Seafaring survival skills

How many people would imagine the idea of a mobile high school on a vessel that sails around the world, to teach people practical savoir-vivre, let-a-lone find an ad? Although I didn't join that particular crew, I have consciously had many other buoyant travel experiences.

I suppose I've always believed in possibilities. In the end, it’s not what you think that matters, but how you react to your thoughts and to what happens. You learn a lot from whale watching in the Atlantic, like discovering how to sit still for six hours watching and waiting and helping a friend contemplate losing lunch over the side.  Also, while sailing in a yacht race in fog off Nova Scotia, I learned to be vigilent and avoid many possible collisions, while floating along in almost no wind. 

My first sailing lessons as a teen involved shock treatment.  I was initiated and then caught off-guard on lake in Colorado during a freak lightning storm.  Later in life, while deep sea fishing off southern Florida, I held on tightly to the power boat and learned what it meant to return empty-handed. After ocean sailing off the coast of Chile as a guest on a turbulent day, I felt I was still in motion as I kissed the ground.  While Balinese outrigging in a Jukung off Indonesia in the Indian Ocean, I was reminded how to jive in a refreshing breeze. I like to recognize how seafaring interests actually seem to draw certain kinds of people to us.

One friend I invited into my life later told me she grew up the daughter of a Dutch sea captain. Her family traveled regularly by ship from Europe to Asia. You might say she discovered Marco Polo's spice run from different vantage points. Her childhood at sea continues to shape her life choices, to remind her the value of difference, tolerance and understanding. I don't question why I met her. We have a lot in common. Maybe that's why we were drawn together and keep in touch.

I have another friend who used to work in a shipyard and got friendly with many international ship captains. He shared stories with me about the names of ships and captains and some of their regular cargo runs. This friend told me if I ever needed a lift, I could look up certain people in certain ports. This friendliness caused me to think of a couple I know who decided to take a vacation by crossing the Pacific to Asia on an oil tanker.  If they'd been journalists rather than physicians, the public may have gained quirky insight into ship hitchhiking.  They even slept on deck!

You might say I'm fond of ships. One of my friends was sailing a Caribbean charter until his boat was engulfed by a tropical storm. He was rescued by a passing cargo ship and experienced adventure all the way to the it's destination of Amsterdam before flying home to North America to tell his tale.