As We walked up the gang plank, Joel and I could see the Seamen leaning over the rail staring down at us coming up, with curiosity in their eyes and mischief in their hearts.
Joel and I had no idea what to expect! All We knew was that we were on our way to ADVENTURE ! ? ! ?. hahahaha. And a check of $28,000.00 apiece in 1964 at 17 years of age, in the form of "life insurance policies", in our pockets! Now you may be asking, "SO WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?", good question! Here's what I told Joel back in the Cantina after I had asked the "Assurance", agent to write us up for that kind of policy back at the assayers office.
While we were sitting at our table, I then told Joel what my Father had told me about how He and mother had gotten out of Europe (before I was conceived), with all of our money without being confiscated by either local government or the Nazis. He told me that He and mother had decided to purchase "life insurance", from LLOYD'S of LONDON before they left to AMERICA, so that the monies would not be found on them and confiscated. You see, more then $500.00 could NOT be taken out of the country at ANY time! Ergo, I had thought the same thing and had asked government offices of passage, what the reality was now and here in S. America, Venezuela? I was told that NOW in 1964 the laws of the land were that no more then $1000.00 more then one came in with, could leave, and I had seen, as we came into town that, there were INTERNATIONAL Banking companies here in CARACAS.
As Joel listened to the story His mouth slackened and His jaw dropped! (THE LOOK WAS PRICELESS!) HAHAHAHAHA!
He at first wanted to slap me up along side the head in confused anger! then in seconds, He wanted to hug the breath outta me!
"BRILLIANT!" He said, "Why the fuck didn't you tell me earlier?"
Sheepishly , I told Him,"I wasn't sure I could pull it off."
We walked up the gang plank wondering what was going to happen now in this new world of water/sea/OCEAN!? As we came aboard one of the seamen asked us ,"what happened down there, mates?"
Joel and I looked at each other, smiled and said ,"Just a sending off party." Boy were we so cool or what?!!!! hahahaha.!!
We were shown to our cabins on the top deck, reserved for passengers and officers. Joel was the first to succumb to the hazards of a ship life. hahahahha !
Did I mention that we were still a little TANKED? HAHAHA. As we walked to our cabins we had to go thru the "bulkhead" to our rooms. Joel didn't see the base of the way. and didn't lift His feet! ROTF-HMS-LMAO !!! HE CAUGHT HIS FOOT AND WENT FACE FIRST TO THE DECK AND BLOODIED HIS NOSE! I looked , laughed and cried with tears of mirth! He looked up at me ,while dripping blood on the deck, and asked, "What da fax so fudy?", the whole time His nose was running blood like a cheap faucet!
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Bulkhead function in ships ( in ship construction: The naval architect )
...Passenger vessels must satisfy a standard of bulkhead subdivision that will ensure adequate stability under specified conditions if the hull is pierced accidentally, as through collision.in ship: Structural integrity )
...thus permit thinner shell plating. This scheme of framing is strongly favoured in applications where weight saving is important. However, longitudinal frames require internal transverse support from bulkheads and web frames—the latter being, in effect, partial bulkheads that may extend only three to seven feet in from the shell.
In our case? 10" from the deck and 12" from the sides.
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GOIN OFF THE AIR FOR A FEW DAYS! BACK AS SOON AS I CAN !
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BACK NOW,
OK , so where was I ?
Oh yeah, hahahaha . After I picked Him up and scrabbled into our cabin, a seaman looked on and laughed so hard that I swear that he wet his pants! hahahaha
The word was out to the crew! "LAND-LUBBERS! Kids! Get ready for fun!", HAHAHA ! As the steamer was readying to sail, I was laughing my ass off as I cleaned up Joel. We really didn't see our departure from the harbor, but no lose. We would in our, up coming lives , see many.
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