I was supposed to go sailing this past Sunday. I got down to the boat, got the sailcover off, hanked on the jib, then went down below to catch my breath. Of course, that got me thinking...catch my breath? Had I just performed an extensive Tai Chi routine or something?
Thinking about it objectively while recovering, I realized that I had caught the dreaded disease that had been plaguing my family all week (confirmed by 48 straight hours of 102 fever after this story is done). So I had a decision to make, to sail or not to sail.
On the "to sail" side....the sails were already rigged, covers were thrown haphazardly down below, and there was a fresh 15 knots or so coming from the West. On the "not to sail" side...that 102 fever can lead to some poor decisions, there was a fresh 15 knots or so coming from the West, and that berth was awfully comfortable.
I weighed this decision for about 30 minutes, popping up the companionway like a prairie dog every 5 minutes or so to check the wind, count the boats going out, and contemplate. Then I continued weighing the decision for about another hour, lessening the frequency of my weather checks as I kept falling asleep. Then I called my wife and said, "I'm going to catch a nap down here, I'll see you at home in a few hours."
3 comments:
Wise decision. As skiiers often say, you always break your leg on
the last run of the dayl
so true anonymous...I always find my keys at the last place I look but I think that's because I'm not thorough.
Falling asleep while sailing in cold weather with cold water is very unhealthy for you. If you want to see a funny post on the flu, go here.
Post a Comment