Sailors take warning

Over at The Atlantic ( appropriately enough) a writer named William Langewiescher has penned a dry, awful account of the sinking of the U.S. Cargo ship El Fargo. All hands lost. Good, awful, tragic read.

Anyone who's been through one of these ocean adventures knows that it's pretty much a matter of the dice rolling, one way, or the other. I've done it twice, and I while I haven't quit sailing, I'd just as soon not toss those dice a third time. Of course, on most voyages, you don't know that the odds are waiting for you when you walk so jauntily down the pier in your Bermuda shorts and Top Siders. Ain't life a kick in the ass?