One of the worsts sounds you will ever hear, is the sound of swimming, when it stops.

 Jan Berkey joined my in St Martin, for a leasurely sail down the islands. She was a newbie and wanted to see it, and do it, all the first day. Having spent much of her life raising kids and plants, especially flowers, she was quite familiar with them. She did not buy my story that all green leafy things, regardless of height, that have colorful things hanging from the branches, are call Geraniums. I tried to teach her but she was quite resistant and always wanted to call them names like Bouganvillia, Orchids, Flamboyant and so many other weird terms.

 We visited St Barths, Statia, St Kitts and Nevis before moving on to Montserrat, where we were anchored right next to Oleander, with Prince Charles and Camilla on board and watched while they enjoying the beach.

 Slowly we moved along the island chain before going east to Antigua, where we enjoyed the festivities of Classic Week. Lots of fun, parties, friends and of course the racing. Those classics are wonderful and Jan took a real interest in what was going on.

 Jan had always dreamed of being a reporter or travel writer, so at every opportunity, she would interview people to learn their take on life, while taking endless pictures of the exotic places she was seeing.

 We did Guadeloupe, the Saints and on to Dominica, where Jan found the rain forests breathtaking, the water falls refreshing and the people very friendly.

 Jan seemed very happy to be meeting the other cruisers along the way and would ask endless questions. She wanted to know it all, and right now. Everyone was happy to answer her questions and to help guide her along on her adventure into discovery.

 When we arrived at Martinique, I had another crew joining us. Pat arrived on Wednesday 21 May and we moved the boat to Fort de France. By Friday 23 May, Jan was dead.

 We had spent much of Friday in Fort de France, checking out the stores, finding Internet, getting some provisions and just looking around. Jan discovered when she checked her bank that her income tax refund had arrived and she was quite pleased. We all went back to the boat for lunch and Jan asked if I would take her back to shore for the afternoon. We arranged to meet her on the dock later.

 We all had dinner together, then watched a movie. Jan had seen it before so went out on the bow to watch the moon come up. After the movie I went to the bow and talked with her for a few minutes. She mentioned that she wanted to go swimming, which I replied that she had been drinking and swimming would not be a good idea. She simply replied that she is a good swimmer, which she had proven several times.

 When I went back to the cockpit, a splash could be heard. Jan soon swam to the stern and was laughing and splashing around. She did a few laps around the boat, then began swimming out and back in several different directions. When she came back to the boat I suggested that she has had enough fun and should come back onboard. She merely stated that she would come back when she was ready. It was during the next swim away from the boat that the sound of swimming stopped.

 I grabbed the large spotlight and looked in the direction of the last sounds. Then jumped into the dinghy to go looking. After an hour of making many ever increasing circles I returned to the boat and called the French Coast Guard, who took the information, asked several questions and said stand by.

 When they had not called back a couple hours later, we went to bed, with a plan to be up at sunrise to check the area again and when nothing was found, I called the Coast Guard again. They took the same information and gave me directions to the police station and told me to go there to make a report.

 The French police were thorough and efficient, they interviewed Pat and I numerous times, together and separately. Divers searched the area around the boat and nothing was found, but Jan's body was seen floating, by a French Army helicopter, and she was recovered by an Army boat on Saturday afternoon.

 This began a week of lots of questions, our passports and the ships papers were seized. I contacted the person Jan had written in her passport and he notified the family. The US Embassy became involved and everyone was very professional in their efforts.

 After an autopsy was performed it was determined that the cause of death was accidental drowning. At that time our passports and the ships papers were returned.

 Take a lesson here, when having someone on board, get contact information, even for someone you know, and strongly discourage any swimming after drinking.