I saw a boat on the blue sliver of the Adriatic west of Motovun as soon as I opened the bedroom shutters this morning. As always, the sight made me so very happy. Actually, I was positively thrilled. This is my fourth boat in almost four years. My fourth freighter, to be exact. Of course, smaller boats are much harder to spot, and the air is seldom as clear as it is today. My delight started me thinking, though. The best explanation I can come up with is that I am always surprised by the proximity of the sea, for the boats strike me as considerably larger than I would expect them to be. As the crow flies, the sea is only fifteen kilometers away, but it seems to me to be much farther. At any rate, I hope I will not adjust my expectations all that quickly, if at all. The joy of boat spotting from Motovun is too much to forego.