‘Rowboats At Rest’
Boats out of water and up on the hard are recurring images at Ebb Then Flood.
In one sense vessels on land look totally unfulfilled, but these shots also speak of the necessary fallow periods between eventful times at sea. A hiatus tinged with anticipation.
Time to rest then, before the next adventure…
‘Moored’
This is the last in a sequence of seven posts featuring boats and boatyards, all taken on a wet and dreary afternoon on Auckland’s Tamaki River a couple of days ago.
Not that I am any sort of boatie or seafarer. Far from it, but I do like the look of small vessels and the idea of travel across water in them.
There is just something in the idea of the intrepid voyage that captivates and inspires me.
However, in the photo, the yachts are at their moorings. In the other pictures there are boats up on the hard, on cradles for storage or maintenance, or tied by ropes to a wharf.
In hiatus.
Going nowhere fast.
Frustrating, right?
Boats are for sailing, but they can’t do that without repair, repainting and a general overhaul from time to time.
It is necessary, as much part of sailing or boating as getting out on the water.
When the vessels are at rest, it is also time for their owners and skippers to chart new courses and dream of great excursions.
And, thus prepared, adventures await…
“Whether we call it sacrifice, or poetry, or adventure, it is always the same voice that calls”
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Just one question really – what is it that calls you over your known edge, past your fear, to that thing beyond ?
So, off on the big bird to Great Britain and Spain today.
The thrill of the new ,and of an adventure half a world away beckons.
I really like this quote from Bill Bryson which neatly encapsulates why travel is so beneficial for you:
“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted”
I expect to see plenty of things familiar to others, but novel to me, to feed this blog and hope to share them with you.
First things first, though….where the hell are my sleeping pills and earplugs for the 29 hour flight from New Zealand?
Took this shot earlier in the year ,on summer holidays at the wondrous Mangawhai Heads, north of Auckland.
The head’s cliffs have been shaped and worn smooth through wind and sea action, and are almost building like in structure.
But it is the unknown lad scouring for coastal treasure that draws me into this scene .
Engrossed in his hunt, he is all earnest endeavour and innocent adventure.
He is early on in the greater adventure of life.
Looming above, the cliffs are yet to be scaled…but there to be scaled.
I hope he manages the climb of manhood safely and gets to take in the awesome view at the top.
I’ll never know…anyway, I’m still clambering up, one precarious foothold at a time…
A shot of a boat house sitting serenely over water near my Auckland home.
I am not a boatie or sailor by any stretch of the imagination ,but I admire those who cast off from shore,voyaging ,for adventure on the sea.
So this place appeals to me.
It is by appearance a simple,linear design,with utilitarian function.Boats are stored inside and launched from it.
But it is also the departing place for courage and dreams and happiness, and that makes it magical.
Ebb Then Flood 