Crossing

→ Saying this, I think that the comfort of sailing in ships has changed enormously.
→ Now, it is a nice experience to be at sea. Seafaring, therefore, lost a bit of the mystique surrounding it, it’s not what it used to be in the past. It’s not much of a thing any more to sail on the ocean. There are cruise ships now, offering ocean crossing as an experience.

→ I guess this experience made me feel empathy for people crossing the sea to come to Europe. It made me understand that the ocean is not a kind entity if you are not well prepared for it. If you fall from the boat in the middle of nowhere you are probably going to die there. Now that I know this I can empathize more with other perspectives on this.

There’s a French film (Welcome by Philippe Lioret): about a refugee crossing the channel by swimming. The film describes the process of him getting ready for the crossing, training like mad. I don’t remember if in the end you actually see him entering the water, but I have a clear (perhaps imagined) image of him progressively getting disoriented + getting sleepy.

Some people from the generation of my mother and before came to France from the West Indies by boat. Like the European migrants arriving at Ellis Island. And I often wonder what it would feel like to sail for days and days on the ocean without seeing the shore + then, suddenly, seeing it. You’re starting a new life somewhere new but at the same time you’re in the middle of nowhere (during the crossing).

This crossing was really different from taking the mailboat to Dover. I felt the wind on my face. I felt on the same level as the seagulls that were hanging out on the water surface. I didn’t even know they did that. My favorite ocean bird is the Gannet.