The wind was picking up. He had just sat down to eat his stew. It was going to be a rough night, and he wanted all the energy he could muster.
He had been watching the weather roll in all afternoon. It was going to be stormy very soon. The lightning was popping above his head now, the thunder getting closer.
His course was to sail over the open water between the two points of the gulf. It was the straight line approach. It would give him good wind currents that he could use to keep the sailboat on track. It was to be his first solo ride on his new boat. He had sailed it before with his mates, but never solo.
And then the storm had to blow in. He had altered his course to bring him closer to shore, but the area was known for craggy cliffs and jutting rocks tha t in low tide or high surf could tears holes in the hull of a boat. Not an idea that appealed to him. So he kept the safe tack, keeping plenty of room between him and certain death.
The thunder vibrated the boat shaking everything. He made a quick trip around the outside of the boat, checking to make sure everything was tied down and secured. He had dropped his dredging anchor and was hoping for the best. At this point, it was really all he could do. The straighline winds could be severe enough to rip a mast off the boat, or capsize it, if he was trying to sail in the storm. The winds could rip a sail right off. The only thing to do was batten down the hatches and ride out the storm.
Satisfied that everything was taken care of, he gave the storm one last hard look and then gazed around. He still couldn't see the lighthouse at the point. He felt that this was probably a good thing. It meant he was still far enough out not to have to worry about the rocks yet. Nodding his head, he went in and fastened the door behind himself. It was time to hunker down and try to relax. The sway of the waves wasn't that bad yet, the small(ish) sailboat didn't rock much in the waves, it tended to move well with them. But he knew it would get worse before it was over.
Turning on the four monitors above the couch, he checked his position on the gps monitor and then glanced at the security camera he had installed. The weather screen showed the edge of the storm sweeping down upon him. The last screen showed him the vitals on his boat - electricity, ships engines, water, etc.
As he sat down, silently preparing himself for the ordeal to come, he found himself missing her. She would have never come aboard this small of a boat, her sea-sickness wouldn't allow for that. But she would have loved the snugness of the cabin. It's intimacy and coziness made one feel safe even with the storm raging outside. It wasn't large, but it was spacious enough for him.
He found it odd that he thought of her so much lately. It had been years since he had last seen her, longer since they had last spoken, and even longer since he held her in his embrace, two as one. But at the strangest of times she filled his thoughts. His only regret in life had to let her go so easily, to not have fought harder. Would she have still left? Of that, no one would ever know. Yet, the thought of her plagued him. A ghost to forever haunt him.
"How Ironic," he thought. He had spent much of his adult life being a ghost, someone seen only fleetingly and with very few certainties that he was ever actually really there.
The thunder snapped overhead, bringing him back to reality. He looked to the outside screen, the rain was making blurs of everything. But he wouldn't have seen much anyway, since it was night out. He checked the weather screen, his little sailboat was in the thick of it now. All one could do was to hold on tight.
And of course he thought of her.
He knew that he would never forget her. Even though their time together had been brief, relatively, it had left such a lasting impression on him.
He looked out one of the portholes, and could see the lightning snapping. He could hear the rain beating down on the deck. He desperately wanted to check his boat, but it simply was too dangerous. The boat was grounded, but he wouldn't be if he stepped outside right now. So he just sat there trying to relax. For now, he had done what he could.
(to be continued)
