Days Gone By
31. O talismã no mastro
Passámos o dia de ontem num molengo descanso. A noite anterior tinha sido longa – ficámos a ver o concerto de música ao vivo até ao fim – e como a seguir era domingo ninguém estava disponível para ajudar o capitão a fazer a manutenção do Nómada; por isso folgámos o...
30. A deriva da (in) permanência
Deixámos a enseada ao amanhecer, logo depois de a névoa matinal se dissipar com a leveza sentida numa casa a arejar de janelas abertas. O sol espreitava por entre os ramos de coníferas que não reconheci, talvez abetos e pinheiros, lançando sombras na suave ondulação....
29. Neblina dos Silêncios
Ficámos ancorados em Whycocomagh mais tempo do que esperávamos. Permanecemos em casa da Rita Joe dois dias e ela levou-nos a passear pela região. Regressámos ontem ao Nómada demasiado tarde para fazer sentido zarpar. Por isso, decidimos dormir a bordo sem adivinharmos...
28. Vozes Enterradas
Afinal, não demorou muito a prosseguirmos a viagem, livres dos polícias. O homem de cabelos brancos parece ter uma certa influência sobre as autoridades locais. O capitão regressou com ele ao barco, sorridente. «Temos connosco um novo tripulante. É um prazer...
27. Visitantes caídos do céu
Acordei cedo hoje. O mar ainda estava escuro, o céu com leves traços de lavanda da madrugada espelhados num mar calmo como não tínhamos ainda encontrado nesta viagem. Ficámos em Kellys Cove, uma pequena enseada junto a New Campbellton, um lugarejo com uma dúzia de...
26. Sell fee? Selfie?
O capitão não descansou nas primeiras horas após a nossa largada, sempre a tentar manter a máxima velocidade junto à costa, com a intenção de encontrar um refúgio para as despistarmos. O vento soprava húmido e frio vindo do mar e uma névoa envolvia o convés como uma...
25. A abordagem das feministas
Os últimos dias passados em Peggy Cove foram perfeitos para recarregar as baterias depois de uma travessia do Atlântico Norte. O capitão Slocum levou-nos a conhecer Mount Hanley, a sua terra natal, e fizemos o percurso ao longo de quase toda a costa marítima da Nova...
24 – Rituais de Navegantes
Suponho que estejas familiarizado com certas práticas cerimoniais que ocorrem durante os solstícios de verão e de inverno. O mais badalado é Stonehenge, mas em vários países nórdicos os festivais de verão são o principal evento cultural do calendário e entre as nações...
23. Chegada a Peggy Cove
Chegámos a Peggy’s Cove, na costa da Nova Escócia, no Canadá. O céu estava limpo, mas o ar trazia aquele frio cortante que só o Atlântico Norte sabe soprar. Sinto uma ligeira vertigem ao pensar nas milhas de oceano que nos separam, cada um de nós de um lado diferente...
22. Sextants and Singularities
As night fell, Vacchia Meli retired to his cabin, probably still a little dazed by the lesson I had administered right across his... supraorbital arches. The Captain and I remained on deck, practising how to determine our position with the sextant. I knew he knew I...
21 – O ringue da virtude
What a nightmare it is to be out on the open sea without internet, unable to talk to you, or even to check a few facts! Not only I had some sort of hallucination, I think I’ve had yet another episode of crossing paths with the past. Or at least with people who seem to...
20. Hallucinatory Submersion
I had another episode like the one with the tattoo in Setúbal, unable to tell dream from reality. Only this time it was not a matter of memory lapses or sudden leaps through time and space. Reality itself had been altered, as though it had suffered an attack of total...
19. Pedagogies
The encounter with the trimaran broke our isolation and dispelled the feeling that we were alone in the world. Yet it also had the curious effect of awakening a longing to be back on land, to see people around us again, to witness things happening instead of the...
18. Tradition is not what it used to be
Since that strange dead calm moment some days ago, we’ve been sailing at a good speed. When the wind returned, it returned with force. “We went looking for where it had gone,” said the captain. Then he explained everything to me with the sarcastic patience of someone...
16. Cosmic Sailor
We were a long way from the Bermuda Triangle, yet we had a strange encounter at sea. Perhaps this corner of the North Atlantic is the Triangle’s back door. I tried to memorize the coordinates – 41.70-something north and 41.40-something west – as the captain wrote them...
16. Possessive nouns
The unfortunate interaction between excessive quantities of grogue and the motion of a sailing boat has, I am pleased to report, produced a measurable improvement in our collective judgement. Our three philosophers now approach the bottle with considerably greater...
15. The natural State
This time, preparations for departure proceeded at a leisurely pace, free from the pressure of tides or arrival deadlines. That did not mean, however, that the Captain spent the morning snoring in his bunk. He was up with the sunrise, putting the final touches on...
14. Early Bird Corvo
Spend a night wandering around this island and you feel its isolation. There is no sound of anyone returning from somewhere or slipping away to somewhere else, no nocturnal mechanical rumble spreading low across the ground, no distant echo of vehicles in motion. Only...
13. Sic.. et Non
“Men's and women's hearts are moved more by examples than by mere words, and they find comfort in witnessing the suffering of those who, when one compares miseries, deserve even greater compassion than themselves. That is why I always recount the path that brought me...
12. A Game Without Trumps
I do not know what sort of spell was cast upon me, nor whether someone slipped something into my food, but the fact remains that I fell fast asleep immediately after the last mouthful of dinner. By the time I woke, we were already approaching the island, little more...
11. The Far Side of Things
It has been a nerve-racking week for Captain Jackdaw. I could see the unease in his gait and in his eyes, eager to cast off the lines, yet forced to watch the wind make a mockery of his plans. A stubborn calm kept us ashore when all he wanted was to set a course for...
Termos e Condições