would be difficult. Would Ed be coming back to help you?”
I just looked at Eddie, he said, “Bojn or Bull isn’t old enough to have his captain’s license yet but can handle boats better than most captains out there. I'll go with him and close out this little adventure of ours.”
The deal had been finalized in theory. They would test and weigh the product and we would count the money. We enjoyed the coffee and the morning breeze as the city came alive. Tony asked, “What do you plan to do with the money?”
Ed said, “Live a little, but really no changes except maybe a new boat but I buy and sell boats all the time. Maybe just bigger boats now.”
They both looked at me and I surprised them both when I said, “I want to buy a marina and collect rent for the rest of my life.”
Tony said, “You should buy this one. The old man passed away and the kid doesn’t know shit about boats. He’s the old owner’s nephew and wouldn’t know a cotter pin from a bilge pump.”
I laughed as I knew what both of those things were and had helped replace a few of each. I asked, “How much would a place like this cost?”
“New York City real estate is more expensive than the rest of the country but I think you could get a good deal. Let’s complete this transaction and I'll talk to him and let you know, when you come back in a month.”
◊◊◊
Chapter 2
A trip to the Caymans was easy sailing and Ed sold the boat while we were there. We flew back to Fort Lauderdale and took a taxi to the marina. We were both ready to sleep for a few days but my parents wanted to hear about the trip. Ed was with me and I let him take the lead. He looked at Mom and Dad and said, “We had a great trip and will NEVER have to do that again. We sailed to California and then New York and then all the way to the bank. I think you need to set up a trust for Bull like Dad did for us. He isn’t old enough to own the stuff he can afford to buy.”
Dad was talking to Eddie when he asked, “How much are we talking?”
Eddie had to do the math and it came to just over fifty million spread across four different banks. He said, “Over fifty.”
My dad knew he meant fifty million but my mom thought he meant fifty thousand. She said, “He shouldn’t need a trust for that amount.”
But Dad was just nodding his head. He said, “I think you should tell us about what happened while you were away.”
They all looked at me. I glossed over much of it but talked about the boat flipping and all the money inside and how I parlayed that to the shipment to California and then to New York and then another trip to New York. At the end of the story my mom figured out that we were talking millions and her mouth was hanging open like my dad. She spoke first and asked, “I hope this isn’t what you plan to do for the rest of your life, Bull?”
“Mom, I don’t ever want to do that again if I don’t have to. Eddie was taking the bigger risk. I made a big bet like putting all my money on red on a roulette table. I was either going to win big or lose it all. You can’t win that bet every time but once or twice in a row isn’t unheard of. I know that and am cashing out while I’m ahead.” She was nodding her head in approval but still looked worried for her baby boy.
Continuing, I said, “I think Grandpa had a good idea when he bought this marina. The land and the slips bring in a good income and keep growing in value. I found a marina in New York City that I’m interested in buying. The guy that owned it was a boat guy like Grandpa but he passed away and everything was left to his nephew on his wife’s side and he has no clue what he’s doing. He isn’t from New York and he doesn’t know a thing about boats or marinas. I don’t think he knows it but there is almost a full block of land across the street that is part of the total deal.”
Dad asked, “How did you find out about this deal?”
Ed stepped in. “We were talking to a guy that was docked next to us and we were talking about owning a marina and he mentioned that the one we were at could use a good owner.”
“How much does he want?”
Ed said, “It isn’t on the market officially but the guy spoke to the owner and dropped the hint that if he was lucky, he could get between seven-fifty and a million for the place. I think that Bull should get his trust set up and then you can fly up and talk to him.”
Dad didn’t agree but said, “It’s getting late. Let’s talk about it in the morning.” That meant he wanted to talk to Mom before he made any kind of decision.
The next morning, I was up early and had my surfboard. I walked a few blocks to the beach and was in the water when the sun came up over the horizon. The waves weren’t great but the view and the freedom was more than worth it. I surfed until about ten and as I got out of the water, I saw Sandy on the beach and she noticed me. She came up with a pout, “Where have you been? I feel like you just dumped me.”
“Sandy, I told you that I had to move some boats with my uncle and we just got back yesterday. I’ve been through the Panama Canal twice, been to New York City and been to most of the islands in the Caribbean a couple times. I was going to come looking for you today after you had a chance to wake up.”
“The timing sucks. There is only a week left before school starts. My mom’s taking a couple days off to take me shopping and to the doctor and dentist for my annual check-ups.”
That’s how I found myself in her bed most of the day and walking home tired about dinner time. Mom gave me that look when I walked in. “I came over to the beach to find you around lunch time but I didn’t see you on the beach or in the waves.”
“I was at Sandy’s house. Did you fix me lunch? I’m starving.”
“I fixed you a sandwich, but dinner’s almost ready. Your dad should be in soon. He and Eddie went to see an attorney today about setting up a trust. Your dad and I had a long talk. He likes the idea of buying something that will pay you a steady income for as long as you own it. Ed said that the marina is in a good location and the price seemed reasonable.”
“It needs some work but nothing that I haven’t done before here. We’d have to find someone to run it or we’d have to move up there.”
“That seems to be the sticking point. We already have a few big trips on the books over the winter and into spring. You’re done with school. We can either appoint a guardian like Ed or get you emancipated so that you can act on your own. We could get in trouble if you had an accident and were alone as a minor.”
This all made sense and I didn’t want to leave my parents even though that was part of the lifestyle when loved ones worked on boats. I would let them figure it out and let me know what they decided.
Ed didn’t join us for dinner but Dad knew what was going on. He said, “Bull, you’ve been gone from us for the last four months. You got along fine sailing by yourself and working with Ed. I spoke with an attorney today about setting up a trust and told him about you. We discussed the pros and cons of different options that we or you have.
“The attorney said that based on everything and our work. It would be best if you stayed with us, had a live-in guardian or petition for emancipation. That would help with the liabilities of you being taken care of. When we discussed the pros and cons. I felt like we would be holding you back by making you put your life on hold for four years just to help us move boats and the income you would receive would pale in comparison to what you could make running a marina.
“Ed said that he would move up with you for a bit but that he didn’t like snow or cold and living in New York over the winter sounded like torture. It’s also his busy time for charter fishing with all the snowbirds coming down for the winter. I don’t want you to think that we don’t want you around because we love you and would welcome your help on the boats, but emancipation seems to be the best option unless you want to tread water for four years. The decision is yours.”
This was a big step in my life but I was on a roll with big gambles and if it didn’t work out, I could always change my mind and sell the marina to someone else. The petition, court interviews for the entire family and paperwork took a couple months. When the dust settled, I had a trust, I could sign for things legally and we closed on the marina just as winter was starting to set in and the boats were moving south or going to drydock somewhere else. The Hudson River can freeze in the winter and It isn’t a good place for boats.
The marina cost me just over eight hundred thousand but with the winter coming, the nephew was happy to take the money and run. I asked Mr. Del Rocco about hiring a builder to do some renovations. He looked at me as he scratched his chin. “Bull, you know some of what I do. We’ve trusted each other with our lives, our freedom and with large sums of money. I'll help you and treat you as a friend.”
“I’m sorry I don’t speak the language Mr. Del Rocco and don’t have the experience in some areas to fully understand.”
“First of all, please call me Tony. We do business together, and you aren’t dating my daughter.”
“You have a daughter?”
“I do and you stay away from her. She’s away at school anyways. I was saying that normally I help people get things done and collect a monthly fee to help them make sure things run smoothly. It could be a restaurant or a marina. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“I’ve heard of such things but we don’t have those problems in south Florida. I would hate any arrangement that I was paying anyone monthly. If you wanted a referral fee for helping me, find and negotiate a marina, I could understand that. You saved me almost fifty percent. If you wanted to charge me or the builder for the referral that would be of value but he would have to do a great job, be fair with his prices and get the job done on time.”
He was nodding as he listened. “Kind of a pay up front instead of pay as you go. There’s a risk on both of us to come out ahead depending on the up-front referral fee and how long you own the property.”
“Tony, It’s a fair deal, just like the boat and the delayed payment.”
It took a little time for him to decide but he finally stuck out his hand and shook on the deal. “I know a guy who’s a builder and developer. He puts his name on everything but that means he puts his reputation on everything so he does good work and finishes on time. His prices aren’t the cheapest but he lives the lifestyle and needs the funds to pay the bills.”
The next day, I was at the marina. Tony had called the builder and then had dinner with him and explained my age and that I was a good friend of his and had the resources to do what I wanted to do. I was standing with the builder. His name was Ron. I said, “Ron, I just bought this property and am looking to develop it. I have some ideas but would like to hear what your thoughts are.”
He pulled out the site plan and saw the boat slips, the marina, and the land across the street. He looked up a few times and then back down at the plot to get his bearings. He finally said, “I didn’t even know this property was available or I would have put in an offer. How much did you pay for this?”
It was all public record so there was no point in not telling him. “My trust bought it for just over eight hundred thousand.”
“The marina was worth that. The lot across the street is worth every penny of that by itself. You got a great deal. If I were you, I would sell the lot across the street to me and use the money to upgrade everything and make it a yacht club and not a marina.”
It sounded like an interesting proposal. “What would you do with the lot across from my yacht club?”
“Build and sell condos. This area is run down now but It’s in the infancy of starting to turn around. It’s close enough to Wall Street, has views of the river and doesn’t have the old money like around the park.”
“Ron, why a yacht club?”
“This city has a lot of people and most live in little, tiny spaces. Having a yacht club means they now have space to have a party, wedding, a private place to have a business lunch or dinner. You can charge a fee to join and a monthly fee. The slip fee would be separate and they would have a minimum spend each month at the bar or dining room. Even in the winter you’d be making money. Depending on how it’s received, the supply and demand of membership could drive the price up.”
“I like that idea. Do you have the ability to plan and do the design work or just build what I come up with?”
“We could do a design build for you. It would speed things up and save you a little money. Are you willing to sell the lot to me?”
“I don’t think so. I can just build my own condos and sell them. But you can help with the design and build if your work is good and your prices are fair.”
“I can live with fairness. If you’d said, ‘cheap,’ I would’ve walked away. Do you live far from here?”
“I just got in town and was going to live at my marina but that may have to change with all the construction about to happen.”
“I own a few buildings in town if you want to rent a place. Tony says that you have money but I don’t know how much. What kind of place are you looking for?”
“I'm just a kid. I don’t need much but since the marina is all I have; I think that something close by would be best.”
“Don’t ever say that you’re just a kid. You’re a businessman. You’ve asked good questions, listened well to the answers, and made good decisions so far.”
“I have enough money to take care of what we're talking about. I may have to move some around but a wire from offshore shouldn’t take but a day or two.”
“If you don’t already have one you should get a good accountant involved to help you do things right and keep you out of trouble.”
Over the next week, he helped me get an apartment in one of his buildings not too far away. With some referrals from Tony, I found a good accountant and opened a local bank account. I found an attorney to help out with legal documents and met with Ron and his design team to talk about both the yacht club and condos. It was a busy week but it felt like I got a lot done. The next week slowly passed as people did work but didn’t need me to do anything.
I played my guitar a lot in my apartment and explored the city. I don’t like to run but would take the subway to different parts of the city and then jog or run home. I was still doing my push-ups, sit-ups and mountain climbers but this let me get the lay of the land a little better. The apartment was small but when I looked around, I found that most apartments were small and most had either a spouse or roommate in the same amount of space that I lived in by myself. I had a small kitchen in the tiny apartment but would eat out most evenings.