Birth of the White Whale

BIRTH OF THE WHITE WHALE
Another seafaring true-life adventure of CAPT. DAVID MICHAELS,
with narrative from fellow crewmembers, CAPTAINS BILLY KORAN AND MARTIN PILSNER.

The White Whale was conceived at the Miami boat show in 2005 by William Koran ,also known as Capt. Black by his friends at home in Port St. Joe, and the Powercat Boat Builders of Cape Town South Africa. Times were good as Billy had managed to accumulate some cash and he decided to fulfill his life ling desire to own a fine Yacht. Billy has owned Blacks Island in Port St Joe Bay for the past 35 years and in 2005 he started construction on a multi unit/resort development for the island. If all went well he would be out of the island in 2 or 3 years and sail away with he and his long time companion Janna. Billy was in no hurry for the boat so he got a little extra discount as the builder would work Billy's boat into the production line as he had time. Stateside delivery was included in the original Purchase price. The down payment was made and the seed was started.

Several months went by and Billy soon received the good and bad news. The good news was the boat hull had been constructed and was under way.. the bad news was the builder had filled Bankruptcy and had taken all the company funds. Billy immediately turned to his close friend and personal attorney, Charles Costin, for advise. Billy wanted to take Charles to Cape town and get the boat but when Charles wife found out that the judicial system in SA still had the British legal traditions, wearing a wig in court, she adamantly refused to let Charles appear in public with a long white wig. So Billy had to fly to SA and hire an attorney, which was difficult for Billy because in his own words "they are all a bunch of crooks" of course except for Charles. The attorney was successful and they were able to move the boat out of one factory and into the hands of another SA boat builder who had agreed to finish construction on the White Whale. Over the next two years Billy has made several trips to SA and spent thousands of dollars on equipment and construction only to realize in 2008 that the new boat builder had been taking a lot of short cuts and not paying the local SA boat suppliers. In his search for a new local boat builders he became friends with a local business man who operates one of the leading shark encounter tour companies in the world. Divers come from all over the world to swim with the sharks. His new friend, Theunis, agreed to become the project Mgr and help complete the boat. The boat had been transported to the water and was moored in Gordon's Bay about 35 miles east of Cape town South Africa. After a month long visit to the boat in the fall of 2009 the boat was taking shape and a departure/completion date was set. It was decided by Billy that the transportation cost of 60$ was way too much and he could drive the boat to America for a lot less.

I am a licensed coast guard skipper and have know Billy since the mid 70s. We have sailed together on a number of journeys over the years but had been out of touch. I happened to meet him in mid December at the local West Marine store in Panama city, Fl. He indicated that he had was thinking of calling me and asked me if I would like to help bring the boat back from SA. I thought for about 10 seconds and said "SIGN ME UP"

Prepared by well know Atlanta author, historian and maritime traveler.. Henry A Hollensbe
contact info .. hollensbe@windstream.net

Here is a map of the Southwestern tip of South Africa