I have been thinking about honor because of all things a television series.
Who thinks about honor these days?
I do not know, but not having had what is called a ‘real job’ for almost half a century, I have time to think about many things that others do not.
The television series is ‘The Last Kingdom’, based on the Bernard Cornwall ten novels set in the time of Alfred the Great with the central character being Uhtred of Bebbanburg, the greatest warrior of the age, and a man with torn loyalties between Saxons and Dane.
I read all the novels, and Carol and I have watched all the released three seasons of the television series except the final episode of season three which we will get to this weekend.
Honor and reputation are all to Uhtred, who also believes that “Destiny is all.”
Some of you will recall my often quoting the similar, 'Time and chance happens to them all.'
Uhtred believed that fate is decided by the Danish gods. I have come increasingly to believe that fate is in our genes, that we are born with most of what will define our lives, though time and chance may intervene.
Uhtred believed that fate is decided by the Danish gods. I have come increasingly to believe that fate is in our genes, that we are born with most of what will define our lives, though time and chance may intervene.
What it is to be honorable now? I wonder. What is it for me to be honorable?
I am going to switch for a moment to Alex Honnold of FREE SOLO. He is not unrelated.
If you watched the movie you will have heard Alex call himself a warrior. And if you have read my poems—and why would you have denied yourself this transcendent experience?—you would have read: judge a man, then, by that against which he must strive.
When I was young I looked around and found that the ocean is the greatest entity on the planet, and so I sought to measure myself against it.
Alex Honnold against stone. I against water. Warriors? I don’t know, but perhaps warrior spirits. I know there have been times when I have said to my boat: I have prepared you and not pushed you harder than necessary, but now you and I are just going to have to do this or be destroyed. And while I once thought of my third attempt at Cape Horn as a voyage of life or death, in fact every one of my voyages has been.
So I think for Webb Chiles to be honorable he need only continue for at least a little while longer to do what he has been doing for far longer than anyone, including himself, thought possible: go to the edge of human experience and send back true reports.
Only a minuscule number read those reports. I am grateful to those of you who do. But I would write them if no one read them at all.
There is a craftsman pleasure in putting words together and a sense that I am doing what I am meant to do.
There is a craftsman pleasure in putting words together and a sense that I am doing what I am meant to do.
Would Alex Honnold make his climbs if no one knew?
I like to believe he would.
I test and judge myself. While I would like to be admired, everyone else’s opinion is secondary. Far secondary.
I expect Alex Honnold is the same.
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In thinking about next year’s sailing, which will one way or another end the second and major part of my life, I have considered sailing from Panama—assuming I get GANNET across Panama—to Hawaii, then to Seattle and down the Pacific Coast.
I happened across a website that calculates sea miles between ports.
Assuming it is accurate, Savannah to Cristobal, Panama is 1563 nautical miles. I don’t know if that is measured going east or west of Cuba.
Panama City, on the Pacific side of the canal to San Diego is 3368 nautical miles. Because the last thousand or more miles is to windward, GANNET would have to sail close to 4,000 miles.
Panama to Hilo, Hawaii is 4542 miles.
Hilo to Seattle 2380.
Seattle to San Diego 1209.
The total Panama to San Diego via Hilo and Seattle: 8131.
A high pressure area between Hawaii and California causes it to be easier to sail north to Washington and then down the Pacific coast than directly from Hawaii to California.
A lot longer, but less sailing to windward, and I do like to sail.
This is all speculation. I don’t know what I am going to do.
I do know that I long to sail oceans again. And I long for the epic.