A Ship Therein

Do you love the sea? I know I do! Sail boats and fishermen? As all my friends and those most dear to me will tell you, I have a boat fixation. I am a boat bore! Just look at me grin in the photo. I have just been on a speedboat at Whitby in North Yorkshire. Had I been born a boy, I would certainly have joined the Navy!

I just have to be within earshot of a flock of gulls, a whiff of salt air, or the sound of a distant foghorn and I am off. Boats? Let me at them! It's a boat? I must go on it! My two favourite places on this earth are probably Whitby and Victoria - thousands of miles apart, but what do they have in common? The answer is the sea, and more importantly - lots and lots of boats, ships, canoes, kayaks....

Being born by the sea might have something to do with this obsession of mine. I was born in a seaside town and my biggest regret was that I was not allowed to go out on the fishing boats with my Grandad when I was young. My dear Grandfather was a stonemason by trade and a fisherman by instinct - but he didn't want me in danger and the currents there were especially dangerous. A deep undertow made the pebble beach descend rapidly and deeply.

I think the adults were frightened I might dive in! I certainly found the water enticing, even when freezing - and I still do! Although, whilst I love to swim under the water, I have to admit that I have never fantasized about submarines since I was old enough to realize they were cramped and smelly! No, it is the sea air, the pebble beaches, the cliffs and caves and secret places, the wildlife, the whales, the seals and dolphins and of course the seagulls. Let me take you on a little trip through my wonderful places in pictures, poetry and song....

All photos here are my own, please do not copy!

Poem by Tennyson, Photo of Whitby Pier

This poetry card features Tennyson's mystical sea poem, Crossing the Bar. I took the photo at Whitby, one of my favourite seaside haunts.

A poem I wrote a few years ago...

The Seekers sang "a ship there is" but the folk song is "a ship therein" and that was the inspiration for the title of my poem. To read the full poem, please click on the text. It will take you to my poetry website and a page called "Peaceful Places" which you might enjoy.

My heart belongs to sea and sky,

Where tall ships

Plough their silken furrows

Through soft fields of indigo and blue

And seagulls cry,

Proclaiming resting place

On languid cliff tops

Drifting by....

Lisa Gabriel, 16th May 2005

A mysterious setting of Shakespeare's poem...

For Gilly on her birthday at Garwick

This poem refers back to my early childhood memories. I wrote it after speaking to a friend who also had fond memories of the sea! Just click on the poem to read the whole thing, it will take you to my poetry site. The peaceful music you hear on this page is Fantasy, this features in a piano solo version on my CD, Flying To Meet The Sunrise which I recorded a couple of years ago.

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Somewhere a clock chimes three.

A seagull's cry,

Like plaintive ghost,

Pierces a slow dawning sky,

And here I lie,

A child suspended,

Caught in that magic hour 'twixt night and day.

Nor wake, nor sleep,

But race the innocent dreams of freedom.

Lisa Gabriel, 16th May 2005

Crazy Brit enjoying MountainCrispness

Yes, definitely crazy after all these years. Who else but a Brit - a seafarer at heart - would paddle in the freezing water of a Canadian Lake in December. Alright, it is only Golden Ears near Maple Ridge, and quite mild for the time of year, but my toes were blue afterwards!

Print, or play... Doesn't it just make you want to sail away?

Photo taken through the rigging of a sailing ship at Whitby

One of my favourite boat rides at Whitby was on a half size replica of Captain Cook's sailing ship. It was a lovely trip on the Bark Endeavour that saw us returning just after sunset and this photo is of the Yorkshire coast through the rigging of that ship!

My favourite thing is boats... but really I just love the Sea, and Lakes and... and...