Back                                                                                                                                                 Nov. 1005

Marooned  (The Rosemary)

by Al Grove

We came to find the gold Doubloon, the silver pieces of eight

We thought that Spanish treasure was the key to heaven's gate.

We had gone through the Spanish archives,

we were sure that we were right.

and when we looked into the water, we saw a lovely sight.

There on the bottom, the San Jose in all her glory be

lying broken, on her side, at the bottom of the sea.

When the Rosemary was safely moored and on her anchor rode,

we swam down to the bottom and found the "Mother load".

There in the sand lay the gold doubloon, the silver pieces of eight.

but it seems that being rich and famous wasn't in our fate.

For on the horizon we saw storm clouds, piled way up high,

dark and angry storm clouds, reaching way up in the sky,

and all day long we watched that storm, building out at sea.

it wasn't long before the wind was bearing down on me.

The driving wind and stinging rain was all that I could feel,

we only had a storm jib up and I was at the wheel.

When suddenly a guest of wind, hit us with a blast,

and I heard a sound I dreaded, the cracking of our mast.

It wasn't long there after that the anchor lines broke free,

after that the Rosemary, just floundered in the sea.

All of a sudden a coral reef came into my sight,

there wasn't a damn thing I could do, though I tried with all my might.

Ron and Dick and all the guys were gathered on the deck

it wasn't long till the Rosemary would be another wreck.

The coral reef tore a large hole in the bottom of my boat,

I knew at once my Rosemary could no longer float.

I loved a girl, I love her still and for her I named my boat

but my Rosemary like our love affair would no longer float

The wind was blowing the storm jib, it hit me like a whip

and when I knew we were going down I yelled "Abandon ship!"

All the guys were in the water, at the mercy of the sea

I stayed on board, I couldn't leave. It was Rosemary and me.

The wind drove me and the Rosemary closer to the shore,

I longed to see the girl I loved, My Rosemary, just once more.

That's when my boat, the Rosemary, sank beneath a wave.

She lies there still, at the bottom of the sea, in her watery grave.

Yes the Rosemary and the San Jose are laying side by side

a monument on the ocean floor to all the men who died.

Besides the Spanish sailors there are seven friends of mine.

I remember the night before we left we lifted a glass of wine

We lifted a glass, we lifted it high and then we drank a toast

we drank it to the Rosemary and the life that we loved most.

We were looking forward to our adventure and to our time at sea,

we might find Spanish Treasure, we were happy as can be.

All my friends are dead now, the sea she took their life

and I'll never see Rosemary again, she'll never be my wife.

I was thrown into the water, there was flotsam all around,

if it hadn't of been for the broken mast, I know I would have drowned.

For in the darkness I found that mast and hung on for dear life.

I started hallucinating, I dreamt of home, I dreamt of Rosemary as my wife.

The night was black, I couldn't see, I thought land was out of reach.

then all of a sudden a wave lifted me and dumped me on this beach.

All that happened, over thirty years ago, by now I should be dead

but I keep on living in torment with Rosemary in my head

Now as I sit on this lonely beach, my eyes are filled with tears.

I haven't seen Rosemary in over thirty years.

I wanted gold, I wanted wealth, I thought it would be grand

I guess someday they'll bury me on this beach beneath the sand.

Maybe after I'm dead and buried, I'll live another life

maybe I'll find Rosemary and take her for my wife.