I learned to sail in Sausalito as a teenager. Somehow it was second nature to me. In my first year of college, I was asked to be a first mate on a small sloop to sail around the world for 3 years. This was a huge effort to drop out of college, accept the role, and then outfit the boat for a voyage.
We made it down to Baja Mexico and decided to return to San Diego to reprovision and see our families. My captain was older and one of his knees collapsed on the way back. I found him a ride back to San Diego and I began to ready the boat to sail alone back to San Diego.
This was a stressful time dealing with doctors in Ensenada and the pain and panic that my captain was going through. So I made mistakes when launching. I realized as evening was falling that foul weather was coming. I had no choice but to push forward to sail home.
I found myself in the darkest most dangerous storm that I ever sailed in. I sailed through the night with pitch black skies and waves crashing over the decks and over my back. I thought I was going to sink or be crushed. It was the first and only time I ever heard myself whimper. Praying and hoping that I could keep the boat upright and safe, and hopefully not be ripped off by a crashing wave.
I survived and I knew it was only by the grace of god. I was too young to be taken. That god was Neptune. So when it came time to bring a gift to the playa of Burning Man of course it would be a gift to be seen by Neptune, Pacific!
