Something within is driving me to find that awe moment of sailing that I had experienced from my first ever sailing on the Corwith Kramer and the second trip with Sea Dragon around the Dominican Republic. Reaching these moments where I felt high off of life is much more rewarding when I had to work for it.
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Gulf Stream: Reflections from Geoffrey Loss
The first one landed on board just after three in the morning. Its gossamer wings beating frantically against the rubber stucco deck, its eyes spinning crazily in their sockets. Gasping wetly at nothing. Its scales dripping with sea slime in our headlamps, shining dully in the baleful red shadows in the leaden night.
Read MoreGulf Stream: A Poem by Katie Jewett
Long-tail whitebirds swoop above us,
Container ships chug along,
The stars brighten and fade,
Bermuda, see you in not too long!
Writing at Sea – The Wonders of an Expedition
The wonders of this expedition add on, with each passing day and it becomes increasingly difficult for me to do a rating from 1-10. The star-canopied sky brings immense pleasure on Night Watch. Yesterday, Shanley, Ally and I spoke about the constellations. I tell them how my father taught my siblings and me, to identify the Great Bear, with its shape like a question mark. In India, we also call it the “Saptarishi,” or the Seven Sages with the little star, next to them, symbolic of the steadfast wife of one of them, Arundhati. At Hindu weddings, whatever the time of the day, the groom takes his bride out and points out to that star.
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Writing at Sea – Impressions of Sailing and being on Sea
The proximity of close confines can bring with it bonding (as the days, move on) or it could work the other way. So far, it has been a good journey with each one displaying a keenness for peaceful co-existence in the time that Chance or Providence has brought us together. The shared laughter, the pulling together and the learning will stay with me for the rest of my years.
Read MoreWriting at Sea – Vacuum Cleaner
It’s a good end to a long day – we set sail from Great Inagua yesterday morning and have had a beautiful passage, champagne sailing in flat water with beautiful wind under the hot tropical skies, then worked our way in over some shallow sandbars to find anchorage here on the northern edge of the Georgetown harbor. Elizabeth and the crew headed straight to the windward beach on stocking island to do some cleaning and look for inspiration in the rack line, then we settled into a fantastic barbecue at “The Flip Flop Shop,” a collection of crude benches and palm frond canopies near a firepit on the beach – open to all, as long as you only “take what you brought with you.”
Read MoreWriting at Sea – Sailing North Northwest through the Bahamas
At tonight’s workshop Elizabeth read a eulogy to the Caribbean monk seal, then tore the pages from her notebook, folded them and tossed them to the sea.
As night falls and the moon rises we are at sea in good hands. Elizabeth made a wonderful dinner, and we are all looking toward continued fair winds.
Writing at Sea – Salt, Flamingos, and Haikus
But the best part? The flamingos. We saw several flocks standing in the salt ponds, probably eating the shrimp that gave them their pink color. Colin stopped the truck several yards away so Stephen and I could see the birds without spooking them. But eventually the flamingos did take off, and I marveled at the way their long necks stretched into the wind like awkward ballerinas.
Read MoreWriting at Sea – Days 1 & 2: Bahamas and Nonsense
What does one write about when there’s only sea and sky?
Strokes and dots of whites and greys to distinguish the horizon. Miniature crests peak and disappear just as the fleeting flying fish do, while we quietly invade their infinite schools below the surface, gliding along above and through.
Thoughts on tourism by Captain Eric Loss
I’ve enjoyed our visit to the Dominican Republic, but there is a definite feeling that tourism is an industrial thing here – that as foreigners we should be staying in an all inclusive resort, wearing a wristband, feeding at the buffet trough and going on package tours. Outside of the tourist enclaves the country is vibrant, dirty, beautiful, full of energy, but it seems like most visitors are content to stay in the cocoons designed for them by the tourism industry. I’ll be glad to get back to sea again this weekend.
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Even the mundane is touched by the whales: Reflections by Captain Eric Loss
Even the mundane is touched by the whales – yesterday while cleaning the bilges Shanley was surprised to hear them singing to her, the noise resonating through Sea Dragon’s steel skin. This is truly one of the most spectacular places I have ever been.
Read MoreHumpback whales: Silver Banks, Dominican Republic
We’ve successfully made it out onto the silver banks, navigating a minefield of coral heads with a lookout up the mast, snorkelled with whales while trying to find a place to anchor, had what appeared to be a mild whale-fight happen just feet in front of the boat, then got the film crew in the water filming an 2-3 day old newborn humpback and its mother…
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