Page 23 of The Sailor in Polynesia
“Do you like cruising?” Jonas asked.
“Of course I do. It’s such a great lifestyle.” I cringed at how rote my words sounded; I hoped he wouldn’t notice the hollowness.
He grunted beside me. “It’s different than I thought it would be.”
“How so?”
He thought for a moment. “When I started watching videos, like yours, online, I thought, yes, this is what I want. My wife would have never agreed to do this. But I can see that doing it with a partner is easier in a lot of ways. Having my brother with me, and the additional crew members, it is more responsibility than I thought it would be. There is too much... complexity?”
“I would imagine so.” I thought about this for a moment. “I guess you have to be responsible for them, and work out shift logistics and money, stuff like that.”
“Yes.” He nodded. “It is complex. And when Lila came on board to be with Eivind, perhaps I see now that they enjoy it more because they are together.”
“That’s good, right?”
“It is good for Eivind,” he said. “But it makes my heart ache a little for what might have been.”
He fell silent and I thought back on my time sailing with Liam and the ups and downs of our relationship.
“Sailing with a partner is hard too, though.”
“Yes, I am certain that is true.” He turned his head to look at me expectantly.
“Maybe it’s like having a kid. Sometimes it makes you stronger and sometimes it makes you weaker. If there are cracks, they start to show. And the cracks grow so quickly.”
“Ja.”
And with that depressing thought, we lapsed into silence, drifting lazily, two divorced people bumping together out in the big world.
* * *
I watched Lila paddle toward me in the late afternoon. She had been practicing most days, while Jonas and I had gotten into a routine of paddling together the past few mornings.
Lila steered the board around toWelina’s stern, where she grabbed the rail and grinned at me. “What do you say to some happy hour?” She gestured to a bag at her feet. “I even came with supplies.”
“Sounds great. Do you want to come in out of the sun?” It was still pretty hot out, and though we had a slight breeze, we were going to be sweaty no matter where we sat.
“Actually”—Lila lifted her sunglasses up—“I was thinking we could open a swim-up bar right here.” She carefully bent down and detached the tether from her ankle and secured it toWelina’s railing. Tucking the paddle up onWelina’s deck, Lila slid off the board and rested her elbows on the top of the paddleboard. She knocked on the “bar.” “Oh, barkeep!”
“Oh, good idea. Let me change.”
“Fine, but I’m starting without you.”
When I came back out, Lila was leaning back, floating under the board with her toes sticking out of the water on the other side. I dove in and resurfaced next to her. A cold beer already waited for me and I took a sip before mirroring Lila.
She sighed in contentment. “The water feels so good.”
“Mmm,” I said in agreement. “It’s very hot inWelina.”
“OnEiktoo. I think some of us are getting a little stir-crazy, and it’s time to move on soon. The heat’s really exacerbating things, though.”
“Oh? Moving on?” I peeked at Lila.
She caught me looking, and grinned. “Jonas’s plan is to get to New Zealand before cyclone season.” I nodded. Most boats flew through the islands to get to safe haven before the seasons changed. “I don’t think Jonas really wants to leave,” she continued, raising an eyebrow at me. “I think he’s having too much fun.”
“I’m having fun with him. You were right: he’s a different person now that he’s gotten over the initial excitement.”
“Yeah, I knew he just needed some time. He’s pretty calm normally, so Eivind just loves being able to tease Jonas about you.”
