Souls sailing…

The day before we departed San Carlos I visited with one of our dock neighbors Andrew, aboard his boat.  We sat in his cockpit, shared some beer and talked.  He said that he was happiest when he was out sailing and then proceeded to tell me a bit of his life history.  He grew up in Israel where his dad worked and family lived.  When they return to the states he was drafted into Vietnam where he fought as a member of the Rangers.  He was wounded in combat.  A mortar round wasted his left knee cap.  That was replaced with a prosthetic.  It seemed that his body healed quicker than his psyche.  He said that he got into a lot of fights back then.  That he would pick them with 2 or 3 guys at a time.  Said there was a lot of anger he needed to get out.  He had lost a lot of friends in Vietnam.  Said that’s what he fought for, friends, not the government.  He said that I would probably would have gotten messed up too if i had gone.  True that.  At that point he started to choke up so we sat in silence for a while and then he got up and went for a short walk.  It had been 45 years since he’s been at war and it was still getting to him.  

The next morning Andrew helped us cast off.  We said our goodbyes on the dock and then we headed out.  It was a beautiful day, clear sky with a light breeze out of the south.  Perfect for where we were going, Bahía San Pedro, just to the north.  We made our way out of the marina, then through the outer harbor and out into the Sea where we set our course and then raised our big gennicker.  The sail went up smartly but started slatting right away, the big sail would fill nicely and then collapse only to snap open a moment later.  We were sailing into a weird set of 2’ swells that were coming from the north and they were playing havoc with the gennicker.  The swells must have been left over from yesterdays northerly winds and they were completely dwarfing today’s tiny wind driven waves from the south.  BANG went the hull as it bumped into each steep wave and SNAP went our gennicker each time it filled again.  Bang, snap, bang, snap, bang.  I stood on the foredeck for a while marveling at the tenacity of those waves from yesterday and wondered how long it would take for today’s southerly wind to overcome them and the bang-snapping to go away.  However long that would be, it wouldn’t be soon enough for me.  Yesterdays wind energy was disturbing today’s peace.  



Then I thought back to yesterday and the conversation with Andrew, how Vietnam was still getting to him.  Waves of energy and emotions still assailing him from 45 years ago.  I then reflected upon how deep the Sea is, over a mile deep in many places and how deep seas seem to take longer to quell than shallower ones.  Sail on my friend, may your waters calm and peace fill your soul again…