High Seas Series: The Wilson O'Toole

The radio was manned 24/7, listening for any messages from the PATRICK. Kenny Matchiko was on duty and was looking forward to getting a couple hours of sleep before his first class at Lihue High School. He was a Senior and had his scholarship approved for the University of Hawaii. He intended to go on to Medical School and be a Pediatrician.

Kenny had been an abandoned boy, living on the streets of Honolulu when Captain Patrick O’Toole had discovered him raiding a garbage can behind a hash house on the waterfront. Every day since, he had thanked God for men like the Captain.

As Kenny was “day dreaming about his soft pillow waiting for him, he was supposed to be relieved at 0400, just twenty minutes from now, when the red light on the Emergency Channel began to blink. Kenny spoke Japanese from his childhood and he heard a broken message in that language, “Any Station, Any Station, this is the fisher Katsui Maru, we have struck the rocks near Buldir Island and had lost our screw! Any Station, Any Station, please respond, our batteries are nearly dead!” The voice was obviously a young person and, just as obvious, he was scared as hell!

Kenny reached over to the alarm panel and pushed the button to Captain Min’s room before he responded to the call. He then hit transmit and, just as Min stepped into the radio room, he sent, “Katsui Maru, Katsui Maru, This is O’Toole House Radio responding to your emergency, how may we assist you, Katsui Maru?”

The youngster’s voice came back in fair English, “O’Toole House Radio, O’Toole House Radio, we are lodged on the rocks on Buldir Island in the Kamchatka Chain, between Shemya Island and Kiska Island. The seas are heavy and are pounding my Father’s boat to pieces. He has been hurt and I am the only one else who speaks English on our boat. The land is shaking and nasty smelling gases are coming from the volcano. Please, can you help us? OVER”

Before Kenny could reply, Min hit the General Alarm Button and lights began coming on in bunk rooms and both Hotels. Min had arrived within seconds and appraised the situation. He looked at Kenny, who nodded his head in a yes, and Min went streaking out the door, headed for the M/S Wilson O’Toole. The WILSON was big enough to handle the winter seas in the North Pacific without much danger and she had the speed, she could make 26 knots, under most conditions, continuously.

Kenny quickly ran a plot and soon had an ETA for The Wil, as he looked at his numbers, and punched the radio mic as he replied, “Katsui Maru, Katsui Maru, we are sending our rescue ship, The M/S WILSON to you, we predict it will take us five days to reach you, I will notify the United States Coast Guard of your situation, do you need any supplies air dropped to you? OVER”

The youngster on the stricken ship responded, “I am Tatsu Katsui, my Father is Captain Toseki Katsui and we have six crewmen on board. We have sufficient food, but we are short of fuel for the generator. I am sending on our batteries, so we are being very careful. Please hurry, the glass is dropping and Papa fears a storm is brewing. I will contact you each morning and again each evening, thank you for responding to our calamity! This is Tatsu Katsui, out.”

Kenny called Captain Min and said, “Sir, I am going with The WILSON, Tatsu knows my voice and it is better that I maintain contact with them, sir.” Min just smiled and replied, “Yeah and I will let your school know what you are up to, go get your kit and I will see you out on The WILSON before we sail. You are Chief Radio Officer for the voyage!”

As Kenny hurried down to his bunkroom, he heard the stacks on The WILSON belch and he spotted a pillar of black smoke from both stacks as the engineers started warming the engines. He knew that Mr. ‘Go, the Chief Engineer would push those engines as hard as it was safe to do, he was one fantastic man whom he greatly admired. Mr. Go’s younger brother, Mr. Trong had taught him the rudiments of Navigation and that was how he could estimate the time duration for the young shipwrecked sailor, Tatsu Katsui.

‘Go was standing in the engine room, helping the oilers light off the two huge diesel engines, he was pushing the fuel as hard as he dared. The temperature gauges seemed stubborn, but, slowly, the needles began to lift off their pegs on all both main engines. The fuel bunkers were full and ‘Go had a crew out on deck, topping off the fresh water tanks. He had left the cooling water makeup tanks full from their last trip, so he had plenty of boiler feed water until there was sufficient steam from the donkey boiler to operate the distillers. He was burning light oil in the burners until there was enough steam to heat the distillers, then he would switch over to Diesel Oil.

The engines on The WILSON were “Nordbergs”, and they could respond to load changes rapidly. They had originally been designed for warships, like destroyers and cruisers, but when they overhauled The WILSON, ‘Go had specified Nordberg two cycle engines. They cost a little more, but Pat had agreed with ‘Go that they were well worth the investment!

Three hours after ‘Go had begun bringing the engine room to life, he called up the bridge and announced, “READY TO ANSWER ALL BELLS”! The crew was all on board and Kenny had taken over the Radio Room as his domain, he would go “On-Line” at 2000 hours (pronounced 20-hundred hours, 8 pm) to communicate with the Katsui Maru.

By the time The WILSON was ready to depart, Captain Min Tangimora pulled on the whistle chain and the sound bounced all over the island of Kauai. The word was already out and cars were lined up on the beach, answering with their horns. This tradition had begun years earlier, when both Pat and Min had been teens and Captains Wil and Oscar were running the sailing ship, The Mary Joyce.

As soon as The WILSON passed the last buoy, Min ordered the Engine Order Telegraph to be placed at “ALL AHEAD FULL” and both engines began to howl, as their revolutions climbed.

Both shafts were turning at 120 RPM and their frothy wake streamed out behind The WILSON like a painted track of their course. For the part of the voyage, the Helmsman had the helm on the “Iron Mike”, the computer operated steering system that took a signal from the satellites out in space. In theory, the Iron Mike was supposed to be accurate enough to dock the ship, but there was no Master around who was willing to take that chance!

They headed North, Northwest, in the direction of Buldir Island. They steered a straight course, there were no land masses or obstructions in their way.

The Pit-Log was hovering at 26 knots and the throttles were flat out open. The only thing they had left were the emergency overload wedges on the engine governors. The distillers were both running to keep the feed water tanks full and provide water for the needs of the crew.

The crew was mostly teen boys, with a few girls mixed in. The girls had already proved their worth and were treated like full partners by all the boys. There had been some “fancy footwork” to get all the teens certified by the Coast Guard, but every member of the crew had Coast Guard Merchant Marine Documents.

Doc Ben was on board and he had two old Navy Medics with him. They had all been around the park more than a few times and there was not much that, between them, they could not handle in the Medical Department.

Ben looked around him with satisfaction, it was so much better than their early days. The Hospital on The WILSON was the equal of many shore side facilities and better than most! No expense had been spared for equipment and he had all the latest pharmaceuticals on hand to supply a two-hundred bed hospital!

The seas were rising a bit and The WILSON began to pound, but Min was not willing to slow down, the radio report from the Katsui Maru that morning told of smoke belching from the summit of the volcano and that the small fishing vessel was being pounded to splinters on the rocks.

Tatsu Katsui was becoming frightened, he reported that his Father’s injuries were beginning to fester and he would not eat anything they fixed for him. That was when Captain Min Tangimora pushed the Engine Order Telegraph on The WILSON up to ALL AHEAD EMERGENCY! (the civilian equivalent of the Navy term, FLANK)

The scavenging blowers on engines could be heard screaming all over the ship and the pounding was making it difficult to chase one’s meal across the table on the Mess Deck. Min was gratified, however, that the Pit Log rose to 28 knots! It was now a race against time, Captain Toseki Katsui was failing and his ship was in danger from the sea and the volcano erupting. If that happened, young Tatsu Katsui and the crew of the fishing vessel would all die with the Captain.

A weak and watery sun broke over the Eastern horizon on the last morning, clouds were scudding across the sky and the wind was rising. Tatsu had reported they were on the north coast of the small island and that water was rising in the hold.

Tatsu was staying on the radio continuously now, staying in contact with the young man who was now his long distance friend. Kenny had been on the radio with the young crewman since the afternoon before. He had his meals served in the Radio Room and the only times he left it was for a “call of Nature”. He had drunk so much coffee, he felt like he was sloshing!

About 1000 (10 AM), the Bridge lookout spotted the wrecked vessel. Min looked on in horror, he could see the little ship crashing against the rocks. He called down to the Engine Room, ‘Go was standing by to assist the Third Engineer, who had the watch. Min said to ‘Go. “Bro, its gonna get rough, the seas are building and that damned mountain is belching fire and smoke!”

Go replied, “OK, Boss. You do what ya’ gotta do, we will give you everything the ol’gal has got to give!”

Min’s first thought was, “My GOD, he sounds just like his brother, Trong!” Trong, however, was on The JONATHON off the coast of Central America on an anti-slaver run!”

Min was almost as good a ship driver as his Foster Brother, Patrick and he rounded The WILSON around the east coast of Alaid Island like a race car and, as soon as he had the Tatsui Maru in sight, he slammed the engines into reverse. The WILSON jumped and jerked as the screws fought to grab the water.

He brought the bow of The WILSON within feet of the wrecked vessel and despite the pounding seas, Little Boats had the MWB over the side and waiting for Min to give the OK to launch. Little Boats had matured and was as big as his famous father. At six and half feet tall and hands as large as pie tins, he was a man to be feared, yet he was as gentle as a kitten with anyone in need.

As soon as Min waved, Boats ordered the deckhands to lower the davit and the MWB shot down to the surface of the sea. As it hit the water, the Boat Engineer started the engine and the helmsman headed them to the stricken fishing boat.

Tatsu was standing on deck and he shouted, “Are you Kenny Matchiko?” Boats thundered, with a smile, “Naw, I’s just an old boat hand. Let’s git yer guys n’ yer Father offin’ this here wreck a’fer that damned mountain decides ta’ blow it’s top!”

Two crewmen jumped up on the fishing boat and carried the injured Captain to the side and lowered him gently down to waiting hands in the MWB. They then helped the crew, Tatsu insisted on being the last to leave the ship.

They raced the MWB (Motor Whale Boat) back to The WILSON and hooked onto the hoist. The moment the MWB was level with the railing, there were crew members to help the rescued sailors and fishermen out of the boat. They were wrapping them all in blankets as the fishermen were hustled inside The WILSON. Ben and his two Medics grabbed the injured Captain and headed to the Hospital, with young Tatsu on their heels.

As Min pulled The Wilson back from the edge of the rocky island, they heard an awful explosion and gasses and molten rock came roaring down the mountain. He ran astern until he had sufficient room to turn the ship and every rivet, every weld on The Wilson was groaning in protest as he ordered “ALL AHEAD EMERGENCY” while they were still moving astern!

The whole ship was jumping and shuddering as the screws reversed direction and started pumping water through them as fast as the engines could turn the two shafts. The roaring gasses and steam from the volcano chased them out to sea, The WILSON staying just barely ahead of them. Min ran the ship astern for nearly twenty miles before he stopped and restarted in the ahead direction.

The seas were much too rough for Doc Ben and his Medics to do much more than stabilize Captain Katsui. He checked the Captain’s son over thoroughly and patched a few cuts and bruises the young man had acquired. When he finished the young man stood and bowed to the Doctor and said, “My Father and I have much thankful. Please sir, will you introduce me to Chief Man of the Radio, I wish to thank him also, most sincerely.”

Ben did want to embarrass the young man, who was doing his best to be polite and was standing in for his injured father. He replied, “Mate Tatsu, if you and I go out that door, Chief Radio Officer Kenny Matchinko is, I believe, standing there waiting for you.” Ben opened the door and Kenney was, indeed, standing there.

Both young men stood there, staring at each other and Doc Ben had spent most of his career as a doctor around these boys, he knew immediately what was taking place. He leaned over to one of the Medics and whispered, “Get Captain Min up here, pronto!”

While he watched, Ben saw the two young men slowly walk towards each other and embrace. They were both crying, it was love at very first sight! An affair that had begun with a frantic radio call had brought two young men together whom the fates had determined were meant for each other. Min arrived out of breath, in time to see the boys’ eyes, each mesmerized with the other.

When the two finally broke apart, they had guilty looks on their faces, so Min spoke up and said, “Mr. Matchinko, there is a second bunk in your stateroom, why don’t you take Mate Katsui there so he can rest and recuperate.” With his eyes still on Tatsu, Kenny walked backwards out of the Hospital and down the passageway to the Radio Officer’s stateroom and he led Tatsu inside and closed the door.

Neither Kenny nor Tatsu were seen again, until it was time for the 2000 radio check with O’Toole House. Tatsu followed Kenny up to the Radio Shack as Kenny contacted O’Toole House. He read off the report that Min had left on the radio desk and then he said, “Is Mr. Trong or Mr. Jowto there?”

The radioman replied, “Yes, they are both here, just a moment and I will get them.”

As soon as Trong came on the line, Kenny said, “Sir, help me, I have found the other half of me……!" They could hear Jowto singing in the background, he was singing Trong’s song, “How Much I Love You”!

Tatsu’s eyes went wide and he whispered, “There are Angels in your house?”

As soon as Jowto had finished, Trong said, “Brother, do not worry, you know what Mr. Andrew can do. Doc has already told me the young man’s name and there WILL be a permanent Visa waiting for him as soon as you guys get back home. If he wants to stay forever, that might take a little more time, but not much! WELCOME to our FAMILY, Tatsu Katsui!”

Both Kenny and Tatsu were completely undone, Min had to rouse out the off-duty Radioman and he told both Kenny and Tatsu to go and get some rest. He wondered as to just how much rest they would get, but they both looked so happy, it just didn’t matter.

The next morning, despite their red faces, Kenney stood up on a chair in the mess and announced, “I have found he who completes me and he has agreed to stay with me forever. I hope he will be able to go to University with me next year, but, if not he will live with me as I become a Doctor just like Doc Ben. The entire compartment exploded in cheers and everyone wanted to be the first to congratulate the two young men.

The next thing that had to be done was to tell Tatsu’s Father, Toseki Katsui. They were afraid what he might say, but they both were determined that they WOULD be together, until they both died!

Tatsu’s father was still in the bed, he was scheduled to have his injuries operated on that afternoon. When he spotted his son come in the room, holding the hand of another boy and they both had frightened looks on their faces, he smiled a gentle smile and said, “Tatsu, my son, I have known about you since the day your Mother laid you in my arms. I have watched you as you struggled and tried to hide what you were from others, but your Mother and I knew and after your Mother died, I worried that you would never find someone. The instant you entered this room, I knew my worries were over, you had found your other half. You both have my blessings and those of our ancestors. Go you both with the God your Mother so loved and know that I love you both.”

They both sat with Toseki until it was time for his surgery and their faces were the first things he saw when he awoke, back in his room. The next day, Doc Ben wanted the older man to get up a walk a few steps, both Kenny and Tatsu were on either side of him, making sure he did not fall. Toseki had begun planning on selling his business, collecting the insurance on the boat and moving to Hawaii to be with his sons. He did.

Min headed The WILSON homewards at a more sedate pace. The seas were still rough from the storm and they found more than a few volcanic “bombs” on the upper decks, where the volcano had tossed fist-sized stones of lava and pumice on them. Otherwise, the voyage was calm and peaceful and on the tenth day, they rounded Nanini Light and Min began hanging on the whistle chain. The Waialeale Harbor was again lined with automobiles welcoming them home.

They dropped the hook at their mooring buoy and ran the pontoon walkway out from the pier to the ship. They decided to clean up the next day, everyone was tired and Min could see a celebration starting at the Welcome Center and he suspected that Tatsu and Kenny were those being honored. He was right!

Tatsu broke down and cried when he read the sign that said, “WELCOME HOME TATSU KATSUI”. He clung to Kenny as Min and Tatsu’s Father were standing on the walkway watching the two boys. The two men were becoming close friends and Alice, Min’s wife, welcomed the man into her house. He would stay with them for the rest of his life.

Andy had moved Kenny’s belongings into a Married Couples Bungalow, it was a two bedroom bungalow with a kitchen and patio out back, complete with a BBQ grill and a fish pond that had colorful carp in it. They both wondered why they had a second bedroom, but that problem would be cured the very next time The WILSON went to sea!

Kenny went back to school to finish out his senior year and he spent time in the Radio Room to fulfill his duties as Chief Radioman of O’Toole House. When he had the watch, Tatsu would come and sit with him and Tatsu became fairly proficient in the use of the radio. He was particularly skilled in using the RDF (Radio Direction Finder).

Kenny graduated from High School number one in his class and all his letters of acceptance were in order. He would be able to do all his undergraduate work right there at the University Extension in Lihue. They would have the summer off before school restarted and the two young men made the most of their free time.

They hiked the Waimea Canyon, sometimes called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, on their last trip to The Canyon, they sat on a dry ledge and talked about the future. They both wanted to have children in their little Family and Tatsu wanted to become a counselor to abused and troubled children, but his Papa did not have the funds to send him to University. The money he got from the insurance company went to resettling his former crew back in Japan and the purchase of a small home in Lihue for himself.

Kenny said, let us check with Mr. Andrew, he has all sorts of connections and he sure helped me when I said I wanted to go to the “U” and get a four year degree in Pre-Med before I went to Medical School. Tatsu was dubious, but he agreed to go with Kenny and speak with Mr. Andrew Causey.

They were walking down the trail that would return them to Nawiliwili when they heard the Emergency Alarm go off at O’Toole House. Both young men took off at a dead run and arrived at O’Toole House out of breath, Min was headed for the pier and he shouted to them, “Come On, The Navy Boys at Midway called that they have a bunch of kids they rescued from some damned old freighter that was sinking, they suspect they were gonna be sex slaves!”

Tatsu’s head was swimming, he had heard of such things, but never thought he would see it here in America, the Land of the Free!” Kenny hugged him tightly and said, “Come on, love, you can see what we do first hand, up close!”

It was not an emergency run, the United States Navy had already rescued the children and they were being cared for by the sailors stationed on Midway Island. They got The WILSON underway and headed up the island chain at their ordinary “All Ahead Full”. Kenny was working the radio and got a list of all the children and their ages. One boy’s description struck a bell with him and he called his stateroom and asked Tatsu to come to the Radio Room.

When Tatsu got to the Radio Room, Kenny showed him a line item in the message, “Boy, apparent age about two, Japanese Ancestry, name not known. Health is good, handicapped with club foot.”

Kenny looked at Tatsu and said, “Do ya’ think…….?”

Tatsu smiled and said, “Yeah, how do we go about this?” Kenny had already spoken with Captain Min and had gotten permission to send a message to the Navy on Midway. He showed the flimsy to Tatsu, whose eyes went wide. The message read:

From Chief Radio Officer, MS The WILSON.
To: Commanding Officer, Naval Hospital, Midway.

Sir,

IAW agreement dated 21 January, 2025, my partner and I wish to adopt the child number 16 on your message dated 15 May, 2032. We have both been approved by Hawaii Child Services as prospective parents and I am registered with the United States Navy as a Child Protective Officer for O’Toole House of Lihue Hawaii.

We wish to meet this child upon arrival of MS The Wilson, presently enroute to Midway Island, expected arrival 22 May, 2032,

Respectfully,

Chief Radio Officer Kenny Matchiko

cc: Captain Min Tangimora, Master, MS The WILSON

Tatsu’s eyes were wide and he stammered, “Do you think we can…?”

Kenny replied, “Yeah, we can and we WILL if this little child will have us!” Both young men would have gladly helped row The Wilson, just to get them to Midway a little sooner.

The morning of arrival, both Tatsu and Kenny were dressed in their best clothes and standing at the gangway, waiting for Min’s permission to go ashore. Min was sure they would “jump ship” if he said to wait a bit! The moment he nodded to the two, they were down the gangway in a flash and headed for the Naval Hospital!

Both Tatsu and Kenny were out of breath by the time they reached the hospital, Captain Bill Mayes, USN MC was waiting for them. He had gotten a telephone call from the Captain of The WILSON, advising him that two members of his crew were headed their way. Both The WILSON and its Captain were well known on Midway and the fact that Captain Tangimora had recommended the two men made their having the child preordained!

The two young men introduced themselves to the Medical Corps Captain and he took them to his office to interview the two of them. He was only satisfying his own curiosity, as Captain Tangimora’s recommendation carried heavy weight with the US Navy.

As he spoke with the two men, he became more and more impressed with them and, when he discovered that Kenny had a scholarship to the University and to Texas Medical University, his eyes were almost glowing. The icing on the cake was that Tatsu also had a scholarship to Texas Med U to specialize in Child Psychology merely clinched the deal!

He took the two men up to the Children’s Ward, which was quite small because the Hospital normally treated only adult Navy Sailors. He opened the door and there were ten beds in the room, but only two were occupied. There was a teen girl and a crib with a very tiny child in it, looking at them with wide eyes. He explained that the girl was the daughter of a Naval Officer and had been visiting her Dad. She had snagged her foot on a piece of coral.

Both Kenny and Tatsu began speaking to the child in Japanese and their stock with the Captain went up even further, if that were possible. He had no hesitation to sign a release for the child, who was happily curled up on Tatsu’s lap as Kenny Matchiko signed the papers.

Neither young man even remembered returning to the ship and someone had found a small child’s bed in the storeroom and it was already in their stateroom, made up with sheets and a blanket.

When Doc Ben examined the child, he told the new parents that repairing the child’s foot was an easy operation and he would be glad to perform the surgery as soon as they got back home. Both Kenny and Tatsu were riding on “cloud nine”! The child wanted a “Merican name” so Kenny and Tatsu thought about it for the entire trip back to Lihue. They finally settled on Kenneth Tatsu Matchiko-Matsui!

Within three weeks after his operation, little Kenny was terrorizing the hallway outside the bedrooms in there little bungalow. He was beginning to speak a few words of English and it was becoming very apparent that the child was very intelligent. He picked up words like a sponge and both his Daddies were forced to clean up their language, FAST!

Both Kenny and Tatsu worried about what they were going to do if The WILSON was called out on a rescue and that event was not long in coming. Two months later, at 0300 in the wee hours of the morning, both Kenny and Tatsu were awakened by the General Alarm and they could hear pounding feet running towards the Radio Room. Tatsu gathered up little Kenneth and all three of them ran for O’Toole House.

Kenny sat to the Master Radio and said, “Ship calling O’Toole House, please state your need. OVER.”

There was a crackling of static and then they all heard clearly, “This is Captain Matt Unger, Master of The MS JONATHON, we need yer help, guys, we got us a situation at Puerto Armuelles, Panama. We shut down a slave station and we got two hundred and fifteen kids here. Twenty of them are hurt and another ten have been mutilated ‘n I pray Doc Ben kin help em’! Over.”

Kenny replied, “Cap, are any of the children in extremis? Over.”

Captain Unger replied, “No, theys pretty much stabilized by our Medics, but our small Hospital can’t hold em’ all and we are using regular beds for the ones what been mutilated.”

Doc Ben arrived to hear that last and he went ballistic! He asked Kenny for the mic and said, “Matt, it will take us some time to get there.” He looked at Kenny, who was scribbling numbers on a note pad and circled 240 hours, MIN! Ben continued, “We figure ten days all out on the engines, can you hold out that long? Over.”

Captain Unger replied, “Yeah, it will be tight, but we are pretty safe here and I got all the guns up on deck, watching for trouble. As long as none of the kid’s turn sour on us, we can hold out ‘till ya’ get here. Over.”

Min was headed for The Wilson, ‘Go had already run ahead and started his Engineers lighting off the generators and making sure all the water tanks were still full. The fuel bunkers had been “sticked’ just the day before, so he knew they had plenty of fuel.

As the stacks began to show black smoke, the Crew Members were hurrying up the gangway, their kits were always packed and ready to go. Kenny leaned over and whispered to Tatsu, “Get Little Kenny ready to go, he IS goin’ with us!” He looked up at Min, who was laughing and he said out loud, “Gonna make a sailor outta him, huh?”

Kenny continued to work the radio as Captain Matt reported the condition of the children he had rescued and the numbers of boy children and girl children. None were over ten years old! They all appeared to be Spanish speakers and they were mostly from Panama and Columbia. Neither country would ever accept the children back, as that would admit they were shielding slavers inside their borders.

By the time Kenny finished with The JONATHON, he was so angry he had to take a walk before returning to his mate and child. His mentor and “almost” parent, Captain Min Tangimora had always told him to never return to his family while still angry!

Six hours later, The WILSON dropped her lines and headed out to sea, going to ALL AHEAD FULL as soon as they cleared the harbor. They headed southeast for the Panamanian Coast. Min did not bother to notify the Panama Authorities, they were as likely to go and kill everyone on The JONATHON as not.

Kenny made contact with The JONATHON at 0800, 1200 and again at 2000 each day as The WILSON raced across the ocean. The seas were rough, but Min kept their speed up. Little Kenny thought it was great fun. Doc Ben had “fixed” his foot and he delighted in running up and down the passageway outside of his Pappas’ stateroom, bouncing off the bulkheads as the ship rolled! He was supposed to be resting his foot, but it felt so good to run, rather than hobble he could not help himself.

The little boy was precocious as well as very smart. He was picking up English at an alarming rate and both Kenny and Tatsu spoke to him in Japanese so that he would not lose that skill and, at the same time, they discovered a need to clean up their own language!

Two days out, the seas smoothed out and Min raised their speed to Emergency! The engines were screaming in protest and ‘Go was practically living in the Engine Room, just to make sure that nothing quit on them. Min told them the pit log was reading 28 knots!

The closer they got to the Panama Coast, the more time Kenny spent in the Radio Room. He chased the frequencies to see if anyone was noting their passage, especially the Panama Military Channels. So far, he had not heard anything about them, but he was taking no chances!

The evening before arrival, Doc Ben and his Medics opened the wards and got them ready for the onslaught of patients. The Medics had twenty boys as helpers and they made up every bed and laid out clean clothing and toiletries for every patient. It was unlikely many of them would need to shave, but each ward had a supply of disposable razors just in case.

As the day wore on, Kenny was in constant contact with The JONATHON and he had taught Tatsu how to scan the frequencies, listening for anything that might mean trouble for them. It was going to be a long night as both men would remain in the Radio Room until they made land fall. They set up a small bed for Little Kenny as there was no way the child would handle being away from his Pappas.

At daybreak of the next day, they rounded Punta Burica and entered the wide bay that led to Puerto Armuelles. A bleary eyed Kenny was on the horn with Captain Matt Unger as The WILSON turned north and headed for Puerto Armuelles.

The JONATHON was at anchor out in the bay, offshore from the district RIO MAR. They were pretending to be a cargo ship and had their booms run out. They actually did have some cargo arranged and every several days, a small barge came out with crates that they dutifully loaded into the small forward hold.

The WILSON arrived and Min maneuvered her alongside The JONATHON and began swinging fake cargo back and forth between the two ships, inside the crates were the children destined to ride on The WILSON. All the injured children and the mutilated children were transferred to The WILSON and then they contacted the harbor authorities that they would sail at 1000 hours the next day.

At 0200 the next morning, both ships sailed quietly out of the harbor with no lights showing and at dead slow, so they made little noise. As soon as they cleared the harbor, they ran their speed up to Emergency and got the “hell outta Dodge”!

They knew they would be chased, but they hoped that the rough seas would slow down any patrol boats. Their larger size made them much more stable in rough seas, they really did not want to have to use firearms to get away.

When is this going to stop? It seems like every time they shoot a slaver, ten more pop up. The only one who is going to enjoy the return voyage will be Little Kenny! His antics will cheer up the rescued children as they recuperate from their ordeal.