Rocks and shoals, gales and contrary winds, the whole business of staying alive at sea, not to mention just getting along with our ship-mates,- the multiple challenges to sea-farers, requiring an immediate response, actually mould our identity, our modus operandi; they inform our very sense of being alive. What’s more, the images they provide are so powerful that they permeate the language of anyone remotely connected to the sea.
It’s all very fine living a (relatively) orderly and well-fed life, when one’s dinner sits obediently in front of one waiting to be eaten, but in the absence of those challenges life can feel flat and empty. Raising one’s eyes from the table, however, one may perceive that those images really do reflect wider realities,- but where then, when one is safe on land, is the vessel that contains one’s life and must at all cost be maintained, demanding one’s care and attention?
One’s family, perhaps? Yes, but when they have grown up and gone their separate ways? Rare indeed is the passionate solidarity of a crew fighting for survival. No doubt some actually go to war in search of it. An old geezer such as myself is supposed to sit by his fire and savor his past experiences, preparing himself for the eternal voyage, hoping that there ‘the sea it is calm and the dolphins do play’’, but I do not yet feel inclined to do so. I feel that the battle is at my door, though I also feel that it is all a bit too much for an old man. I would rather get back to struggling with the more familiar and immediate reality of the bloody old sea!
A spot of reverse imaging might be in order? What is that strange love/hate that one feels for the sea? Why does it summon one to engage with it? Is it simply a matter of proving oneself? I can imagine that those who set out on a single-handed round-the- world race are mainly conscious of such motivation, and indeed I’m all for proving to myself my own resilience and competence, for 'being a man’, even an old one! Then it is good to savour that of other seafarers, and that of one’s vessel and the men who built her. But is this just a losing battle, a tale of never-ending ultimate defeat?
As one extends one’s horizon, success assumes higher forms, as does one’s personal orientation to it,- but perhaps it is this very orientation that is the whole point. I still recall, over half a century after the event, the thrill of my first decent catch of herring. I hope that there is another, more enduring catch ahead of me, as indeed, in a minor key, there have been since. I find that there is an essential and enduring feature,- the conviction that God is good, infinitely merciful and generous, and He loves each of us personally.
This conviction, however, turns out to be the one thing that ‘children of the world’ cannot tolerate, especially once they get power and even may assume that theirs is the right to decide who is to get the good catches. Therefore, going to sea is a good antidote, along with anything that builds up one’s sense of personal autonomy. So when I find myself acutely distressed by the prospect of Ireland and the whole world falling prey to some digital tyranny, I think to myself that I had better get to sea again, and moreover as far as possible by means of technology that is within my grasp, that I can understand, and that cannot easily be shut down by some arbitrary act of control.
That’s one reason why I am still hoping to find a way to install the famous electric drive. I don’t want to find myself in the situation of having to buy diesel again, with the Government slowly choking the supply, and very likely able to deny it to anyone they choose in a few years time. While there remains some bit of decency and respect for individuals and their rights in our world, we need to build it up every way we can. We need to tell those who would like to control us, whoever they may be, that we are not having it. Say NO, NOW, and get rid of potential pinch-points where they are likely to try to shut us down. It is great to reduce our dependency on money wherever we can, and let’s go sailing, and fishing, or at least go down with the flag flying. With that in mind, I am happy at present to be digging spuds or chopping logs!
