Abaco Gold

by Patrick Mansell

  “One of the men is called Whale, I don’t know the other one. They sat here most of the day yesterday and today monitoring broadcasts between something called the barge and two boats, one called Conchy Lady and the other called Bimini Twist. If you are planning to move the barge, they already know that. I think they are taking delivery on a new boat soon and plan to visit the treasure ship as soon as possible. Does that information help you?”

  “Very much, Mrs. Pindar. I’d like you to write down these three telephone numbers. The first is the number of the Defense Force barracks on Great Guana. Those are the guards who are responsible for security on the dive site.” He recited the number and then continued. “The second number is the residence of Skeeter and Susan Pincus. They manage the dive operation on the site and will know what to do if you call.” Virgil gave the telephone number of the Pincus residence and then a third number. “This is my personal cell phone number. Please feel free to use it, too.”

  “Mr. Price,” said Bonnie, “these men have been spending a lot of time in my bar. Do you want me to question them and then report to you?”

  “I’d be afraid you might make them suspicious and then place yourself in danger. It’s not a good idea.”

  “But Mr. Price,” she urged, “usually by mid afternoon they have drunk too much and they start bragging. It would take no effort at all to get them to wag their tongues.”

  “Well, if you’re going to do it,” said Virgil, “please be very careful. And please be very careful when you report back to us. I know Hammerhead and Whale seem harmless, but they both have long criminal records and you can not trust what they might do.”

  “Then I’ll just be very careful. You know how bar flies like to talk to the bartender when they drink too much. These guys are no different. And I’m a good listener.”

  Virgil reiterated his caution about raising any suspicions, and in the last moment, finished up with a few specifics. He asked to be called when she saw the men in the new boat. He would need to give Skeeter, Cameron and Max its description. They discussed a few final details and rang off. This was very important news to the operation and Virgil wanted to make certain that it was used to its best advantage.

  Bonnie returned to her Sand Bar to see that Hammerhead and Whale were still there, only their glasses were empty. As she walked behind the bar, she greeted them, “Gentlemen, sorry to keep you waiting. This round is on the house.” The men greeted this news with enthusiasm and smiled while Bonita Pindar poured out triple strength rum cocktails.

  As soon as Virgil hung up, he huddled with Cameron, Skeeter and Max. “There has been a breakthrough with respect to the pirate situation. I just got off the phone with a woman in Green Turtle Cay who says Hammerhead and Whale have been spending time in her bar. Apparently they monitor everything we say on the VHF radio. They know every move we make and they also know about our plans to move the barge.”

  Max was the first to respond, “We need to immediately begin a program of changing channels so that they can not monitor our transmissions and our movements.” Virgil, Skeeter and Cameron all looked at him disappointedly. “What? You don’t like that idea?”

  “Think, Max,” said Cameron. “They’re listening to us. If we change channels they won’t be able to listen to us any longer.”

  “But isn’t that what we want, to guard our transmissions?”

  Skeeter answered, “I think what Cameron is referring to is that, now that we have their attention, we have the advantage of being able to feed them disinformation. We have the upper hand.”

  Feeling foolish, Max looked at the other three men. The plan was perfectly sensible. Embarrassed he said, “I wish I’d thought of that.”

  Skeeter, of all people, was the one to clap him on the back and tongue-in-cheek say, “That’s our job. That’s why they pay us the big bucks.”

  The gesture made Max feel better. He laughed as did Cameron and Virgil. It put an end to Max’ embarrassment, so he relaxed and listened to what Virgil had to say.

  “We will have an advantage if we can encourage them to make their move the day after tomorrow. The seas will be kicked up and they will not be able to maneuver around as well. I believe they will still try to make the dive, even if the conditions are awful. It will be more difficult for them which will in turn be easier for us.”

  “Since they’re monitoring our transmissions, let’s go ahead and set it up,” said Cameron.

  “Let’s do it,” said Skeeter.

  Max picked up the radio and keyed the mike, “Conchy Lady, Bimini Twist, over.” He handed the mike to Skeeter.

  “Come in Bimini Twist,” he replied, handing the mike back to Max.

  Max keyed the handset, “Skeeter, I just got an update on that storm. It looks like trouble.”

  Hammerhead Riley and Whale Mills were on full alert. They were only three or four sips into their triple rum drinks, so they were still intently listening to the conversation. Bonnie Pindar observed, feigning disinterest from the opposite end of the bar.

  “The front is stalling over Orlando, Florida and may not make it here soon enough to push the tropical storm away. The storm itself is gaining strength and getting organized. It is expected to be a hurricane by tomorrow and could be in our neighborhood in three days.”

  Skeeter took the mike from Max and keyed it. “I know we can’t do much to change things, but I don’t like being this vulnerable. We’ll just have time to secure all those gold bars and silver ingots and clear out of here. We’ll need everybody to help us move the barge tomorrow.” He handed the microphone to Max.

  Max held down the key and spoke into the handset, “What about security? Everything is out in the open. What do you suggest we do?”

  Skeeter took the mike and answered, “Tomorrow night, after Conchy Lady tows the barge into the protected water, it’ll have to come back out here for the night.”

  Max called back, “What about the following night?”

  “We’ll just have to be vulnerable, at least until the storm passes and we can get back on station. If the storm is a direct hit we could have five foot seas by the day after tomorrow and easily twelve to fifteen on the following day.”

  “Ten-four,” replied Max. “I guess you can’t be secure all the time. I’ll see you back at Great Guana.”

  Skeeter took the mike from Max and transmitted, “Ten-four, Max. Conchy Lady, out.”

  “OK, that should do it,” said Virgil. “Now the fact is, we still need to secure the site and the barge between today and tomorrow.”

  “Actually,” said Max. “The weather forecast is not that bad. The front is not stalled and it is believed that it will be here in time to move the center of the hurricane to the east. Don’t misunderstand me, we’re in for some torrid weather, but not full hurricane force winds for a sustained period.”

  “That’s a relief,” said Skeeter. “You don’t know how much hurricanes spook us around here.”

  “We’ll probably dodge the worst of this one,” said Max. “But we still need to continue what we are doing. It’s going to be a wicked blow.”

  On Green Turtle Cay, Hammerhead was hammered. The two triple strength drinks that followed the four beers he had earlier, did him in. As best he could, he smiled at Bonnie and slurred a goodbye. Whale was in a little better shape, so he helped his companion down the path. When they got to their motel room there was a message for them to contact the main desk. Hammerhead fell into bed while Whale walked over to the reception area for the message. Mr. Riley and Mr. Mills were to go to the dockmaster’s office. Mr. Riley was in no condition to go anywhere, so Mr. Mills complied with the message.

  At the marina office, Whale Mills was given the news that the charter company had received a money wire in the amount of $9,000 from Nassau and the chartered Ocean Master would be delivered in the morning. He could not believe his good fortune. He had the inside scoop on when the treasure would be unguarded, he had a great new boat that could easily stand six to eight f
eet seas on the night of his raid on the galleon, and he had the rest of the day off so he could sleep off the drunkenness that would soon turn to a hangover. He returned to the room where Hammerhead was passed out on the bed. Everything in his world was perfect. Time for a siesta.

  Twenty-one

  The Trap is Set

  “In spite of the improved weather outlook, I still want to move the barge to protected water. If we have gale force winds with hurricane force gusts, the ocean will still kick up ten to twelve foot seas, possibly more. This barge will either break loose of its mooring or break apart. Either result is unacceptable,” said Skeeter.

  “How long do you think it will take to tow it into the protected water?” asked Jenny. “How soon do we need to start?”

  Skeeter had participated in the project to set up the barge. He was on board the tow boat when it initially came over from Palm Beach. He knew exactly how it was moored and what it would take to get it ready to move. “There is a technique to freeing it from its mooring and another to tow it. It will take about two hours to free it and another eight hours to tow it into the sound and then perhaps an hour or two to anchor it. Count on tomorrow being a twelve hour day.”

  “And then for your boat, an all nighter on guard at the wreck site,” said Max. “You’re going to be beat by the end of the day.”

  “I don’t think so,” said Skeeter. “Rigging up the barge to tow it will be some work, but towing it into the protected water is just a matter of driving for eight hours and looking back every now and then to make sure it’s still there. And don’t forget, there’s plenty of help around here.”

  “The wreck site is basically as secure as we can make it for now. I’d like to start moving equipment from the barge to my boat and Bimini Twist. I don’t want to leave anything valuable on board here that could be blown away or washed overboard. We can make a trip at the end of the day today and another tomorrow. Meanwhile, since we are finished securing the site, I’d like to work on one more security measure.” Skeeter opened one of the rear cargo holds of Conchy Lady. In this compartment he stored thousands of feet of rope, extra buoys, oil cans, tools, canvass and netting material. He climbed into the compartment and tossed out the materials he thought he would need for his next job, netting material, several blocks-and-tackle, a thousand feet of rope. He then climbed out of the compartment and covered it back up.

  “What are you up to, if I might ask?” asked Godfrey. “This is all so intriguing.”

  “Let’s get Virgil over here,” said Skeeter. “I want to be certain that from a legal standpoint we are within our rights to do this.”

  P.J. hurried over to where Virgil was standing on the opposite end of the barge in his usual manner with his cell phone stuck to his ear. “Mr. Price, Skeeter has a question for you.”

  Virgil nodded and followed P.J. to where Skeeter was laying out the materials for his next project. He clicked the phone closed and looked up at Skeeter to give him his full attention. Skeeter explained his plan. “With your permission, I would like to help catch those pirates and turn them over to your guards. I want to make sure I’m not violating anybody’s rights.”

  “I also would like to catch those pirates. What did you have in mind?” asked Virgil.

  Skeeter laid out a plan that could be easily implemented and had the potential to be 100% effective. It caused Virgil first to raise his eyebrows and then to laugh out loud. “You have the license from the Commonwealth of the Bahamas to salvage this wreck. Anybody who interferes with that license is trespassing and breaking the law. There are plenty of law enforcement officials to help you take these men into custody.”

  Skeeter looked quizzically at Virgil. “Is that a yes?”

  Virgil smiled and nodded, “That’s a yes.”

  Skeeter turned to Max. “We’ll never be able to dive down and open the net at the bottom. I suggest we tie two ends of the net onto the corners of the barge and then open the net using our boats. We can idle out to the net’s full length and then have divers at each corner descend straight to the bottom. Once they lay the net down I’ll go down and rig the retraction system. It has to be done a certain way for the maximum effect.”

  “What are we waiting for?” asked Max. “Let’s get busy.”

  Skeeter and P.J. began unfolding the net until they were able to find two of the corners. To each of these corners Skeeter tied 300 feet of three eighths inch anchor line. He handed one of the coils of line to Max and carried the other over to his own boat. With Gaffer suited up for a dive on board Bimini Twist and Godfrey suited up on board Conchy Lady, on Skeeter’s signal Max slowly idled away from the barge unfurling the net as he went. Skeeter did the same. Now the net was laid out at the surface over the area it was intended to cover at the bottom. P.J. and Jenny were on the barge suited up for their dive, each holding a corner of the net and 300 feet of anchor line. In the planning stages of this project Skeeter cautioned the divers that if the lines were too heavy and their buoyancy was negative, to not try to carry the coil to the bottom. Just let it go and they could sort things out later.

  The four divers entered the water at the same time. Godfrey, Jenny and P.J. had remembered to fill their buoyancy compensators with air before jumping in. For this reason they were able to float at the surface and make controlled descents. Gaffer had forgotten these instructions. When he entered the water he began to sink rapidly and did not have the presence of mind to drop the coil of rope that was weighing him down. His descent was uncontrolled and he was near panic. By the time he could react to this difficult situation, he was twenty feet below the surface. He reaching for his auto inflator button to try to force air into his buoyancy compensator and stabilize his descent. While reaching for the button he also attempted to kick against the descent. Now he was at forty five feet, only twenty feet from the bottom, before his descent began to slow. The heavy load of the rope coil and his frantic kicking motion placed him in a disadvantageous position under the netting material. By the time he reached the bottom, the net had wrapped itself around him, once over his entire body and twice around his legs.

  Immediately upon seeing this, P.J. let go of the rope coil and swam to his brother’s rescue. By the time he got there, Gaffer had struggled until he was nearly immobilized. P.J. placed himself in front of Gaffer and shook him by the shoulders to get him to snap out of his mental state. Gaffer struggled for another moment but soon relaxed. His eyes were wide and his breathing was very fast. He spewed a stream of compressed air that expanded upward until the view of the surface was obliterated in a cloud of bubbles. P.J. shook Gaffer again and, in less than ten seconds, Jenny and Godfrey were also at his side to render assistance.

  Gaffer relaxed a bit and his breathing began to return to normal as more and more of the netting material was unwrapped from around his body. He was particularly relieved when his legs were finally free and more so when the final strands of netting were lifted from around his regulator and tank. He had only been out of control for two minutes at most, but it was all very upsetting for him. In fact, Jenny and Godfrey were also quite upset at having to deal with the emergency. Once Gaffer was completely free, Jenny motioned for him to return to the surface. He looked at his air pressure gauge and saw that the entire episode had only cost him 1,000 pounds of air, so he shook his head and swam over to where he had dropped the rope coil. Jenny did not try to stop him. She knew it would be a strong confidence builder for Gaffer to finish with a successful dive.

  In another twenty minutes the entire net had been placed over the wreck site as Skeeter had instructed. The ropes sat in neat coils on the bottom awaiting Skeeter’s final touch. With no more to be done here, Jenny looked around one more time. She knew that she would not be seeing her precious wreck for a few days, depending upon the weather, and she felt apprehensive at leaving. This project was what she lived for at this point in her life and she worried that something might happen to it in her absence. There was weather and there were pirates out there. R
eluctantly she allowed herself to ascend from the ocean floor, hopeful that the site would be able to survive without her.

  When the divers returned to the barge, Jenny explained to Skeeter about the tangle Gaffer had gotten into. As was his routine for situations like this, Skeeter immediately went to Gaffer and performed a post dive debriefing. First he wanted to ascertain that Gaffer had no symptoms of decompression sickness and that his physical and mental state was perfect. After a two minute interview Skeeter declared Gaffer mentally and physically fit and sent him on his way. He then made an entry in his event log. Before closing the book on the incident, he took a minute to tell Max what had happened. Max could look across the barge and see that his son was laughing and cutting up with Matthew, so he gave it no further thought. He would try to remember to ask Gaffer about it later, after the excitement of the moment wore off.

  Virgil had been itching to make another dive on the wreck. He wanted to see the precautions the teams had made to secure the site for the coming storm. His findings would be reported to the officials back in Nassau. Skeeter welcomed him to be his dive buddy on this, the final dive, before the site was secured until the storm passed.

  Skeeter had rigged up a simple device that consisted of a two stainless steel rings, one of these ten inches in diameter, the other four inches in diameter and capable of easily passing through the larger ring. The four ends of the coils leading to the netting were clipped to the smaller ring. A 500 foot length of 900 pound monofilament line was also clipped onto the smaller ring so that when it was pulled, the smaller ring along with the lines leading to the four corners of the netting would be lead through the larger ring until the netting completely clogged the outer ring. At that point the netting material would form a scoop net into which the intruders would be trapped. Since Skeeter knew that the assault on the wreck would be at night, he reasoned that visibility would be minimal and the divers would not see the net or the guide lines. It should take the winch on Conchy Lady no more than five minutes to reel in the lines and netting. When the pirates descended on the wreck, it would not take long for them to realize that the artifacts were secure and nearly impossible to move. Skeeter would have to begin cranking on the winch within the first ten minutes of the dive. This would not only assure that they were still on the site, working within the netting, but also that they would have nearly full tanks of air for the trip to the surface. He did not want to injure or drown his captives. He merely wanted to catch them.