Class News

Today's Featured Biography

 
Don Gilkison

Hello fellow classmates , long time no see. Just a little adage to live by. Yesterday's history, tomorrow's a mystery, and today is a gift, that's why it's called the "PRESENT". The experience of living is an incredible Adventure. Each of us has the choice as to when the adventure needs to slow down but I'm not there yet.( planning on another 3,000 mile motorcycle ride in the mountains again this 2023). Each of us has taken our own path to find meaning in living and mine has taken me on quite the adventure. It wasn't planned, it just happened this way. Went to college at Warrensburg from 64 to 66 when my grade point dropped to 1.8 and Uncle Sam pounce. Upon my return from the Air Force I worked as a draftsman for Butler Manufacturing then Hill engineering. During this time I was married which ended in divorce. I then joined Pinkerton detective agency and worked Undercover for the better part of 4 years and learned the ugly underbelly side of life. After a bad experience I sold everything I owned and hitchhiked to Florida ( almost being killed by a believed serial killer) to sail around the world. It was the best thing I have ever did because I discovered my true path in life. After a couple of years living on a sailboat in the Bahamas and paying the owner $10 a week for room and board and all the work I could do on the boat , I finally landed a paid position ($75.00 a week) on the 75 ft sailboat "Jubilee 3" headed to Chicago. The boat was owned by the Cosmetic Company Helene Curtis. When that ended I was in Newport Rhode Island and was hired as a shipwrights helper to build the sailing vessel Sloop Providence. I Eventually became the project manager,and got my first captain's license. Providence was the first ship in the Continental Navy and Captained by John Paul Jones who made the famous saying "give me a fast ship, for I intend to sail In Harm's Way". The boat was in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean and is still sailing today. Upon leaving this position I was hired to do a delivery on a 47 ft Choy Lee from Newport to Miami. We got caught in the Storm of the Century and three boats in the Newport to Bermuda race were lost. We had water up to our ankles inside the boat no electricity and no engine but somehow we managed to survive and sail our way into the Chesapeake Bay only to discover that we had been reported lost at sea. The only way we survived was God kept his loving hand upon us for the 5 terrifying days. It was exciting to say the least. Upon arriving in Miami, I was offered a captain's position on a 104 ft wooden power yacht which I accepted and ran for the next 16 years. The owner wanted a helicopter on the boat so he sent me to school where I got my helicopter pilot license and I flew guest to and from the boat, it was a miracle I never killed us all. At age 50 I got married again, built a house in Fort Lauderdale and took a job as a project manager at a local Shipyard. I lived there for several years when my mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer so we sold the house and moved back to Kansas City to help her. Unfortunately this marriage ended in a divorce and I found myself Shipwrecked in Kansas City. In an effort to financially recover, I took out the books and studied for one year to retake my expired captain's license exam. There are seven exams including an oral exam at the end which takes about 3 months to the tune of $15,000. I somehow miraculously pass the exams and started my own relief captaining business. Relief captaining is always interesting and challenging. After Johnny Carson passed away I got a call from his wife Alexis and she retained me to move they're 135 ft Westport yacht from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale. She was a wonderful very down to earth person. I picked up the boat, stopped at all the countries along the west coast of Central America to experience their cultures then took it through the Panama Canal to Fort Lauderdale where it was sold. Another job was picking up a new 135 ft Westport yacht in Westport Oregon and delivering it to Fort Lauderdale. I again stopped at all of the countries along the west coast of Central America to experience their culture. Upon our arrival in Fort Lauderdale the owner said he'd like to go to Bermuda so we went to Bermuda. Then the owner said he'd like to go to the Azores, so we went to the Azores. Then he said he would like to go to Spain so we went to Cadiz. Then he said he'd like to go to the coast of France so off we went through the Straits of Gibraltar. Then he decided he wanted to go to Genoa Italy and we finally ended up in Athens Greece. This was a typical delivery. On another occasion I helped build 135 ft ice breaking class Expedition yacht. After completion, and for the maiden voyage I was asked to take the boat to the Arctic Circle for 31 days so we went from the tropics to living among the icebergs, polar bears and Indigenous people. Well I'm sorry this was so long I got carried way but I actually have left out 99% of the wild and crazy and absurd stuff that has happened in the 30 years at sea. it's good to see what everyone is up to and I hope your lives have some Adventure in them. And remember we may be a little older, but it's not over till we say it's over, have a great day

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