Our journey south, prologue

Life has thrown a few surprises my way, not the least of which is that the place that I now call home, floats! Trading the land for the sea as my permanent abode was probably the biggest surprise of all. When I was 8 years old I almost drowned, this happened after leaping head first into a swimming pool and knocking myself senseless on the pool floor.
Ever since that day I have had a very real fear of water, to the extent of never letting the water come above my shoulders, even in a Jacuzzi. I swim like a turtle when it comes up for air, with my head held high and hair completely dry, sad I know, but then we all have our fears whether it's mice, spiders, heights etc.
In my teenage years came the release of "Jaws," OH no, more fear of water, I wouldn't even take a bath for a month, it was showers only.
So here I am, moving onto one of those dreadful, floating confined spaces (my version of a boat) where the very real possibility of drowning is an everyday occurrence. Yet I'm about to embark on a journey where I will lose sight of land for possibly days at a time, and the big bitey things in the ocean will be circling below patiently waiting for me to trip up, initiating the 'Man overboard' procedure. All the while they will be gathering in huge numbers yelling to each other "dinner's served"...