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Illustration: Gary Hovland
It was the fall of 1978. We'd made the passage from Bermuda to the Caribbean island of St. Bart s aboard my Swan 48 and arrived in the early afternoon with plans for a quick turnaround before heading for our ultimate destination, Antigua. Cleared in and cleaned up, we decided to have dinner and depart in the morning. We dined in an open courtyard under a clear sky with gentle east-northeasterly winds. The moon, almost full, climbed into the night sky.
I changed our plans and decided to sail overnight down to Antigua. When we hoisted our sails and departed, I told everyone to get some shuteye, that I'd stand the first watch. I put Neil Diamond's movie soundtrack to "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" on in the cockpit speakers and sailed down the moondance on a close reach.
I never did wake anyone and watched the magnificent sun rise over our destination to port. It was the most spiritual, beautiful, and heartwarming sail I've ever had. Forty-one years later it's as clear in my mind as this morning’s breakfast.