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“T

he gander is a vocal bird.” explains John Lawrence Kanazawa Jolley. “This goose, she likes that. He communicates vocally and she is happier that way.”

John is a liveaboard on 24’ Islander Bahama, named Margaret Y Nancy De, home port Riviera Beach, FL. He has a non-human crew: six ducks and two geese. It’s apparent the crew share the cockpit with John.

John Jolley with his birds.

The Islander 24 Bahama has a tiller and a fixed fin keel, and a draft of 3.42 ft, enabling John to easily sail up into Smith Creek.

“Supposedly [it has] the best weather helm of all the sailboats in the world,” he says. “It is the second quickest hull of the sloops. It’s a surfing boat from California.”

John has owned the boat for about five years and calls Georgetown, Grand Cayman Island in the Bahamas, home. “I’ve sailed to Isla de Evangelista – ‘Never never land’ – 7 or 8 times.” Jolley is referring to the island belonging to Cuba, so named by Christopher Columbus. Today it’s called Isla de la Juventud, or Isle of Youth in English.

When John speaks, he’s animated.

The boat’s name, John explains, “is a combination of my two grandmothers’. Down in Cuba, when they had a revolution, the four aces – Fidel, Raoul, Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos – those characters came in on a boat called Dos Abuelas,” or two grandmothers.

John says he has respect for rebels since he is one himself, albeit in a sailboat-peaceful kind of way.

A curious duck.

“They (the birds) are pretty used to having people come up to the boat.” He’s had the geese for about two and a half years. Rounding out the flock are three fledgling ducks, including a light-colored Welsh Harlequin (still in their coop), and three fully fledged ducks.

John’s ‘cash shoes’.

“I got the geese in particular because they’re loud!” He yells over the sound of their honking.

“They protect me and watch for me when I’m not as conscious as I would like to be, perhaps when I’m sleeping.” He continues, “A lot of people don’t realize this, but when you’re out here on a boat, anybody could come up.”

How does one obtain ducks and geese while living on a sailboat? Apparently, like any other goods, one orders them. “I usually just order them in the mail. I get them as ducklings and goslings at the United States Post Office from Murray McMurray.”

John’s birds enjoying the creek.

Food and fresh water keep the waterfowl returning to the boat, but it requires some training. John feeds them milo (sorghum) rolled oats, sweet corn, and non-genetically engineered dent corn. There’s also fresh grass, other herbs, crushed oysters, eggs, and bugs.

“Getting them in and out of the boat is actually a trick because they want to land on water. If they try to land in the boat, sometimes that can result in injuries. So I teach them to land in the water, and then climb into the boat.”

John talks birds, dams, and life aboard.

“I have this thing on the side, some fenders in a laundry bag. I train them to do that, but they can’t really do it that well until their wings are fledged. So for the first month or so, you have to pick them up out of the water and put them back in the boat.”

Fenders in a laundry bag, helps the birds climb back in the boat.

When asked if they lay eggs, John explains, “yes, that’s one of the best parts of having them, is that when they start laying eggs in the springtime, I got a whole bunch of eggs. And then I don’t have to go to the grocery store as much to get fresh protein.”

“Also, the birds themselves are delicious.”

Nibbling on a line.

John believes in eating pure, unadulterated, non-GMO food. His grievances with the US agricultural system relate to the heart of his true mission.

His organization and website is called ‘The Infinity Project.’ The project’s mission is to un-dam all the world’s rivers. John says this would change how food is grown and distributed.

A closeup of the coop.

“The greatest amount of energy being burned on the planet is maintaining the dam / agricultural system. Humans typically have that set up far away from where they live. And it takes a lot of energy to get their food to them.”

Drinking tea from a tin can.

In the meantime, he shares his ideas about removing dams on all the world’s rivers. He has a vision for a ‘circle of life’ community where everything is used and nothing is wasted.

John makes big statements: “I’ve talked to millions of people about perforating the water control structures on the flow ways of this water planet. Those most for my idea, of reestablishing the natural flow of the world’s rivers, are the dam engineers themselves.”

Above, John looking out from his cabin. Lower left, a curious duck smells grits cooking, and lower right, inside the cabin.

The inside of the cabin is pretty crowded with stuff. “My boat looks like it’s relatively disorganized,” John explains, “and even I would admit so. But the thing is, I’ve been searched so many times … So I decided not to put the boat back together anymore. And now they don’t search it anymore.”

SV Margaret y Nancy De.

John has no definite plans for his next destination, but he is searching for the sweet spot where the water isn’t too cold or warm for him or his birds to go swimming and where the alligators won’t bother them.

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Story & photos by Christa Martin

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Posted Wednesday July 23, 2025 by Christa Martin Kreutz

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