Capsizing narrative
Capsizing
The cold air was like a wave splashing against me with every wave making me colder. The cold sand underneath my feet quickly made them numb. I am in the South of France near a zone called Le Lavandou; it was in a small area protected by cliff on one side and many boats were parked in the bay . The sun was still low, so the shade was cold, and the tide was far out. We get the boat out and we attach the sail then we hoisted it up; we tie the sail to the mast. We then attach the ropes and we get our lifejackets. “Are we ready to go!?” I yell through the wind.
I then hear my partner next to me yell a faint brief response through the howling wind, “YES!” We start pushing the boat into the water, the boat slowly gets dragged against the cold morning sand into the agitated water.
The waves crashing against the hull make a deep hollow sound that still rings in my ears long after I hear it. I see the sea far out, the waves crashing against the rocks causing an eruption of water to shoot up then falls down like rain in a storm. I hear the distant sound of seagulls and the water splashing against the sand. I smell the smell of saltwater and fresh fish from the nearby restaurants beginning to cook, but we need to go. The cold water slowly cools my legs until I can no longer feel them.
We hop in, lower the rudder, and pull on the rope that tightens the sail. We adjust the rod and shoot forwards. The cold wind rushes past my ears, and the sun was shining high above. We pull the rod, turning the boat into the wind. The boat picks up speed causing it to tilt forwards as it rockets ahead. The wind is now a howl and it flies past my ears. I can't hear my brother but he signal to me that we need to continue forwards. The wind beats against my eyes spraying salty water all over me as I squint. Out of the corner of my eyes I can see the land slowly getting farther away, smaller and smaller; I can't tell one building apart from the other. We exit the last buoy.
We are now in deep waters where the sea is a dark greenish blue and the waves are bigger and colder as they beat against the boat, spraying water all over us and causing the boat to go up and down like a merry-go-round but soon we need to turn. We push the rod and pull the rope to turn back towards the beach. Once the sail moves to the right side we let go of the rope and go back towards the beach. We slowly gain speed and we can now see the boats parked on the sand as we cross the buoy and enter a calmer shallower part protected from the wind by a cliff.
We turn we push the rod and pull the rope causing the boat to turn but the rope is stuck and one side of the boat starts slowly lifting. I yell through the wind “WE ARE CAPSIZING!”. We don't know what to do. I rush to the highest point on the top of the hull but soon the boat flips over and I fall onto the sail. The water slowly covers the sail and I soon get wet. The cold water is a shock compared to the warm dry hull of the boat, jolting me awake.
I reach for the rope and unblock it, making the boat unable to leave without me when I flip it back over. The cold water is up to my waist as my legs are numb, and I am treading water. I swim to the other side and find my partner in the water moaning in displeasure “WHY!” I then progress to find the rope from the mastand I put it over the side of the boat so that I can lean on it as a counterweight; the boat slowly flips back over, sending me once again crashing into the cold salty water. I swim back to the boat, climb on and straighten the rod. We pull the rope to continue and we slowly gain speed.
We shoot forwards. I look ahead and I can see an island far out with lots of big ships around it, maybe cargo ships, or crew ships, but it was still too far to tell for sure, but from the island’s dark green color it seems to have a big forest and lots of vegetation. The island slowly gets bigger and I can see small houses on the coast and a small street far away. The boats are mostly passenger ships. We turn around and make sure to unblock the rope and start going back. The water is a blur and the parked boats shoot by on both sides of my boat as we approach the shore. We turn the boat towards the beach, and the boat slowly loses speed before we hit the shore, and with a jolt we get out soaked and freezing.
That was why you don't put speed before efficiency or well-being because sometimes fastest is not the best.