Memorial Bench

Anne and Drew spent the night at anchor in Richardson Bay. They were so exhausted from fighting the storm out on the ocean that they did not even notice the beautiful view of Sausalito they had from their cockpit. The second their anchor was safely dug in they retreated to their cabin and slept. The next morning when they awoke they were starving, having not eaten since breakfast the prior day. Their galley was in shambles from the violent ocean, so they decided to treat themselves with a good hearty meal ashore. Besides, they both really wanted to get off the boat.

As Anne stepped on the dock she nearly burst into tears. There were times yesterday when she thought she would never touch land again. She made her way on wobbly legs to a nearby bench. After being at sea it seemed to take her awhile to reacclimatize to the ground NOT moving underneath her feet.

Before breakfast Drew wanted to check with the harbor master about a transient slip for their boat so they could assess the damage and make repairs. The headsail was shredded from being dragged overboard and would need to be replaced, and who knew what else was broken. Anne didn’t want to deal with anything boat related right now, she decided to wait on the bench for Drew.

Hopefully he wouldn’t be too long, she thought, as her stomach growled and complained while she sat, staring out across the bay to their little boat bobbing peacefully at anchor. Soon her thoughts became preoccupied with the storm they had dealt with the day before. She had been so frightened, and their situation had seemed so dire, but she had not had time to dwell on it while they were in the midst of fighting for their lives. Now that she was safe, though, all that emotion came flooding in. Tears streamed down her face as she wondered how she could possibly break it to Drew that she did not want to do this anymore, could not do this anymore. Sailing was just too dangerous, she thought, despite all those years of dreaming about this adventure of traveling the world on their boat, now that the reality was here she knew it was not for her. How would he take it? They had sacrificed everything, their jobs, their home, their savings, for this voyage, and now, just a bit more than a week into it, they would have to give up and return to Portland defeated. As she worried about what to do she noticed something out of the corner of her eye, an inscription on the bench where she was sitting. 

“For My Love, Whose Heart Belongs At Sea”

Anne wiped the tears from her face and stood as Drew approached. “Hey”, she said with resolve “let’s hurry up and get that breakfast, we have a lot of work to do on the boat today if we’re going to get back out there anytime soon.”