July 14: Sailing in sun and fog
My friend Jacob took me out in his sailboat today, a J40 named Ex Libris. We sailed from Rockland Harbor out to the Fox Islands Thorofare between North Haven and Vinalhaven, and then back to her home mooring in Camden Harbor. The fog settled in by the time we'd sailed past the Rockland Breakwater. We sailed on through it out to the islands, where it was a perfect, sunny summer day, then back through the fog bank to reach home, where the sun was also shining.
Sailing through the fog, with only the radar to tell you where you are, there's a sense of existing very much in the present. No geographic borders seem to exist and space seems transient, shifting with the waves and wind. I was reminded (in both a literal and figurative way) of the classical Japanese Buddhist concept of "the floating world," which refers to the ephemerality of our dream-like material existence.
Sailing through the fog, with only the radar to tell you where you are, there's a sense of existing very much in the present. No geographic borders seem to exist and space seems transient, shifting with the waves and wind. I was reminded (in both a literal and figurative way) of the classical Japanese Buddhist concept of "the floating world," which refers to the ephemerality of our dream-like material existence.
No horizon here,
just sea and fog--
our own floating world.
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| Fog bank and clouds above North Haven |
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| Camden Hills |
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| Boat in fog |
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| Approaching Camden Harbor |
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