.I have heard about what I am going to be telling you about from others but have always believed it to be wild imagination or too much rum. I spent a summer in south Florida working on a charter boat out of Fort Lauderdale. The boat was a 60ft schooner that was chartered out to vacationers going to the Bahamas and surrounding Islands. In mid August we had a charter to take 4 people to Nassau once their we would stay for 4 days and 5 nights then they would fly back to Miami. Which means only the crew would bring the Blue Crystal back to Fort Lauderdale. This was nice because it would give the crew a chance to relax and enjoy the trip back. After the clients had left for Miami we cleaned up the BC as we called her and got her ready to sale the next morning at sun rise. John was the captain he was a great guy and enjoyed having a good time their were three of us besides the Captain. We set sail the next morning headed out of the harbor. Mike was in the cabin putting on some coffee and catching the latest weather forecast off the ship to shore. As we cleared the harbor and started out into open sea we set the riggings and caught a nice wind. The Boat leaned slightly to the left and started to pick up speed. It was a beautiful day the water was emerald green and crystal clear. The sea was calm and the temp was around 79 once we got under way and everything was taken care of we kicked back.
Mike came up from the cabin with coffee for every one as we sat around taking in the view and relaxing he told us he heard on the radio that we may run into some storms later in the afternoon. Well in this part of the world that is a given. Storms pop up around here at the drop of a hat. Being this is part of the Bermuda Triangle It always kind of put every one on edge. Some of the stories that have been told are about strange Lights in the water and a Foggy White mist that appears just on top of the water and Compasses going crazy. As I stated before I always chalked it up to wild Imagination or a bit too much rum.
It was about 3 in the afternoon we were moving right along. I went below and caught some rest. As I was laying in my bunk I fell asleep from hearing the water splashing on the hull of the boat. I must have slept for an hour I guess. I woke up and went top side every one was moving around trying to drop the sails I could see our heading was taking us into a Storm front. We got all the main sails down wrapped up. The captain wanted to keep the Jib up as long as we could. As the storm got closer we pulled straws on shifts for the wheel during the storm. The Captain always takes the first watch and we take the rest.
The Storm was on top of us in nothing flat. Huge Black clouds Lighting thunder but no rain or wind very odd to say the least. In fact their was so little wind the jib lost its wind and went flat. We went out and brought the jib in. We were more or less dead in the water we did have an in board engine but it was not enough power to help us. We deployed two sea anchors and the captain secured the wheel and came below with us. With out any wind we could not do a thing The Sea anchors would help keep us in one location. We took readings from the GPS so we would know were we stopped at and would take another to see were we ended up after the storm then make course corrections at that point. The seabed was about 1,500 to 3,000 feet in the area we were in so we had no concerns about running aground. We were all below and it kept getting darker and darker Lightning was flashing through the port holes. We had an old oil lamp going on the galley table to give us some light. We all sat around the galley table drinking coffee and talking. You could tell that some of the newer guys like me were some what tense and nervous the old sea dogs took it in stride. After an hour or so I went top side to see what was going on the water was like a sheet of glass. Not a ripple in sight the sky was black with rolling clouds but they were not moving east west or south or north the seemed to be staying in one spot. The other strange thing their was not a sound it was deathly quiet all you could hear was the guys talking below and every now and then rigging hitting the mast. It was very humid and warm Mike came up from below and asked if I was going to be ok. I told him Ill be ok just it is so strange I have never seen a storm like this. He told me you get use to it out here I have seen them before like this and they are strange.
After a while the others came top side and just sat on the cabin roof talking No wind nothing just sitting in one spot. By now it was Dark The clouds looked like they were braking up we thought we were out of it but still no wind. As we sat their Mike and the captain started telling us about some of the strange things they have seen over the years in the waters. And Me and Rob were taking it all in Mike told us to come over by the railing he showed us a greenish blue light streaking in the water. He told us this is nothing strange. It is a Large fish or shark when they move through the water they stir up the phosphors in the water that gives off the light. I have never seen that before I was totally amazed.
About an hour went by and fog started to roll in not real heavy but getting thicker as time went on. Still no wind deader than a door nail. You could now see the full moon shinning through the clouds. I figured it was time to turn in so I headed below and went to bed it did not take me long to fall asleep the bunks were not the largest in the world but still provided a good sleep. Not sure how long I slept I was awaken by the voices of mike and the captain in the galley. I could hear the crackle of the radio as Mike was trying to raise the Miami Coast Guard. But nothing but static came across the speaker. I heard Mike tell the captain we are not getting out or something was wrong with the radio. The Captain told Mike be ready for anything you and I have seen this before. Of course I had no Idea what they were talking about. I got dressed and went into the galley the captain looked at me and said could not sleep Joe. I told him I slept for a bit but was too wired up from the coffee. I sat down and more or less just listen to Mike and the Captain. I asked Mike if he got a GPS reading to find out where we were at. He handed it to me and asked me to try So I did I pressed the button and got a message no Sat Response. I asked Mike what that means he told me either the GPS was broke or the Satellite was gone. The Captain had an old sextant and went top side to try and get a fix as to were we where at. Mike and my self followed him a few seconds later Rob joined us top side. The fog was thick now the Captain could not use the sextant because he could not get a fix on a star to get readings from. As we were standing on deck I heard a strange sound kind of like a creaking sound back and forth. I asked if the other guys could hear it every one went quiet and listen and you could still hear the sound it seemed to be getting louder. As though it was getting closer. About 15 minuets went by and Mike said what in the hell is that. We all looked in the direction he was pointing in. In the moon light we could see an object a Large object just sitting their about 100 yards or so from us. The sound was getting a little louder as it got closer. Then as the moon came out from behind a cloud we could see what it was. It was a Huge sailing ship We yelled out to it to try and get some ones attention on the ship. But we did not get an answer.
It kept getting closer and once it got close enough we could see what type of ship it was it looked like an Old Spanish Galleon with Mast and pieces of sail hanging down from it. I could not believe what I was looking I got chills running though my body. The only thing the Captain could say was oh my god. We stood on Deck and watched this ghost ship pass by slowly no more than about 25 to 30 feet away from the Blue Crystal. We could see long strands of Seaweed hanging from the railing along the deck and dragging in the water. As the Ships past by and the what I thought was the Captain quarters passed by you could see what looked like a candle burning in the cabin. The ship passed by and disappeared into the darkness. No one said a word just watched the ship vanish into the darkness. No sooner than it disappeared the fog started to lift and the sky cleared. We could feel a wind start picking up.
We pulled the sea anchors and raised our sails Mike took another GPS reading and got a reading this time we were about 4 miles off our original course. Mike marked it on the charts once we got the sails raised we got underway. I was so wired up from the experience I could not sleep neither could Rob we pulled into Ft Lauderdale later that morning only to find that 4 days had pass by sense that night. The Coast Guard had a search going to try and find us.
I have not been back to sea sense I understand the Blue Crystal still sails but I have had my share and would much rather deal with the Land.
