Across the raging Ocean
Hurtling home from France in a skittish Dufour
Bobbing in the ocean like a pea in a drum.
Drum lost her keel in Fastnet fright
We were stranded at sea off Selsey Bill
Limped into Shoreham late evening
Summer storm.
Alison Jean Hankinson
A memorable sailing trip with my parents in August 1985, as a teenager, still not sure how we survived, the auto-pilot couldn’t hold our course it was a little bit rough to say the least. Dad’s little Dufour was 26ft….Simon Le Bon’s Drum was more like 78ft….
For Quadrille at d’Verse. Challenge STORM.
Okay, that gave me the shivers! Glad you’re here to write poetry about it….
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I love those names and places, even though they didn’t mean much to me without the notes. It rooted it in a time and a place, which I love.
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How scary! This line is so descriptively perfect:
“Bobbing in the ocean like a pea in a drum.”
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Storms are the reason I don’t like being on boats. Being stranded at sea sounds terrifying.
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I think there is nothing that is better or nothing worse than the sea.
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LOl…I think it put me off sailing forever…I now apsire to have a caravan to go to Whitby and Scarborough and Inverness……..to have fish and chips and watch the sea….
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“Bobbing in the ocean like a pea in a drum” … Yikes.
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I love the sea … to watch. I have no desire to be on it. My son-in-law nearly was paralyzed by a rogue wave in Hawaii which broke his neck when it slammed him to the ocean floor. No thank you. Then there’s the jelly fish … and the sharks. It’s a landlubber I am, but I loved your poem!
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My goodness such electrifying imagery in this!
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Harrowing! “Fastnet fright” was particularly pleasing to the ear. Nice!
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Wow! That’s power packed. The one place I would not ever want to be in a storm, a sailboat without a keel! I wonder, did you ever sail again after that?
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Whew! Quite an adventure! “Bobbing in the ocean like a pea in a drum.” How terrifying!
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Love “pea in a drum.” I imagine it’s still hard to write about. Harrowing to say the least.
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It sounds both exciting and scary. This line is great: ‘Bobbing in the ocean like a pea in a drum.’
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Bobbing in the ocean like a pea in a drum — great description! I must say, I am not comfortable in the water, swimming or in a sailboat. A cruise ship is another thing — but you’ve written of my fears here!
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