As
they were rounding the western tip of Cuba they heard two radio warnings in
Spanish that worried them. The first was from the Cuban Navy saying to be on the
lookout for pirates in a P.T. boat heading for the Florida coast and the second
was that heavy winds were developing that could turn into a hurricane. At this
point they were in no position to seek port in Cuba, so they headed into the
Florida Straights and into the approaching storm.
Their plan now was to land the chests somewhere on the west coast of Florida, bury them, and then scuttle the boat before heading for Tampa by land. They would come back later and retrieve the chests.
But that was not to be.
Somewhere opposite the Ten Thousand Islands of Florida's lower west coast one of the engines quit. They continued on north on one engine until somewhere off Fort Myers Beach, the second engine failed. They launched a small lifeboat and scuttled the P.T. boat. Only one man survived the journey to shore, which was about 25 miles due west of Fort Myers Beach in 20-to 30 feet of water.
This one survivor had a plane and for many years afterwards, he tried to locate the area where they scuttled the P.T. boat, but apparently he never found it.
From: YCA FILES