The Key West Citizen Newspaper, October 15, 1952, Page 3

Claims First Outboard Run To Cuba Oe: length isn’t given. I operated the smallest boat to clear out of the | United States for ‘a foreign port | that spring day over five years ago. It cest me nearly $1,000 of my own money. I shipped the boat back on the SS. Florida because I had trouble on the way over, and after I got there too. I arrived in | the middle of a revolution or upris- jing of some sort and they threw | | me in jail at first. They didn’t be- | lieve that I had made the trip in; the little boat.” | The trouble on the voyage to Cuba occured when the fragile craft struck a shark and the im- “pact sheared a pin. “The boat ‘broke down for three hours,” he jTecalled. “I secured the wheel and had to go overboard about 15 times to fix it underwater. I thought I wasn’t going to make it for awhile and dropped a message overboard in a bottle just in case. That’s why it took me from 12:25 p. m. until 9:30 p. m. that night to arrive. And I didn’t miss the harbor either.” Allyn landed 21 miles south of Havana. Ikerd pointed out that his little skiff, shown in the pictures which appeared in Miami and Havana pa- pers, had only one foot freeboard above the water, that he carried only 39 gallons of gas, three gallons of water and two cartons of choco- late bars. His motor was 33 h. p. He said he was unsponsored and tried it just for adventure. He was ; the bridgetender at Islamorada at : the time, a position his wife now holds, “I still have the Sea Rover III, | | he said. She is made of one quarter Citizen Staff Photo CAPT. BOB IKERD of Islamorada, Fla., says that he was the first man to skim the 90 odd miles from Key West to Havana, Cuba, in an outboard motor. His Sea Rover III, a 14 ft. 7 in. skiff with a single outboard motor and Ikerd as the lone lobo of the seas made the trip, one-way, April 22, 1947. It took him slightly over nine hours. Rube Allyn, outdoor editor of the St. Petersburg Times recently made the round trip with two passengers en route to Cuba, and by himself on the voyage back to Key West. Keys Skipper Claims Havana Outboard Mark CAPTAIN BOB IKERD *——— OF ISLAMORADA SAYS HE MADE HAVANA RUN ALONE, APR. °47 By DOROTHY RAYMER Outspoken about outboard motor boat records, Capt. Bob Ikerd of Islamorada strotie into the Citizen office this week with a thick scrap- book and evidence that he had es- tablished the first one-way, one- man run in a small open boat from Roberts Office Supplies & Equipment 126 Duval Street Phone 250 Our Christmas Card Sample Books will be on display OCTOBER ISTH Buy Your Cards Early WE IMPRINT We rent typewriters for Civil Ser- vice Examinations Free Delivery CLOSED ALL DAY EVERY SATURDAY Dr. J. A. Valdes |; Specializing In | Eye Examination and Visual Training COMPLETE SERVICE ON DUPLICATION of LENSES 29 YEARS EXPERIENCE IN THIS COMMUNITY We Use Bausch and Lomb Products Exclusively ‘4 Hour Service On Any Bye Glass Prescription OPPICE HOURS: 9 te 12 A. M. 2005 P.M. ADDRESS: 419 Duval St. Aaress from Beachcomber, One Flight Up TELEPHONE: Key West to Havana back in April, 1947, Clear blue eyes flashing like a short on a high tension wire, Capt. Bob, who has lived for the past de- cade at Islamorada, said that he, not Rube Allyn, out-door editor of the St. Petersberg Times, was the first lone adventurer to navigate the 90 miles stretch of open sea be- tween Key West and Havana, Cuba. He admitted that he did not make the return trip, so that Allyn still had some sort of record set, but that he laid claim to being the ini- tial outboard motor enthusiast to try the dangerous venture. “I’m just a farm boy from In- diana,” he said, “‘but I know a thing or two (you bet your life he do) about outboard motor boats. Before I came to, Islamorada I was Commodore of the Miami Outboard Motor Club and I've been a booster for outboards for years.” Turning the pages of his scrap- book, Ikerd displayed several stor- ies and pictures which ought to es- tablish his claim. ‘‘The only reason why the Cuban customs and the customs officers here haven't the official record that I made the trip in a less than 15 foot outboard boat, is because they didn’t put down the size on the manifest. I just came from the Customs office here and I am registered as clearing Key | West on April 22, all right in the | Sea Rover Ill, Only the type and WHATEVER YOUR NEEDS IN THE LINE OF Children’s TOYS COME TO THE TROPICAL TRADER 718 Duval St. Phone 1000 MEADQUARTERS FOR THE THINGS YOU NEED WHEN YOU BUILD OR REPAIR IN KEY WEST @ Upson Board @ Celotex Board @ Sheet Rock @ Enameled Tile @ Masonite Presswood @ Gold Bond Board @ Asbestos Wall Board @ Johns Manville Products BPS (Patterson-Sargent) Paints And Anything Else You Need for Your Building Requirements STRUNK LUMBER YARD PHONE 816 128 SIMONTON ST. inch weld wood. a commerical fisherman and painter but outboard motoring is my hobby.” There’s another record of his trip if anyone wants to check with the Chiefs of Police in Havana and Key West. Seized by customs and offi- cials whe he arrived during a rum- pus in Havana complete with a tel- ephone stri he had difficulty con- vineing officials that he had had actual clearance from Porter Dock in Key West. “Finally, the Chief of Police got through to Key West and found that what I told him was true. Then they carried me on their shoulders half a mile and fixed up a bed for me on a vessel in the harbor. Only I didn’t get to-sleep all night be- cause the policemen kept coming out to have their pictures taken with me in may boat. There must have been 50 of them,” Ikerd said, and showed some pictures of his fans. He also said that Ernest Hemingway had come to the har- bor and waited around for several hours, then gave up and went home. The Citizen carried a story of Capt. Ikerd’s saga back in 1947, AP Sport-Scribe Will Be Honored CHICAGO #® — Sports figures from many parts of the country were in town today to honor Chas, Dunkley, retiring after more than 41 years of covering sports for the Associated Press. A special “Dunkley testimonial dinner” was awaiting the widely known newspaperman whose copy, often anonymous, probably has been read by more Americans than that of any other living sports- writer. More than 300 sports personali- ties and friends are expected to attend the Sherman Hotel fete to- night. A Dunkley, now 65, joined the AP Jan. 1, 1911, and was appointed Central Division sports editor in 1916, Greenwich time was set as standard for ocean navigation at a 1912 meeting in St. Petersburg. Thirty-Five Years Of Serrtee SHEROD W. NEWLAN of 1403 Pine street completed 35 years of service with the Southern Bell Telephone Telegraph Com- pany on October ‘Ist. Mr. Newlan is Chief Testboardman for the Long Lines Department of that company. Key Wester Completes 35 Years Of Service With Telephone Co. Sherod W. Newlan, 56, Chief Test- %. boardman for the Long Lines De- partment of the American Tele- phone and Telegraph Company here, completed 35 years service with the Company on GQctober 1. Newlan began his career at Key West on October 1, 1917 as a Morse Operator. He had brief periods of service with the company at Jack- sonville, West Palm Beach and Miami before being appointed to his present job here in 1925. He lives with his wife and two of his three children at 1403 Pine street. At Key West, Newlan has the res- ponsibility of keeping the telephone and telegraph circuits carried by the Key West-Havana submarine cable in service at all times. It is not practicable to work telephone circuits. in submarine cables over any considerable distance; thus the Key West-Havana telephone crireuts are unique in that they are the longest telephone circuits in the world to be operated in submarine cable, In addition to his office responsi- bilities, Newlan is an amateur radio enthusiast. A native of Live Oak, Fla. New- lan has nine more years to go be- fore retirement. An anniversary dinner was given to him at Raul’s Friday night by several of his co- workers from Miami and Jackson- ville, QUICK-CHANGE WEATHER REPORT KAPUSKASING, Canada (AP) —The official report from meteor- ologist W. A. Craigie on August ther here noted the cold. point was 33 degrees and the high point | was only two days later—89 de- grees. 3% MORE for YOU MONEY theo in smait size fer only ¢ — 4 LIMITED TIME OFFER! Your budget benefits by Noxzems’s money-saving MAKE THet0 Medicated Lyco-bo-rol does all this and more. It relieves quick- ly fiery Prickly heat and diaper rash. Minor skin irritations fade away. Used by Doctors and hospitals successfully for over 20 years. Money back if not completely satisfied. At all drug- gists. A Great General Motors Vatue! |PLAN IS OK?’ MANILA (AP) —President El- pidio Quirino has approved a one | million dollar loan to finance a land | distribution program on Mindan- | ao—second largest and least de- | veloped major island of the Phil- ippines. Penguins often will brood a small rock or piece of ice, mistaking it for an egg. i | LAND DISTRIBUTION Wednesday, October 15, 1952 THE KEY WEST CITIZEN Page 3' THREE HOTELS IN MIAMI at POPULAR PRICES eo eee in the Heart of the City “RATES WRITE or WIRE REASONABLE for RESERVATIONS with BATH and TELEPHONE Ritz Pershing Miller Hotel Hotel Hotel Flagler St. 226 N.E. Ist Ave. 229 N.E. Ist Ave, * 02 Rooms 100 Rooms 80 Elevator Rooms Heated Elevator 3 BLOCKS FROM UNION BUS STATION pret SALE MODERN 7-PIECE Bedroom Suite Mattress, 909 Fleming St. ELEGANCE ON A BUDGET 159° This beautiful suite consists of Bed, Chest of Drawers, Vanity with Mirror, Night Table, Bench, Box Springs and In Fawn Print Finish, Perfect for Tropical Homes TWO DAYS ONLY -- THURSDAY and FRIDAY mE MAXWELL CO., we Phone 682 to give yourself the joy of . 2s Pontise. coe ‘SC ipeiomal os estrs stat, COR CAROLINE ST. and TELEGRAPH LANE