3 Sharks: A Sailing Story

I'm in a very small (19 ft) fishing boat some 25 miles off the coast of Kenya. The boat has a major malfunction causing loss of power and a large hole through which the Indian Ocean is rapidly pouring in. There are no tools, no radio communications, no flares or other modern day emergency equipment that could help this 3rd World country desperate situation. The journey to get to this moment in time was not without its own very challenging issues. Maybe the writing was on the wall.....this was not going to be a good day! When you have nobody to rely on but yourself, your own resources and major fear to drive you, you'll be surprised at what you are capable of. There are 3 sharks in this story, two that swim and one of the two-legged variety. Each provides an important element to me finding myself in this terrible situation. At the end of the day I am alive to recount this story thanks to the availability of a man's dress. It would make the 'sail' that together with the 'adrenaline' was responsible for bringing our small boat safely home from well beyond the African horizon. It was my first sailing experience, a sailing lesson like none other. Today I work with sailing greats like Dennis Conner, Jimmy Spithill, Brad Webb and others as I charter very large and famous "America's Cup" racing yachts across America. And today....I do know how to sail properly.