PassageMaker

Tall Tales, Dolphins and Whales

Shaded under the palm-frond roof of a tiki bar, one old boat guy asks the other two, “Did you hear the latest from Richard Branson—apologies, Sir Richard? His companies won’t sell tickets to SeaWorld or any park that keeps whales and dolphins in captivity.”

“Good for him,” says Boat Guy No. 2. “About time,” adds No. 3.

No. 3 wasn’t finished, however. After taking a long swig from his mug, he asks, “Did I ever tell you the story about my delivery to the Virgin Islands?”

Thus began a new round of the familiar Florida boaters’ pastime, “First Liar Doesn’t Stand a Chance.”

ROUND 1

There were four of us on a 32-foot sloop. Even so, thank God we had an autopilot. We were somewhere north of Bermuda when one of us noticed something going on up at the bow. The captain, a young punk (but I guess we all

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