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Twelve storms, including the outer fringes of Hurricane Floyd. Unique encounters. And 6,000 miles. 

That’s what Jim and Gene Finley came face-to-face with after they set out from Port Isabel sometime in October 1986, and set sail on a journey that would take more than a year to complete. 

The McAllen couple weren’t much on city life; the self-proclaimed loners told The Monitor that their place was where it’s quiet. In fact, instead of a brightly lit city, the Finleys would rather choose any deserted cove or hidden bayou. 

And although the pair would undertake such a behemoth of a voyage, the Finleys didn’t even have sailing experience until they took various courses with the U.S. Power Squadron of the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

After taking the courses, they purchased a 14-foot practice sailboat that the Finleys’ would nearly lose when a storm in Falcon Lake washed them up on a small island near the Los Lobos peninsula. 

But when they took off from Port Isabel, the Finleys sailed in “The Illogical” — a 21-foot sailboat they purchased and equipped for about $12,000 (this would be a little over $33,500 in today’s figures, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI inflation calculator).

During their journey, the Finleys would befriend various people across the country such as commercial fishermen, a Cajun person who’d let them dock at his hideaway in Louisiana, and a restaurant owner in Florida who would treat them to a free meal because Jim Finley was “the only man he had ever met who was uglier than he was!”

The couple would also go on to have a scare as well when “sinister looking gun-toting men” approached their boat and announced they were going to come aboard. 

Turns out, the men were inspectors with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and after apologizing for the unintentional scare, one of the men told the Finleys the reason they weren’t wearing their uniform was because “It spoils the element of surprise.”

Ultimately, though, the Finleys said they became best friends with the U.S. Coast Guard, who logged the couple into their computer and kept track of them throughout the entire voyage. They would eventually invite the Finleys to spend Christmas with them at the station, where they were allowed to call their children to wish them a merry Christmas. 

Although it’s not known when exactly the Finleys finished their 6,000-mile voyage, their story appeared in The Monitor’s Feb. 7, 1988 edition, where they provided more insight into what occurred during their travels.

Adventurous couple ends 6,000-mile voyage

From Gulf to east coast

By Arturo N. Longoria | The Monitor (Feb. 7, 1988)

She’s the great temptress — a mistress calling seductively to those with adventurous hearts and wandering spirits.

One moment faithful, the next sinister, she’s been known to take life as easily as she gives it. 

But there are few who venture into the sea and fewer still who are true adventurers, though many lay claim to the title. The test is simple: you’re no adventurer if you wonder why you did it. 

However, for Jim and Gene Finley of McAllen it was in the end more than just an adventure.

Sailing in a 21-foot sailboat purchased and equipped for about $12,000, they set out from Port Isabel in October, 1986, on a journey that would eventually take more than a year to complete and would cover some 6,000 miles. 

The Finleys sailed along the Gulf Coast around Florida and up the eastern seaboard to Hartford, Conn. Then they turned around and sailed back. 

“I wouldn’t have attempted it in just any boat,” said Finley. “The Illogical is a very seaworthy craft.” 

There were many moments of inner peace that the couple finds hard to describe — sailing into hidden coves and setting anchor amidst sprawling trees that arched quietly over their bow as the sun set in distant places they had left far behind. 

There also were times when they reached the great abyss and stared into its depths, not knowing if they would survive the storms that tossed their craft about like a toy. 

In all, Finley figures that they battled about 12 storms, one of them the outer fringes of Hurricane Floyd. 

“I remember along the North Carolina, near Cape Hatteras, where we were hit by a very violent storm. We almost lost the boat,” said Finley.

Mrs. Finley interjected: “We entered the Neuss River, along Delaware Bay. It’s a very big river, about five miles wide. The storm was terrible. The waves were going over our heads.” 

The Finleys tried desperately to keep The Illogical anchored in a safe spot, but the storm was too much. Both anchors were unseated, and they found themselves helplessly adrift. 

Throughout the night they battled the turbulence, not knowing if they would survive to see morning. But as with many storms, it ended as suddenly as it began, and sunrise found them drifting on a sea that glistened like a plate of glass with nary a ripple. 

“It was incredible. When the sun came up, we found a carnet of tiny baby shrimp completely covering the boat,” said Finley. “They had been whipped off the bottom of the river by the storm.”  

Two commercial fishermen, who had come to inspect their boats also checked on the Finleys. 

“They came out and asked us, ‘Are you all right?’,” said Finley. “They couldn’t believe we had spent the night out on the bay.” 

Crab and lobster pots, set squarely in waterway channels destroyed two engines, a loss of about $2,500 for each. 

There also was a killer fog that swept in and seemed to seal them in a dense capsule off the Louisiana coast near New Orleans.

“We couldn’t even see the bow,” said Mrs. Finley. “It was so think the birds were resting on the boat.” 

Finley thought he might lose his one-woman crew when that fog rolled in. “I guess she was at the point of panic, when she threatened to jump over,” he chuckled. 

It was not always so harrowing, if you dismiss a narrow escape with a tanker off Long Island Sound when the Finleys’ engine conked out, and the time they got lost in a swamp in southern Florida. But that only adds spice to a true adventure.

If one’s memories are gauged by the type of people one meets, then the Finley’s (sic, Finleys’) voyage was indeed memorable. 

For example, there was the restaurant owner in Florida who treated them to a free meal, not because they looked so scruffy after weeks at sea, but because Finley was “the only man he had ever met who was uglier than he was!” 

And the Cajun who let them dock at his hideaway in southern Louisiana where they feasted on venison (poached?), shrimp, gumbo and duck. 

Nor can they forget the U.S. Customs yatch (sic, yacht) that steamed up to them with several sinister looking gun-toting men who announced they were about to come aboard. 

“They weren’t in uniform, and they scared us half to death,” said Mrs. Finley. 

Finley said he was about to grab his .38 revolver when one of the men flashed his ID. 

“Sorry to have scared you like that,” said the man, “but we don’t want people to know who we are. It spoils the element of surprise.” 

The Customs inspectors stayed more than an hour chatting with the Finleys. 

“They wanted to know all about our adventure,” he recalled. “They were really nice folks.” 

But it was the U.S. Coast Guard that proved to be the couple’s best friends.

Early in the trip, the Coast Guard logged the Finleys into their computer and then kept track of them all the way. 

They even invited the Finleys to spend this past Christmas with them.

At the Coast Guard station, they were allowed to call their children to wish them a merry Christmas. 

Surprisingly, the Finleys had no previous experience in sailing. “We took several courses with the U.S. Power Squadron of the Lower Rio Grande Valley,’ he said. 

He added the courses are free and that the club is run by a group of McAllen sea-lovers. 

After taking the courses, they purchased a small 14-foot practice sailboat. They almost lost it in Falcon Lake when a typical Falcon storm swept from across from the mountains in Mexico, and washed them up on a small island near Los Lobos peninsula. 

However, now, after 14 months at sea, Finley said he’s turned into a pretty fair sailor. 

They admit they are loners, and as Finley put it, “It takes two people who enjoy doing the exact same things in order to accomplish a journey like this.”

The Finleys aren’t much on city life. They say their “place” is where it’s quiet, and there aren’t many people around to distract them. They would choose any deserted cove or hidden bayou over a brightly lit city. 

And where to next? 

Finley said his wife has always wanted to go to Belize. There’s a new boat, too. She’s 27 feet long, and the story is that she’ll clip the waves like a dragonfly skimming over a pond. 

“I guess more than anything, the trip let us learn something about ourselves. It was an introspection,” said Finley, his wife looking on, nodding in agreement. 

In late spring, their sails will be unfurled again!

The post From the archives: A McAllen couple’s 6,000-mile voyage at sea appeared first on MyRGV.com.