"When the sails filled, I took the tiller and looked ahead. After a few minutes I handed the tiller to my shipmate and told him I was headed below to think a minute.
I was 33 years old, had a high school diploma and a little college, I had skills, a willingness to work, no job and none in the offing. I had very little money, but enough grub to last a while and the tools to fish or hunt to supplement what I did have.
I was now responsible for the life of my shipmate. This didn’t tread lightly on me. I now had to think for the pair of us.
Everything I owned except for a fifteen year-old rusty pickup and a few tools was with me in the boat.
I was now literally the captain of my own ship and the master of my own destiny.
I had a ship to sail, and a star to steer her by. It felt good, but there was also the burden of responsibility, too. I also knew I had to get my skills honed as I lacked a lot of sailing skills and I knew that crossing the Gulf of Alaska meant a 600 mile open ocean crossing.
I came above and took the tiller and trimmed the main sail a tad and sailed for the next few hours, alone in my thoughts.
It was a day that left me a changed man. No one would know it but me, but for the first time in my life I felt fully in charge. I also had a sense of direction and a future to look forward to, no matter how it turned out."
Piccolo
Aboard S/Y Karen Lee
1985
To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this:
http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY
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