Page 77 - August Sun Rays_Flipbook
P. 77
Diane and Stephen Klutz aboard the ill-fated
Martini Alley.
The Final Voyage Part Two: I was willing to drive Stephen and to
make sure there were provisions for
Revenge of the trip, but there was no way in hell I
Martini Alley was going back on that boat. But since
Stephen could not pilot 250 miles alone,
By Diane Klutz the restoration was complete, Martini our boat captain friend agreed to come
Alley was again moved to a marina near along - for a fee, of course.
You may remember my previous Galveston and readied for sale.
story about our boat, Martini Alley The two men left the dock on a bright and
- and you may have thought that Four months passed tranquilly with clear Sunday morning. Stephen was so
was the end of the story. Well, it wasn’t. little loss, except for money - and lots of excited with the way the boat handled he
it. Slip fees in Galveston were three to decided he could only sell Martini Alley
When the first Final Voyage story came four times what we were used to paying. if the price was right. Heck, if nothing
to its glorious end, Martini Alley was at On top of that, we had to hire a dock hand more we could use her as a dock condo
the Rockport boatyard undergoing major to keep the boat clean in case someone (or tiki bar).
repairs after losing a pulling contest with was lured into buying her. So, being the
a channel buoy. Not everything could be prudent people we were, and having All went well, until Stephen called early
fixed on site, so one of the repairmen (who obvious memory issues, we decided our the next morning. “Where’s the generator
was also a licensed captain) piloted her illustrious trawler needed to come back manual?” he demanded. Before I could
to another shipyard in Kemah for hull to Corpus Christi. ask what had happened, he yelled, “Found
work and other various repairs. Once it!” and hung up. Several tries later, I
finally reached him. The newly repaired
76 | SUNRAYS AUGUST 2016 generator stopped working during the
night. But, not to worry - the engines were
still purring, so Stephen and the captain
decided to pull in the anchor and take
off anyway.
Later that afternoon I noted there was a
cryptic voice mail message from Stephen
on my cell asking about Dramamine. I
ONLINE: SCTEXAS.ORG
