A
week later, back in Copenhagen, staying at an upscale hostel, waiting for Ben
and Steph to arrive, Alexander and I have a couple days free and when he asks
what we are going to do today I say that I want to go back and see my boat
again (maybe even snatch my bag off of it ready to flee back to Canada). So we
do. We take the train to the nearest station and then walk towards the ocean.
This time the only
person on the boat is a college student from Spain, Aitor, who is also booked
to sail the first leg. He is happy to let Alexander and I look over the boat at
our leisure. It seems a lot bigger than before. Also he points out to us that
there will only be a maximum of 12 people on board, not 14, which, somehow
seems to make a difference. Certainly 12 will easily sit round the salon table
for meals. Certainly the boat will sleep 12 without too much trouble. Certainly
it will all work. We test out all the bunks and I choose the one I want. It is
in the foremost cabin, a cabin that sleeps 4, but has several advantages; it is
big enough that one can breathe in it, it has a few cupboards, it has its own
head (washroom). I choose the exact bunk I want and put my bag on it to claim
it. Part of the reason that I chose a bigger boat this year was to look for
more community, more camaraderie, so why not start out by choosing a bunk in a
room for four? It fits. I like it.
We, Alexander and
I, continue poking about, check out the captain’s cabin and look to see what is
in the compartments under the floor. Yes, to both of us the boat seems bigger
than on our previous visit, scarier perhaps, but bigger. The student is
friendly. The day is sunny. I decide that, despite my previous misgivings, I am
going to go. The duffel bag I have left on the boat seems large so I go through
everything in it trying to decide what I could possibly pare out and send home with
my son but apart from my foul weather gear, first aid kit, and snorkel, I have one
book, one polar fleece, three pairs of shorts, four t-shirts, and a couple of
sun dresses… nothing that seems large or un-necessary. I decide to keep it all.
Most of my clothes come from ValuVillage anyway and so could be left at any
port along the way should I decide that I really have too much stuff.
OK, I decide (not
for the first time). I will go. Why not?
