This is just a somewhat accurate story of how I ended up here:
I was navigating the waters between Facebook's sailing groups when I came across a sailboat that seemed to be adrift. I made sure the VHF radio was on and on the emergency channel, and then I changed course to follow the mysterious ship. I used caution and sailed downtempo. "Social media is full of pirates", a friend told me once. "Better be safe than sorry", I thought. After all, I was alone in my sailboat armed only with a flare gun and an "unfollow" button.
The sea was a little confused, with waves coming from two directions, and there was some early morning fog. I quickly turned on the radar to make sure that I wasn't seeing a ghost ship, a mirage, and... there it was on the screen: a blip right where I was seeing a somewhat colorful head-sail over the horizon.
The AIS didn't show any ship info being transmitted from it. It seemed to be sailing at 2 knots on a broad reach pushed by the morning breeze and rolling happily. I was catching up quickly, despite my intention of just following it at a distance. I thought about reefing the main sail but decided instead to keep my approach in order to take a closer look.
What was this sailboat doing in the middle of the ocean heading pretty much nowhere? It could be sailing faster towards known cruising grounds but instead it seemed adrift. Was it crewed? Why was the anchor light on? I could see that light clearly shining on top of the mast, swinging with it. There was what looked like a pod dolphins swimming around it... Where did I leave my binocs?
Coming back up to the cockpit after finding my binoculars down on the chart table, I noticed that the ship had changed course and was now heading towards me. "Oh, boy", I thought. The radio was still silent so, after a minute of hesitation, I hailed them but got no response. Their anchor light was shining brighter and getting closer. I could see an anime character painted on the head-sail. "Nice artwork", I thought.
And just then, the whole scene became clear through the binocs. I could not believe my eyes! It looked like an after party! Picture this scene: there was a guy tied to a halyard and hanging from the top of the mast. He was alive, swinging and singing. He was moving his arms like an orchestra director. A second dude was pretending to be a sea drogue, or so it occurred to me. He was drinking a bottle of rum while resting inside a semi-deflated life-raft that was tied to the stern of the boat. Or was it the dinghy? Anyway...
When we were close enough, I maneuvered my sailboat to place it abeam of the other yacht. I could now see it's name printed clearly. @knOt was its name. Then I noticed a guy, who I later got to know as 
"Heyyyyy, sailor!", the lady shouted with what seemed to be a cute Russian accent. She almost fell over board when she started waving. All the while, believe it or not, a Lemur mascot was at the helm and it had a worried look on its face. It was wearing a harness. I would have too.
- "Are you all OK?", I shouted back at the lady, probably with a worried look on my face... just like the Lemur's.
- "We're fine!", she replied, with a big smile on hers. "Just too much vodka flooding the bilge and slowing us down... but we're working on it. The zebra broke the pump, so it is taking us a long time to drink it all. Would you care to join us and help us out with the vodka situation?", the Russian lady asked with what could have been the tone of voice of a mermaid.
"Never trust Russian women", a friend once told me. "They interfere with your erections", he warned. Or was it "directions"? In any case, I was curious.
- "Where are you headed?", I asked.
- "To the future", she replied with a wink. "To the Seas of Steem!".
That was the day I joined Steemit and the @knOt crew. :)
Hi Steemians. I am originally from Argentina and I am currenly landlocked in Miami. I look forward to go where the wind blows or the current takes me. The only thing that matters to me is that I do it downtempo so I can appreciate the journey.
I am an aspiring skipper of my own sailboat, which I hope to purchase sometime soon so I can someday cruise all over the world. I have a world cruising superpower: I speak fluently Spanish, French, English and Portuguese (in that order of proficiency... so please, excuse my English). I hope I can some day share those adventures with you.
I also hope you enjoyed the vodka-induced way of introducing myself.
Fair winds and a following sea... or happy steeming.