All the Salt

           "So many things on this trip have changed me. This trip has made me comfortable with who I am. I have done so many things I never thought I would do. I have been aloft 90ft in the air in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight. I have taken a shower on deck of a schooner in the rain. I have fallen asleep in my hammock, listening to the sound of Lizzie singing while watching the stars shine. I have jumped off the head rig into 10,000 feet of clear, blue ocean water while Joy dish soap runs from my hair into my eyes, and I have cleaned "big red" the best she has ever been cleaned, in the middle of a gale with 13 foot waves.

            This trip has made me want to sail more. This trip makes me crave adventure. I want to travel and live in Italy and France. I want to volunteer at orphanages in third world countries.  I just want to be spontaneous and go new places and meet new people. I want to learn how to surf and play the guitar. And I want to try ice cream in every country. I want to come back on Gamage and work as a deckhand. But right now I just want to enjoy this moment and know that once I get off the plane in snowy Boston, and am suffocated by hugs from my family that it was all worth it. All the salt. All the exhaustion. All the tears and wanting to give up. I did it. I lived on a schooner for two months and helped run it. I lived. And I had a damn good time doing it." Final Reflection -Bailey Rymes