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.
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Hues of Hankinson 
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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