South Yemen

1985 -- We went through this country just after they had a civil war, so everything was still a bit shaky. South Yemen as a country does not exist today. It has merged with what was then North Yemen, and is now the one country: Yemen. But at the time, it was South Yemen ….

As I said, it was after their civil war, and we found shells around. One yacht there had a huge hole in the side of it, and The Wise Cat was abandoned. We went over to the yacht and looked around—it was deserted, as was The Wise Cat. Before too long, the owners of the shelled yacht came back, and they took stuff off of it. We got to have some of their gear, as they were leaving the yacht there for some time and wanted valuables off it before the yacht was looted. The people had gotten away in the midst of the fighting by jumping onto a ship that was leaving—it was a last minute escape, literally.

From the other yacht I got what would become my favourite cushion. I still have it. We again became friendly with the locals, but it wasn't like we had been with other locals—it was more an acquainting get-to-know-each-other. We left without seeing those from The Wise Cat, though we were to learn later that they were fine.