Aside from what it teaches you there is simply the indescribable degree of peace that can be achieved on a sailing vessel at sea. I guess a combination of hard work and the seemingly infinite expanse of the sea - the profound solitude - that does it for me.
A rumor that followed me forever was that my family was in the mafia. For years I had to live with it. They'd call me the mafia princess so I rolled with it for the rest of high school. People even joke about it today.
