It was early January, and I was stranded in Athens midway to Leros, where Zvi was already waiting for me. The plan was to sail my Genesis to Tel Aviv just the two of us, talk, and work on our Action Guide project. It was 2010, and outside was the biggest storm in the Mediterranean we have seen for years.
I called Zvi from Athens to update him that nothing takes out to sea or to the air due to the weather other than the big liner, so I will only arrive the next day. I checked politely if he would still be up for it; given the big storm, and this is what he said to me, It never left me since:
Storms are not innately bad, regardless of how big they might be. It is not the strength of the wind that matters, but rather it's the direction that counts. We will wait until the storm is right above us and the wind shifts to North North West and set out to sea. I loved him for that answer. It wasn't about how much a storm can startle you but rather about where it can take you. And It wasn't just about sailing too, it was about life and how one should go through it.
Sure enough, the wind carried us to Tel Aviv in record time, and the picture below was taken just as we were leaving the sheltered waters of Leros.
This is who Zvi Dorner was for me. Zvi passed away today. Fair winds and following seas on your final passage, my friend.
We shell sail again someday.
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