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Martini Alley, as she once was. May we always remember her this way.
Final Voyage
The not-so-sea-loving adventure
of Stephen and Diane Klutz
By Diane Klutz the forward head wasn’t functioning. the helm and, to our horror, threw the
However, we still had the aft head, so throttle wide open - backwards, toward
In the end, no one was seriously hurt, the guys worked on the problems and we the buoy. With no time for correction,
the Coast Guard was wonderful, and shoved off. Martini Alley lurched to a grinding stop.
there was no divorce. An ear-splitting sound came from deep
Thirty minutes out, the newly rebuilt port in the hull.
Now, to the beginning. engine began to sputter. The wind speed
was starting to pick up, and the water Gazing down at the green buoy bounding
The boat was in need of repairs. was increasingly choppy. Ron insisted we against the stern, the term “dead in the
Christened Martini Alley, my husband go on anyway – we had a new generator, water” came to mind. Stephen jumped
Stephen and I were cruising from Port a working AC, good batteries and lights. in to investigate, and the report was
Aransas to Kemah, Texas, where the 40- All would still be well. not good: The buoy chain, anchored by
foot trawler could be serviced. With us three, 150-pound cement blocks, was
was Ron, one of the workmen, and his As we quickly approached dusk with no wrapped around the starboard propeller
wife, Judy. Judy did not like being on a place to anchor, the phrase “Stupid is as shaft several times over. We were going
moving boat, but the wind forecast was stupid does” reverberated in my brain. nowhere.
calm, and it was only a 20-hour cruise Standing at the helm with Stephen, we
along the Intracoastal. All would be well. saw a green buoy appear at the edge of Propeller wash from passing barges
the channel. We headed toward it, but hit slammed us against the tethered buoy,
The morning of our departure, we sand after only a few yards. As Stephen making walking just about as easy
discovered the wiring within the boat’s began to reverse the boat, Ron grabbed as riding a bucking bronco. The boat’s
main power cord severely burned, and
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84 | SUNRAYS JULY 2016
