“(S)He who is not everyday conquering some fear, has not learned the secret or life.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson The closer I get to land, the more fevered I become. I’m sailing the Koro Sea towards Savusavu all swivel-eyed and slack-jawed. The swell is surging, the wind is rising, and the sun is sinking west …
SLINKING MY WAY TOWARDS SAVUSAVU
I made It through the night with some glitter left over. I am in the future now, tomorrow plus 22 hours. I can see the peaks of Taveuni. I can taste the mangos of Mango Island. I can hear strings strumming a tender song. Last night I sailed through squalls, then stars, then squalls, then …
A DANDELION IS POPPING UP
I am in the calm before the storm. The sun is up, the breeze has no bite, and the swell is microscopic. It won’t last for long. Everything is about to wake up in a salt and sour mood. And I have an absolute splitting headache over the thought of it all. I’m on the …
THE MYSTIQUE OF THE OCEAN
I found something that I wrote during my voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti. It’s odd how easily I forget the things that I already know. July 2020 - “The past couple or days, some hours have drifted by without enough wind to toot a horn. I’m not really in a rush. That’s sailing. That’s life …
THE SKY IS SQUID INK
This has been a religious experience, all of it. My lessons: Don’t rush this. Don’t rush anything. Don’t force anything. Don’t chase the wind. Don’t try to change the wind. You can’t change the wind, you can’t change anything outside of you. Enjoy the wind for what it is. I spent the morning running from …
I AM A LIZARD BENEATH LIGHTNING
I’m on Day 3 of 10 knots true wind or less. With the swell and sails I am making some progress. Sometimes the opposite of what I think is true, is true. Them sails don’t like to be full when the wind is light like this. You gotta reef them, especially the jib, otherwise they …
THIS SALTWATER DRUG
“When a halo rings the moon or sun, the rain will come upon the run.” Ice crystals cloaked last nights moon, creating a rainbow halo around it that was big enough to house a million wild horses. Squalls squatted on the horizon like trolls just beyond it. Mercurial microbursts came and went, blowing wind then …
HIGH ON THE SEA
Don’t forget to look up, buttercup. I slept, honey, I slept. Not for long though. I went through some screeching squalls last night. Big rain. Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat. Juniper was soaring with her double-reefed main only. And Ruby, the hydrovane, held solid through it all. I didn’t have to lift a finger. Ruby and I have been …
WOMAN AGAINST ELEMENTS, WOMAN AGAINST MACHINE
Baby, if your uncomfortable in the ocean then you just gotta change your relationship to the motion of the ocean! THE ELEMENTS Wait, before I get into the red light, can we talk about yesterday again real fast? About how it just went on and on and on, all night and throughout today. About how …
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IT’S THE WATER THAT I FEAR
The wind is sublime and the swell tender. I’m watching the sun drop down a sea glass sky with clouds so perfect and cumulus that this could be a painting. I just received the below dispatch from 22 South, and I’m thanking my lucky stars that I‘m not in that mess: “Mate I’ve been having …
