The best of friends since college, we knew the three couples in our group would have, as always, a great time.
With all the accoutrements of home, the schooner was an absolute "getaway" from work, stress and anything else that ailed you, and we looked forward to a vacation we would never forget, with Cap'n. Bill keeping us amused with his personal "sea-stories", having been a Navy Seal, some, seemingly, many years ago.
We were on our first day out and the weather took a turn, alarming the women, probably because they had more sense than the guys, but Bill said it was no problem, and so we retired below decks out of the rain to play games and down a few cocktails.
Within about 45 minutes the boat was really bouncing, and I decided to see how our captain was doing and bring him some fresh coffee.
What I saw made me stop in my tracks, as Cap'n. Bill was nowhere to be found and the wheel was tied down, probably because it was too hard to handle against the rudder in the foul weather.
I had experience with smaller craft and manned the helm until someone else showed their face from below.
Finally, one of the guys popped his head out and got the others to search, but there was no Bill, so I stayed at the helm, where I came about to a northeast heading, exactly 180 degrees from our last position, hoping to land "somewhere" along the California coast.
We made a rather crude landing about 30 miles south of the Marina we had set sail from, and got a tow home, all of us brooding the loss of Cap'n. Bill, and preparing our statements which we knew the police would want.
There were no police to meet us, but there was a sizeable crowd in the clam and beer bar at the end of the pier, apparently celebrating a former Seal's 22 mile swim!
Bill later told us that he had fouled himself in his own line and toppled overboard, while his hands were on his coffee cup and his cellphone.
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