I’ve heard a lot of unfounded fears about sailing and living on board, but this one takes the cake. “What if a whale comes up and knocks the boat over? We have a lot of big whales around here.”
To be fair, the person who said this knows nothing about sailing or boating of any kind, from what I’ve gathered. But still. If this were really that big a risk, I’m sure we would hear about it in the news every so often. Instead, car accidents and shootings seem higher on the list of dangers in this city.
I’ve also been told to watch out for pirates, but if they really want to target a 40-year-old cruiser rather than a shiny new yacht, then they probably aren’t very good at what they do. Not that it couldn’t happen, but I’m going to worry about that one about as much as I worry about getting leprosy.

Okay, so it could happen, but seriously. Not my foremost concern.