[Rhodes22-list] Offshore sailing revisited

Rik Sandberg racerrik@rea-alp.com
Thu, 03 Oct 2002 07:18:22 -0500


Roger,

No problem. Had a feeling you'd appreciate it too. :-)

Rik


At 06:45 AM 10/3/2002 -0400, you wrote:
>Rik,
>
>I'd never seen this quote, but I really enjoyed it.  Thanks for posting it
>on the list.
>
>Roger Pihlaja
>S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Rik Sandberg" <racerrik@rea-alp.com>
>To: <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
>Sent: Thursday, October 03, 2002 12:57 AM
>Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Offshore sailing revisited
>
>
> > All,
> >
> > Came across a quote tonight as I was reading the G.O.B. bi-monthly
> > newsletter. Reminded me of the conversations we had a bit ago about
>sailing
> > to the Bahamas in an R 22 and the risks involved. Can't say I have learned
> > this "from the sea" yet, but I believe I have had similar feelings about
> > some other "fairly risky" endeavors I have taken on in my life so far. At
> > any rate, thought you all might be interested, this struck a chord with
> > me........enjoy, Rik
> >
> > ___________________________________________________________________
> > "When I started sailing, I thought I only had to learn about my boat, so
>it
> > would take me safely across the sea. But as I sailed, I realized I had to
> > know the sea herself. My boat was a walnut shell in the hand of the sea,
> > and I was even less.
> >
> > I learned to love the sea -- but no, that doesn't say it. Before I sailed
>I
> > thought I was afraid of death. Then I learned something, somewhere among
> > the islands -- I had actually been afraid of injustice, of being cheated
> > out of life, say, by someone who couldn't point his car very well.
> >
> > On the sea I kept my boat in order and wore my safety harness -- so if I
> > was swept away, it was the sea, the sea did it. As a result, as the days
> > went by and I faced the risks of sailing, I cared less about death. I only
> > had to avoid outright stupidity -- if the sea took me in spite of that, I
> > was hers.
> >
> > Then, one day as I watched the waves, I realized I had surrendered to the
> > sea -- in exchange for my knowing her, she could take me if she wished. I
> > could have stayed on shore, but that would have been merely waiting for
> > death. I had to sail.
> >
> > Before that day, I believed I could outwit nature, plea-bargain my way out
> > of mortality. But I knew there was something I wasn't getting -- I could
> > see it in the eyes of animals. When I looked into their eyes I realized
> > they knew about death, but they didn't believe they could give it
> > directions. I saw a resignation and a fondness for experience that I
> > thought proved how stupid they were.
> >
> > I no longer believe I can save life up -- it has to be spent to have any
> > value. And that in order to live, to have adventure, you have to be
>willing
> > to die. The sea taught me this, and turned me inside out -- among her
> > swells and islands I became an animal, an inhabitant of nature. You can
>see
> > it in my eyes."
> > -- Sterling Hayden
> >
> > _________________________________________________
> > Use Rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
> >
>
>_________________________________________________
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