Happy and Wise

We’ve all heard the poem: I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and sky; and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by. The romance of that vision is part of what inspired us to leave the familiar behind and head out to sea. But once we settled into the cruising life, we realized there was another side of it all that appealed as much as those grander things.

It's the simplicity of it all: when a day is spent in pursuit of seashells rather than a paycheck. When time passes in quiet hours instead of hectic minutes. When the glow of the setting sun cues you to slip into your kayak and push off from that virgin beach to head back home – a cozy, floating home that's as content to nod in a quiet anchorage as she is taking on the power of the sea.

John Masefield had a line for that, too, and it goes like this: The hours that make us happy make us wise.

"Happy and Wise" originally appeared as an article in Cruising World Magazine, June 2015..