We didn't leave immediately. The cruise line island resort where we were moored had excellent internet and cell phone access, something I was still not sure about if we were underway. I convinced Jeff to allow me a few days to get something started and then we could leave. While the kids splashed at the water park, I sat under an umbrella and worked on my laptop.
My first mission was financial. There were several facets to this part of my plan. Fortunately, all of them could be easily accomplished remotely. I contacted my bank and immediately divided our joint banking account. Half went to a newly created account at another bank. Half stayed in the old account, but I totally exorcized myself from the account. Shelly had a small personal checking account, into which her meager salary from the battered women's shelter was deposited when she decided to work. I left that intact. Our savings account was similarly divided, but I dumped my half into my new checking account. Shelly had an IRA, which I left as it was. We had various mutual fund accounts that I ordered sold, with half the proceeds sent to her personal checking account and the other half to my new checking account. The only thing left was my pension account being held with my firm and the equity in my house. Surprisingly, with my high credit rating and my personal relationship with my banker, I was able to negotiate an equity loan on the house. As soon as the paperwork was finalized, I intended to transfer the entire amount into my personal checking account.
I left my brokerage account as it was. When I checked it, the balance was nearing the nine million mark. I hadn't been at work in a week, but my active accounts were still contributing to the total. I would rather not mess with that until the last minute.
Likewise, I then began working backwards. I created several offshore banking accounts in countries where I knew the relationships with the US were virtually non-existent. These are risky accounts to use, since the political and financial stability of these places is not the best. However, I had a plan.
Over the course of a couple of hours, I created the same set of accounts at 12 different banks in 12 different countries. At each one, I set up an automatic forwarding account that would move any monies that came into the account on to the next bank in my chain. My last activity was to contact a reputable Swiss bank and create the same set of accounts using the LLC underwhich I performed my financial analysis. It may seem like overkill, but I didn't want Shelly or anyone else to have an easy time of following those transfers.
That finished my tasks for the day and I went to play with the twins at the splash pad.
The next day, the kids joined the group with the supervised daycare and I saw them off on an island adventure. They were going to the other side of the island to visit the nature preserve and get some educational time. I checked my new accounts and found them all active and ready. Logging into my banking app, I noticed that the equity loan was ready. I immediately pulled the entire amount available into my new checking account. That done, I went to the app for my new bank. There was now almost $400,000 dollars in that account. In a few seconds, that money was on its way to the first offshore bank in my chain. I didn't bother to close the account, but left a $10 balance.
I had been doing a little research and while the kids were away, I looked at several distance learning programs for elementary school children. The internet provided the answers in the form of various forums where cruising families traded information and tips. One of the members recommended a program that was also highly rated by other cruising families. I established an account, signed up both kids, and ordered the curriculum materials to be delivered to our next port of call. We planned to stop in the Virgin Islands because Jeff had to stop there to close out his business on the island. He also had some upgrades and additions he wanted to add to the boat. His partner at the marina agreed to have all the equipment ready to install and to put all of their help on the job to make the turnaround as fast as possible.
Later that afternoon, as I was waiting for the shuttle to return with the kids, I checked the balance in my Swiss bank accounts. The transfers had all completed successfully. That left me with only one chore to finish. I would handle that tomorrow morning, just before we weighed anchor and headed out to sea.
The next morning, the kids were sad to leave the island but understood that we had to get underway. I was surprised that we had not seen Shelly, Ruth, and Tom. Mentally, I was prepared for a confrontation at some point, but they never showed their faces. I have no idea what they did, where they went, or what they were thinking. I was up early and on my laptop while I waited for the coffee to brew.
The email I wrote was sent to my former boss. I apologized for resigning by email and on such short notice. I asked that any further money I had coming be deposited directly into my new checking account, and gave him the routing number and the account number. The funds would automatically be forwarded through my chain and end up in my Swiss bank. I also requested that the balance in my investment account be dealt with in the same way.
With that, I sat back and sipped the fresh coffee. The bridges were burned, the bonfires lit, and the last vestiges of an old life put onto the shelf. It was time to for a new beginning. Less than two hours later, the port in the Virgin Islands was slowly retreating on the stern and open ocean was on the bow.
&&&&&
We didn't have an itinerary. We didn't have much of a plan to be truthful. I wanted to effectively disappear. Jeff wanted to sail around the world. The kids were happy and having a ball. I wasn't surprised that neither one of them spoke more than a few times about their mother.
I did have communication back in the states with a few people. An email let my parents know that we were healthy and happy and explained a little about what had happened and why I had made the choices I made. I used a series of untraceable email accounts and a good VPN to ensure that it would be almost impossible for anyone to find us. The first leg of our journey took us north, along the eastern seaboard. We visited several historic ports before we turned East into the Atlantic for our first crossing.
I also was in contact with an old friend. He was an attorney on the West Coast. I transferred enough money to a local account to pay a hefty retainer for him to draw against regularly. He arranged for a PI to keep a loose track on Shelly. I soon learned that she was unable to pay the greatly increased mortgage on the house and had to sell it. She netted about zero in the transaction. She moved in with Ruth and Tom. Not surprising, I guess. She did sell my car. I assume she forged my name on the title. No bother.
There didn't seem to be any activity on Shelly's part to find us. In retrospect, it isn't surprising, since she had no real funds to spend on a professional tracer. Her parents did take the initiative to make complaints with the local DA and the FBI about the kidnapping. They didn't go far, since I was their legal parent and had a right to have them with me.
Shelly scraped enough money together to file for an abandonment divorce. There was, of course, a judgement against me for the money I had transferred, but no one ever was able to find it. They didn't find me either, for that matter. After a year, I asked my attorney to stop spending the money to do the updates.
It took us almost four years to do the circumnavigation. I had learned everything that Jeff could teach me, and I had enrolled in an online Masters course. I took my exams and became the holder of a Master's license while we were slogging our way through the Southern Ocean on our way to Peru.
Month's later, we were moored just outside the Panama Canal. One of the last things on Jeff's bucket list was to transit the canal from west to east, which would put us back almost where we started. I now did most of the sailing. The twins were almost as competent at handling the boat as I was, so they were an enormous help.
Once we made the canal transit, I noticed a change in Jeff. As we lay at anchor in a quiet cove just up the coast from Colon, Jeff was sipping a beer late one evening. I was content just to sit and listen to the birds and monkeys in the jungle near where we anchored.
"Bill. We need to talk."
I looked at him.
"Have you been cheating on my Jeff?"
That did get a laugh out of him. Then he got sober and solemn again.
"Seriously. I don't know how much time I have left. I visited a doc when we were in Perth. He told me I have stage four pancreatic cancer. I am about at the end of the line."
I was stunned. I didn't know what to say.
"You don't have to say anything. Everyone with any sense knows that this is the only way any life ends. I have had a good run. There are things I regret, things that give me a bit of pain to remember, but all in all, I am satisfied. You, Ethan and Annabelle have made these last few years everything I could have wanted. I love you like the son I never knew, and both of them like the grandkids I wanted to have with me so bad. I have a favor to ask of you."
"Anything. What can we do."
"My daughter lives in Corpus Christi. I have made contact with her and I think we have finally gotten past the rancor her mother instilled in her. Her kids are grown and off in college. She is divorced. Her sorry ass husband found another woman and after a long affair divorced my daughter and left. I want to have at least a little time to reconnect with her. I will need hospice care soon, and I would rather not put that kind of burden on you and the kids. Take me to Corpus. Please?"
I was bawling. I got down on my knees next to the cushion where he was sitting and wrapped my arms around him and put my face on his shoulder. He patted me on the back and then pushed me far enough away to look me in the face.
"You have been the best friend and companion I could have asked for."
I wiped away the tears and sniffled.
"Jeff. Why don't you go to bed."
He nodded, I helped him to his feet and saw him down the companion way to his berth. I sat down at the nav station and began to plot a course.
Jeff came back to the salon, stuck his head out of the companion way and looked around a bit confused.
I sat at the wheel, not touching it, but watching it and the sails billowing in the gulf breeze.
"What the hell is going on?"
I looked up at the sails. I had set the course on the autopilot and then hoisted sails as soon as I was sure Jeff was asleep. I put every inch of canvas (polyester, actually) in the air that the boat would handle. We were making almost 21 knots. You could feel the boat humming as it sent spray flying. It was exhilarating.
"We are going to Corpus Christi."
"Jesus, Bill. You are driving this boat harder than I ever thought possible. Is that the big Genoa?"
"Yeah. I had to dig it out of the very bottom of the sail locker, and that is a bitch to get in the air by yourself. But man. She runs like a thoroughbred. I think she likes it when she gets to sprint."
Jeff came into the cockpit and sat down. For the first time in days, he looked relaxed and comfortable.
"I always wanted to put her to full sail and let her have her head. I'm glad you did it. Where are we?"
"Halfway to Corpus. We will be there in about 12 hours."
I motored into the bay at Corpus Christi. A radio call to the marina ensured us a berth with electrical hookups. It wasn't difficult to find, and we were soon birthed and hooked up to shore power.
The next morning, Jeff called his daughter. It was nearly lunch, and we were sitting in the cockpit of the boat when she came walking down the pier to our slip. Jeff got up, and I helped him out onto the walkway. I watched as the two of them stood face to face for several minutes. I don't think either one of them really knew what to do. I finally spoke to him in a stage whisper.
"Well, give her a hug, you big pirate."
That seemed to break the ice. They fell into each other's arms and were suddenly sobbing like babies. I let them stand that way for a few minutes and then beckoned them to come onto the boat. Jeff introduced us.
"Bill. This is Priscilla, my daughter. I am embarrassed because I don't even know what last name she is using."
I looked at Priscilla. I knew she was about 55 years old. There were flashed of gray in her shoulder-length hair. I could see her father in her face. She was a handsome woman. She had the extra few pounds that catches up to all of us. There were a few wrinkles here and there. But, she was still attractive.
