Sailing Uphill

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Think of "sailing, " the word, and all the idyllic images it evokes about visiting new and exciting places while enjoying sunny skies, refreshing free winds, crystal waters, aquatic life and gentle moonlight peeking between scudding clouds on balmy evenings. Imagine relaxing with a refreshing drink after each satisfying few hours of delight on the water, perhaps sharing experiences with other boaters and planning your next day's exciting, sun-blessed experience. Do these images tell a true story? Are they not similar to those seen on TV advertising far-away locations and water parks and perfect people, perfectly dressed for their perfect fun and the enjoyment promised? Do these images represent reality part of the time? Practically none of the time? Choose the last answer, and you'll be knocking on Truth's door. Could this true story be about a happily married, late middle-aged couple with limited finances, romantically cruising aboard a beautiful ocean-sailing yacht after years of nose-to-the-grindstone work, sacrifice, irony and setbacks? Sorry, no dice. Wrong story! The "adventures" unfolding in the following pages are not only at odds with armchair-reader myths about cruising under sail in general, but examine the subject of odds-that ratio of numbers expressing the probability of an event happening to the probability of its not happening. In a typical lottery with numbers ranging from one to fifty-two, the odds of success are billions to one. We should have chosen the lottery. Sailing was the easy part. Getting the darned boat to go uphill was the problem.