Once she was on the trailer I started the task of emptying her and preparing for the long way home. I was devastated at the thought that Mekićevica was leaving the Adriatic after performing so fantastically well and being complimented at every harbour and bay we visited. I was talking to her all the time and maybe my brain is getting soft with the age because I could swear that she told me that she would like to stay and that we had a wonderful together but time has come to move on.
So I breathed deeply, took courage, walked into the sailing school office and asked: "Do you know of anybody I could make happy by giving them a small sailing boat?"
Emil, the man I was talking to, didn't find my question strange at all. He seemed to read my every thought and feeling and assured me that he had done exactly the same thing with some of his previous boats. Before long, I was talking to a very enthusiastic guy named Hrvoje who was absolutely over the moon at the prospect of taking over Mekićevica.
The next morning, we dealt with the paperwork of the ownership transfer, and then drove Mekićevica to his family's place in the outskirts of Split where she was craned onto wood blocks.
So it was that I granted Mekićevica her wish to stay in the Adriatic, moreover in the hands of someone who will take good care of her. On top of that I made good friends in Split and received a life-long invitation to come and visit and sail Mekićevica whenever I want.
But I will miss that beautiful little boat....
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THE END
