Selecting a Crew

Imagine if you can
The game
Of choosing a crew
To sail with you
Halfway around the world.
Who would you pick
To share your adventure?
Would you look for people
Who knew how to sail?
Would you look for those
With a passion for the sea?
Would you look for dreamers
Drifting along with the breeze?
The Diamonds had accumulated
A crew of local characters,
None of whom
Had much experience under sail.
The most capable member
Was a guy we called Sugar Baer
Who had spent time in the Navy
On a submarine under the sea
Which qualified him as captain.
Both of the Diamond’s
Teenage daughters
Recruited surfers from Oahu
To keep them company
Throughout the trip.
There was also the Diamond’s
Seven year old son.
The crew also included a lawyer
Trying to make his escape.
My brother, Lee, and I
Picked up the two surfers
Hitchhiking on the Kona coast,
And they told us about the Araner
And the fact that they
Were looking for a crew.
We stopped briefly
At my aunt’s house
On the way to the boat
And she was invited too.
She had dreamed
Of sailing ships
And adventures at sea
For almost all her 69 years,
And this was a dream come true.
The Diamonds had decided
To charge a fee for passage
Although that was
Clearlyly in violation
Of Coast Guard regulations
For a wooden boat
Of that size,
But illegality
Didn’t seem to
Matter to anyone,
Least of all to my aunt.
She was glad to pay
And very excited
About the opportunity.
We rounded out the crew
With a couple of hippie guys
Who happened along
And a girl who
Was recruited as a cook.
There were fifteen of us in all
When we finally set sail.
That wasn’t exactly the mix
My brother and I,
Being teenagagers ourselves
Had hoped for though.
When we were told
More crew members were needed,
We commenced a search
For the two most beautiful
Companions we could find
To accompany us
On the voyage.
We had finally
Narrowed it down
After a couple days
Of extensive searching
To two rather exquisite
Local island girls,
And their parents
Had even agreed
To let them go.
As luck would have it,
The boat was taken
Out for a test sail,
And disappeared
For three days,
And the Coast Guard
Couldn’t even find them,
So the parents backed out,
And wisely, I must admit,
Wouldn’t let
Their teenage daughters
Sail with us.
Sei and I were
Momentarily broken hearted
But only for
A moment or two.
Once we got underway,
We were flat out excited.