Mal d'terre


There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul.  

After two days and nights on the boat, 
we finally set foot on land yesterday in the island of Korcula.  The first day we didn't have much wind, so we have been motoring most of the way, but yesterday we got our first sailing lesson, unfurling both the main sail and the gib, cruising up to 6.5 knots.  Miles and I were the crew, 
tightening and loosening the ropes on the winch.

After a long day at sea it was nice to moor in a little bay, where we went swimming, dove off the boat, etc.

Frank mentioned that in French, sea sickness is called mal d'mar, and there's also Mal d'terre... land sickness.  The cure for Mal d'mar is to get on land. The cure for Mal d'terre is to get back in the boat.

We dressed for dinner and took the dinghy to the beach side restaurant, 
and Frank Gretchen and i shared a freshly caught sea bass, which was de boned for us at table.  
Miles was sitting next to me, and he started describing a weird phenomenon... the waves continued to pull him back and forth, even though he was sitting on land at the table, secure.  It was as if he was hallucinating, and it lasted throughout the whole dinner. It appeared that he had a case of mal d'terre.  After a few days at sea, already he was more settled in the boat than land!  The cure awaited us as we got back on the dinghy and headed to the safety of the sailboat.

The Balm in Gilead song references the sin sick soul...a sort of mal d'peche.  Perhaps the cure for such sickness is to leave behind the sin and seek the safety of the boat of God's loving embrace.

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