The Accidental Sailor-Fun Employment
THE ACCIDENTAL SAILOR
π§ Marine Navigation Chronicles π§

The winds of grace always blow for us
but you have to raise your sails and just go.
Putting the He in Hero, all action/adventure films have the same moral: Perseverance pays. Of all the things I am not very content at doing, living on land is the most outstanding. I was an armchair sea dog, growing up on LAWNGUYLAND(L.I.) New York, dreaming of going places, but I never stepped foot even in a motor boat, never started and therefore I never failed.

Considering how much inner "nomad" is in each of us, in adulthood I gave myself permission to LEAVE ASAP, and imaginatively re-create(d) my ID in line with my true allegiances of a place noted for second chances, Venice Beach, California.
How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.
Let The Orinoco Flow--There is no doubt about it, the exhilarating state of mind that travel can evoke, when everything seems suddenly fresh, vivid, intensely interesting, and memorable.
My universe is made of stories, not atoms: land, air and sea travel and the power of now. If I wanted to be a multinational soul, I couldn't do it in cities where I taught English like New York or Los Angeles, Paris or Tokyo alone-I needed to get consecrated by sailing on the oceans. It's a wonderful thing to get rid of everything and everybody and just go some place where you don't know anyone; where, as Melville said, "God's one and only voice is Silence."
Rule of thumb is if I am not embarrassed enough
by who I was and what I did last year,
I probably not learning enough!
Despite the undoubted camaraderie, the laughs, the jollies and the sense of tribalism that attends any cruising project, the profession remains a notoriously lonely one. Friendships are intense but brief; when the gig ends or the curtain runs down, you can soon find yourself back home staring at your cell phone and wondering if any of it really happened. Memories are short, time moves on, fame is transitory.
Nothing fails like excess- 6 times around the world does build confidence- It's not real life but an alibi. It is like going out of your mind everyday- in order to come to your senses. It is a blessing:

You can teach an old DOGma new tricks. Neurons that wire together fire together. I am not seeking a meaning to life, but the experience of being ALIVE. I am no longer hard-wired per se for cruise ships. My brain is plastic. The hunt for HAPPY is repetition. I enjoy the navel gazing concussions, the Lakota-style sweat lodge ceremonies, the power of NEW and the power of NOW. That will never change. Life Extension: The "prescription" for my happiness. I'm not going to the doctor or the mall, I'm going on a trip.
Fade IN: Leaving a ritual and habit of ordinary living, I embarked on an unplanned trip and became The Accidental Sailor.

For reasons of necessity rather than a sense of innate wanderlust, I am at sea because it gives me something to do and a place to be. Magnetized and full of charisma, I always managed to stay on course, without realizing it. Sometimes I quip---Success at sea is continued enthusiasm despite failure after failure, because there are so many variables, but in the end, you don't quit jobs, you quit people. FunEmployment has a limited lifespan.
Never heard of FunEmployment? It's the person who quits his job or takes advantage of being out of a "job" to have the time of their life. Instead of punching a clock, you head for the beach. In my case, the high seas.
2012
2009
Call it faith! A passion for the possible. I am full of it, and shooting from the hip that is to say, having an adventure is something more but nothing less than bad planning.
I'm beginning to think that maybe it's not just how much I love being at sea. Maybe what matters is who I am when I'm doing it. I'm my best self. Character is doing what's right when no one is looking. All of ones problems come from the inability to spend time quietly alone in ones "room".

cOPENhagen
As much as I detest the travel (sometimes) —I love the writing and the introspection—the virtuous delights of organizing a disorganized country, itinerary or culture, and comparing it to my state of mind at that moment, stripping away the inessential and the second-rate, classifying all that remains in neat, terse blog posts, building a solid foundation with the bricks that these ports of call and at sea have thrown at me.
The cure for anything is salt water -
sweat, tears, or the sea.
The winds of grace always blow for us but you have to raise your sails and just go. Any port in a storm won't do. You need to be content with the weather of the day-to-day-The whole secret is to have NO FEAR. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Written on the gates of hell is "abandon all hope" Written in the heart and mind of a Buddha "reject all help" Only then are you freed.
Sure living at sea is hours of boredom tinged with moments of hysteria- sometimes the waters are so rough you get sea sick, but I never found these as excuses to remain ashore except for biking…and it's lonely at times, but I call that solitude. Freedom is not free but it is not for sale and can't be purchased in a 7 day cruise. Sure it's fun- all the food and drink and music and noise; but pleasure is not happiness. Happiness is balance and following your bliss, and connecting with the divine. The sea is the place I house my soul and access my higher self.
There are three sorts of people; those who are alive, those who are dead, and those who are at sea.

An I For An Island
Living Well Is The Best Revenge
Jean Paul Sartre, the French Existentialist said,
I would value-add that by saying, Freedom is what you do to what has been done to you by your own thoughts, words and actions. (See my blog post As Seen On TV).
Welcome Aboard The Accidental Journey
Where Every Voyage Writes Itself Into Your Soul