The freedom of the sea lures men, yet freedom does not come free. Its cost is the loss of the security of life on land. When a storm is brewing, the sailor cannot simply park his ship and walk away from it. He cannot hide within stone walls until the whole thing blows over. There is no freedom from nature, the power that binds even the dead together. Sailors are exposed to nature’s beauty and her ugliness more intensely than most men ashore. I have chosen the sailor’s life to escape society’s restrictions and I have sacrificed its protection. I have chosen freedom and have paid the price.
