Today, we decided to go for a little sail around the islands...just for the sheer enjoyment of sailing (what a concept!) I pictured hanging out on the foredeck with my IPOD, finishing a playlist I was working on for a friend,...enjoying the steady 15 - 20 knot winds and relatively flat seas within the islands. WRONG.

We headed out into the 5-6' swells, put up the main and genoa, heeling waaaay over (as you do with 20 knots of wind & all your sail out), and were debating whether we should have taken some seasick meds for our little 3-hour sail. All of a sudden we heard a CRASH and a bunch of clanging below. I headed down to check it out, and saw that the empty wine bottles had escaped their not-very-secure spot. But more disconcerting was the sound of water running...no gushing...coming from the forward cabin area. I heard Louis say in the background, "did you shut the..." and ran forward to the head (aka bathroom) where GALLONS of water were gushing in through the wide-open side port. Ooops. I yelled up to Louis, "FLATTEN THE BOAT OUT", and tried to jam the port shut against the pressure of water rushing in. All the bathroom "stuff" was floating around in the little shelf below that port (those of you who've visited can picture that - yup, the chopsticks, too) and I was getting drenched trying to shut the damn port. Finally, the boat flattened as Louis turned it downwind, and he brought down the hand pump to pump out the water from the "shelf area" into the drain below. All of this pumping & such happened in a little teeny bathroom the size of a stackable washer and dryer, located in the part of the boat that rocks/pounds the most at sea (the forward part), so you can imagine we were both feeling a little bit pukey at this point.

Near-disaster averted, we return to the cockpit munching a few Salteens trying to focus on the horizon. Louis looks over with that green grimacing look he gets and says, "isn't this fun"? We go on for a bit, and are talking about something, when Louis says to me, "You know, I don't think either of us has thrown up on this whole trip!" He was serious...it just cracked me up. What sailors we are!