he needed alot more than just the services of Feminine Touch Yacht Maintence where the boat was concerned.
The owner of the marina and restaurant, John, a long time friend of Lonnie's started teasing Lonnie after seeing him serenading Wendy down on the dock with his guitar. Now dear reader you should understand that this restuarant and marina was a little free and easy even for Florida in the 80's! One could surely say that the average daily activity at the "back bar' included activities that would have been counted as indictable offenses anywhere else in the nation,except maybe the Keys! The back bar activities would have made Hunter S Thompson proud and maybe even a little wary.
The back bar became known as “The Chub Cay Club” in around 1980.This delightful moniker resulted from one of the thousands of trips the back bar crowd made to the Bahamas.
On one of the trips to the islands in pursuit of the elusive blue marlin
Now a goodly number of the back bar lads worked as captains and mates on the sport fishing boats at the marina. As tradition would have it “servants” like the boat crews were simply not allowed into the Chub Cay Club! This was of no small irritation to the red blooded American back bar lads. So it was decided that the fancy sign posted out in the channel leading into the harbor of the Chub Cay Club would better be displayed over the door to the “back bar” at the restaurant back in Florida! That night under the influence of rum and the cover of darkness the aforementioned sign was deftly and promptly rescued from it’s pillar in the harbor and subsequently transported back to the States. It was proudly displayed over the door to the back bar where it remains to this day!
Mornings at the back bar usually started when everyone crawled off of their respective boats at around 1000. All hands would grope their way up to the back bar, the “Sanctum Sanctorum” of the place. The first order of business was usually a stiff 20 oz. Bloody Mary… on the weekdays, that is. Sundays started with the same ritual except the drinks for Sunday mornings were Mimosas… always made with Dom Perignon Champagne and of course Florida orange juice… fresh from the grove, you know!.
One Sunday morning John, the owner of the restaurant and marina, said to Lonnie
“How ‘bout a bottle of Dom?”
Lonnie, citing his position as a poverty stricken musician as a result of the pittance John paid him, said that he could not afford $140 for a bottle of champagne. He stated he felt he was not on a first name basis with “Dom”… and said;
“I still refer to it as Mr. Perignon!“
So naturally they started in on the first bottle of “Dom.“
As we have already pointed out John had made quite a project out of teasing Lonnie about Wendy. As the day went on and everyone assumed a more jovial mood John said;
“You’re getting along pretty well with Wendy, I’ll bet you won’t marry her! I’ll bet if you propose to her she won’t accept!”
So Lonnie said;
“You’re on, but if she accepts you have to close down the restaurant and have a huge party. It has to be on a Saturday because that’s when the restaurant makes the most money. You have to charter whatever boat I want for us to get married on. We have to take the boat and the whole entourage up the ditch to the Boca Raton Hotel and Club.
“You’re on!” said John.
At the time Lonnie had only known Wendy for about two months. They had no relationship at all except for Wendy working on the Borealis. So John figured he was pretty safe with his bet. But this was the back bar… the Chub Cay Club!
Lonnie promptly went down to the dock where Wendy was fueling a boat. He said;
“Hey, I need to talk to you for a minute.“
He told her about the conversation he’d just had up at the bar and said;
“Lets get married to put him on… we can get a divorce right afterwards for a few bucks… this’ll be a real gas!!!“
Always up for a good prank Wendy accepted knowing it was a bet. They both planned on having the marriage annulled right after the wedding.
So the wedding was set for September 28 1985. Wendy parents, family and friends, Lonnie’s mother, family and friends all made the trip to Florida. Nearly 350 people attended the reception. The guests included Lonnie’s girl friend and Wendy’s boyfriend!! True to his word John was the best man and paid for the reception and the yacht .
Time marched on and before long six months had passed. Lonnie and Wendy never got around to having the marriage annulled. True to the ways of the music business Lonnie's gigs dried up and the time came to move on to brighter horizons. Lonnie came down to the dock early one morning and announced to Wendy he was going to take the boat to the keys.
He said;
“You know we are married and all that... so would you like to come along?”
Wendy thought about it. Feminine Touch Yacht Maintenece wasn't doing all that well, the dockmaster job only paid minimum wage and she had left her boyfriend several months before. She had always wanted to go to the Keys. She said why not?
The rest as they say, is history. Lonnie always said that it was cheaper to marry Wendy than to hire her to work on the boat! That way she could share in the liabilities as well as the assets!
So the journey began.
Follow the footsteps to Chapter 2