Mogens Erik Liljehult. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
Mogens - my moms friend.
(This text is written in loving memory of a troubled man with a big heart)
My parents were divorced. I lived with my mom. My father had found another woman and she had three daughters, which two were living with my father and the new woman. Living at my father's house was not an option, even though my relationship was good with all of them.
I was barely home anyway. Always traveling, skateboarding, partying, it was just that age when you have little to do with your parents. I got an apartment and lived there, having even less to do with my parents. Another stage in life. My mom called one day and said she had found a man and I had to meet him. His name was Mogens.
He smoked like a chimney and drank a lot of beers but was very friendly. He always wanted to give me money and he could not understand that I didn't want it. I felt like he was giving me money so I would like him more. That led to a bunch of arguments, discussion and fights. It was sometimes so annoying to be at my moms house when Mogens was there too, which was almost all the time.
Some days when I came to visit, the living room was one big smoke cloud. I could barely see the other side of the room. I opened a door to get some smoke out. It was disgusting. Mogens was very good to my mom. I had the impression that they really liked each other.
Mogens and my mom happy together. In the top left corner of the photo you can actually see the smoke from cigarettes hanging in the air. Amager, Denmark
Mogens like FC København too and just like me, went to all the home games in "Parken". He was standing with his son and some other friends and I would stand with my friends. He always came down to me to chat in the break. Sometimes wasted out of his mind where I could not make out what he shouted in my ear. I was sometimes wasted as well, it was part of that period in life.
One day after the game we went in the same direction home. One of his son's friends lived in the same area as I did in Nørrebro in Copenhagen. I don't know what happened but we got in an argument. Could have been over money that he would give me but I'm not sure anymore. We got in a fight. I pushed him hard. He felt towards a wall and we got separated by friends. Drunken shit that was not necessary at all. He went one way and I the other. A few days after I called him to talk about the incident and to feel where we were standing. We both apologized and agreed that it was just two drunken idiots fighting over nothing special.
The relationship with Mogens was up and down. He had a hard time accepting that I liked him for what he was and not for his money.
I talked to my brother. We agreed that all that smoke would some day kill our mother. My brother had a hard time with Mogens. He had a hard time with nearly all new men my mother met, I think.
Mogens was a mason from the old school. He was very very good in his trade. Old school was also lots of beer drinking before, during and after work. He was an alcoholist but didn't show it much. Only that he always had a beer close to him. He had a very bad back and in general a very bad health. Smoking 40 cigarettes per day, does not help much either.
He build my bathroom in a small apartment in Copenhagen, for free of course. I tried to pay him but he refused the money. He had found a way to give me free shit instead of cash.
His son had never any money. Maybe he just spend the money he had in a wrong way. The money flow from his father was steady, so why bother. Mogens' son was also mason but not so good as his father. No one really was. Mogens was on another level regarding mason, he was incredibly skilled.
My mom and Mogens travelled when ever they got the chance. The travels were mostly around Europe. Mogens could not sit long on a flight caused by his sore back. He could not smoke on the plane either, another reason not to fly long distance, in his eyes.
In the end of 2006 I had bought an old sailboat in Florida and sailed it to Curacao that became my base. Curacao is not in the hurricane belt and has fairly good marine stores. I had friends on the island too and when I was in Denmark working to get money to sail, they would take care of the boat. Sometimes I would take it out of the water and leave it on land in a marina.
My mother had asked if she and Mogens could come and visit me in Curacao on the boat. At first I was sceptic. 3 weeks with those two, Mogens and my mom. But I said yes. It would be good for them to see my home, my sailboat and how I lived when I was not in Denmark. And it would be nice to have them around in another setting than Copenhagen.
I picked them up at the airport in my VW Golf that I had bought from a friend. Mogens and my mom were tired after the flight but in a good mood. Before we took off, Mogens smoked 3 cigarettes, lighting the second with the first, the third with the second. We were witnessing a committed chainsmoker in all it's glory. It was insane to watch but not uncommon in those times around (2009) where smoking was widely accepted.
30 minutes drive from the airport we got to a bar Asiento, where my dinghy was tied up. My dinghy was beating up and patched up everywhere, still leaking air. Water was coming in some where. I had fixed it 100 times and needed to be fixed another 100 times. The luggage were put in the stern of the dinghy, where less water was coming in. Mogens and my mom got into the dinghy almost falling into the murky water of Spanish Water. We motored slowly out to my sailboat, which was tied up to a buoy close to the bar.
They got onto the sailboat climbing a small ladder and the luggage was put on deck. I had to tell them what to do, where to grab, where to put the feet and where to go. At first, this is normal when you have never been on a boat. After a few days everyone gets it. My mom and Mogens too.
I showed them the island of Curacao in my car. Took them to the beaches. Took my sailboat out for a sail. We snorkeled, which they found absolutely amazing. So amazing that my mom wanted to go for a dive. I was a diving instructor and had helped at a dive shop on the island, The Dive Bus. Arranging a dive with my mom was easy.
Mogens had a hard time snorkeling. At some point he panicked when we were out in the water with out masks on. I got him under control and got him in waste deep water. I tried to get him out again, but he didn't want to. He went back to the rocky beach and smoked.
We ate in good restaurants, drank many beers at the bar and other bars. My relationship with Mogens was really good at this point. He was relaxed and didn't try at anytime to buy me off with money or anything else.
He mentioned he wanted to buy me a new dinghy but I refused. A new was 4000 dollars, way too much money for me, but he kept saying I needed a new one and he had the money for it.
I had thought a lot about him buying me a new dinghy. Turned it around in my head 500 times and finally came to the decision, that we both would be very happy with a new dinghy.
I accepted his offer and thanked him deeply.
Mogens was shinning more than the sun. He finally could give me something. I had finally accepted something from him.
We went to the marine store and paid it. The owner of the shop would bring it later by Asiento, the bar.
Me and Mogens went to get the new dinghy that afternoon when it was delivered.
The marine shop owner helped the new dinghy into the water and took off. I unmounted the engine of the old dinghy and put it on the new one. We tied the old dinghy at the back and went back to my sailboat. Both very happy.
Later my mom described seeing Mogens and me sailing in the new dinghy back to the sailboat, both with the biggest smile on our faces. My mom told me she had never seen Mogens so proud.
I was really happy with the dinghy, it was the best thing ever. Aluminum bottom and with the 15hp outboard engine on, it was fast. I was so happy with that thing. It was the best about the boat adventure, to go explore in the dinghy I got from Mogens.
I learned Mogens how to sail the dinghy. He couldn't get his mind around the steering part. When you turned to one side, the dinghy would go to the other. We had a few close calls in Spanish Water almost hitting some other sailboats, when Mogens was at the outboard engine. But we just laughed at it and had a great time together.
One day we sailed to Fuik Baai, a small bay less than 30 minutes from Spanish Water using the engine.
The anchor went down in the bay, we turned the engine off and prepared lunch.
After lunch we cruised around in the dinghy, exploring the bay with the turquoise water, relaxed on Solitude, drank a few beers, swam around Solitude, just enjoying life and each others company.
The sun went down, we had dinner and more beers, talked about small and big things in life. Watched the stars in the sky and went to bed.
Waking up the next day with the sun coming up over the horizon, we ate breakfast, cruised around in the dinghy.
A few days earlier, Mogens had snorkeled with me by the dive spot "Tugboat", and had panicked, never wanted to snorkel again. Now Mogens wanted to give it another shot, I showed him again how he should snorkel and all of a sudden he was snorkeling on his own, not going into a panic. Mogens was difficult to get out of the water again. At the lunch, he was shinning of proudness.
He had overcome the panic and learned to snorkel. Such a task for him, such a victory.
After a few days in the bay at anchor, it was time to go back to the real world and Spanish Water. I hoped my mom and Mogens got the feeling of the sailboat life, when cruising the Caribbean.
In the afternoon we sailed back to Curacao.
My mom and Mogens wanted to feel how it was to be sailing with the sails up and no engine power. I put "Solitude", my sailboat, into the wind and ran to the mast. Hoisted the main sail while Mogens was steering into the wind and against the waves. He did a great job. When the sail was up, I went back to the rudder and turned Solitude so we had wind in the mainsail. The foresail, the genoa, was unfurled and filled with wind. I turned off the engine, put on the autopilot and quickly went below to lock the propeller. The propeller would make some noise when turning in the water, from the forward motion of the sailboat.
When I locked it with a piece of wood, there was a silence surrounding the boat and a feeling of just pure sailing.
Curacao got smaller and smaller. My mom had a smile on her face and Mogens was smoking a cigarette, sitting in the wind so there was no smoke coming our way. I think my mom was proud of not getting seasick and proud of me, who had learned myself to sail a boat that was 43,8 feet long, 13,5 m and a mast of 15 meters. Mogens was really enjoying the adventure. The atmosphere, the chemistry between the three of us, was so warm, so delightful so good at this very moment. When I think back at this very moment, I get tears in my eyes every time.
We sailed around 45 minutes on the same course until it was time to head back towards Curacao. I told Mogens we were going to turn and he had to pull the genoa to the other side. The turn went perfect, Mogens pulled the sail and we sailed back to Curacao and Spanish Water.
Getting closer to Spanish Water, I rolled the genoa in and left the main sail up. I removed the piece of wood in the engine room so the propeller could spin again. We sailed into Spanish Water through the narrow entrance in silence, until I started the engine, turned the boat and took the mainsail down.
Such great days. So good vibes. Many tears rolling down my face, still to this day, tears of happiness and tears of sadness, knowing the outcome of the visit of these two wonderful people.
The day came when I would take my mom on her very first dive. Mogens didn't want to try diving but wanted to go on a trip to Klein Curacao with a catamaran. Instead of him sitting and waiting by the dive shop, he would take the trip the same day and we would meet up later.
The catamaran would leave around 8am so I had to set Mogens off half an hour before.
A very good friend of mine work at the catamaran and had met Mogens a few times at the bar. I was a little concerned that he would find it a bit boring on the 2 hour sail to Klein Curacao but my friend was there, so Mogens was in good hands.
Mogens stepped onto the catamaran from my dinghy and put his backpack over his shoulder. I had helped him pack some things like a bottle of water, and told him 100 times during the days he and my mom was with me, not to forget to drink water. Sunscreen was another issue I had to address at all times. The heat and sun at this latitude could be brutal.
I asked him one more time, if he was going to be ok on the catamaran. I got a thumbs up and the very big smile I got from him, I can still see to this day when I close my eye. Him being happy. Us being friends. Us with all shit put behind us. No bad vibes between us. I padded him on the shoulder and said, enjoy your day my friend.
I went back to the boat to pick up my mom. We saw the catamaran sail past us, when we were getting ready to go to the dive shop. I saw Mogens taking a photo of my sailboat from the catamaran. My mom said, he's gonna be fine. At this very moment I was not aware that this was the last time I would see Mogens alive.
We took it easy and a few hours later we stood at the dive shop. I could feel my mom was nervous.
Very calm and with a lot of passion, I gave her a briefing about what we were going to do. I answered all questions she had and made some jokes. She was laughing and smiling, excited to try something new. I put dive gear together on the bench I had built for the dive shop.
We stood with our wetsuits half way up, when something vibrated in my backpack on the floor by the bench. I took the vibrating Nokia phone out, looked at the number and paused what I was doing. It was my friend who worked on the catamaran. I just knew in that second, this could only be bad news.
My friend told me in a calm voice, that he had found Mogens face down in the water, not moving at all, about 50 meters from the beach on Klein Curacao. He had managed to get Mogens into a dinghy and quickly got to the beach.
A doctor was present and gave Mogens first aid. Mogens came a bit by but dosed of again, the doctor kept doing first aid.
Luck would have it that a helicopter from the navy was just above Klein Curacao at that moment. The people, some how got the helicopter to land on the small beach, pick up Mogens and fly him to the hospital on Curacao. My friend didn't know if Mogens was dead or alive at that point.
I hung up, turned around and saw the helicopter fly by the dive shop. The face expression of my mom turned from very bright to grey, to dark. She could see it in my face, something was very wrong.
My hand reached the shoulder of my mom and I told her to sit down. She broke into tears and was trying to take huge bites of air into her lungs.
The wetsuits were thrown on the bench and we raced to the hospital in my car. No one had heard anything about an incident at Klein Curacao, nobody knew anything about the helicopter.
My mom was crying wildly when we raced towards a football field near the hospital, where I knew the helicopters would land.
I turned the car through the gate and saw the helicopter. The rotors were turned off. Next to the helicopter was an ambulance parked. Engine turned off and no emergency lights flashing. It was still, very still. A man came towards me when I got out of the car. He shook his head. My mom ran to the ambulance and opened the backdoor.
Mogens was lying there. White as a sheet. Sand from the beach on his legs. Only one shoe on. My mom was sitting next to him, crying and holding his hand, touching his face very gently.
I took my mom under the arm and guided her out of the ambulance. She didn't have to get stocked with this image of Mogens like this, in her mind.
A guy closed the door of the vehicle behind us. There was a photographer taking a few shots. The helicopter staff walked around saying nothing and the ambulance people stood around. Nobody said anything.
I picked up my phone to call the son of Mogens in Denmark, to tell him the sad news. It was awful. Tears ran down my face. The son wanted to fly over to Curacao but I told him, there was nothing to do for him here. I hung up, assuring the son that Mogens was flown back to Denmark, took my mom under the arm and put her gently in my car and went to house of a friend.
The following days went by with calls to the hospital, police, undertaker, insurance company, friends and family on the island and in Denmark. A few days later I flew back to Denmark with my mom to assist her and help her.
What happened to Mogens that day, is not clear. I was told he was on the catamaran when people got ferried in a dinghy onto the beach by my friend. A few customers swam the 100m to the beach from the catamaran and Mogens wanted to do that too, but my friend found him 50m from the beach.
Maybe he had a heart attack in the water and drowned. Maybe he was too weak to swim the distance and panicked. His backpack was, by the catamaran staff, dropped off on my sailboat and I found the water bottle in it almost full. Mogens had only taken a small zip of it.
My friend told me later, that he had spoken with Mogens, who was in high spirit during the boat trip and just before he went swimming towards the beach.
Later I was told that the helicopter didn't have any first aid gear onboard. Maybe it could have saved Mogens, maybe not. It doesn't really matter anymore, Mogens is gone and not coming back in any shape or form, if an explanation of his cause of death should come to light.
My mom and Mogens were suppose to leave two days after his passing. I appreciated the time we had. All the doubt I had over them coming to visit me on my sailboat, was put to shame. They both did it very good, regarding living and sleeping on my sailboat. It's never a good timing when somebody leaves the world, however, when this happened, it was good it happened at the end of Mogens and my mom's vacation, we got to spent a great time together, at the end of the life of Mogens. The man who was, at times, difficult to be around, but all he wanted, was to show how big his heart was. Besides his own demons he was fighting, there sat nothing evil in him.
With the years passing, my mom got over it, put it behind her and learned from it, making her an even stronger woman.
People come into your life, shape you as a person, influence you. From people you learn the good things and the bad things. You take some pieces from every person, that you can use and put into your own person. We are the sum of our past.
Rest in peace Mogens Erik Liljehult.
Born in Store Slemminge on Lolland in Denmark, 20th of May 1948.
Passed on Klein Curacao, Caribbean, 5th of August 2009.
What I recall, the body of Mogens was flown from Curacao to Denmark after a week, could have been longer, it is not important.
A funeral was held in Tårnby Kirke on Amager where my mom lived at the time. Around 200 people attended.
Mogens is buried in a family grave in Store Slemminge on Lolland in Denmark, where he was born.
(This text is written in loving memory of a troubled man with a big heart)
My mom and Mogens when Mogens turned 60 years. Copenhagen, Denmark
Mogens and my mom on a ski holiday in France.
Mogens and my mom on a ski holiday in France.
I got a book from my mom that came in very handy. Amager, Denmark, 2009
Me and Mogens reading in the World Cruising Guide. Amager, Denmark, 2009
Me cruising in the new dinghy giving by Mogens. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
One happy moment. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
Mogens and my mom brought this new yeacht flag from Denmark. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
Waiting for fresh coconut juice. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
Me at the rudder and Mogens chilling. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
Mogens and me at a bar. Both very happy. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
A serious moment in between laughs. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
Mogens and me had just picked up the new dinghy. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
Mogens and me with the new dinghy. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
Cruising nature. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
Drove to Westpunt to check out the blowholes. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
Mogens on my sailboat "Solitude" in Fuik Baai with a beautiful sunset. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
Mogens swimming around the boat. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
Mogens was really good with kids. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
Mogens in the cockpit of my sailboat in Spanish Water. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
Mogens snorkeling in Fuik Baai for hours. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
Mogens by the Sea Aquarium. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
Mogens and my mom hiking around the island. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
Fuik Baai. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
Fuik Baai anchor inspection. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
When Mogens was on the catamaran going to Klein Curacao, he sailed pass my sailboat where my mom and me were getting ready to go to the dive shop. Mogens brought my moms camera to take photos of his adventure on the catamaran and Klein Curacao. He took this photo of me waving from the cockpit. It may not be the best photo but it brings back emotions. This was the very last time we saw him alive. Spanish Water, Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
A local newspaper brought the sad news the next day. In top left photo I'm standing with my back to the camera against a wall. This was the moment when I called the son of Mogens telling him what had happend. The VW Golf was my car in that period on the island. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
Trying to support my mom. Curaçao, The Netherlands Antilles, July 2009
