My resume (3)

At some point, we transported the boat up the inland waterway for the summer. It started out scary as I got very sick and we had to stop in Puerto Rico. At the hospital, the doctor was very nice but spoke with a very thick accent. I kept trying to understand what this medication was that he was prescribing. Finally, the words took hold that he was saying "tincture of time". Since I was a cook it was translating as thyme which made no sense at all. With that established, we were back on our way.
There is probably a whole story that revolves around transporting a boat which I guess I will save for another time. Suffice to say, there appears to be a memory lapse as to what transpired between arriving in New England and finding myself back in St. Thomas, living at Yacht Haven on this dinky little boat. It was hardly big enough for two people and had two bunks, a head and a two burner cooktop. I remember that I had hand sewn curtains for it and for some reason also remember that we ate a lot of Dinty Moore beef stew.
My husband took on work doing boat repair and fiberglass. We made a lot of friends with all the boat people. We sailed or motored around the islands, swam in secluded coves and lived a life that many people would only dream of.
Needless to say, at some point I guess I sort of got bored. What kind of work could I do? One thing led to another and there I was, the voice of "Whiskey Alpha Hotel". No, this had nothing to do with renting rooms or making beds. Those were the call letters of the land and marine radio operator. In those days there was no phone service on the island. I connected people to the States , made dinner reservations for people on boats, gave out the weather reports and countless other conversations. Every morning I had to sign on and read the FCC statements, then I spent the day monitoring land and sea communications. I do remember that we had a huge rainstorm that went on for days. There were no gutters for the streets and they soon became flooded. Dinghys tied behind their respective boats were under water. The airways were pretty quiet as no one was going out on the water. Suddenly a transmission..."hello earth, hello earth, this is God, this is God, build an ark, build an ark." Here I was in this little room with no one else around. No other sounds came over. I questioned if I had even heard it or it was a figment of my imagination. Later that day, I hesitantly told my story and was assured that I was not the only one who heard it. No one ever did own up to doing it though, so who is to say where it came from! This was job number three.