Nine

Skeeter’s New Job

When Max and Jenny returned to the motel, Gaffer was waiting. He was still feeling the rush of spending the day with Skeeter and Matthew. Before Max could begin discussing the success of the day in Nassau, Gaffer had given the complete rundown of the day’s fishing, the new numbers for the GPS, the grouper, the snappers and the encounter with the giant squid.

“I think I’m becoming pretty good friends with Skeet. I taught Matthew how to deep drop and I think Skeet liked that. He has the best numbers I’ve ever seen. I have four new sets of incredible coordinates.” Gaffer could not contain his excitement. He just kept rambling as Max listened patiently.

Then a thought came to Max. “Gaffer you just gave me an idea. Jenny, I think I have just the right person to be our local site manager. This fellow Gaffer is talking about, Skeeter Pincus, might be able to help us in a big way. He lives on Great Guana, he has a sturdy and reliable working boat and he has excellent local knowledge. I believe he is looking for a new line of work right now so our timing might be perfect. Gaffer, where is Skeet right now, do you know?”

“Last time I saw him he was waving me good-bye from his dock. That was about four hours ago. Why don’t you call him. I don’t think he goes out much at night there on Great Guana.”

Ten minutes later Max was standing in the marina office of Boat Harbour talking into the telephone. Skeeter Pincus was on the other end of the line. “I might have a job opportunity that will interest you. If you seriously want to consider getting out of the line of work you’re in, we should talk. What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Actually, I was going to go fishing, deep dropping. Gaffer gave me the idea. By the way, he’s quite a little fisherman. I learned a thing or two from him today. Me, imagine that! Learning techniques from a fifteen year old. What a good boy he is. He’s Matthew’s new idol. He won’t stop talking about him. It’s Gaffer this and Gaffer that. I’m going to have to work hard to get back into number one place with my own son.”

Max laughed, “That’s a good one. But thanks for the compliment. Gaffer certainly is a motivated fisherman. Back to what we were discussing. You’re going deep dropping tomorrow. Is that instead of netting?”

“Yeah, my commercial license allows me to fish either way. I can make enough to get by until I decide what I’m going to do with myself. But when the winter comes and the seas kick up, I’ll either have to find something new or go back to netting. I won’t be able to make a living deep dropping in eight foot seas offshore.”

“Listen, Skeet,” said Max, “we should talk as soon as possible. I have somebody I want you to meet so we can discuss this project we’re working on. When can we get together?”

“Any time,” said Skeeter. “Exploring my job options is a priority with me right now. You want to come here or me come there?”

“It’ll be better if we come there. This person I want you to meet should get a flavor of the island life and how locals live and what types of resources they have. We’ll come up tomorrow. What time will you be back from fishing?”

“No, come up first thing. The fishing can wait. This is more important.”

“We’ll be there between eight and nine,” said Max. “You’ll be perfect for what we have in mind. And I think you’ll like this project. I’ll see you in the morning.” They said their good-byes and rang off.

At dinner Lisa announced, “I’m thinking about going home tomorrow or the day after. I’ve been here a week and I’ve gotten all the relaxation I can take. I have a mountain of work at home that needs my attention. Is that OK with you?”

“I just made a commitment to Virgil that I would work on the underwater project for a while, at least until the preliminary work gets done. I need to stay a minimum of another week before I can get out of here. If Skeet says he’ll help us then I might be able to get out sooner.”

“How much work is there to do?” asked Lisa.

“There’s the little detail of finding the wreck. It would be helpful if we did that before we make too many commitments. Jenny and I agree that the coins we found and the die wood I saw is strong evidence that the wreck is near. If we can find a few more artifacts then that should be enough to get some momentum going in Nassau. After we get Nassau fully on board, the rest of the work we can hire out to professionals. We’ll be diving a lot over the next few days.”

“I’d like to stay and help, but I really feel I need to get to my work at home. If you don’t need me to dive or something like that, then I’d rather head back.”

“Let’s see what Skeet says. If we can get him to make a commitment, we’ll have all the help we need. I’ll try to get home as soon as possible. I have a job I’d like to get to also. P.J. and Gaffer can stay and help for a while after I come home.”

“I definitely like that idea,” said P.J.

“Me too,” said Gaffer.

“You’ll have to get real busy too, Jenny,” said Max. “Nassau is looking for a proposal so they can get you the funding for the project. How do you figure to do that?”

“It starts with getting in the water with the wreckage to see what we have. I can make four dives a day if I have to. With you and P.J. and Gaffer diving, we can cover a lot of territory in a couple of days. If Skeet dives, then that is that much more help.”

“Skeet dives,” volunteered Gaffer. “In fact, Skeet dives better than any of us. I saw his Navy insignia. He used to be what they call a Frogman. Today they call them Seals.”

“I’m glad I made friends with him,” said Max. “I imagine he could do some damage to you if he didn’t like you.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about Skeet. He’s one of the good guys. He just happens to be tougher and better trained than the rest of us. Besides, Dad, he said he’s glad he got to know you better and he thinks you’re OK.”

“Anyhow, Honey,” said Max to Lisa, “we’re going to have to get moving on this project very quickly, so it looks like the vacation is mostly over. You go ahead home and I’ll get there as soon as I can. If P.J. and Gaffer want to stay after I leave then I’ll just fly home and leave the boat with them. I’m sure they will be able to stay at Great Guana if Skeet takes the job.”

Gaffer was beaming. This was going to be great. P.J.’s expression said he was not so sure.

With Max, Gaffer and Jenny on board, Bimini Twist idled into the turning basin at Great Guana Cay. Matthew was waiting on the dock with a line to tie off, while Susan waited inside the house with fresh coffee and home made pastries. Skeet met Max with a friendly greeting and was introduced to Jenny. The morning was unseasonably cool with a light breeze out of the southeast. It was pleasant enough to sit outside on the porch and enjoy the gentle elements. Matthew took off with Gaffer to show him around the island.

Skeet was first to speak. “Jenny, welcome to Great Guana Cay. Max, welcome back. What have you been up to since we last saw each other? You sounded excited about your new project. I’m anxious to hear about it.”

Max responded, “Jenny is from the Maritime Studies Department of the University of Miami. Recently when my wife and I were diving, we found some artifacts that looked promising so I sent them to Jenny to have them analyzed. It turns out that they might lead to something pretty big. Jenny sent the information to a researcher friend in Spain who has access to the original manifests of all Spanish galleons. They’re archived in Seville. The results came back indicating that we should keep looking. It could be an important find.”

“I think I’ve dived practically every square inch of Abaco,” said Skeeter. “I’ve only recovered a few old time bottles and a few more recent wrecks. I had them checked out, but they turned out to be unimportant. How did you get so lucky?”

Jenny took a small pouch out of her beach bag and opened it. She handed the coins over, one to Skeeter and the other to Susan. While they were examining them Max spoke, “The place I found these coins has always been interesting to me. I’ve found other small unimportant artifacts in the same area before and that’s why I keep coming back. It didn’t surprise me to find these coins. I figured sooner or later something would show up. I’ve studied this some and I know where to look.”

Susan was impressed with the whole scenario. “Is this a treasure ship in our back yard?” she asked jokingly.

In a more serious tone Jenny answered, “It might be something like that. We intend to find out.”

Susan and Skeeter traded coins and examined each one carefully. Skeeter added, “Some people have all the luck, don’t they?”

Max did not want the conversation to get off track. “We’re not treating this like a treasure dig. Jenny is a student of archaeology and is interested in the wreck from a historical standpoint. If this is the wreck we think it is, we’ll turn this into an underwater archaeological excavation.”

“If word gets out that you have an historical Spanish galleon, you’ll never be able to keep the thieves away. They’ll smell the gold and come running,” said Skeeter. “More than anything, you’ll have to keep the buzzards in Nassau away from it.”

“Nassau is already on our side, ready to issue permits, a license and provide protection. We were there yesterday,” said Jenny proudly, “and we have assurance from the Governor and the Minister of Antiquities.”

“In fact,” added Max, “this project will be set up and funded by the Government of the Bahamas. There’s still some paperwork to be done, but we’ve been assured that the process will be fast-tracked.”

“I can see that I have way underestimated you, Max. No offense meant, but nobody goes to Nassau and gets the way cleared for them like that. How did you do it?” Skeeter was incredulous.

“First of all, I have a friend who works at Government House and he can get practically anything done. Second, anything found relating to this wreck has been promised to be returned to the government for inclusion in a museum to be established solely for the purpose of displaying artifacts and treasures from this wreck. These islands stand to make a fortune off this if we’re lucky enough to locate the rest of the ship and its contents.”

“I think that’s very noble,” said Susan. “More people should work toward preserving the resources of the islands. Everybody uses them but nobody cares about preserving them. These islands are not wealthy in the sense of having enough to waste anything. That goes for the fishing, too. Skeeter and I talk about it and a lot of folks are genuinely concerned about getting fished out.”

“Is this where I’m supposed to start to feel guilty,” asked Max. “I’m a fisherman.”

“Me too,” agreed Skeeter. “I do it commercially and you do it for sport. The commercial fishermen and the sport fishermen had both better think about what they’re doing. The entire fishery of the Bahamas is in pretty tough shape compared to what it used to be. We all need to be aware of that.”

Max saw an opening, “Here’s your chance, Skeet. If things work out, you may never have to take another fish out of the ocean.”

“I didn’t mean to lecture, Max. It’s just something that I’ve been thinking about. Believe me, it affects me more than it does you.”

“And in a round about way, that again brings me to why I am here. Would you like to hear about it?”

“Of course,” said Skeeter. “Are you saying I may have some part in the treasure ship?”

“Only if you stop using the word treasure,” said Max. Everybody laughed. Max conyinued, “The thing is this, if we find the galleon, the government will fund our excavation and give us police protection on the site. I can only be here for about a week. After that I will just be able to visit for perhaps a week now and then or some long weekends. We need to have somebody here we can trust to run the day-to-day operations. If you’re interested in that job, we can hire you and your boat. We’ll try to pay you as much as you would have made fishing. You and I talked about just such an opportunity the day we saved the whales, only it just came sooner than we figured. We can probably have you on the payroll within a month. Interested?”

Relief swept over Skeeter’s face. Interested? Of course he was interested. He and his wife smiled at each other. They were a happy couple and this news made them feel great. “When do we begin diving. I can be ready in about ten minutes,” said Skeeter.

Max was quick to add, “We don’t have a payroll to put you on just yet. We’ll search for the wreck and let you know when we’re ready for you.”

“Now doesn’t it just make sense that I should help with the search? I am, after all, a professional diver. I don’t mean to boast, but I could double your chances of finding it,” said Skeeter.

Jenny answered, “We don’t have a payroll yet. We can’t pay you until the government accepts my written proposal and that is only after we find the wreck.”

“Then I suggest we go find it,” said Skeet.

That brought a laugh from everybody. This meeting was establishing the framework that would control the operation until it was complete. It was a friendly atmosphere. Everybody was charged up for the adventure. They spent another hour discussing the various possibilities regarding how Skeeter might contribute to the project. He had a reliable boat, he knew the area around the wreckage well, he was an excellent diver, he could get unlimited numbers of locals to work on the site with him. And the project suited him perfectly for the change of careers he had been contemplating. It was like a blessing had fallen out of the sky into his lap.

Gaffer and Matthew returned from their explorations and it was time to leave. Max gave the coordinates of the dive site to Skeeter and they agreed to meet there the following day at 9:00 AM. Max would bring Jenny, Gaffer, P.J. and Godfrey along with twelve rented scuba tanks in Bimini Twist. Skeeter would bring Matthew and six tanks of his own on board Conchy Lady. Matthew was not certified to dive yet, so he would remain topside to help around the decks. It was going to be a three tank dive day for most of the group and a four tank day for Max and Skeeter. That would be a lot of diving for a single day, but there was a very high level of motivation among the group.

Bimini Twist returned to Boat Harbour shortly after noon. When Max returned to his motel room, Lisa was beginning to pack for the trip home. Her reservations were for the following morning on a chartered flight from Marsh Harbour to Ft. Lauderdale. Max and Jenny excitedly told her about Skeeter’s acceptance of the job and the plans they had made to begin searching for the wreckage.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay and help us find the ship?” asked Max. “There’s plenty of work for everybody until it’s found.”

“You have six divers making three to four dives per day. I think you have all the help you can use. Besides, the work I have to do at home is starting to worry me. I have some deadlines approaching on the teen talent project and it’s work only I can do right now. You just find that galleon and come home as soon as you can. And when I’m home what’s the standing instruction?”

“I know,” said Max. “Don’t forget to call!”

Lisa laughed. “I have you so well trained. That’s exactly right. Don’t forget to call.”