Reflections from a Boat Ride
Just over two months ago, I was sitting on a boat going from Rhodes to Symi Island in Greece. Although this was a short journey, the hour and a half that I spent travelling along the ocean made me think about the blue expanse below us. In this blog, I share a piece of work different to anything that I have published before. Feeling inspired by my surroundings, this is a creative piece of writing, guided by description rather than facts.
The Aegean Sea
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It was a bright day at the beginning of May, and the sun’s rays gently skimmed the top of the sea, forcing it to glisten and glow. The only sound that pervaded my ears was the roar of the boat’s engine, seemingly befitting the crashing of the vessel as it disturbed the still water. Ironically, the sound was more calming than formidable and like the biblical feat of Moses parting the Red Sea, the ocean also separated below us, leaving a trail of white decoration, immortalising our travels below us.
As we travelled further down the Aegean Sea, leaving the land still and standing, I couldn’t help but think we were the only beings on the water. The boat was full of life with people speaking in different tongues, sporting different skin colours and expressing different personalities. However, we were miniscule compared to our surroundings. The water stretched for as far as the eye could see, and its deep blue colour added a sense of mystery and wonder to our journey. Even the island of Rhodes, the biggest island in the group that we were visiting (the Dodecanese) looked like a small, roughly thrown rock in a puddle.
We finally reached the shore, and the now unmoving boat became enveloped by the water’s motion. The remnants of our journey - the trail of white in the water from the boat’s movement and the rippling waves - had disappeared, and the water made the vessel sway similar to a mother rocking a newborn baby to sleep. Our ride was finished, and this closure was now and forever materialised when looking at the sea, calming and gentle.
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The ocean covers 70% of the Earth’s land, and the movement of the boat we were on made me more and more aware of this. Although human movement appears to be ephemeral and brief - given the fact that we always have water around us - it has a long lasting significance. Whether we live on a small island or in the middle of a large continent, we always have water at our disposal, which we have used for centuries in many different ways ranging from short boat rides and cruises to large scale fishing and digging for oil.
Earlier this month - on the 8th of June- the world commemorated World Ocean Day, a day aligning with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 and reminding us about the importance of protecting the ocean and sustainably managing the resources that it provides us. Unlike the white trail which followed our boat as it went through the water which stayed for a few seconds before disappearing without a trace, plastic thrown and oil spilled remain for decades, polluting the sea and the life within it. It is our job to protect the water so that it is still there in its finest state for future generations.
