November 13

3.  That’s the number of times I have actually slept outside on my boat in a year. Two of them were a result of being intoxicated and because my tall brothers can’t really fit to sleep anywhere inside, so I joined on the other side of the cockpit bench.

Finally though, time #3 happened by choice because it was a warm, calm night with a bright moon. I had just read a blog of Liz Clark who is sailing around the South Pacific right now and she pointed out something to the effect of sleeping outside is good for you. It is, I woke up more naturally and felt pretty fresh. Thankfully the cushions outside are comfortable.

I remember when I was younger sleeping outside at my dad’s old condo in Sunnyvale. The place was underneath the flight-path for Moffett Field, which practiced helicopter and C-130 (big 4-propeller transport plane) drills at night. I would be sleeping on the patio furniture with a big blanket and feel the rumbling and hear the churning of engines approach, look up and see the landing gear lights zoom by overhead. There was a bakery across the street so every morning you could wake up to fresh baked bread.

I’ll probably do this more often now.