Thalassophile (noun) Origin: Greek Someone who loves the sea, ocean; A lover of the ocean.

I was in the Navy for 21 years. I lived on a ship for 12 months. My dream has been to sail across the ocean on a sailboat. I have not lived out that dream (only thing on my bucket list) but I still feel like one day I might.

I read the book “Unlikely Passages” by Palley and it only invigorated that dream of sailing. I love water in general. But I love the sea most of all.

Unlikely Passages Paperback –

Unlikely Passage is a sailor’s manifesto. Palley gave up a successfull career as an art dealer while in his late 50s and embraced retirement with a vengeance. He sailed away in his ship Unlikely and circled the globe. In doing so, he created his own universe-a small boat in a large ocean. Through a series of humorous anecdotes and illustrations, insightful observations, and practical information, Palley expounds his unique sailing philosophy.

sailboats on a beautifully lit waterway

“The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths it has its pearls too” ~ Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

boats in the distance Australia 2005

“To reach a port we must set sail. Sail, not tie at anchor. Sail, not drift.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

“The sea is emotion incarnate. It loves, hates, and weeps. It defies all attempts to capture it with words and rejects all shackles. No matter what you say about it, there is always that which you can’t.” ~ Christopher Paolini

Curacao Ocean View at Night

“We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something.” ~Mother Teresa

“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.” ~Ryunosuke Satoro