Chapter 3

[SARA]

She's a coastal cruiser, not really an open ocean yacht, although I've considered an Atlantic crossing many times. I was with her when her keel was set and even helped lay some of her fiberglass reinforcing sheets. I know her from rib to gunwhale and bowsprit to transom. She's my boat, handed down to me by my grandfather. At 33' and with her single mast rigging, she's the perfect size for single handed sailing.

We, my boat and I, left the familiar waters of Nantucket Sound on a south-westerly heading under full sail. The plan was simply to follow the eastern shores of North America down to the warm waters of The Bahamas where I am to connect once again with my love. We are not a couple in the traditional sense, Yulia and I, but rather two kindred spirits who crave each other's presence, each other's touch, each other's love. We live busy lives a world apart from each other and come together to relieve our stress and re-energize our souls.

Laden with supplies and equipment, the boat ran low in the water, but cut her course true nonetheless. As I made my way progressively south, passing the Carolinas, I hugged the coastline to avoid the northerly current of the Gulf Stream, eager to make my best time to Sapphos. The voyage should take around twelve days, maybe fourteen depending on winds and currents. On long ocean voyages, sleep is taken in short spurts around the clock. Being equipped with an auto-pilot and radar, I was comfortable closing my eyes for an hour or two at a time.

Crossing one line of latitude after another the sun became progressively warmer and more inviting. I'm not normally one to spend time seeking the perfect tan. To me, a tan is something that happens simply as a by-product of the life I live at the edge of the ocean. And tan lines are a natural by-product of wearing a variety of outfits while in the sun. But I was on the way to see my love and wanted to look good for her. With the shoreline low on the horizon and not another vessel in sight, I slipped my tee-shirt over my head and dropped my shorts to the deck leaving me completely bare to the sun's rays.

Laying back in the cockpit of my boat with the sun warming my skin, my thoughts drift to the days ahead. I dream of seeing Yulia again, of feeling her lips on mine. My hand slowly rises and fingers trace softly along my neck and down between my bare breasts. Pausing for a moment, I check my heading, glance at the auto-pilot, scan the horizon for other boats, and slowly my eyes close...

My hand drifts down past my breasts and across my belly. Slowly my fingers trace lines out my thigh toward my knee. Without thinking my legs part slightly as I feel her touch climb along the sensitive skin of my inner thighs. Her other hand finds its way to my breasts and begins to play softly with my hardening nipples. As she takes one between her finger tips with gentle pressure, my lips part and a deep breath is exhaled.