The steady rolling rhythm of my body

by | May 5, 2016 | Dyana Wells, Sailing

‘Does anyone want to go for a swim?’ ‘I’ll come with you, Alice.’ Dad replies. ‘Cornelius, what about you?’ ‘No, I need to look after the boat.’ We head for the small reef at the entrance. Cool water washes me free of our harsh air world. I become a water-baby again,...
She Rides the Fury with Glee

She Rides the Fury with Glee

by | Apr 5, 2016 | Dyana Wells, Sailing

An oddly pea shaped cocoon, floats at anchor. Patient. We knock up against the stern, she doesn’t flinch, and clamber over the life lines, around the wheel, down into the cockpit. Inanimate stability, but it doesn’t feel like that. We have taken our earth mother to...
Disappearing Into the Task

Disappearing Into the Task

by | Mar 25, 2016 | Dyana Wells, Sailing

Sailing, pull up the main, third reef, coming about, pull in the head sail. Immediately my legs are braced, hands to the winch handle and I’m swinging it around, steady, engaging my whole body down to my toes, clutching at the floorboards. tummy muscles clenched,...
The Pull of the Internal Tides

The Pull of the Internal Tides

by | Mar 15, 2016 | Dyana Wells, Sailing

I sometimes wonder what it is about sailing that pulls me back, again and again into the discomfort of clambering over life lines, stewing around in a poky galley, tossing through the night in an uncomfortable roll, hours and hours lost in the froth that rushes past....