Saturday, March 30, 2013

Ocean Sojourn






"It is a fact universally acknowledged that a fisherwoman in receipt of a slightly battered heart will be in need of a red sail against an uncluttered horizon."
Mmmm. Yes? No? Okay, how about this one:
"Last night I dreamed I returned to The Tearaway again."

I spent last evening with friends who played ukeleles and sang The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, The Ship Song and Fisherman's Blues around a fire. Funny, later I dreamed about what my book would look like. Perhaps that is because I've been editing the manuscript for weeks, months, and last night the blokes were running over a songlist for the book launch.
But when I woke up this morning, I knew I was actually one sleep closer to the uncluttered horizon.

"An easterly is the most agreeable wind in Esperence Bay ..."
Charlotte Bronte, Daphne Du Maurier and John Fowles really knew what they were on about. Sometimes there is just nothing for it but to go to sea. It's only TWO MORE SLEEPS before I set sail from Esperence to Albany on my friend's catamaran. This is the same sea highway that my sealer men and women trod so long ago so hopefully I'll get some writing done. Hang out on the islands. Sing to some seals. Stuff like that.

A WineDark Sea's waters will be still for a week but they've been glassed off for a while anyway, seeing as I haven't been to sea for six months. (Aaagh!) I promise photographs and ripping yarns of old on my return.
And ... Happy Easter.

7 comments:

  1. Excellent! I'll pass on the sailor's motto: always one hand for the boat, and one for yourself. Hope it's plain sailing. Reckon you've got a westerly swell now so hopefully that will swing east too. XX

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for that MF. I shall definitely save one hand for myself.

      Delete
  2. That's a good plan. I look forward to the ripping yarns. Stay dry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And the weather is beautiful too. No tsunamis or gales on that uncluttered horizon.

      Delete
  3. Oh, I just love Daphne Du Maurier's books! And have you, by chance, read Ahab's Wife, by Sena Jeter Naslund? It's just wonderful...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Big Du Maurier fan Jennifer. And no, I haven't. I'll keep an eye out for them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. And while enroute will you sing the song Red Sails in the Sunset

    ReplyDelete