3 Sharks: A Sailing Story

By Warren Allan

I'm in a very small (19 ft) fishing boat some 25 miles off the coast of Kenya. The boat has a major malfunction causing loss of power and a large hole through which the Indian Ocean is rapidly pouring in. There are no tools, no radio communications, no flares or other modern day emergency equipment that could help this 3rd World country desperate situation. The journey to get to this moment in time was not without its own very challenging issues. Maybe the writing was on the wall.....this was not going to be a good day! When you have nobody to rely on but yourself, your own resources and major fear to drive you, you'll be surprised at what you are capable of. There are 3 sharks in this story, two that swim and one of the two-legged variety. Each provides an important element to me finding myself in this terrible situation. At the end of the day I am alive to recount this story thanks to the availability of a man's dress. It would make the 'sail' that together with the 'adrenaline' was responsible for bringing our small boat safely home from well beyond the African horizon. It was my first sailing experience, a sailing lesson like none other. Today I work with sailing greats like Dennis Conner, Jimmy Spithill, Brad Webb and others as I charter very large and famous "America's Cup" racing yachts across America. And today....I do know how to sail properly.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Warren Allan
• Release date: May 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311292698

Warren Allan

I ain't no 'Crocodile Dundee' but, born in Australia I grew up in a lovely beach town called 'Bowen'...best Mangoes in the world! A 13 year banking career preceded the start of my Sport Fishing Travel business, bringing global anglers to the Great Barrier Reef chasing giant Black Marlin and to the outback for Barramundi and associated Aussie bush adventures. My trips to the outback and the Marlin fishing certainly involved a bit of 'Croc Dundee' action.....(another story maybe). Doing business in the USA made opportunity for a move here in 1993. Today I am a Sales Professional specializing in sailing experiences with an emphasis on team building and rewards. In San Diego I manage the famous 139 Ft Yacht 'America' for day & evening sailing & dining experiences and amazing year-round Gray Whale & Blue Whale excursions. In Chicago two of Dennis Conner's former America's Cup race yachts...Stars & Stripes and Abracadabra are being set up on the downtown waterfront for fantastic team-building & corporate entertaining events commencing May 15, 2015. These are the only "pair" of these style yachts in the USA. Every day is a "race" opportunity in Chicago. They have spent the last 10 years operating in San Diego. In San Francisco I have the "USA76"...the "only" America's Cup yacht in that city, and billed as "the most modern AC yacht available for public access anywhere in the world". Plus 'TOMCAT', a 40 Ft ProSail professional racing Catamaran named after the late Bay Area America's Cup sailor Tom Blackaller. This Cat is billed as "the fastest sailing charter yacht in the world". My ambition is to create "once in a lifetime" events for anything yachting related, groups and individuals.Specialties: corporate incentive, team building, VIP entertainment, individual & group thrills and Xtreme sailing.As for my writing......life's experiences are many, some more exciting and noteworthy than others. My stories will be true accounts of often 'extreme' life experiences.

Book preview

3 Sharks…..

A Sailing Story!

By

Warren Allan

Smashwords Edition

Published By

Warren Allan

Copyright © 2015

Warren Allan

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold 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. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means without written permission by the author.

Content

Introduction

Chapter 1 - Kenya 1987

Chapter 2 – SHARK # 1:

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8 - SHARK #2:

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15 – SHARK #3:

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Introduction:

This is a ‘learn to sail’ lesson…but certainly not in the traditional way that most sailing happens. It is also a lesson in ‘life’. How precious it is and how easy it is to lose. Despite being a ‘sailing’ story, there are 2 Sharks in the mix….well, 3 if you count the wealthy German industrialist whose cruel actions set the scene for this entire story.

1: Kenya - 1987

Oh Fuck! We're fucking sinking! The whole bilge is full of water! Oh Shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! Thoughts of clinging to an upturned boat flash through my mind. The water is at the floorboards…..another ½ inch and it would be running over our feet. Aaarrgghh! Where the hell do we have a hole? Fuck! I use that word far too often I'm told, but right now it seems like the only word that's appropriate to the circumstances. We’re in a tiny little boat out of sight of land off the coast of Kenya. That's right…..3rd world country Africa ‘Kenya’….one and the same, and I'm in a sinking boat on the Indian ocean. How the fuck did I get here? At least the last time I was in a sinking boat it was in civilized Australia, with radios, good equipment and an important thing like the Australian Air Sea Rescue" service. Any thoughts of Kenya having a ‘Coast Guard’ or ‘Air Sea Rescue’ to come to our aid are quickly overshadowed by the sound of pandemonium around me. What ever was being said in German escaped me, but I’ve no doubt that ‘f _ _ k’ sounds the same in any language.

Did I mention radios? Yeah! Well…..we don’t have any bloody radios on this sinking little fishing boat in Africa! Thank God for our little radio on that ‘other’ occasion…..and the magic of radio waves. A huge ship in the Bass Strait south of Melbourne, Australia had picked up our frantic ‘Mayday’ calls some 3,000 miles to the north in the Whitsunday Islands. Within 30 minutes calls had been placed to Sydney, to Townsville, to my home town Bowen and finally to a small tourist resort 5 miles from our location…..from which arrived my own Dad in a speedboat to rescue us. A mere 20 minutes later and our holed boat would have sunk under us on a dark night in a strong current….we’d have been swept away. As it was our little boat did sink in 5 ft of water at the edge of the beach as soon as we were no longer under tow. That in itself is a story of multiple ingredients leading to a bad, bad situation…..Bad Luck being a pretty strong factor on that occasion. But now! How the fuck did I get to this place again?

There is horror on everybody’s faces…..the African captain of this fine fishing vessel that is now fast disappearing below us, my German associate Wolfgang Schmidt who I never did really ‘Thank’ for getting us into this mess…..and his German girlfriend Liana, who although petite and cute was not about to be the brains behind saving this situation. Oh….I didn’t mention ‘me’…..I’ve no doubt there was a look on my face that could start a book! ‘True story!

2:

Every story has a beginning before you get to the end. In the end I learned how to sail….sort of! But let’s start at the beginning. Although this happened long before the internet really got swinging, as you engulf this story you’ll run into some ‘key words’….things like ‘terror, adrenaline, alone, fishing, sinking, sailing, vomiting, pain, fear, beer….and…let me say it again ‘adrenaline’!

On a much tamer note……this all started back in Townsville, Australia in May 1987. I had recently resigned from Westpac Banking Corporation where I had said quits to a 13+ year Banking career that started two days after I finished school. No summer vacation for me after 12 years in school…..I had a job and that was a bonus. It was the same year that my 12 year marriage ended. I was just 19 when we tied the knot….a marriage of necessity. I was convinced at the time that I was doing the right thing….the 3 amazing children and 5 grand children I have today prove that I was correct. I had also recently accepted the volunteer job as Secretary/Treasurer of the Queensland Game Fishing Association, the state body in charge of some 17+ clubs. For 3 years I had been Treasurer of the Townsville Game Fishing Club and now heading for divorce I saw some opportunity to move away from the captivity of the banking life. I’d already been Marlin fishing regularly, winning fishing tournaments, on local