Tuesday, December 10, 2024

December 9 - Day Two at Sea and the Mysteries of Palmyra Atoll

We’re on our second of six sea days and of course the usual routine is being followed.  We have some new conversationalists and one of them, a retired US Army Major General, has joined our team.  Three of my friends and I had dinner with him the night we sailed from Kona and we invited him to join us.  Our team is doing okay; we’re in the top three or so with our cumulative scores so far.


Our captain gives informative noon reports and today’s was very interesting.  The closest land to us at noon was a place called Palmyra Atoll. The atoll is the only one of its kind because it’s administered as an incorporated unorganized territory by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, a branch of the Department of the Interior.  It has no permanent population but it does have an unattended airport built during WWII and now owned by the Nature Conservancy. The only economic activity is eco-tourism by donors to that organization.


There are a few mysteries surrounding the atoll though.  During the 19th and 20th centuries there were stories about a Spanish treasure ship named the Esperanza.  Supposedly the ship was loaded with Incan treasures of gold, silver and precious gems and set sail from Callao, Peru on its way  to the Spanish West Indies.  The story goes that it was caught in a storm and lost its masts and then was beset by pirates.  They allegedly loaded the treasure onto their own ship and then headed west across the Pacific to Macao, off the coast of China. That ship also ran into a storm and some stories circulated that it ran aground on a reef at Palmyra Atoll.  No one has ever found the ship or the treasure so who knows.


There’s a more recent mystery though. In 1974 it was the site of a murder and possible double murder of a wealthy California couple.  The couple were sailing on a yacht named the Sea Wind and went missing.  A man and a woman who showed up in Honolulu on the Sea Wind were arrested and convicted for stealing the yacht, but since no bodies had been found they weren’t charged with murder. Six years later a corroded and partially buried chest containing the remains of the missing woman was found in a lagoon on Palmyra.  The couple who had stolen the yacht were arrested for murder, but just the man was convicted after the woman’s defense said she had no knowledge of the murder.  That man served 22 years in a federal prison before being paroled in 2007.  The remains of the wealthy man who owned the Sea Wind have never been found.  A book called “And the Sea Will Tell” was written and later made into a mini-series.

And for a Hawaiian treat here's a video showing a hula Katie and I learned on a cruise to Hawaii a long time ago.  Someone mentioned this song a few days ago and it's been going around in my head ever since. I can guarantee you Katie and I didn't look like this lady when we were taught the dance.




And that’s the story for today.  Aloha until the next time.


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