The preface to the book Seamanship by Peter Kemp starts with two definitions. One from the Oxford English Dictionary: The art or practice of managing a ship at sea. and one from the Encyclopaedia Britannica: The art of sailing, maneuvering, and preserving a ship or boat in all positions and under all reasonable conditions. Notice how they both start. Seamanship is an …
Serena Williams on Enjoying the Journey
All I want is to have fun in what I’m doing every day. I don’t want to break records. Serena Williams, who has broken many records while enjoying her journey.
Picabo Street on Potential, Limits and Courage
To uncover your true potential, you must first find your own limits and then you have to have the courage to blow past them. Picabo Street, Olympic gold medalist and World Cup alpine skier. I like that she says courage. Because this is tough, serious, hard work. Worthwhile yes, but it’s a lot more work than many motivational quotes make …
Chris Sharma on Enjoying the Journey
“If you’re only happy when you’re at the summit, you’re not going to be happy very often.” Chris Sharma, extreme climber. Quoted in The Red Bulletin, Aug 2015.
Captain Sully on Not Knowing
Roald Amundsen on Luck
I may say that this is the greatest factor … the way in which every difficulty is foreseen, and precautions taken for meeting or avoiding it. Victory awaits him who has everything in order—luck, people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time; this is called bad luck. Roald Amundsen, …
To be in Nature … a Good Way to Use Life
Parasailing mountain skier Antoine Montant on playing with elements, ability and the mind. He died later that year year attempting a BASE wingsuit jump. (Quote is from his appearance in the TV show Red Bull Ultimate Rush, S1 E1)
A Man is Not Where He Lives
“A man is not where he lives, but where he loves.” Cool, ‘cos I love flying! Original Latin by St. Augestine: “Anima plus est ubi amat, quam ubi animat.”
Murphy was Deeper than You Guessed
“It is found that anything that can go wrong at sea generally does go wrong sooner or later.” This was written by Alfred Holt in 1877, in an engineering report on using steam engines at sea. The phrase has become known as ‘Murphy’s Law’ for reasons unclear. But the original report is deeper and more insightful than I ever would …
Counting the Hours
“I was counting the hours at the end, not because I was eager to land, because it was the only hours left for me to enjoy my time in this cockpit.” ~ André Borschberg, Solar Impulse 2 pilot, regards his historic 118 hour flight across the Pacific. Report in Wired.com