Substitute

Leaving Ticonderoga, we continued along the shore road, noting white caps on the lake.

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Just as clouds decorate the sky, white caps give character to a body of water.

Reflections on still water make a wonderful picture, but there is something so very exciting about a rough sea!

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Sailing, which is to say in a sailboat, did not agree with me at all, mostly because I was always convinced the wretched thing would tip over and deposit me in the sea. I can stay afloat but was never a strong swimmer and I am not a fan of cold water!

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Ships, however, suited me fine. Small ships. Minute by today’s standards. I cannot imagine why anyone would wish to board the floating monstrosities that put out to sea these days.

It gives me the shivers to think of it.

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The largest ship I travelled in had the capacity for 1,200 passengers. She was the Ms Willem Ruys of the Royal Rotterdam Lloyd Company. Later under different ownership, she became the ill-fated Achille Lauro and was eventually destroyed by fire off the coast of Somalia, though I did not know this until very much later. She was a lovely little ship.

My mother and I had sailed in one of her sister ships, a freighter called the Merwe Lloyd. She had space for something like 16 passengers who travelled in great comfort. I was very keen on that ship, although it was during this journey that I first experienced sea sickness. The sea was not at all rough, but I had imbibed champagne, something I tended not to get on with and that was where I laid the blame. I was only nauseated, which was bad enough.

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More likely what troubled me was a heavy swell. Rough, I could mostly deal with, but when the ship wallowed I grew green about the gills.

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It has been forty years since I was on a ship. I regarded it as a luxury, so I enjoy the memories without allowing myself to miss the privilege, but how I loved being out at sea, feeling the wind on my face and hearing the crash of waves against the hull.

Sometimes there were birds and pods of dolphins. The sky at night was wondrous and I remember once the sea was phosphorescent.

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Most of my life I was very close to an ocean and while I didn’t spend much time at the beach, it was nice feeling its proximity, being able to go there to listen to the surf and the call of gulls.

Walking by the sea in winter has such restorative powers.

Nowadays I am 200 miles from the coast, thus the appeal of these great lakes.

They are a very reasonable substitute for the sea.

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In a sheltered cove we caught sight of wildfowl bobbing about.

Maybe there would be more further north?

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Soon after that, we came to Ausable Chasm.

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After many weeks of drought, it was not as impressive as it might have been.

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But it was easy to imagine the roar it could produce.

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On another visit, we’ll take the time to walk along the rim and get a better view.

Further down the Ausable River there are other falls that also look worth exploring, something to do in the Spring perhaps.

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But this day, we pressed on…