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President of the Pacific Ocean
SPIKE AFRICA
Dated 1965, Sausalito, CA.
Original gelatin-silver photograph from
the archives of the
Saltwater People Historical Society© |
During the 1960s, if a meek, polyester-clad lady tourist had ever ventured into the no-name bar, chances are she would have received a courtly greeting from Spike Africa. President of the Pacific Ocean. He would have drawn her into his circle of friends, artists, writers, boat workers, and other locals and entertained her so memorably that it would have been the high point of her vacation. Spike was like that––kind, gregarious, and very entertaining. The no name was his office and his theatre. The stories he told were drawn from his many lifetimes of personal experiences, stories that for all their seeming spontaneity were never yarns, they were as well-formed and told as those of the best short story writers. He had jokes and spiels, too, told with a versatile voice, sentences punctuated by a stream of tobacco juice. There was no doubting his authenticity as a man of the sea with his handsome, weathered, bearded face, and his strong craftsman's hands. Born on an Ohio farm, Spike's lifetime of adventure began as a teenager when he sailed on one of the last of the coastal lumber schooners, the five-masted K.V. KRUSE.
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K. V. KRUSE© |
One Portland to Peru trip took 108 days when they were becalmed for three weeks. The entire crew was weakened by scurvy before they finally made port. His other careers included salmon fishing in Alaska and working in lumber camps; he was a stevedore, cook, yacht club manager, model, actor, and yacht skipper. During WWII he served as a naval officer in charge of Seabees, later, he took part in atomic bomb testing on Bikini atoll; he was an investigator for the Treasury Department, too.
In 1959 Spike served as a mate on the schooner WANDERER. During this time Sterling Hayden took his children to Tahiti against court orders, a much-publicized voyage. Spike's wife Red was part of the crew as were their children, Kit, Dana, and Dede–– just tots, then. They settled in Sausalito when the trip was over and Spike earned his living on, alas, a power boat. It was then he began to preside at the no-name bar.
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Spike Africa
with daughters Dana and Dede
Sausalito, CA.
Dated December 1965
Original photo from the archives of the
Saltwater People Historical Society© |
The title, President of the Pacific Ocean, was invented by Spike's brother, who used to send him letters festooned with seals, ribbons, and stamps. But then why not be president? "Nobody was taking care of the ocean," Spike explained. "I've been working on banning oil tankers; I'm going to bring back the whales and get this thing right." He put himself in charge of sea serpents, mermaids, tides, and currents. "If you want to make a good trip to sea, you've got to see me to get a permit." His permits were signed with flourishes that incorporated an anchor and a whale. After twelve years of holding court at the no-name it was regretfully time for Spike and Red to move on to the house Red had inherited on Lake Washington, near Seattle. For Sausalito, their move was an irreplaceable loss.
But before going, there was a send-off that was talked of for years–– a surprise going-away memorial wake at the no name that was such a noisy affair it drowned out the sound of a bomb blast that ripped open the front doors of Bank of America just across the street.
"The move to Washington," Spike wrote, "sometimes I get lonesome around here, then I go to the supermarket and look at all the people. That's my big thrill of the work." He didn't have quite as ready an audience as at the no-name, but he was by no means out of circulation. Spike went to work for the Ancient Mariner/ Rusty Pelican restaurant chain, then in the process of expansion. He was with the advance team, cooking for the work crew, planning p.r., and decorating the restaurants with his nautical know work. At one opening he shocked the "blue-haired ladies," as he like to call them, by cutting the ceremonial first slice of French bread with his chain saw and continuing right on through the table.
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Knots on whiskey bottles
crafted by Spike Africa.
Private collection.
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His quiet times at home were occupied with his fancy knot work, macrame––not the kind that plants hang from but the fine sailors' art of making belts and covering bottles. His was quite an art; he and his bottles were recently pictured in a Smithsonian book discussing maritime arts. After a life full of laughter and adventure, Phillip Marion "Spike" Africa died after a brief illness at home with his family near.
Liz Robinson
Sausalito, 1984.
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