Characters, One and All

I originally set this blog up as a way for those interested enough to keep loose tabs on me.  Thus, this blog has very  much been about my story and the story of my adventure.  However, recently I've felt the blog lacks something.  The reality has been that much of my adventure has been meeting people and hearing their stories.  Like this guy, who gave me some advice about my non-starting car before leaving the marina and sinking his boat in a storm 40 miles offshore a few days ago:

http://www.kcbd.com/story/20627485/captain-and-his-cat-saved-by-coast-guard



Not all of the stories I hear are quite so publicized, and I will choose to leave out some names and places for various reasons (Posterity, Legality, etc.)  There are some quirky dilemmas that arise in retelling other people's stories.  I don't want to offend or incriminate people for what they share.  So don't be surprised if some key details are omitted in future character stories.

Like this guy:

A neighbor at one of the marinas, who told me a fascinating story about working on an island where rhesus monkeys are bred for clinical trials and all the other horrible things we do to monkeys for vanity and medical research.

Nat. Geo Image:

On this island, sequestered away from civilization, the monkeys are born, fed fruit, and either live out their lives and die naturally, or are captured and sent to labs around the nation (where you can guess what happens to them).  My friend was hired as a basic laborer, but got to witness some amazing things.  He told me many stories about the island.  Here's one.  

He witnessed the alpha male bite into the shoulder of a challenging male, and rip his limb off.  Then the alpha proceeded to beat the challenging monkey with his own severed arm.  Later, my buddy witnessed the survived challenger getting along just fine with one arm.

These monkeys are so much stronger than humans it can be a very dangerous line of work.  In another story about the same alpha male, my buddy was still new at this work and approached the alpha a little too quickly.  The alpha was in the bed of a truck and started howling, screeching and jumping up and down so violently that he was bottoming out the suspension on the truck.  All essentially a show, threatening my friend with a similar punishment the challenging monkey had gotten.  He managed to appease the alpha with strawberries, and remained in one piece.

Here is a pretty good video that sums up the place:

Meanwhile other troubling things happen here.  For instance, the capturing process is complicated and involved- and includes luring the monkeys into pens, sedating them, netting them and carrying them off.  However, this presents a new odd situation of some monkeys developing a dependency on the sedatives, purposely getting captured and sedated.  They build up such a tolerance for the sedative that they then escape easily having gotten their "fix".
Now my friend hasn't worked there for many years, and that chapter long behind him.  He was no doubt breaking protocols by even telling me anything.  Good luck finding him you bastards.

The great thing about meeting people is that as long as I remain adventurous, often their stories and mine intertwine.
This same friend and I nearly got into a turf battle with a biker gang one night.  I was too drunk to be useful, and basically chuckled as the bikers threatened away.  Meanwhile my buddy somehow avoided his own primal tendency towards violence and got us out of there before I got likely beaten to within inches of my life.  So, thanks for that.
During the worst of times when hunger was a consistent shipmate for both of us, he passed me PB&J sandwiches, and I helped him out with boxes of Cheerio's.  No milk.

Now this is just scratching the surface of the pool of fascinating stories and corresponding people I've shared rum with.  So expect more as I float here in Savannah trying to make up for nine months of poverty and boat decay.  Cheers!