| TRAVELS OF DURSMIRG VOLUME IV THE ROGUES OF ST. AUGUSTINE AND OTHER SOCIAL MISFITS Chapter 42 |
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Uncle Harry took great pleasure and boasted about how he bamboozled the tax man. Whenever the pressure was
on him to pay the bill he conveniently lost his ability to converse in English and slipped into his native Greek with a
shrug of his shoulders and a blank look he put off his creditors and many others. When it came for collections Uncle
Harry had an unfathomable recollection of all vital statistics.
Just before we arrived in St. Augustine Uncle Harry took a $5,000 down payment to build a trawler and even ordered
in the lumber for the keel and bow stem. Well, to the best of our knowledge Uncle Harry never did build that last
trawler and just pocketed the down payment money.
We did get to see the last vessel Harry built named Venus and it was definitely a beautiful piece of craftsmanship.
Angelo the local Greek owner took special pride in his vessel that he meticulously painted to resemble a Greek
carnival wagon. It was the most photographed shrimp trawler in town and featured in several movies.
Also back in 1972 when we arrived, Uncle Harry’s wife Betsy had just given him the boot.
It turned out that tight-fisted Old Uncle Harry had propositioned a waitress down at Dunkin Donuts with a $100
promise. It so happened that Uncle Harry grossly misjudged this particular waitress because the waitress rang-up
Uncle Harry’s wife Betsy and spilled the beans.
A single Harry was a “Greek Tragedy”.
Some years earlier Uncle Harry’s young nephew George Geatonos had came over from the “Old Country, Greece”
and young George took a job at the boatyard of a relative and got a place to sleep…in the barn.
By and By George saved his money and eventually bought a piece of land next to Uncle Harry and began his own
boatyard for repairing and painting boats.
Uncle Harry was driven to absolute distraction by this and ever after referred to his nephew George as; “The Rat!”
Here is a brief story of George Gaetanos and his lovely family; wife Katherine, kids, Pete and Mikae;
George, a poor Greek immigrant had a hard life from childhood when the Italians invaded and occupied his small
Greek home island of Simi in the eastern Mediterranean Sea near the Turkish coast.
In grade school George was forced to learn Italian and not the native Greek of his occupied homeland.
When the war was finally over and George was old enough he immigrated to Florida to work for his Greek relatives,
the Sarris family, in their centuries old traditional boat building industry.
George was treated like a menial slave by his unscrupulous Greek relatives, sleeping in the barn and not even
receiving enough money to buy himself a haircut…life in America was dreadfully brutal for poor George.
The years went by and eventually poor little frugal George squirreled enough money away to buy a small piece of
property and start his own bare bonesboat yard.
Well, the property was right next to George’s old curmudgeon Uncle Harry Xynides’ boatyard.
This situation got old Uncle Harry to go totally bull-shit and berserk with his nephew George. Old Harry let this
grudge fester into a demonized hatred he would carry and nurture all the rest of his life.
Poor little George had poured all of his enthusiastic efforts and life’s accumulation of funds into getting his meager
business ready for his first customer so that he could pull his first boat and begin his repair business.
Harry stealthily went over to his nephew George’s boatyard in the night and stole a vital winch part effectively putting
poor George out of business.
This put George instantly out of production and created a terrible hardship and financial burden.
We never ever heard George say a single bad word about his mean-spirited curmudgeonly old Uncle Harry.
Harry on the other hand seethed with irrational venomous rage every time he laid eyes on his nephew George and
nastily screamed out; “RAT!”
This situation finally got so bad that poor George had to take drastic measures just to stay in business.
In order to feed his family George devised a way to lease his boatyard to the large shrimp trawler manufacturing
company St. Augustine Trawlers.
St. Augustine Trawlers maintained the boatyard and put George on the payroll so he had an income and old Uncle
Harry could fight with the company that would settle any disputes with affirmative police action.
Standing up and confronting his hate-monger Uncle Harry was something that George just wouldn’t do considering
his family ties.
I must admit that of all the people Jane and I encountered in all of our years in and around St. Augustine the George
Gaetanos family was by far the very nicest in every way; they were just good people.
We became very close friends with the Gaetanos family for a number of reasons, the first being that Jane and I
could not stand to see such a nice person as George subjected to the brow-beating and humiliating harangue that
old Uncle Harry dished out.
Another very important reason why we established a life-long friendship with these lovely people was that they were
the most sincere and openly friendly gracious hosts who would open their home and always shared their lives with
us just like we were part of their family. That is exactly how we have always felt with these genuinely wonderful
human beings
The two Gaetanos children, Pete and Mikae sold the St. Augustine Record newspaper on downtown street corners
from the time that they were pre-teens and did a thriving business. They were so cute and had such winning
dispositions that they managed to collect many an extra nickel in tips…who could resist?
Every spring time the Greek Orthodox Church put on a St. Augustine festival as a fund raiser featuring a traditional
Greek meal, live Greek music with lively dancing along with a cash bar.
The Gaetanos family was heavily involved with the Greek community and Katherine also happened to be an
internationally acclaimed and award winning cook who orchestrated the lavish Greek feast that always was the main
springtime community draw.
Katherine also prepared many of the specialty dishes served at the Spanish Landing Restaurant owned and
operated by George’s other uncle, kind and generous Tom Xynidis that included her “world’s best” exquisite
mousaka.
George had learned to live by his wits and with that came a survivors type of frugality. He never threw anything away
and when a boat was ready to launch from his leased out marine railway whatever was left over George would pack
up and make a few extra bucks from.
When the painting crew had finished, if a paint can had a little paint left in it and was left behind…they couldn’t sell
a partial can of paint to anybody so frugal George sealed it up and collectively poured the paint together until over
time he had a full can. Likewise when new zincs were put on the trawlers the old ones were discarded. Many still had
lots of life left in them and could be melted down and recast so George had a small salvage job just cleaning up his
own boatyard.
Jane and I always tried to support George and became customers for his salvage business…after all we had a small
fleet to maintain.
It wasn’t much but then George didn’t have much so every penny counted.
George and Katherine Gaetanos, some of the nicest people we have even known, visiting at our 4th of
July garden party in 1977.
A sad note on Katherine Gaetanos: This is her obiturary from the St. Augustine Record
Katherine G. Gaetanos, formerly Katherine Karaphillis, age 73 of St Augustine, died November 17, 2003, at Flagler
Hospital in St. Augustine. She was born in Kalymnos, Greece, and had resided in Greece, Belgium, and Tarpon
Springs before marrying and moving to St. Augustine from Tarpon Springs in 1959.
She was a self-taught cook and worked very hard in the Kitchen of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in St.
Augustine for many years preparing food for church events. She cooked specialty dishes for Spanish Landing
Greek-American Restaurant in St. Augustine for many years. As a young woman in Belgium, she won a cooking
contest for her famous Moussaka.
Funeral services will be held 10 a.m. today at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, St. Augustine. The Rev. Father
Nikitas Theodosian, officiating. Burial will be in San Lorenzo Cemetery.
Flowers are gratefully declined, those wishing may make a contribution in her memory to Holy Trinity Greek
Orthodox Church Building Fund 7 Waldo St. St. Augustine, FL 32084.
She is survived by her husband of 44 years, George P. Gaetanos; two sons, Peter and Mikae Gaetanos, St.
Augustine; four sisters, Marie Zaere, Kalymnos, Greece, Sevaste Emmanuel, Brussels, Belgium, Irene Skillas and
Kalliope Xipolitas, both of Tarpon Springs, five grandchildren.
Craig Funeral Home, 1475 Old Dixie Hwy., St Augustine, FL, (904) 824-1672, is in charge of the arrangements.
A return to Xynides Boatyard in 1972;
Make no mistake about it, cunning and shrewd Old Uncle Harry knew hard days work and had a well muscled body.
He was strong as an ox, slightly stooped, bent and shuffling when he walked from years of excessive brutal bodily
toil.
In the fall of 1972 when Jane and I completed our journey from Superior, Wisconsin to St. Augustine I had a broken
shoulder and we needed a place to tie our boat Dursmirg for a few months while I recovered.
Would you believe there wasn’t one single marina slip in all of St. Augustine at that time and anchoring out just
wouldn’t make it for me with my injury.
Here tied two abreast on the river side of the dock are a couple of shrimp boats awaiting their turn to be
pulled up on the marine railway for paint and repairs. In this photo is Captain Robert White who you will
meet later in this volume.
This ramshackle relic of the old world opened up a strange and interesting whole new dimensional world to us.
Situated up the San Sebastian River this no-frills rag-tag cut every corner to the bone establishment was where
Jane and I would spent the next four months of our lives.
Xynides Boat Yard was located in the lowest cost neighborhood in town on the south end of Riberia Street just two
blocks from the nearest business, The Blue Goose Tavern, “Home of the Blue Goose Lovers” a black bar that filled
to overflowing then jumped and jived on weekends.
A store across the street from the Blue Goose on the river side stood in a gray weathered with age unpainted
slightly rusty tin roofed building. The single family house was built upon stacked brick footings, a sure sign that the
San Sebastian River regularly climbed over its banks. We shopped in the little neighborhood grocery store, that sold
basic survival items that included kerosene used by many of the poor folks and boaters for cooking stoves and
lamps.
Over the years frugal Old Uncle Harry had put his establishment together with whatever floated up and down the
river or happened to be left behind by some customer.
The 40 by 80 foot gray sheet metal pole-barn building was big enough to construct a full sized fishing trawler inside
and had six foot tall letters along the side and across the peaked roof that said; “XYNIDES BOAT YARD” that I
painted for tight fisted Uncle Harry in exchange for dockage, electric and all the artesian sulfur spring water we
wanted to drink.
In a corner of conservative non-smoking Old Uncle Harry’s building was Harry’s infamous office where women were
not permitted. The lecherous paradox of this was Uncle Harry’s infamous gallery of poster sized lewd pin-up girls that
overwhelmed all visitors, and Harry loved the ”shock and awe” as he swaggered around like some “Hot Ticket”
dude.
On the river side of the building were two huge sliding doors large enough for a shrimp trawler without its rigging to
pass. Leading from Uncle Harry’s building a rail track left the building and went down and into the river. The rail track
had a steel beamed roller carriage attached to a winch which was used to haul boats for “bottom jobs” and also to
launch but only on high slack tide.
Curmudgeonly old Uncle Harry and his obedient hard working son Nicky would tackle just about any type of job that
came their way. Most of their work consisted of scraping, caulking and painting wooden trawlers but often an
emergency would come along.
The number one rule of boating was that the water was supposed to be on the outside of the boat but many of the
older wooden vessels caught out in rough seas had the packing pounded out of their seams and then would have to
hastily “head for the hill” to be pulled out for repair with their pumps trying to stay ahead of the incoming flood water.
The local fire department would be called on the radio and be standing by on the dock at Uncle Harry’s boatyard
when the sinking boat pulled up and put suction pumps to work immediately. This was not an uncommon occurrence
and the procedure was almost a routine.
Harry’s rickety old docks were anything but safe, had no two boards or pilings alike and shifted and swayed under
foot but somehow miraculously never fell apart all the time we were there, though we always treaded cautiously.
Harry kept every inch of his dockage full beyond capacity because he just couldn’t bear to pass up a pennies worth
of business.
It was interesting to see just how far Old Uncle Harry would carry his frugality. Padding the bill was his specialty and
he charged dockage by the month when it was to his advantage and then go back to charging by the day in months
with 31 days so Old Uncle Harry got his little extra nick.
I can’t for the life of me imagine any insurance company that would have ever remotely consider issuing a policy on
Uncle Harry’s haphazard helter-skelter beat-down boatyard.
One memorable incident occurred when Judge Mathis brought his little yacht over to Uncle Harry’s boatyard for
repair and dockage.
Like the sly fox in the hen house, cunning old Uncle Harry had the helpless bewildered hen, Judge Mathis, right
where he wanted him and salivated at the prospect of sucking the money out of his old enemy.
Harry gleefully recounted the story of how many years before he had been hailed into court before Judge Mathis for
some minor infraction and according to Uncle Harry the Judge not only made the fine stick but slapped on a $100.00
contempt of court charge…I am sure Uncle Harry had it coming and then some.
Now Uncle Harry would have his long awaited savory and sweet revenge as he ever so slowly dragged his feet on
the repairs and then fiendishly salivating padded the bill unmercifully.
Note; the spring of 1973 the following story unfolded at Xynides Boat yard;
This is about Dr, Benson from Green Cove Springs, Florida over on the St. Johns River where he had a wife, family
and well established medical practice.
The good doctor was the very first man we met when we first set foot on the dock at the City Yacht Pier in St.
Augustine on 15 December 1972.
Dr. Benson’s daughter was going with one of the boaters anchored out in the harbor. The vessel was a traditional
old Nova Scotia sailing schooner named Jaeger. The owner of this classic schooner, Bubba (Hugo) Schill a rogue
and social misfit, went on to become one of our all time very best friends.
Dr. Benson was an eye doctor who loved sailing and had a free spirit and found the time to enjoy his classic old
wooden Crocker designed flush-decked sailboat which he tied at Uncle Harry’s boatyard.
The good Doctor died aboard his lovely traditional flush-decked sailboat that ironically had a strikingly similar
silhouette to our flush-decked Dursmirg at Xynides boatyard over on the San Sebastian River with his girlfriend on
board in the spring of 1973.
These extra-marital situations always raise eyebrows in proper little towns like Green Cove Springs but just seem to
go with the flow and be standard operating procedure for little old St. Augustine.
This was at the time when Jane and I had our vessel Dursmirg docked over at the Xynides Boat Yard and just
completed our first winter aboard our new floating home.
We will never forget the good Dr. Benson and his bringing Jane and I together with a couple of fantastic characters
that went on to cross our paths of life countless times and in numerous maritime settings over the years.
next chapter
1973 at Xynides Boatyard that
absolutely had no
resemblance to a yacht club.
Harry packed his boatyard
beyond over flowing with
rentals because there was
no competition.
absolutely had no
resemblance to a yacht club.
Harry packed his boatyard
beyond over flowing with
rentals because there was
no competition.
