On my way out of Key West, I stopped and picked up a few groceries. It took a while to decide what to buy. So many small decisions had to be arrived at on dry land. There were complexities here that did not intrude when I sailed alone in deepwater. Out on the ocean, life was supercharged with simplicity and consequences.

Now the boat was tied to a concrete pier at the shoreline of a trailer park on Stock Island, north of Key West. Turkey buzzards and black vultures continually circled Stock Isla...