He shifted the wheel - letting the canvas fill up with more wind - then trimmed the sails again. The boat seemed to move faster then, suddenly tilting to the right, finally slipping so close to the water's edge that the tips of the waves began spraying up and over the side rail. "Nice heel, isn't it?" Zen shouted. He pointed to the quivering arrow at the top of the mast. "What do you think of it, Joe?" I gripped the side of the hull with both of my hands to stop from sliding right off the bench and smiled weakly at him. Knowing what must have been coming, Rosa had returned from the bow and was now bracing all four of her paws against the tilting floor of the cockpit, barking with excitement. "Are you feeling sick, kid?" Zen shouted again. "Or just scared?"

I shook my head, but inside I was holding my breath and shaking like crazy. "Well, you look kind of pale," Zen remarked. "You okay?"

He turned the wheel into the wind. The big wall of canvas began to flutter a little as the boat leveled off. We started to slow down. I felt relieved and began breathing again. "Wasn't that something?" he asked. "Want to try it again?"

He couldn't be serious! Surely he must have seen by the look on my face that I was petrified. "It's okay if you don't," he quickly added, trying to reassure me, but I could sense the disappointment in his voice. "It's no big deal. Don't worry about it. It's not everybody's cup of tea, you know."

I was sure of that. This was nerve-wracking and terrifying! And to think of all the years I'd spent sitting on the dock and daydreaming about being out on the water! I never thought for a moment that it would be like this. I opened my mouth to talk, ready to tell Zen "thanks but no thanks," but for some reason that defied everything I was feeling, I looked him straight in the eye and blurted out something entirely different: "No. I'm alright," I shouted. "Let's go for it again!"