Imagine: a salty breeze, a hint of garlic, wine-soaked lips, and suntanned bits!
To be honest, I was super scared, for multiple reasons, but I decided this trip could only be what I make of it. So I booked the first sailing experience through Airbnb and told myself everything would be fine. Enter, Captain David: a France-native living and working in Barcelona with his first true love, Liberty, an Oceanis Clipper 361. Yes, David was amazingly handsome and charismatic, but it was his passion for and knowledge of sailing that drew me back 2 more times.
We sailed from Port Olimpic into the bluest water I have ever seen as David schools us on sailing techniques and facts about the Mediterranean Sea, “The Med.” He draws on about the limited tides in The Med due to its size in comparison to the Atlantic, how far technology has come for sailboats since Christopher Columbus got lost trying to find India, and how important human connection is when learning what you want to be for the word.
Upon finding a perfectly bright, jellyfish free swimming spot, David dropped anchor and turned up the jazzy acoustic covers of Top Pop Artists like Lady Gaga, Destiny’s Child, Beyonce, and even a little 2Pac. He insisted this was the safest of waters as The Med is “shark-free” and only occasional scare is jellyfish, just not today. After David stressed the importance of staying close to the lifebuoy, I found myself weightlessly falling into a beautiful, enveloping, Egyptian Sapphire ocean thinking, “If only these waves could talk.”
Once back on board, I found David had placed a few tanning pads for the other girls and me. As the music played and I reapplied some sunscreen, David and his beautiful French-accented smile handed me a glass of chilled white wine.
“Wait. Did I die?”
“Is this Heaven?”
“Did I finally transport to a different dimension where men bring wine instead of problems?!”
The Med, it hits so differently. After a few sips of wine and a few moments finding reality, I laid back closed my eyes and just listened. Slowly the music started to fade, and the waves began to talk. Man, did they talk. As I feel my skin soaking in the warming rays of the unobstructed sun and the coolness of the salty, ocean breeze, the waves whisper stories of gods and empires, legends and lovers, and victories and losses. The breeze brings smells from David cooking downstairs and an atmosphere of brilliantly, free, and energizing love.
Shortly after David filled our mouths with a second glass of wine and some traditional Spanish toast with local tomatoes and olive oil, thinly sliced Spanish Ham and Manchego cheese, we head back to port. You know the feeling after a long session of mind-blowing, soul exchanging sex? Me neither, however, I imagine it is similar to sitting at the rear of the boat, dangling my feet into the beautifully mystifying water wishing I didn’t have to leave so soon. Weightless. Blissful. Grateful.
The Mediterranean. You should go.
About Lexx 