Me and the Sea Gods

When at sea I often develop mystical relationships with the natural elements; the sea, the heavenly bodies, even the clouds. By that I mean that those things become personified to me, and together, I and those spirits that inhabit the natural world, we indulge in conversations, contests, negotiations, agreements, and truces.

I shout at them from the deck of my vessel, standing facing the wind or back to it, arms outstretched, and I implore, plead, cajole, threaten, and demand, that they work with me on this, what ever it is.

Give me wind, take away the wind, give me a sea, take away the sea, give me the moon, the stars, the clear black sky. Banish that thunder head, squelch that lightning strike. Give me shelter behind this point, give me depth in this bay, give me a fair breeze and a bright star; what ever I need so desperately. Of course the Gods ask nothing, so that means I have little to negotiate with. It is a very one sided negotiation, but I try.

Some times they hear me.

For example, before I learned that the moon rises nearly an hour later each night, when I first crossed an ocean, for the first two nights, I was pleased to come on watch at 21:00 to find a full moon behind me lighting my way. Then on the third night I came on deck and there was no moon!

I shouted:

“God in Heaven, where is the moon? What have you done with my moon? Bring back my fucking moon!”

“Why have you held it away from me tonight?”

Then it came up.

Another time, crossing from the Solomons to Australia in 2002 we had a particularly bumpy day and night. I hated it; nothing stayed still, nothing stayed put, it was impossible to do anything on that rough sea with my vessel bucking and tossing. I cursed and threatened and pleaded. Then the second night Southern Cross came up and the seas flattened right down. I knew that the Southern Cross had intervened on my behalf and negotiated a truce for me. I loved the Southern Cross. I kissed it. I danced on the now steady deck, I drank my rum, or do I have the order wrong on that?

So we talk to the Gods, and we negotiate with them and if their mood is right they throw us a crumb. I’ll take it.

And then I get to land and the gods of the sea vanish in an instant, not to be seen again until I am once more outside of the sight of land.

Then they have me at their mercy again and I must deal with them.

Fredrick