October 2015 on the Great Barrier Reef

Hats Off

Captain Trevor Jackson

You know we all get in a rut…No matter how good life gets, we will occasionally sink into a shallow, muddy pond of self-pity and begin to think we’ve got it tough. Stuck in traffic, kids getting on your nerves, boss being a tyrant? Whatever the reason, it gets to us all, and you know what? We are entitled to the occasional self-indulgent moan…aren’t we? By the same token, we don’t want to let negative thoughts consume us too much. But sometimes the universe does seem overwhelming doesn’t it?

I was hanging out the wheelhouse window in half a gale last night, thinking those exact thoughts. From somewhere above and behind the boat, a little white seabird appeared beneath the front deck flood lights attempting to land on the safety railing. Each time it looked like he’d stick the landing a gust of wind would sweep him away, or another bird would bully him, or he’d simply lose his footing on the polished aluminium. All of this in the pouring rain. Poor little fella had nowhere to land, to sleep, to feel safe, etc…..EVERY single minute of EVERY single day would be a slog. Was he moaning? No way, he just kept trying to stick that landing. The tenacity of that little white bird cheered me up immeasurably. Nothing was going to dissuade him from his objective, and despite a myriad of obstacles, he would succeed. I watched the little white bird eventually settle in for the night, bury his beak under a wing and dream of what little white birds dream of.

With him secure and snug I made my way back to the helm, smiling at his small victory …and smiling because I’d been reminded of what a little interaction with nature can do for the tarnished soul. A little white bird had somehow reminded me it’s a big beautiful world and occasionally we need to reacquaint ourselves with it at a real level.

Hats off little white seabird….hats off.

Photo by Jonathon Gray