Archie's First Yacht

When Archie got back home to DC it took a little time to muster him out of the Navy, so the Navy had Archie guarding the USS Sequoia. Harry Truman’s (among other Chief Executive's) yacht. Archie was armed with a 1911, but he had no magazine for the pistol. On purpose, apparently. Good thing, too, as Archie spent a bit of time sneaking the President’s booze. Archie was always a small boat man, and this was a thrill for him. He volunteered for PT boats, but got into a little trouble before they sent him out, and the Navy stuck him on a Victory ship delivering Marines. He went on to own 3 cabin cruisers in his life. He sank 3 boats, but only one was his. That one off of Thomas Point Lighthouse. Long story.

His final boat was a 42' Chris Crafter Commodore. Pre-fiberglass.

The Heurich brewery, maker of Senate beer, was also down there near where Archie guarded. Where the Kennedy Center is today. He managed to sneak into there, too, giving him the opportunity to tamper with the valves, spraying his buddy with a firehose of beer.

I'm glad I wasn't a drinker of Senate beer back in the 40's. Not with Archie on the loose. Such shenannigans. 10 years later, the brewery was closed. It lost it's reputation for quality. I hope it wasn't one bad batch in 1945...

Not much gun content here, is there? Well Archie isn't a gun nut. His game was archery and he was darn good at it. He showed me some of his targets. A few dozen holes in a tuna can size circle shot at 10 yards or so. Maybe one or two 'flyers' a quarter inch outside the circle. I MIGHT be able to perform as well with a pistol at a similar range, but it would have to be the .22 shot single action. But Archie shot a 20,000 more arrows than I have shot bullets, and could practice every day. He thinks modern archers are wusses with their compound bows and their trigger releases. But Archie is crotchety that way. He once scored a 507 out of 560 in competition. Then quit to work on his boat. He's looking forward to the TopShot longbow episode...