Crossing the Bar
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Dan Boney, Neuse River sailor, sometime sailing partner and always friend, passed away early May 2025. Here is one way I remember him.
Captain Boney's Blend
This incident occurred long ago on a road trip through low country South Carolina.
Running low on supplies, I stopped in a little country store. I asked the clerk where I could find instant coffee and he jerked his thumb over his shoulder toward the back of the store, never looking up from his device.
On an almost empty shelf I found an opened, half-filled jar of instant coffee. I picked it up and, with a shock, recognized a picture of Dan on the label. Above the picture was this legend: "Captain Boney's Gourmet Instant Coffee Blend". Additional verbiage at the bottom of the label stated "I go to great lengths to track down the finest discount instant coffees to use in my special blend, so sailors everywhere can experience this delicious, nutritious drink". There was an asterisk beside the word "nutritious", and below, the words "see back label".
Marveling at this, I turned the jar in my hand to find a picture of Mike Doster on the back, and the following inscription: "Every sailor knows the importance of staying hydrated. The three main hydration groups are juicy, rare-cooked venison, alcohol, and instant coffee. Just two cups of Captain Boney's Gourmet Instant Coffee Blend provide 100% of the daily suggested allowance of instant coffee. Signed, Dr. Doster".
I carried the coffee and a few other purchases to the cash register, paid the bored cashier for them and bagged them myself. Back aboard the boat, I put a kettle of water on to boil and reached into the grocery bag for the coffee jar. It was gone, but I knew it had been there before.
Text and Photograph by Paul Clayton.
Copyright © 2025 Paul M. Clayton