This is Clouds Form Over Land, a newsletter about resilience, imperfection, and our relationship to the earth — inspired by life at sea and coming ashore.
I have fifteen minutes before the sun dips below the horizon, and my evening moves on to other activities.
What goodness can I bottle up and share with you?
Lately, I’ve been thinking about this dog we met in paradise.
We lived in the San Blas Islands of the Guna Yala in November and December 2022. It was our seventh year of calling our boat Azimuth home and our second year voyaging from San Francisco to the Chesapeake Bay via the Panama Canal. Most days oscillated between calm and thunder. We grocery shopped from passing boats, snorkeled the reefs, and two different strong women came to visit and sail around. We gave each other haircuts and read books. We made a Thanksgiving dinner and plotted our next moves to cross the Caribbean.
My motivation to write while sailing was to create a firm tether between me and whoever might read my stories. I couldn’t stand feeling so adrift, so I threw out these grappling hooks to make a connection. Descriptions of my particular experience sometimes helped others metabolize something, and that made me feel even less lonely in the awe-full world I was immersed in entirely.
We moved through 10,000 miles at a max speed of five miles per hour. The landscapes shifted practically by the inch and our movements were almost entirely dependent on the weather and our wits.
Today, I’m paid for my professional know-how, and I sit at a desk for 40+ hours/week.
Moments before I sat at this computer again to write this post, I was sticking flyers for a playground redesign in my neighbors’ door handles. My laundry is tossing around in the room next to me rather than at the latest marina. I am once again immersed in life as it is.
Down in the San Blas Islands, a dog is watching the boats come and go.
I went to sea and found out I was a writer.
I’m not sure where it fits in my new life, but if you have ideas, please feel free to reply.
You are correct!! Your writing at sea connected with this land person! I still enjoy reading the land navigation and the comparisons!!
I love reading your updates, how-to's and perspective as well as ideas/ suggestions. It's warm and inspiring!
It's hard to fit writing into modern life with a job. Check out this writing teacher — she has some good online classes: https://www.renegademothering.com/renegade-writing-school/
Also, when I look at those island photos I think, that must have been a hard place to leave!