So You Sail Alone!

The conversation goes quite amiably
As we talk of yachting and the sea
“You sail through Wide Bay Bar?” he said
I agreed most amiably.
“And along Great Sandy Island?”
I could see that he,
had warmed to the adventure in it all!
He continued with his enquiry
“So, who goes with you?”
A reasonable enough line of enquiry I thought.
“You sail alone?”
“Yes I sail alone!”
“With GPS and autopilot.”
“Safety harness and EPIRB,
and a ship that is like no other;
on a sea that I know.”
I sail without a companion,
for landlubbers are such transient beings.
Not used to the silence of the ocean,
Or the hours of darkness in-between,
though quite and peaceful nights;
or anchorage dark and stormy.
And they wonder why we need to sail at night,
not accepting of the sea is master over all.
And I can do no better to coerce him,
than to say.
“Yes I sail alone”
My thoughts in quiet amusement reflect on lyrics known.
I think of Rod Stewart
and his song
‘I am Sailing’
and I could add, “on alone”

SAILING – 06/09/1975

I am sailing, I am sailing, home again ‘cross the sea
I am sailing stormy waters, to be near you,to be free

I am flying, I am flying, like a bird ‘cross the sky
I am flying, passing high clouds, to be near you, to be free

Can you hear me, can you hear me, through the dark night far away
I am dying, forever crying, to be near you, who can say

We are sailing, we are sailing, home again, ‘cross the sea
We are sailing, stormy waters, to be near you, to be free

Oh Lord, to be near you, to be free
Oh my Lord, to be near you, to be free
Oh my Lord, to be near you, to be free
Oh Lord

4 weeks at #1 – 34 weeks on chart
6.9.75

My party conversationalist retires to seek someone who plays football and I relax and enjoy the night. I didn’t come here to persuade him what I felt was right, or to justify my existence. I enjoy the company of others like Peter and Mary who sailed with me along the west coast of Fraser, who I gave control of the boat to after due instructions.
I enjoyed their company because they were one with the sea, the sails and the wind, and given the helm revelled in its spirit.

So I sail on alone, without the need to worry of another’s peace of mind, without concern if they are bored, not having the need to please another human being, in total selfishness of my own existence; so often denied in the course of family or career.

‘I sail on alone’, yet this is not so, for I am at one with the universe, uncluttered by the machinations we have created, I am one with the sea, the wind, the tide, and the whales, dolphins and seabirds.

I do not sail on alone!

Written 28.9.07