Mar 29 2009
Why do we call our boats “her”?
I slept in today, it was around lunchtime when I finally rolled out of bed. Yesterdays wind and rain has given way to a beautiful Sunday morning, and visions of a happy journey with fair winds and followings seas dance in my head. But not for long, NOAA weather radio is talking thunderstorms and wind gust 15- 25 mph this afternoon and tomorrow morning.
People ask why we call the sea and our boats all “her”. Well, humans in general have a custom of personifying inanimate objects and speaking of them as if they have a sex, some things we refer to as male like winter, the moon, time, or death. But when you think about the things we refer to as feminine, they tend to be things we hold dearer to us. We speak of our planet as Mother Earth, nature as Mother Nature. The earliest seafarers spoke of their ships as feminine because of the close dependence they have on it. The ship is what gives them life and protects them. So we refer to them as females to this day.
The last few days tied to the berth have been peaceful and frustrating at the same time for me. Its awesome to be back on the water where I belong, but at the same time I want the feeling of pushing through the waves, wind blowing, rigging singing in the wind. I look and listen to the weather, it will be clear Tuesday morning the 31 for sure. Its bad luck for a ship to set sail on April 1st, so with luck we will shove off on Tuesday.
Its 1245, and I am finally making coffee……
