Straight on till morning

11.53 am

I spent all of yesterday with the boy on the boat. It was one of those perfect days, where the wind was blowing steady off the Golden Gate and there were sailboats all out along the water. We even saw two tall ships, both with square sails. One was brightly painted, and the other was all dark and looked like a pirate ship. We sailed out into the bay, past all the piers, under the Bay Bridge, past Treasure Island, and out to Alcatraz. Treasure Island was all vacation homes and brightly painted lighthouses. Alcatraz looked as though someone had packed up and left around 1950 and nobody had ever gone back. The buildings are all falling apart, some of them gutted by fire. Windows are smashed out. Even the trees were brown and dying. The wind died as we rounded Alcatraz and turned back toward the marina. It took a rather long time to get back. Boy said it was because we had forgotten to throw a nickel into the water for the Wind Gods.

Then I opened my email this morning and saw that two men had died in a race out on the Gate Saturday afternoon. Which puts things into perspective - the ocean is beautiful, but she is harsh and she is wild and she will not hesitate to kill.