Alexander, as a sailor the sea was my second home for many years. I loved standing on the bridge of a ship, navigating the open ocean, and watching the immensity of it all. I could see storms coming from hundreds of miles away and watch them grow in intensity as they approached us. "Standby for heavy seas!" The ship rolling with the rhythmic motion. In those moments a man realizes how very small he is. It is a thing of tremendous beauty.
I very much feel the same about storms, the stormy sea leaves me in awe every single time. The very first time I came to the north coast of Ireland (having no idea I'd be moving to live here just two months later!) was on a very stormy night. I remember the ferries were cancelled for two days, street lamps bent under the force of the gale coming from the Atlantic, and we watched the raging sea in a place poetically known as the Pan's Rocks. It stayed imprinted into my mind ever since and to this day it's one of my favourite parts of the northern coast. Often rearranged by the waves, always giving gifts, be it physical ones like a hagstone, visual like watching dolphins in the distance or sensory like the way the breeze touches my face or the scent of the seaweed fills my lungs.
My favourite finds are skate egg cases. The first and biggest one I found was a spotted ray. I'm saddened I don't see more of them, instead there's an ever-increasing amount of plastic that I try to remove the best I can.
Also, I'm intrigued by your Mesolithic-themed novel! If you ever decide to pursue it further in any form and need any archaeological input to help with building your narrative and landscape, don't hesitate to send me a message, I'd be happy to share resources.
Alexander, as a sailor the sea was my second home for many years. I loved standing on the bridge of a ship, navigating the open ocean, and watching the immensity of it all. I could see storms coming from hundreds of miles away and watch them grow in intensity as they approached us. "Standby for heavy seas!" The ship rolling with the rhythmic motion. In those moments a man realizes how very small he is. It is a thing of tremendous beauty.
A beautiful rumination on sea 🌊
I very much feel the same about storms, the stormy sea leaves me in awe every single time. The very first time I came to the north coast of Ireland (having no idea I'd be moving to live here just two months later!) was on a very stormy night. I remember the ferries were cancelled for two days, street lamps bent under the force of the gale coming from the Atlantic, and we watched the raging sea in a place poetically known as the Pan's Rocks. It stayed imprinted into my mind ever since and to this day it's one of my favourite parts of the northern coast. Often rearranged by the waves, always giving gifts, be it physical ones like a hagstone, visual like watching dolphins in the distance or sensory like the way the breeze touches my face or the scent of the seaweed fills my lungs.
My favourite finds are skate egg cases. The first and biggest one I found was a spotted ray. I'm saddened I don't see more of them, instead there's an ever-increasing amount of plastic that I try to remove the best I can.
Also, I'm intrigued by your Mesolithic-themed novel! If you ever decide to pursue it further in any form and need any archaeological input to help with building your narrative and landscape, don't hesitate to send me a message, I'd be happy to share resources.