Home again safe and sound from an alternately becalmed, lively, serene and terrifying (exhilrating, to Jim) sail… We often joke when we are out sailing that we are in the business of ‘making scenery’ for everybody else. Funny how serene a sailboat can look from a distance as it heels over in the wind. But don’t assume its occupants are likewise sighing in serenity!
Take this picturesque schooner for example—evidence of a very windy day!… How much wind do you suppose it takes to fill such sails? We had a taste of it! Just having come through our most harrowing bit of wind and sea ever we saw this schooner heading where we had been… Just after I snapped these shots he thought better of catching all that wind and took in his biggest sail. I could only wish we had been able to do the same…
Twenty knot wind and choppy 3-foot waves are not serene to me… but it can certainly look wonderful from a distance….
No, what I enjoy most about sailing is the scenery I get to see, not be!
the tranquil evenings at anchor or dock,
and the quiet waking to see blue sky where stars had been when you shut your eyes…
(provided you haven’t sunk in the night!) Yikes. We saw this poor boat at a dock we visited… but that’s not a thought to think when you’re thinking of things you like about sailing…
So will leave you instead with an enchanting song that captures serenity for me…
Small craft in a harbour that’s still and serene,
Give no indication what their ways have been;
They rock at their moorings all nestled in dreams,
Away from the roll of the sea.
Their stern lines are groaning a lullaby air,
A ghost in the cuddy, a gull on the spar;
But never they whisper of journeys afar,
Away from the roll of the sea.
Oh, had they the tongues for to speak,
What tales of adventure they’d weave;
But now they are anchored to sleep,
And slumber alee.
Come fair winds to wake them tomorrow, we pray,
Come harvest a-plenty to them ev’ry day;
Till guided by harbour lights they’re home to stay,
Away from the roll of the sea.
Ahh…. now that’s serenity…
–LS
“And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.” Is.32:18