Chapter 48

Chub

Mon, Oct 19, 1970

Use the Rules
Before they use you.

“It’s another tequila sunrise
Starin’ slowly ‘cross the sky, said goodbye
He was just a hired hand
Workin’ on the dreams he planned to try
The days go by

Ev’ry night when the sun goes down
Just another lonely boy in town
And she’s out runnin’ ‘round

She wasn’t just another woman
And I couldn’t keep from comin’ on
It’s been so long
Oh, and it’s a hollow feelin’ when
It comes down to dealin’ friends
It never ends

Take another shot of courage
Wonder why the right words never come
You just get numb
It’s another tequila sunrise, this old world
Still looks the same,
Another frame, mm...”

Tequila Sunrise
By Don Henley & Glenn Frey

We all had Flown in our Twin Otters, Taking Off from water at Peace & Plenty, in the Southern Exumas, to Land via Wheels on the Airstrip at Chub Cay, in the Southern Berry Islands. Chub Cay is close to Wallace Groves’ Little Whale Cay. The Berry Islands, are North of Nassau, & South of Freeport. It was a distance of about 170 Miles.

Wallace had bought Chub Cay for us. It was partially developed already, but in a haphazard way. We were going to develop it like Walker’s Cay, further North. It had a 5,000’ Runway, plus a nice Protected Marina. Chub Cay is about 1,000 Acres.

We Landed on the nice smooth Runway. The Runway was a little ways away to the North, but there was a Road going to it, from the Main area developed around the Marina. There were 109 Slips in the Marina, plus numerous Building Sites, already Platted Out.

We had carte blanche to develop, as there were few restrictions for Private Island Owners in The Bahamas in 1970. After we came up with a plan, we would then beautify the rest of the area around the Marina, as it was ugly, with sand only in many spots around the Marina.

We would eventually have 160 Homesites, divided between Conch Point, Marina Village, Bonefish Flats, Queen’s Beach & Driftwood Beach.

We were inviting a few more Partners into U-Corp.

The 1st was “Auggie” Busch, 33yo in 1970. He had lived his whole life in St Louis, MO, loving it there. He lived for Beer & Baseball.

He was bringing us the vast majority of his Families business, except for his St Louis Cardinals MLB Team.

U-Corp owned the NY Yankees, so the St Louis Cardinals & the Chicago Cubs, were not included. We felt that may be a Conflict of Interests.

We wanted Anheuser-Busch though, especially when we found out, that Auggie had just bought Coca-Cola, taking it Private! Coke would be a Subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch now.

Warren Buffett had arranged the Coke Buy for Auggie, as Warren had always been a Fan of Coke as an Investment.

One thing I asked for, was to s/o ASAP all Coke Products, to use Pure Cane Sugar again, stopping the f/u use of Corn Syrup.

That’s why I had asked Fidel to step up his Sugar Cane Production, knowing I was eventually going to Own Coke..

We had been proactive, & invited all Anheuser-Busch & Coca-Cola Bottlers & Distributors to join us on Chub Cay. All Bottlers were into Deep-Sea Fishing big time, most having more than 1 Boat. They often Hosted Customers Onboard, so they were able to Write Off the big bucks their Fishing Fleets cost.

We were asking the Coke Bottlers, as well as the Bud Distributors, to pick out a Building Site or 2, then we’ll help them Design their Dream Fishing Compound, complete with a Dock. They were free to use a couple Slips in the Marina too.

While I had their attention, I asked all Coca-Cola Bottlers, to s/o to Fidel’s Pure Cane Sugar ASAP.

Any Corn Growers who bitched about us s/o to Pure Cane Sugar, can fuk off. How about they Grow the same amount as before, but we’ll just send the excess to China & Mexico & Cuba. Easy-Peasy. There was still hungry people in China, some even starving.

There were 10 Major Coca-Cola Bottlers in the USA, so they had been invited. We also invited the 10 Largest Distributors of Anheuser-Busch Beer. There were too many Anheuser-Busch Distributors to have Building Sites for each one, but all would be invited for a Weekend.

I knew Pepin Distributing, Tampa, FL was run by Art Pepin, getting his start in 1960. I knew he had a nice Family Fishing Compound, with about 10 Boat Slips. That was in St Pete Beach, FL. It was just South of the Don CeSar Hotel. I had seen it as Ralf, loving it, wishing I was a Pepin. Art Pepin was with us on Chub Cay, a super nice guy.

I could see us Hosting a Bud vs Coke Fishing Tournament. Also separate Tournaments between the 10 Coke Bottlers, as well as between the Bud Distributors. These guys were all super driven in their Markets, so now they could be top dog in the US too.

The Degenhardt Family, had taken Control of Carlsberg Bier, that had been 1st Brewed in 1847, in Copenhagen. Aged to perfection. It was being added to the mix.

Carlsberg Bier, would now come under Anheuser-Busch’s Control. Basically, we wouldn’t change anything, except for adding Carlsberg to Anheuser-Busch’s Marketing, Distribution, Funding, etc. Other than that, Carlsberg Bier’s Management would remain autonomous.

I had already mended fences with Auggie Busch, regarding Curt Flood. Auggie had Seen The Light about Free-Agency, & Auggie & Curt were friends again now. Curt was with us on Chub Cay, a guest of Auggie.

I asked Curt if he wanted to go back to his old Team, the St Louis Cardinals, now that he & Auggie were cool again?

Curt said he’d love that, so Auggie gave $1 to Curt to give to me, to Transfer Curt’s new Contract of $200,000.

Curt & Auggie, were Fishing together daily from Chub Cay. All was good again. Auggie had a Fleet of 6 Fishing Boats, large & small. He had brought them all to now be Based out of Chub Cay.

We were resurrecting the old Crown Colony Club, Founded in 1960. It had closed recently, but we were going to embrace its History. Wallace had already begun Construction on a new 20,000 Sq Ft Clubhouse. We saw the Designs, & it would be Simple, but Classy, with mucho Bougainvillea framing it.

Wallace had already erected a cool Marlin Statue, Chub Cay Blue.

Chub Cay was 4,350 Miles from London, 912 Miles to Bermuda, 170 Miles to George Town, Great Exuma, 130 Miles from Miami, 125 from Ft Lauderdale, 75 to Bimini, 76 to Freeport & 32 Miles to Nassau.

The Berry Island Chain was just East of a Deep Ocean Trench, called Tongue of the Ocean. When the Winds were out of the SE, it forced many Baitfish into The Pocket. This attracted Game Fish. Chub Cay is known as the Billfish Capitol of The Bahamas.

Chub Cay would Host Fishermen, going for Bone Fish, Deep Sea Fish, as well as Bottom Fish. Grouper, Yellow Tail Tuna, Snapper, Wahoo & King Mackerel.

There were Chickens & Roosters on Chub Cay, as well as Peacocks. The 1st Settler released many Bird Species. The Chickens & Peacocks ran wild.

There was a small 11 Room Hotel. The 109 Slip Marina, as well as over 30 Home Sites around the Marina. We would ring the Roads with Homes too, especially if on the Water. We were developing Chub Town. The Marina had been Dredged to a Depth of 12’, so most Boats could use it. As I’ve said, we’ll eventually build 160 Homes on Chub Cay, but the majority of Chub Cay would remain undeveloped.

We were only developing the South 1/2 of Chub Cay, leaving the North 1/2 is its natural state. We did that with Highbourne Cay too, as well as Knapp Island, BC, Canada.

We would offer all types of Fishing, Cruising, Diving, Snorkeling, Biking, Beach Volleyball, Swimming, Fußball, Hearts, etc.

All 5 Caterpillar Generators that made the Electricity for Chub Cay, had been s/o to Propane. As at Highbourne Cay, we would continue to develop Wind, Wave & Solar Generators. We Produced 10MW of Power on Chub Cay. It was in a Loop System, so if any part failed, the rest took up for it.

We would continue to make all Drinking Water via Desalination Units. We also had Rain Cisterns, plus Brackish Well-water for flushing our Toilets, as well as Irrigation needs. We could make as much as 100,000 gallons a day, & Store 600,000 Gallons in Underground Tanks.

All Waste Water, would be Treated & used for Irrigation. There was a 150 Gallon Tank for that.

All Solid Waste would be Processed on Chub Cay, Burned with Propane, the Ash then used as Fertilizer. It worked pretty good, although there was a smell at times. We would work on better Scrubbers. It was Environmentally Safe though, with no danger of Run-Off getting into the Ocean. We were always conscious of Runoff, as that can kill Coral, etc.

There were 50 Employees who also shared Chub Cay with us. 30 Had been there most of their lives. We were going to improve their Living Conditions, but Wallace had already done that. All were excited about the new Owners.

We also Paid to have a Custom & Immigration Officer live on Chub Cay Full-Time, so anyone could get their Passport Stamped. Lynden chose a pal of his who was close to Retirement. Eric Plesenton, 61yo, with his wife, Effie, 59yo fit right in.

We were also starting our own In-house Advertising & PR Agency. I knew that Look Magazine would cease Publishing in 1971, so I wanted to takeover their old NYC HQ Building, the Look Building, across from St Patrick’s Cathedral, at 50th St & Madison Ave. I thought Look Ads would work & be memorable.

I loved that it was located on Madison Ave, as in Mad Men. Those who worked in the Advertising Game, & worked on Madison Ave, proudly called themselves, Mad Men. Madison & Ad became Mad.

Since we now Owned Bud & Coke, I wanted to keep as much of the Millions both Companies spent each year on Ads. Why not keep more for us. If we had our own Agency, I knew it would be a Winner. I did know some great Ads that would come out in the coming years, for Coke & Bud.