Riding the Power.

I once made mention on this blog of the time I crossed the Atlantic in a small ship during a force 11 storm. This video comes somewhere close to illustrating what it’s like. The odd thing is that at the time I felt no fear at all, just a sense of awe at the power of the sea and a curiously thrilling awareness that in such an environment you’re on your own. Watching the video, however, scared the hell out of me.

On a mundane level, it might be noted that you get very wet (and cold) standing out on the bridge wings for two or four hours doing lookout duty, and the very finest drink in the world is the mug of hot chocolate somebody brings you on the hour mark.