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America's Maritime Heritage
| Article
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10853 |
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Section : |
Culture
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| Issue
Date : |
7 / 1986 |
6,249 Words |
| Author
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Eloise Engle Paananen and Arnold S. Lott
This article is excerpted by permission from a book coauthored
by Eloise Engle Paananen and Arnold S. Lott, America's
Maritime Heritage (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland,
1975). Mrs. Paananen is a free-lance author based in the
Washington, D.C., area whose main field of interest is
maritime and military history. During his thirty-year career
in the U.S. Navy, Arnold S. Lott held every rank from
apprentice seaman to lieutenant commander and served on every
type of ship from a tugboat to an aircraft carrier. An
authority on naval history, he has authored a number of books
on the subject, as well as articles for the Encyclopedia
Britannica. |
The sea is filled with more than fish and salt water. For centuries people have marveled at its mysteries. Explorers and scientists have searched out its secrets, yet it is still a vast unknown--more men have walked on the moon than have seen the deepest parts of the sea. Fascination with the sea is not limited to whalers, sailors, and surfers. People who have never seen salt water, as well as retired admirals and tattooed seamen, are still drawn by what English poet John Masefield called "Sea Fever."
The reasons for this fascination are varied. For some people, going to sea and returning safely, whether from a few hours in a 20-foot sloop or from fourteen days in a cruise ship, becomes a personal victory over an age-old enemy. The sea is dangerous; it is a killer. For thousands of people--merchant seamen, offshore drillers, and fishermen--the sea is merely a way to make a living. Some hate it every minute they are out of sight of land, but as soon as they get ashore, they hurry back to sea. Going to sea offers an escape from the tedium of dull routine between four walls and a chance to live in a completely different world which, in some ways, is the same as when the Phoenicians and Vikings went to sea.
The sea is filled with monotony, danger, and discomfort, but to some men and women it offers beauty as fresh as when the world was young, the opportunity to find deep understanding of others, great faith in the well-ordered scheme of all things natural, and time to work out personal philosophies. Most, of course, keep such thoughts to themselves; not many have the ability to put them into words. But over the years many have gone to sea and brought back riches worth more than pearls and ambergris; they have produced the
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