I'm not sure what the odds are on getting hit by a flying fish, but I reckon they are pretty slim. So, I'm on a night watch as we are sailing the 800 odd nautical miles from Guatemala to Florida last week. I was being pretty lazy on my watch and only really looking around every 5 minutes or so... it was the middle of the night and there was nothing to see. The radar confirmed this with a blank screen showing 24 nautical miles of empty ocean in all four directions. Still, it's our procedure to keep an active look out for lights. Keeping with procedure I step outside for a futile look in to the deep darkness of a moonless night, then WHAM a flying fish SMACKS me in the chest. Somehow Mr. Fish made his statistically unlikely way through the small window flap in front of the steering wheel and smacks me at the particular moment I happen to be standing there. Whoa! And I utter a major "What the heck was that"? or at least something similar... use your imagination. It's pitch dark at the moment, I reactivity grab at my chest like a gun shot victim, having no idea what just happened. I touch slime and my imagination runs wild for a few seconds. Is this a nightmare, I'm try to think rationally, but the situation scream wildly with sleep depraved manic thoughts of alien attacks or giant squid. With a substantial amount of adrenaline coursing through my veins, I turn on my head lamp to the relief of JUST a flying fish flopping on the deck. Whew, it's all good . Just a wet slimy fish spot including more than a few scales on my shirt. Darn if I didn't just laugh out loud for thinking I'd just been attacked by some sea monster or aliens.
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