A choppy crossing at times from Aberdeen to Lerwick. Waved good bye by a small pod of dolphins as we exited the harbour. A good few deep pitches and rolls during the night, but this campervan morning finds us steaming close to Shetland, the sea having settled. White thick cloud, misty horizon and dark rolling water with the occasional Gull hanging in the air. I sit gazing across the North Sea, the pump of engine, the wake behind us, froth, green, turquoise and blue. Moisture and a sea chill on the air. The cliffs of Bressay rising out of the sea to the West shrouded in cloud. We continue our inexorable crawl across the surface.
“ The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach - waiting for a gift from the sea."
And I sit empty, open and choiceless as Lindbergh once wrote.
An interesting day yesterday stepping back into humanity after seven days of nature and intermittent drumming. The rush of people, cars, lights, streams of traffic and the like. A culture shift too far in some ways. A welcome return to the sea, vastness, emptiness as far as the eye can see and experiences to come. It’s been a good few years since spending such a long time on a ship and it’s been a welcome return, if a somewhat bigger vessel. Alan Watts wrote :
“ The wake does not drive the ship “.
Something we all need to be aware of.
Lovely days people.
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