The sea is a living entity that eats what it wants and spits out the rest. No matter how well seasoned of a sailor you fancy yourself, there is no denying the hunger of the sea if it is your turn to meet with its depths. While sailors know the risk and assume it for themselves, they also assume the risk for their families. There is something about the sea that brings a sailor back time and again despite close calls and near misses. Each and every sailor knows that when it is our turn, we will have no choice but to stop fighting and go.
What those on land might not understand is that there is no death wish when it comes to the sea. There is only a need to tame the untamable and it means that we are caught in the cycle of needing the sea to live as well as needing the sea to challenge our life. Nobody wants to succumb to the sea. Yet, there is comfort for a true sailor, knowing that if your life is to be cut short this is the one way that seems actually peaceful. We would rather it be the sea than cancer or a heart attack.
When it is the sea that takes you, and you live by the sea, it’s like going home. It isn’t as dramatic as the movies like to interpret. It is just one of the risks a sailor know he or she takes, and when it happens, like other things in life and love it isn’t all about desire or fortune. It is about not being able to stave off the living entity that is the sea.
