I’m back in Fiji. All of my bathing suits are a different shade of purple and I’m swimming against a current. I wonder where I’d end up if I succumbed and let the current have it’s wild way with me. The prairie’s edge? The galactic side of the salt? A seesaw made of sun? The …
SHOCKWAVES
I’m anchored off of Namotu Island. It’s five acres of sand in the shape of an avocado with bures (wood and straw huts) and boats and surfboards and baby turtles. The bottle blue surf of Swimming Pools breaks all over it. It’s a surfer’s slice of paradise. There are waves but I’m too weak to …
The Sea Saved Me From Myself
Without the sea, I'm a total mess. Eight years ago I made this Caribbean-style dress. It's forest green with fringe and neon beads. At the time, I was living on a 26 ft. sailboat in Jamaica Bay. The boat didn't belong to me. I don't even remember her name. I will call her No Name. …
Skeleton Woman
https://vimeo.com/333168639 Everybody knew that the Coral Sea was haunted by the ghost of the heartbroken. And the ghost who rattled the loudest among the pulsing of the whales and the sharks and the sea dragons, was named Viola. Viola’s story is a sad story. It begins once upon a time on the far side of …
SAILING IN A SEA OF QUICKSAND
I had been warned, but nothing could have truly prepared me for the sail from Kaua'i back to O'ahu The day after the forest, Sam and I snorkeled, climbed palm trees that grew sideways, and watched an endangered monk seal beach itself. Have you ever seen a wrasse? That species of fish is hard to …
Harmonic Current
The seas effects on me are greatest when I’m alone. I imagine it’s because I am in a more heightened state and can more prominently feel that energy that pulses through everything. That energy that is neither fixed nor permanent. That energy that holds in its realms the possibility of both creation and destruction. That …
Blue Fairytale
I see two little white tropicbirds, with tail feathers longer than their bodies, flying somewhere towards a world of fish. One bird does not flap in front of the other. They are synchronized the way that lovers are. With minds, wings, and bodies intertwined in an exquisite romantic lunacy. The moon has grown small and …
Feathers Flying
Last night I sailed through a gale. I said a prayer, gave my ship over to God, and slept in the quarter berth. Waves pushed under the boat and lifted me in the air. Everything that was dry is now wet: pillows, clothes, books, cushions, wood floors, my hair, the deck, the cockpit, all soaked …
West Butterfy
I haven’t consumed anything but the fallen grapes, an orange, water, and a protein bar since setting sail yesterday. I don’t feel hunger or exhaustion or seasickness, I feel every nerve in my body. And they are all screaming “what the hell are you doing out here?” The feeling reminds me of first time I …
Letting Go Of Land
A few months ago my dock neighbor went out for a solo day sail and they later found his boat, but not his body. He was no novice. I heard he could ride the swell like a true cowboy. That his heart was made of seawater. That he had fins for limbs. I think about …
