It was kind of chilly to go sailing Saturday morning; unseasonably chilly for the middle of August at least. I didn't care one bit though. The water is what I live for. I swear, I think I was born at sea if I didn't know better. It's funny since my parents hate swimming and can't stand the beach. I love it, even after the fact it's my favorite place to travel to.
My girlfriend Jessie was with me. We just needed to get away from our jobs for the weekend so I convinced her that the beach was the best place to go. I woke her up super early and we both got ready. We headed out to the dock where they rented boats out of and I picked a small sail boat that wouldn't be too hard to manipulate on the water but still allow Jessie the chance to sail for her first time without being overwhelmed by it.
I'm pretty experienced when it comes to this and so we set out for the blue water. I got the sails rigged, the line released and we hit a nice breeze that pushed us out into open water.
Kathy took off her beach wear and decided to relax on deck in her bikini to get a tan. I decided I was best served keeping us on course and afloat. The sun got hotter as we sat so I pulled the sail and dropped an anchor. We both dove into the clear water to cool down. We swam a little and played a bit before hopping back on the boat.
We laid out and wound up falling asleep only being woken up by loud laughter. When I came to I saw a speed boat on course with us. The people on it were laughing and partying, booze in hand and not at all paying attention to what they were doing. I hoisted up the anchor and Kathy assisted as best she could.
Sailboats aren't known for their speed in getting going so while I worked fast Kathy tried to get the speed boat's attention. It was too late as the speed boat continued toward us, ramming our port side. I was trapped under falling debris and nearly drowned as a result.
Kathy was floating face down on the surface of the water and I swam as hard as I could to reach her and was able to turn her to her back and performed mouth to mouth as best I could. The speed boat continued at the highest speed it had away from us. Obviously scared and shocked by the accident. We remained floating for at least three hours before another ship came into our lane.
I had a broken arm and lacerations. Kathy was bruised and shocked but ok in the end. The speed boat was caught by the coast guard and properly arrested. The driver was sued and lost his house. Chalk one up for the good guys.
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