Denise are you ready for this? We are currently living aboard in a country where it is illegal to sail alone! Yes it's true. The powers that be consider single handed sailing to be verrry dangerous.
So, neither Manny nor I get to test our skills alone over here. And that's too bad, because it has, in an underhanded way, reinforced that lack of independance that you are talking about. I do get out in our hard
dinghy and sail it around the marina and the bay. Folks think it's pretty weird to see a grown woman sailing an optimist-sized
dinghy, but it's my way of getting off with the wind on my own.
Nothing blows away your cares like an hour or two alone on the water.
Robyn