ROCKY ROCKFORD
BEST FRIEND & FIRST MATE
MAY YOU FOREVER ROAM THE BEACHES & FISH
9/19/03 - 6/9/12
M/V INVICTUS
My first experience as a "blue water" sailor came about as a result of a Reddit post, about a month after my 65th birthday. After a hair raising 72 hours at sea between St. Thomas and Grand Turk, half of which was spent in darkness in a series of two dozen "three-on, three-off" watches many of which were in gale force winds and 15 foot seas, the crew of the Okoume was in need of some serious shore leave. There was only one crew member (your narrator) but the owner/skipper of the 41 foot Lagoon catamaran was a former Army Ranger who saw better at night than I did in daylight, so counted as three more, though he only stood his own watch. After recuperating for two days in Grand Turk, immediately adjacent to the cruise ship dock and not really able to get much significant repair done there due to a lack of facilities or a chandlery, we did another 48 hours "three-on, three-off" straight through to San Salvador. After a mile walk to the local airport, we cleared Customs and Immigration and the skipper paid our hefty $300 entrance fee to the Bahamas. It was here at the Riding Rock Marina where an American sailor from the Carolina's who was cruising to the Dominican Republic, told us about a neat anchorage called Booby Cay. I am not sure what you are thinking but it is likely named after the seabird with the funky feet.
Booby Cay anchorage is one of a small handful of bays at Conception Island, a national park in the Bahamas of which I had never before heard. It is about 37 miles west of San Salvador and would have represented my most perfect 'REACH YOUR PERFECT BEACH" moment in its own right, even without the skipper's serendipitous discovery of Rocky's remains. As a result of this discovery, it now ranks up there with the best gunkhole adventure of all time as well. Upon research, I discovered this "Conception Island is a national park with no inhabitants or facilities. Anchoring and landing is permitted but absolutely nothing must be taken or left." Duh, somebody certainly left something behind here. This blog has been germinating for a quite a few months on the backburner of my mind and for a while I considered not writing it all, in order to preserve the peace of Rocky's final resting place. It is nowhere near a beaten path and if my skipper hadn't been a Viet Nam era Green Beret who for nostalgic reasons loves to trudge through jungles, then likely it would be undiscovered still. We assumed that Rocky was a grizzled old limey Salt who was 109 years old when interred here though upon reflection, given the dates on the inscription he could have been 9 years old. We are going with the former as it is unlikely that he could have found a such a loyal friend who would schlep his remains to such a forbidding and inconvenient resting place in such a short span of friendship nor was he likely to have crewed on a motor vessel at such a tender age, except perhaps as a cabin boy.
I began my research on the ship, as I thought a majesty's vessel of such a distinctive name would be easy to find with maybe a crew list appended. Perhaps we'd find a glamorous Royal Navy destroyer in the Hood class which was among those that sank the Bismarck. But it soon became apparent that M/V and HMS were two distinctively different prefixes and that the former was much less glamorous than the latter. I was surprised to find that the Royal Navy had never named a ship HMS INVICTUS. It seemed to me that the name would have ranked right up there with HMS VICTORY or HMS INVINCIBLE. There is a fabulous luxury yacht of that name but it is of recent vintage and so it is unlikely that Rocky might have crewed on it, unless as a nonagenarian cabin boy.
INVICTUS of course is the name of a 19th century noble English poem by William Ernest Henley that is associated with Nelson Mandela and contains the well known inspirational lines "I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul". It would indeed be a noble ship that bore such a noble name in a noble cause, you would think, and Rocky on his perpetual royal Bahamian private perch would likely be a noble character. Then I discovered this.Trinidad Express.
It does seem quite plausible and even likely that this was Rocky's ship and these were Rocky's mates that gave him this wonderful resting place. The kind of guys that smuggle diesel fuel in fish holds would likely not feel too bound by run of the mill Parks and Recreation rules. "Well done, Rocky's mates". Conception Island Video.
A couple of comments with respect to the video. I have an old hardcover book from the 1970's that is a cruising guide to the Bahamas and the Caribbean, which I had foolishly left at home. The mast/antenna in the video is identified on a sketch map of the island as a light during that era. The footprints in the sand are my own from the previous afternoon when I did some preliminary scouting and I truly hope no-one else ever finds Rocky's marker.
I have been lax in my blogging, but have an excuse as I finished the second edition, now illustrated of my first book and will have a black and white paperback version of the same out shortly. REACH BEACH BOOK AT AMAZON. The E-Book is in full color. I am about a third of the way through my second book of non-fiction tentatively called A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE BEACH, which is comprised of light hearted nature stories that occurred over my nearly ten years on the Clam Pass Park boardwalk. I am hoping to have a talented local artist illustrate it with line drawings for me. Reluctantly I have made some changes in my life. I gave up full time Tram Driving in favor of part-time seasonal work as security personnel at Pelican Bay. When season ends in a month or so I hope t have more time to write and explore. Also, with great regret I sold my beloved Gertie the Gheenoe and am currently between boats. The sailing trip about which more blogs are to follow, has me thinking about whether to continue sailing or like Rocky Rockford, just go fish. Thank you for reading and your continued support and encouragement. It is spring up north and summer is soon to follow. I hope you can REACH YOUR PERFECT BEACH this year.
