A Brief Jimmy Buffett Biography

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PETTICOAT III
Inventor-industrialist Foster Talge (the Rival Manufacturing Company - maker of Seal-a-Meal, Corck-Pot and electric can openers ) retired to Key West to fish as often as possible from his yacht, Petticoat III. He hired Norman Wood, a local bank director, to be his captain. Norman loved deep sea fishing as much as Foster did, and his $175 weekly salary was more an object of false contention than payment for his skills and time.
Several men whom Norman had met in the Chart Room - including Rick Lutz and Jimmy Buffett - were hired as mates for the regular fishing trips. One has to believe that their paychecks compared favorably to the captain's. The bonuses were tops: all the fresh fish they could eat.
Norman and Shirley Wood became loyal supporters of the new entertainer in town. Buffett relished the time he spent in the company of the Wood family. When his musician's income required a supplement, the First Mate job was always open. When the first pressing of A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean arrived by air express, Jimmy took it directly to the Woods' living room for an island debut.

Read the complete piece above and more in Jimmy Buffett, The Key West Years