Bad Luck Good Luck

Chapter One

The calm became a light wind that increased through the night. It was a strong wind but nothing dangerous as we cut through the water for the next few days. That night Dad stayed up as the wind increased. He pulled the sails down and we all knew it was getting serious when he got us up and put our life jackets on. Waves were beginning to not just break over our boat, but were crashing down on us. Dad herded us into the cabin, as we had to hold on for dear life. It seemed like our boat was lifted clear of the water and we seemed to roll a couple of times. I somehow managed to grab the light fixture on the cabin roof and the noise was deafening. It seemed like I was rolled and tossed and I held on to the light fixture for dear life.

I am not sure if I lost consciousness or fell asleep but when I opened my eyes the sea had calmed down and it was turning daylight. I was lying on top of part of the cabin roof. I was alone. I didn’t see our boat, my mom and dad or sister. Fortunately, the section of roof I was on was foam sandwiched between fiberglass panels. It began to rain; I mean pour! I took my shoes off to catch rain and lay on my back with my mouth open. I must have been totally exhausted as I fell asleep. I thought I was dreaming when I woke up; I had washed up on a beach, a very deserted beach. I wanted to cry but remembered dad telling me when one cries they are wasting energy they may need. I scanned the ocean and that is all I saw; Ocean and a lot of it.

I had no idea of the time but knew I was very hungry. I dragged the roof section farther up on the beach to keep it out of high tide. I was definitely on an island that was heavy in vegetation. As I looked around I saw a treasure; Coconuts. I used one to crack another but It been on the ground too long and was no good. The fourth one I cracked was good, I will always remember how wonderful the milk tasted, and I ate every bit of the meat. As I walked up the beach, I found various things from our boat but nothing that would help me. Just up ahead the beach ended and rocks jutted out into the ocean. As I got closer to the rocks my childish prayers were somewhat answered. Lodged in the rocks was the ice chest from our boat. I dragged it up on the beach and opened it. Everything was salvageable but wouldn’t be in another day except the canned meat mom had put in there. I ate as much as I could of the perishables. There was enough salvageable food to last me ten days if rationed it. It was beginning to get dark and there was no way I was going to try to sleep in the jungle. I was about out of steam and it was getting darker. There was a place in the rocks where it was sandy, and that is where I decided to spend the night. The only comfort I had was knowing I had food to keep me going while I explored to see if there were people on this island. I did sleep through the night and woke up to a good sign, I was hungry.

I climbed to the top of the rock pile and it looked like a rocky shoreline as far as I could see. I did think I saw some possible wreckage from our boat. It would take me forever climbing up and down the rocky shoreline. I had made up my mind, I was going to have to try to explore the jungle coast line. I took a can of canned meat out of the cooler and luckily, it had a key to open it. A lesson learned can be a lifesaver for sure. Thanks to my dad I walked along the edge of the jungle when sure enough, I found what must be a game trail into the jungle. It had to be small animals using this trail, as the trail was very small. It was hot and humid and so far, all I found was more jungle. I was about ready to head back when I thought I heard and smelled water. About seventy-five more feet and I found a treasure for sure. A small stream bubbled across a mossy gravel bed. I lay on my belly and drank until I couldn’t drink any more.

I had eaten the canned meat several hours ago and knew I had better beat feet back to the safety of the rocks. I ate what I could of the perishable food in the chest, as it was getting dark. The humidity and struggling along the game trail was the perfect sleep remedy. I was sound asleep until the sun woke me up. I had to get a game plan. So much of what my dad had taught me raced through my head. Of course, I hoped humans would discover me and get me out of here. But, what if there were no humans here? Then I had better think about what I must do to survive until I was rescued. I remembered that we had only seen two big ships off in the distance our entire journey so far. There was no way I could make it through the jungle without chopping my way through; that meant I needed a machete or something similar. Sure, let’s see, I will run over to the hardware store and get one. Dream on!

My only choice of survival was to find a safe place to build a shelter and figure out a food source. I knew where fresh water was and I had coconuts, but it would take more than that to survive. If I didn’t try to hurry, I would have a lot of rocks to climb over but it was my safest way to head up the island. I knew by the rising and setting of the sun that would take me south. I could carry four cans of food from the cooler in my pockets and two bottles of Gatorade. I would have to rely on coconuts and their milk. By the time I needed to call it a day, I had made about a hundred yards of hard scrambling through the rocks. There was a tall rock outcropping about a quarter mile up the beach. I didn’t set any land speed records, but three days of tedious picking my way and I finally made it to the base of the highest rock elevation. I was scratched up and tired. I found a sandy spot and had a coconut and milk for dinner. I had been lucky so far; the days were hot and muggy; but the nights were cool. I wondered what the seasons were here.

I woke up early, which was good as I had some climbing to do. It seemed to take forever to finally get to the top and it was beginning to get dark. I was going to have to sleep sitting up, as there were no flat places in the rocks. The only good thing about exertion was I could sleep in almost any position. It was getting light and a light sprinkle was actually welcomed. I found a place where the fresh water was trickling down the rocks and filled an empty Gatorade bottle. The morning sun broke through and I thought here we go. As I gazed towards the south I thought I saw something white. I had water and one can of food left. It looked like very rough going to get to where I thought I saw something white. Well I wasn’t getting anyplace just thinking about it. Two days later and I had to make a decision; I was out of food and almost out of water. It was hard to tell, I thought I was maybe a day away from what I thought I saw. Do I gamble? I had lost track of time; I was a long way from my meager food supply.

I could head for the jungle and coconuts; or gamble that I could get to whatever the white was I thought I saw. My dad’s words rang in my ears; the coconuts were a sure thing. No matter what, survival was first. It took over a half a day but it was worth it. I drank the milk from three coconuts and ate one. There were all kinds of sandy places to sleep in the rocks. Unreal! The bright sun woke me up. I filled my pockets with coconut meat and drank the milk until I was full. I took a coconut with me for the milk and headed out across the rock pile. As I climbed the last pile of rocks, I heard a funny noise and as I climbed to the top of the rocks, I just sat there and cried. Wedged in the rocks was a battered Gigo-Gigo. It was low tide and it was almost entirely out of the water. One thing for sure; It would never sail again. As I climbed down towards it I was almost afraid of what I would find; or wouldn’t find. What would I do if I found my mom or dad or my sisters body? I sat and cried until I had no cry left.

The aft of the boat was under water; Three fourths of the boat was out of the water because it was low tide. I checked to make sure the boat was secure in the rocks before I attempted to climb aboard; it rocked slightly but seemed securely wedged. As I climbed over the side of the boat I almost cried again; everything seemed damaged. I had to be careful, as everything seemed slippery. The main cabin door was gone. My mom and sister had been in the cabin with me when I was washed out of the boat through the roof that was torn off. All three members of my family were gone. I gazed out at the ocean and thought maybe they were lucky and had made it to shore and were on the island somewhere. Food, water and weapons were my first concern. Both fresh water tanks were intact and were about a fourth full. I made it to the front of the cabin to the storage area; there were four full cartons of survival food plus two full sets of extra sails, extra rope and a small Honda generator with five gallons of gas. It had all been securely fastened and survived. Wrong! As I moved the generator, one side was destroyed.

My dad’s AK47 and .40 caliber Glock and hunting knife were wet but salvageable along with an abundance of ammunition. It took me the rest of the day to get the weapons and two cartons of food ashore. I made it back to the boat just before dark. I had laid blankets out on the rocks and they were thankfully dry as the air was too cool to be comfortable without the blankets. I woke up to a windy much cooler day. It was a good thing I found a place near the top of the rocks to sleep; High tide and come in and receded and the boat had slipped back maybe three feet. It was not as stable as it was yesterday. I was able to get the remaining cartons of food ashore, along with the extra sails and rope. I had worked much longer that I realized and the tide had been coming in and the boat was rocking more than it had before. I found a backpack and filled it with cooking utensils and a box of candles. I found a framed picture of my family and me; I wanted to cry but the boat was rocking and I had to hold on until I was able to get off. The tide seemed higher and I had to be extremely careful until I made it back to shore.

Fortunately, I had grabbed the blankets on my way to the beach; there was no way I could make it back to where I had slept the night before. A wind driven rain came in suddenly; I unrolled one of the sails, covered everything and tied it securely. I opened one of the boxes of food and ate a much welcomed dinner of cold beef stew. It tasted like the best meal I could ever remember. It was a good thing I had dragged everything up the beach as far as I did as the wind and storm had the surf within ten feet of where I spent the night. I finished off the can of stew for breakfast and headed back for the Gigo-Gigo. The storm had turned the boat around and it was two thirds submerged with the aft sticking out of the water. The rudder had broken loose and was barely hanging. I needed the metal from the rudder. I made it back to shore and got the hacksaw, hammer and chisel in my dad’s toolbox I had salvaged.

As I began to saw the three brackets holding the rudder, the boat shifted slightly. There was no doubt the Gigo-Gigo was heading for Davey Jones locker. I was sawing on the third bracket when the hacksaw blade broke. The boat had shifted again and it was slowly disappearing into the water. I had to chance it and used the hammer and chisel, and finally broke the last bracket. I dragged the rudder higher up on the rocks and began tediously making my way to shore. It was tough going as it took both of my hands to carry the rudder. By the time I made it back to my temporary camp I was hurting and wanted to lay down and cry. It was as if I could hear my dad tell me to get up and not be a wimp. My entire desire was always to have my dad proud of me. I had thrown a bunch of clothes up on the rocks to dry. I actually found myself smiling as I thought if I wasn’t found I would wind up wearing a skirt made out of palm fronds. I had a can of cold chicken noodle soup as a stormy night made it difficult to fall sleep. I woke up in the morning as I was too warm under the canvas; I peeked out and It was a bright sunny morning. I had a coconut and milk for breakfast and headed back for the boat.

The clothes I had laid out on the rocks were there but the Gigo-Gigo was gone. There were still things I wanted to salvage; but I had the most important things safely on shore. I gathered up the clothes and headed back for shore. It was difficult to get the lay of the land standing on the beach. I had no choice; I was going to have to go inland and explore. I made sure all of my salvaged items were safe and secure. I put several days’ supplies in the backpack, picked up my weapons and headed back to the game trail where I found the fresh water. Once again, my dad’s words rang in my ears. Preparedness was the first essential for survival. It took all day but I had rearranged what supplies I had closer to the game trail. I looked at the picture of my family; it had been water damaged but once dried was my greatest treasure. The next morning I had cold chicken and dumplings for breakfast. It was a struggle but I finally got the rudder, hacksaw with extra blades, file, hammer, and chisel back to the little fresh water stream.

It took most of the day but I finally cut a piece off of the rudder about thirty inches long and about three inches wide and only broke one blade. Once back to my supply area I decided, I wanted a warm meal. I used a shoelace and made a bow; there was a tree that must have been hit by lightning as it was dead and full of powder-like, fine sawdust. I cut a wood, top and bottom, block. It didn’t take long and a little smoke began to show. I added more of the powder, a little twigs, and there we go; I had fire. I had warm spaghetti and meatball for dinner sitting beside a nice warm fire. I stoked the fire and got the first comfortable night’s sleep since being washed up on the shore. I even had a warm breakfast of vegetable soup and crackers. I spent the day by the little stream filing on the metal I had cut from the rudder. By the end of the next day, I had a homemade machete complete with a comfortable bamboo handle.

Chapter Two

The next morning I found a tall tree I was sure that I could climb and maybe get an idea if the island was flat or what. I was winded and pooped by the time I had climbed as high as I thought safe. There was some hills maybe a half mile to the northeast. That was a good sign except it was dense jungle all of the way. I thought I could probably make it to the highest spot in four to five days. It would be quicker getting back as I was sure I would have to cut my way through the jungle to get to the high ground but I would have a somewhat clear path to get back. I would go for it tomorrow. My heart raced as I thought I heard an airplane; I found an area to where I could see the sky and saw a jet that was just barely a speck. Just the sound of the jet brought a smile. That was the first sound related to human beings I had heard since arriving on the island. I stocked the backpack with what I figured was at least eight days of supplies in case my exploring took longer.

I was up early the next morning and got an early start. I wouldn’t have made it a hundred feet without my machete. It was hot slow going but I was making headway. I had made a hammock out of a piece of one of the sails. Dad’s tool chest had produced just what the doctor ordered; A grommet kit. There was no way I was sleeping on the ground. I had seen two snakes since stranded on the island. One not large but looked menacing; the other was a big rascal, probably a boa constrictor. By the end of the third day if I hadn’t made it this far I would have turned around and went back. On the fifth day, I stood on top of the highest hill. I went one step farther and climbed a tree. The island was pear shaped and I guessed maybe four miles long and two mile wide at the widest. The entire island was covered with what looked like a sea of green.

It was going to be a chore but I decided to build my camp on top of this hill. I could see the sea that surrounded the island. I would build a big fire pit that was ready to light in case a ship came close enough to maybe see the smoke. As I was cutting my way through the jungle, I had seen three different things that looked like maybe it was some kind of fruit. I even saw what looked to be a small deer like animal that scared me as I must have scared it as it crashed through the jungle. I would gather samples on the way back to the beach and experiment to, first and foremost, see if they were poisonous. My precious food supply wasn’t going to last forever; I almost cried as I thought I may spend my entire life on this island alone. My dad’s words were ringing in my ears again; be prepared! It was a lot easier going getting back to the beach. Two of the three samples I brought back to the beach were somewhat sweet and tasted all right. The third one was tart and no doubt not something to eat. Just to be safe, it took all of the next day nibbling on the two I gambled on to find they were safe to eat.

As I looked out across the ocean, I had to laugh; I had an ocean full of seafood; I wasn’t going to starve. I walked a way down the beach and in the process dug up six clams. No problem gathering seaweed. I wrapped the clams in the seaweed and set it them around the edge of the fire. I warmed a package of dried mixed vegetables and had a warm gourmet meal of steamed clams and vegetables. I had a game plan; I would begin packing my supplies up to the hill where I decided to build a more permanent camp. I realized that since I washed up on the beach it was almost like my mom and dad were with me. Dad had thankfully taught me so much about survival and mom had taught me a lot about cooking. I knew for a fact, I was only six years old but there was no doubt I could give lessons in survival thanks to dad. Crabs were in abundance on the beach. I was going to steam one and see if it was edible. I had all of the fishing gear off of the boat but had a lot of work to do before I would take time to fish. I sharpened my machete and packed for tomorrow.

I awoke to a heavy downpour; it was raining so hard I couldn’t see ten feet. About the time I wondered what I would do today it stopped raining as quickly as it had started. That took care of my day of rest. I had found a water soaked calendar on the boat of which I had dried. I had lost track of how long I had been on the island and took a researching guess. I was sure it was about forty-five or fifty days. I had salvaged three packages of computer copy paper and a box of pencils and several ballpoint pens that belonged to my mom. I would use the calendar to keep track of time and write a daily ledger. In the meantime, head to what I would call my home on the hill. It took most of the day to get to the hill. It is almost unreal how fast things grow in the tropics; I had to use my machete to keep the path clear. I found a neat place to hang my hammock and began searching for the perfect place to build a one-room structure. I had to laugh when I climbed in the hammock for the night; this was my first night in my new home away from my beach home.

My mom had schooled me in many important things that we used or needed throughout our lives. I knew how to measure with the tape measure from my dad’s tool assortment. I found four trees that would give me a twelve by sixteen one room ten feet off the ground. Yes, I guess you could call it a tree house. It took almost a week to clear the area under where I would build my one roomer. Nothing I cut would go to waste; I used the three and four inch diameter trees for cross struts that would eventually support the floor. I built a ladder of which I would raise every night when I called it a night. Getting my beach supplies to my home on the hill took a lot longer than I figured; but I did have to laugh as every couple of days I put the machete to good use. There is no doubt that if I didn’t keep the trail opened it would be completely overgrown in two weeks.

Almost everything on my house had to be notched and tied. The spool of nylon rope I salvaged had two hundred and fifty feet of rope on it. I unraveled it for what I needed for tying my house together. I got four strands of eighth inch rope out of the half-inch rope. All work and no play don’t get it. I decided to catch a couple of crabs, boil them, and hope. Mixed vegetables and crab for dinner made me smile. I was glad there were a lot of crabs running around the beach; between the crabs and clams, I was in as my dad would say, Hog heaven. It was taking a lot longer to build my tree house than I had figured on. I celebrated with a seafood dinner and a drink made from the edible fruit that was in abundance. I was one thankful guy when I put the last of the palm fronds on the roof. Next, I built a bed frame, a table, and two chairs. Why two chairs? Wishful thinking I suppose. I had been on the island about six months when I had my official house warming.

I had salvaged six packages of vegetable seeds mom had packed in the ice chest; There were a lot more packages but they had gotten wet and weren’t salvageable. There were three squash, two broccolis and one turnip. The four potatoes that hadn’t rotted had sprouts and were questionable.