Club Royale was trying to outrun storm

by Elsa Cramer, Joe Brogan
and Joe Capozzi, Palm Beach Post Staff Writers

The captain and two crewmen of the Palm Beach County
casino gambling ship "Club Royale" remained missing
late Wednesday morning when the 234-foot-long vessel
sank before dawn in rough seas churned-up by
Hurricane Erin [2 August 1995] about 90-miles off
Florida's east coast.

Seven other crew members were rescued after a daring
helicopter-to-sea maneuver in which US Coast Guard
swimmers hung on from steel cables in 75-mph winds
plucking survivors from 20-foot seas.

No passengers were on board.

The German-built ship was trying to outrun Erin by
fleeing its berth at the Port of Palm Beach for what
ship officials thought would be safe harbor in Port
Canaveral. But when Erin whipped up the Florida
coast toward Vero Beach, the ship apparently sought
refuge out to sea where it began taking on water.

By 4:30 a.m., the ship whose advertisements offered
"the ultimate casino and nightclub experience" began
listing badly. However, no radio distress call was
issued by the ship...but, just before the ship
capsized about 8:00 a.m., a high-tech alert beacon
[404 EPIRB - Emergency Position Indicating Radio
Beacon] was activated sending a signal to a
satellite that in turn indicated the ship's
coordinates to the USCG.

The floating casino was in operation for less than
30-days when it first started sailing in July 1995.

Down with the ship was a cook, first mate and
co-owner Captain Jan Pagels, a Scandanavian native
who was credited as being "extremely experienced."

The casino's complete chip and token inventory was
on board in the two vaults.

When the news hit CNN, I was called by at least 40
club members asking if I had chips for sale or
trade. Though the outstanding trades were honored
(by other Florida collectors, too), I informed
everyone that I had not made a decision as to what I
was going to do with what chips I had left...for the
following reasons:

1. I had to be 100% sure that the manufacturer
didn't have a supply not yet delivered, or was
holding on to overages.

2. I wanted to be 100% sure the casino management
company didn't have a supply of chips on shore.

3. Most of all, I wanted to wait to see if both the
ship owners and the casino management company were
going to start up a new operation [ship cost
$12-million to build; insured by Lloyd's of London]
and simply reorder from Summit Casino Products. So,
to play it safe, I did one of my little numbers
asking the owner of Summit if they had any
inventory. After hearing no (except for one example
each with the order index) I asked if I may quote
him in ALL the leading International numismatic
publications. His reply was YES. Now I was sure
things were kind of safe. I made sure the above was
printed...everywhere!!!!

I so happened that the owners of the ship outfitted
a new boat and I learned from within that the same
exact design was going to be used. Great! I'm
trading and selling these chips for $200-$250 a pop
and now I learn the same exact chip design was going
to be used. Something was wrong...something did not
go according to planning and calculations --- OR DID
IT? The chips were the exact design alright, but
they weren't being made by Summit, thery were CHIPCO
chips (of which I really had nothing to do with at
all). Everybody was happy. The chips that were out
for a 30-day period were truly rare. WE calculated
that not too many could have walked in 30-days. We
knew how many we each had...but that wasn't good
enough for me. If these babies were out there, I
wanted them. And I think I did a damn good job in
getting them and buying what was brought back on the
new ship to be cashed in when the new operation
started up in Jan. '96. The casino management and
cage did a number for me you wouldn't
believe...everyone cooperated 100% and they were
also well-rewarded for their efforts. It took about
1-1/2 years, but I think I got all that there was to
get from the locals. I had ads and posters in every
nightlub in the tri-county area and even worked out
deals with cashiers on other boats to take whatever
walked in and I'll paid them twice face

I have remaining in inventory:

Four sets of the $1, $5 and $25
One extra example of the $25
Five extra examples of the $5

Chips and their prices:

http://63.249.215.249/benedict/club1.JPG
$1 chip - $100 (4-pieces)

http://www.pongopix.com/aw/jb/club5.jpg
$5 chip - $200 (9-pieces)

http://www.pongopix.com/aw/jb/club25.JPG
$25 chip - $250 (5-pieces)

The 3-piece set: $475

The next person who publicly signs up and completes
the ANA Sminar being held in July, will receive the
$25 chip when the seminar is completed.

I have full documentation of USCG operations,
newspaper, Coin World and Numi News articles.

A $500 chip was purchased for $2,750.00 (fact).

JB