Kids at sea get their drivers licenses at a
much younger age than kids on land.
Their car however doesn’t come with brakes, nor do they operate it on
land. Near marinas and anchorages it is
common to see very young kids out driving a dingy or running errands (like
taking the trash out) all by themselves.
One lazy afternoon on the last night of our
trip, the kids on our boat were tossing around their Easter inflatable toys out
on the back deck amid heavy winds swirling into Norman Island's bay. Not surprisingly, one of the toys took flight
and was blown into the bay. Fortunately
there was a gaggle of very young kids out in their dingy taking a joy ride in
the bay. Unfortunately it was Connor’s
Easter toy that was lost and upon seeing the blow up floaty leap into the air
and drift far away they pointed to it and shouted, “Shark!”
They followed the plastic beast and swooped
him out of the sea like a prized catch, then turned wildly and headed upwind
back to our boat, through rollers and spray. The driver, not more than ten,
deftly slowed as he neared , then one of his even younger passengers grinned
wildly and tossed it back to our kids, gave us a friendly wave and then sped off.
This was sailors equivalent of losing a ball
over your backyard fence. Luckily there
were neighbors to toss it back—although in this case, not before briefly
frightening the rest of the neighborhood.
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