It was really brought home on this trip, even though we were less than 15 miles out along the Delmar Penn. We were far enough down wind of Ocean City it was faster to continue on to the Chesapeke than to go back. Further more the main VHF decided it wasn't going to transmit that far so we were down to our handheld.

So the combination of a first passage on a new boat for us, a gale warning for 36 hours ahead, broken traveler, injured crew, later on rain, all made for a very worrisome night. Gave a lot of thought as too what I had gotten us all into, especially for our little one as she was there just because mom and dad were there. She had a pretty stiff upper lip though and announced to mom after being sick for some six hours that it was ok cause sometimes you just get sick on a boat. No idea where at three she came up with that.

Dad worried all night and if it weren't for the fall it would have been a normal first passage on a new used boat where one discovers all kinds of things don't work as expected and while the weather forecast was going down hill it was for far enough in the future that for the distance we had to go it wasn't of much concern. The ride would have been smoother with the main up but even if my wife had hoisted it it would have needed tending all night and I wasn't capable of doing that.

Actually the worst part of the trip was sailing along at 7k in pitch black night and rain with seas running 4' plus so the lights on the ATN were only visible from about a half mile away instead of a couple of miles. Along this route there is little in the way of shipping so the few ships we saw were generally several miles off and of no concern to us as we were in water to shallow for them. Still very wierd barrelling along in space with no stars, shore lights, just your own running lights. Done it many times before but circumstances made for a different feel to it all.

You can spend all the money and tome in the world learning how to cope with every possible thing that can happen on board and yet not cover all the possibilities. This time it was all the years of sea time for both of us that got us through, that's something that can't be taught. Time on the water, get as much as possible in as many different conditions as possible, and if sailing short handed like we are than both of you need time at sea and your spouse or significant other needs to be able to handle the boat on their own. I stayed on deck because I would have stiffened up and had a hard time getting up again but Tonia was capable of taking over if need be, this time she had enough to do with a sea sick three year old who was perceptive enough to know things weren't right. Fact she said she and mom could drive so I could sleep.

All on all this time every thong turned out ok but it was a reminder that life is very fragile and could have had a very different out come. ER doc said he sees folks with worse injuies than mine from shorter falls all the time. So make sure your crew is capable of taking over at any time. I know Tonia can but in the next few months she is going to learn a lot more about handling a boat before we head off away from the assistance we all take for granted here in the land of plenty.

Thanks to all for your thoughts on this subject