The view...

Possibly distance lends enchantment to the view. But I don’t know. There is a fascination in being close to the sea in all her moods and, for that, a ship is best. Even when sitting on a harbour wall the sea is still far away. It is no longer intimate; a squall or a big wave has no influence worth mentioning and can always be avoided. On land, no one wonders if tomorrow will see them fifty miles to leeward of their course or battling to make a port that was within sight the day before yesterday. In a sense, the mystery of tomorrow is gone - the lure that takes us off the beaten track. Tomorrow is a tame prospect. But aboard a cargo-ship on a smuggling-run, well... that is an entirely different prospect.