The Foreign Service Journal, May 2016

44 may 2016 | the foreign Service journal Setting Sail: A NewWorld of Challenges and Adventures By Edmund Hul l I abbreviated my Foreign Service career at age 55. Three factors influenced that decision. First, in 2004, any future path for an Arabic- speaker led through Iraq and, like many in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, I saw our invasion as a mistake fraught with tragic choices. Second, I had an excellent academic job waiting that would last at least a year. Third, I had long wanted to sail seriously, and I thought best to undertake that challenge physically fit. On occasion, I regretted my choice. I saw col- leagues pursue more fulfilling diplomatic careers despite or because of their Iraq service. Good friends assumed leading roles in the State Depart- ment, and I calculated that I would have fared well in the “D” committee. In retrospect, I felt that I left a lot of power and prestige on the table. My compensation was great, however, because after two years of teaching, I did, indeed, embark upon a true adventure that would have been difficult, if not impossible, in later life. I bought a sailboat and with it a new world of challenge. My experience was not that of the boating magazines— smooth sailing under blue skies in crystal clear tropical waters. The first couple years on the Chesapeake Bay were dedicated, literally, to learning the ropes—how to set sails, including big head sails like a gennaker; and, more importantly, how to douse themwhen a sudden thunderstorm leaves you seriously over- canvassed on a boat veering out of control. Even more challeng- ing, for a policy wonk like me, was learning how to keep a diesel engine operating reliably. Both physically and intellectually, I was well out of my comfort zone. In 2008, after a couple of years of making mistakes on the Bay, I decided to try an offshore passage to Bermuda, then on to Maine. With me was Len Hawley, an experienced sailor, with whom I had worked on peacekeeping and counterterrorism at State. We made it half way before head winds, fuel shortage and a fresh water leak dictated a new strategy. We hove to for two days waiting for a weather break so we could recross the Gulf Stream, and then headed northwest to Montauk. With little fuel, our sailing skills were severely tested over the next three days. In the Montauk channel, our starved engine actually sputtered before a slight grounding pushed the last bit of fuel from the tank and into the engine. I would subsequently make Casco Bay in Maine, Bermuda on my second try, the Bahamas a couple years later, then Bermuda- Azores-Gibraltar. In 2011, the western Mediterranean; and, Retired FSO Edmund Hull aboard S/V Panope in Gibraltar after his 2011 transatlantic passage. COURTESYOFEDMUNDHULL