A CARTOON HISTORY OF CRUISES TO THE BIGHT OF ABACO WITH CONRAD NEUMANN

When I entered Lehigh University in 1963 as one of Keith Chave’s graduate students, Conrad was completing his dissertation on Harrington Sound, Bermuda. We became friends and Conrad asked me to join numerous cruises to the Bight of Abaco, Bahamas, after he graduated and joined the U. Miami Rosenstiel School. The research earned us an “Outstanding Paper” award in the 1975 Journal of Sedimentary Petrology. The vessels provided by U. Miami left a lot to be desired. The “Morea,” a 45 foot powerboat, built in 1940 by Consolidated Shipbuilding, was subsequently condemned by a marine architect. The “Tursiops,” a 65 foot steel surplus “T-boat,” was designed for cargo, not crew. Conrad’s cartooning provided welcome entertainment after dinner. The cartoons remain today as testament to his talent and outlook, and as cheer-me-up recollections of all the good times we had. Who doesn’t remember Conrad’s delivery of a story about the chief engineer of the Atlantis astride a runaway camel in Egypt purportedly shouting "But I was ringin' full astern!"? The memory of his performance, whether the story is true or not, and the cartoons, still make me laugh.