Monday Musings

Sail away with me

My first time on a boat was not a pleasant experience. My dad and his cousin packed my mom, my little sister, and me on a rickety yola with a small, barely functioning motor. Think:

But smaller. My dad joked about having a personal lanchita—a little yacht. Yacht!

The mid August heat was brutal. The high salinity in the air coupled with mosquito bites had us scratching like flea infested strays. The ride was supposed to be short. Just around the bay to see La Matica and La Arenita, two small islands off the coast of Boca Chica.

For a moment, the motor stalled. We waited a few minutes for it to cool. The boat rocked slowly and gently to the rhythm of the crashing waves. It was lovely to just sway.

A couple of months later, my science teacher announced a whale watching trip down the Jersey shore. This time we navigated on a catamaran. The skies were were gray. It was cold, raining, and windy. The sea was choppy. And there were no whales in sight.

It was such a departure from my first experience on the water. Instead of sunburn, windburn. Instead of gentle waves, jerking and seasickness. We were getting ready to return to land when the waters calmed and we were surrounded by migrating dolphins. I wouldn’t return to DR for another six years but I did sign up for every whale watching excursion thereafter.

I associate bodies of water with good fortune. My eighth grade graduation party was on a party boat that traversed a stretch of the Hudson River. There I reunited with my first grade best friend. We had gone off to different middle schools but when we saw each other, there was nothing lost between us. Friends forever indeed.

Years later, I was invited aboard the janky Queen of Hearts for a charity fundraiser.

Folks, I would’ve much preferred a return to the yola. The silver lining was the open bar. Oh, and we surpassed our fundraising goal. Must’ve been due to all the drinking.

I had almost sworn off boating until a client invited me sailing. We sailed around the Statue of Liberty and sipped on Sauvignon Blanc. I almost forgot it was a work assignment. Silly me.

The best trips on the water have been with my younger sister, Casandra. Our first trip together was a cruise to the Bahamas we took as her high school graduation present. We ate, we gambled, we forgot our shoes (or I did, at least.) She returned the favor by offering me a last minute flight to Paris last summer. I had under 40 minutes to get to the airport. I made it and we spent a Sunday on the Seine.

Call me crazy but I see yachts in my future. Join me now and I’ll invite you then ;) Until next time.

~LMZ