Bermuda, Key West, Cuba...in search of Journey No. 918

at sea with the "Essence", in pursuit of pirates

Agatha Lee, recently having spent 3 days at sea, in pursuit of the pirates has this report:

"I almost got shot trying to sneak onto the pirate sailboat back in Beaufort.  It was dark and the old cook shot blindly into the moonless night.  Lucky for me!

Key West

I did not manage to retrieve the secret recipe for Journey No. 918 but I did manage to grab a notebook on my way overboard into the chilly Beaufort harbor waters.  Making my way back to "Essence" I found my friends, Captain Kona and his faithful macaw Tiwaka.  They've agreed to help me shadow the pirate boat wherever it goes.....


Key West was first.  Two days at sea without a stop!  We all took turns steering, and as you may have noticed the moon is slim and unhelpful.

The pirates were in port there about an hour, enough apparently to get fuel, food and grog.

sunset between Key West and Cuba

We did the same on "Essence".  At dusk they set off again and we followed....


Tiwaka, the macaw mascot seemed to sense trouble moments out of harbor.  The pirates were going due east, into the open Atlantic.  No way they were supplied to make Africa!  It must be a pirate trick to ditch people like us who might follow them out of a port.

We hung tight though and around 2AM they turned south by southwest....By dawn we were offshore of Cuba.

Havana 2011 

By midday I was in a taxi older than me, trailing a taxi older than both of us! It appears we are headed into the agricultural areas outside of Havana.  I fear they are taking our beloved recipe to some master grower, to see if they can reproduce the Hillhouse Natuarals Farm magic. 

I have to go now....my Spanish is rusty..."