Tuesday, August 24, 2021

------- 'NEVERLAND' SAILING DOWNEAST ON LAKE SUPERIOR CANADA -------

The Westsail 32 is one of my dreamships. 'Neverland' is a very nice example of this solid cruising yacht class which has its roots in the old Colin Archer double enders. I would love to own and sail one of these boats. This is a particularly well shot video accompanied by a couple of beautiful songs - especially the first one which begins at 2.55 minutes into the video, which is best watched on full screen - magical! 

Light comes down in a shimmering ray
Oh for the yearning in my days
I will stand before you as I pray
Take me up to a higher plane.

Blackened stump bleached by the sun
Oh for the yearning in my days
Reaching up to kingdom come
There will be no brighter day.

Blinding light flash off the sea
Oh god the northern shore
Each bend and curve to beckon me
Shake me to my very core.  (x2)

Pic Island arc in a perfect form
Oh for the yearning in my day
In the arms of the north I am reborn
There will be no brighter day

Give me blacks, give me blues
Oh for the whites and the yellow too
From them I'll blend the subtler hues
There will be no brighter day.

Where the lake goes on beyond my eyes
And the light goes on beyond my dreams
Where the spirit grows, it never dies, Where
the west wind blows and the Jack pine leans

4 comments:

Bursledon Blogger said...

I really like the Westsail 32 and having been aboard three they seem really well built, but the fact that they are nicknamed the WestSnail has always put me off.

Our Endurance 35 was similar , lovely looking boat, great to live on, really safe in a gale, but as a friend pointed out they're called Endurance because they are so slow you have to endure long passages

http://1001boats.blogspot.com/2011/07/endurance-35.html

Alden Smith said...

You make some very good points Max. They are slow and also they don't go to windward all that well - but, but, but..... how do we quantify that special magic when the spell is cast upon us? What has liking a particular boat got to do with logic when it's competing with a particular bewitching poetry? We will always battle with this. I think I would on balance put up with the slow passages of the Westsail 32 for a while just to experience the magic.

Ben said...

What is slow?. The speed of any 32 ft yacht will be slow. If the design looks good and the handling feels trusted it can be a dreamship. Says a romantic land lobber 😊

Alden Smith said...

Yes Ben, I agree entirely. Sailing is a slow way to travel. Big Vendee Globe type racing yachts with their foils and go fast high tech gear are exceptionally fast relative to the tubby little 32 footer mentioned in my post - but when you look at the average speeds between two points, and taking into consideration storms, calms, sea states etc the average speeds are quite low - nothing exceptional at all. If you want to go fast around the globe - fly in an aeroplane.

Also, personally (and I have made a trip up into the Pacific years ago on a yacht) slow passages don't faze me at all - being at sea is the whole point and enjoying the passage in all it's variety and wonder is part of the whole deal, no matter how long it takes. But I respect the fact that other people view this differently.