We commenced cleaning up, and making the ship ready for sea, our run was taking crude oil from two ports in Mexico, Minatitlan and Nantchital.

Because of difficulty crossing the bar going to Minatitlan we cold take only a half load, and take on the other half in Nantchital.

Our first trip was uneventful. The second trip we ran into some trouble, on reaching Minatitlan. The outgoing tide was strong, and the pilot was having a hard time putting the ship to the pier. There were two large gasoline storage tanks on the end of the pier, and the ship got out of control and came in on a 180-degree course straight for the tanks. I was standing by on the foredeck with the heaving line preparing for docking. Her engines were going full astern but we could not stop her in time. My whole life flashed before me. In a few seconds she hit the pier. I said a prayer and made a fast retreat, in the next minute I witnessed a miracle.

I braced myself for an explosion, and could hear the wood on the pier breaking as the ship's head dug deep into the pier. There was a sudden jolt, and the forward motion of the ship stopped. I waited for a while then I went forward to see what the position was.

The ship had cut into the pier about twenty feet before she stopped, hitting right between two gasoline storage tanks. The top two tanks came together as if a giant hand had guided them.

Within a short while the pier was buzzing with officials inspecting the damage done to it and questioning the captain and the pilot.

When the tide turned we got the ship along the side of the pier, and commenced loading. The next morning we departed for Nantchital where we finished loading.

I remained on the ship for abut six months, and on 21 December I took a plane from Galveston to Houston, then on to Belize, where I boarded a little Heron owned by BWIA.

I wasn't sure that it could make it to Grand Cayman because when we were about to take off, this little flying box-cart developed engine trouble.

After about half an hour's delay we started down the runway again only to be told by the stewardess that we should move further up to the front of the plane in order to balance it.

I got really scared and with trembling lips I prayed to God to take us safely home. When we landed at Owen Roberts Airport I made a vow never to leave this rock again.

I had some money and started drinking again.

It wasn't so long before I was sleeping under the Town Hall porch again; my money was gone so I knew that I had to get a job.

Within a few days I got a job with Rema Construction making cement panels.

After two weeks I got a room, and started to think seriously about my future. I decided to get married again, and one day while visiting my cousin Eddis' wife Mary and her children, I met the girl of my dreams, her younger sister, Gweneth. We became friends, Gweneth was living with her aunt on what is now known as Walkers Road and Mary was living in her father's house with her two children and her two unmarried aunts Mauda and Dina. After a while Gweneth moved in with Mary and I began to visit the house more frequently.

Many times I tried to tell her how I felt about her, but I wasn't sure how she would react because we were from two different worlds.

She was old-timish, humble, and a dedicated Adventist member, and I was a confirmed drunk.

However one when day I was escorting her home from visiting her aunt Huldah who was living on Walkers Road I got up enough courage to pop the question. She blushed a little, but you can imagine my joy when she stopped calmly and said: "Yes Ira I will marry you."