Home > Work > Caught by the Sea: My Life on Boats
1 " I spent uncounted hours sitting at the bow looking at the water and the sky, studying each wave, different from the last, seeing how it caught the light, the air, the wind; watching patterns, the sweep of it all, and letting it take me. The sea. "
― Gary Paulsen , Caught by the Sea: My Life on Boats
2 " ...this beginning motion, this first time when a sail truly filled and the boat took life and knifed across the lake under perfect control, this was so beautiful it stopped my breath... "
3 " I couldn’t change the wind but perhaps I could reduce the effect of the wind on the boat. "
4 " As if my whole life up to that time had somehow been safe and now I would ruin all that because, you know, catamarans flip over. "
5 " I know that my life on boats has been about this: not the sailing or the sea so much as learning about self. And almost every boat I have had has taught me something. "
6 " Of course, the sea has tried to kill me on several occasions, has timed itself to coincide with my stupidity and put an end to me. Here in this beautiful lagoon, with time to think of things, and with serenity, some of the madness comes back to me now as I attempt the death-defying feat of eating a second Oreo with my tea. "
7 " For those of you who wish to get a feel for it, get in the car and bring it up to fifty miles an hour and then stick your head and arms outside and, while driving, try to fold up a simple bath towel in the wind "