I HAVE RETURNED FROM THE SEA!

Two weeks sailing the Dalmatian coast, and not once did I see a single spotted dog. It was fabulous, thanks for asking. The best vacation ever, although maybe not the most relaxing. For one thing, because John, Aidan and I are all equally qualified to skipper a boat, we often had too many captains and not enough crew. Apparently, I ask too many questions, and do not like to be told what to do. When the skipper tells you to tighten the jib, the proper response is “Aye Aye, Captain!” and not “Why? It’s tight enough already, and besides we’re on a beam reach. Can you make me a gin and tonic?”

For another, Croatia is crazy windy, which is of course why people go there to sail, but there were moments when I wondered if we were quite literally out of our depth. One day, about halfway through the trip, only John and I were aboard, as we were between guests. An incoming storm forced us to leave the port we were in, where we would have been battered by the swells, and head for another island to a more sheltered marina. Three hours tops under motor, but we were surrounded by storm clouds, which we hoped to outrun. We didn’t.

Scary, right? The lightning was the worst part. You don’t want to be struck by lightning at the best of times, and this was not the best of times. Lightning can blow a hole in a boat, knock out its electronics, and, umm, kill you. We really should not have been out there. There’s a fine line between courage and stupidity, and between you and me, I think we sailed right over it.

John, of course, loved every minute of it. Can you tell? Happy as clam, right to the little blinky light on his life jacket, which of course is there so he can be found if he’s swept overboard, which, for a brief period, BECAME A REAL POSSIBILITY as opposed to an exercise on a sailing exam. I also learned something about myself: apparently, when I’m in a life-threatening situation, my first instinct is to record it for social media AND THEN IMMEDIATELY POST IT (the boat had Wi-Fi). I found it comforting to be in touch with the world while my ship was in peril. Magellan would have been disgusted with me. And even as this was all happening, do you know what I was thinking? Do you?

I was thinking, should we survive, that this would make a great blog entry.

You’re welcome.

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