On one of the Bahamas Out Islands we stopped at for the day all was going well till a pitch-black sky started to form on the horizon.Captain Jones had informed all the passengers that if a storm arose word would be sent to the island that they should return to the Fantome ASAP. It is much safer for the ship to be out in deeper, navigable waters than close to shore in shallow waters.
Three of the passengers on our cruise never got word to return to the ship and were left on one of the islands. Excuse me if I cannot remember which island as this cruise was a long time ago. But 2 men and a lady were left on the island with no way off. Yes they were.I am not making this up as if it was some kind of adventure novel. We did not meet up with them again till I saw them at the airport in Freeport. In good spirits,ok and joking about it. They said they went back to the bar on the island and met up with some drug runners who gave them cash to catch an inter-island flight back to Freeport.
They said the guys were cool and fun to be with once they knew you were not after them.....
I can still remember vividly the sky and how black it was. The Captain was nervous about how long it was taking to get everyone back to the Fantome so he lowered his small speedboat into the water and came back to get the rest of the passengers back aboard safely. I was one of the lucky ones to get on the last ride off the island. There were at least 6 to 8 passengers on the small speedboat as we headed back to the Fantome. We sat on the deck, bow, wherever we could clutching to handrails for dear life(almost).
It was truly a wild experience. I have often wondered though what it would have been like meeting up with the "cocaine cowboys". Maybe my career choices would have changed, who knows.....
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