Having a poetic love of the sea and a practical fear of it, the presence and faithfulness of land resonates.  Even when I have loved being at sea, on calm bright days, I always feel a primal relief when I touch ‘solid’ ground.

‘An island is loyal in a way that a boat can never be.  A boat can go wrong, the gear can fail.  The sheer solid stillness of the islands is not like that.  An island is a presence, not a motion, and there is faithfulness in rocks.’

See also a quote-rich mosaic review of this magnificent, entrancing book: a love letter to islands and a paean to the sea. 

Source: Adam Nicolson, Sea Room: An Island Life (London: Harper Collins, 2013 (2002)), p. 26

Photo credit: Azrul Aziz at unsplash.com