From Mart Falarski, longtime Matthew Turner volunteer and supporter.
It was late 1972 or early 1973, Jock Walker and Yuriko Doi had just gotten married in Acapulco and his boat partner had returned to the Bay Area to get married. So the three of us, the newlyweds and I were sailing from Acapulco to the Galápagos Islands on a Rhodes designed 42′ wood slope. I had been assigned permanent night watch, for no specific reason. We were probably 100-150 miles south and west of Acapulco when we hit the doldrums. Soon after, the 2 cylinder Volvo diesel we installed during the boats retrofit decided it didn’t need oil pressure. Jock and I tried to fix the motor for several hot oily days but it would not hold oil pressure. So we were working our way slowly south to Costa Rica and any port we could find. The days were lazy and the winds were light and we were ghosting along so we took to playing cards in the cockpit. We only had one deck of cards and when a gust of air blew the 8 of spades overboard, I asked Jock if he would sail back to get me and I jumped overboard to save the 8 of spades. It seemed like the boat sailed off for quite awhile before it turned around and came back. It gave me time to reflect on my hasty decision to save the 8 of spades in water slightly over my head!
