Get Off Your High Horse

“Sailbad the Sinner” is the name of an old sailboat owned by Baptist Minister, Jess Moody. One day, Moody and his son boarded the little sloop at a Florida Everglades dock and set off on a wild ride to nearby Palm Beach Inlet. Moody tells the story of what happened:

It is a twenty-five minute trip from the Everglades dock to Palm Beach Inlet, the entrance into the open ocean. As we neared the inlet, I noticed my son, Pat, straddling the pulpit. The pulpit is the very fore part of the boat, called the “bowsprit.” It is the place from which the old-time “pulpit riders” on the giant schooners warned the captain and crew of submerged danger ahead. This was my son’s favorite spot. He’d ridden up there every time we went out to the inlet. The waves or swells were always just active enough to give him a mild dash of excitement. This time, as we turned into the inlet, I noticed…