Thursday, April 30, 2009

Voyage of the Wanderer


"To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... cruising, it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about. "I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of security. And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone. What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by, the dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience."

"Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?"

Sterling Hayden in "Wanderer"

Photo by Doryman of the Olympic Mountains (looking west) in northwestern Washington State. That's a cockpit lifeline down in the corner.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

So beautiful!! I love always to see the snow and the water of the sea in the same horizon. It is a privilege. Same water in different states.
great pics and thank you for publishing all your pics. Unfortunately I cannot put yours on my blog cause is quite strongly related to our trip and I am not alone but soon I will post some of yours.

all my friendship g

doryman said...

The Olympic Range is a small and relatively new mountain upheaval, amazingly rugged for it's size. I once, through a series of bad decisions, spent the last two days of a seven day journey into these mountains without food - covering up to 40 miles (64km) of alpine terrain a day. One of those life defining events.
This is the Puget Sound, the first leg north through the protected Inside Passage to Alaska.