Journey of the 7th Chakra. Marc Rosenberg

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      First Night Out

      The introduction was a crisp starlight night aboard; alone with the quiet sounds of wind and clanging lines against metal masts. A restless night’s anticipation with thoughts racing the coming dawn; a predawn rendezvous stowing gear, plotting course, just moving to keep warm. I welcomed Hank aboard as a faint hint of morning softened the darkness. The engine fired at first request and the gentle vibration resounded through the rigging. The sleek white hull came to life as it strained against the lines. Hank cast off and I felt a gentle pressure at the helm as we slid slowly off the dock. Throttle eased in gear as the pulse of the diesel kept pace with the thumping in my chest. As we left the maze of boats and docks, the still water before us widened, welcoming this new life onto the bay. 7^th Chakra came alive as the colors of daylight flashed upon the surface of the still unbroken calm. Shafts of gold, violet and orange reflected on the stark white form as the bow turned south toward the Newport Bridge arch that seemed to hold the shoreline still. The boat responded almost in anticipation of my commands upon the tiller. I felt it knew the course as if some genetic code was there to guide us home. Familiar sites seemed to slide behind as Goat Island, Newport Harbor and Castle Hill became postcard scenes along our path. Narragansett Light lay off starboard bow as the sun rose over port beam and the excitement of open water beckoned ahead.

      There is intimacy in the relationship of man to his creations. As 7^th Chakra rounded Narragansett Light and headed west this dance of introduction had begun. We were on the sea alone, the morning calm this first of April set the rhythm as we moved. How the boat responds is linked to what we do. All the lines lie still awaiting each command. Some responses grand, others subtle shifts combine to guide our movements as one across the sea. Grasp the halyard to hoist the main and feel the power fill the sail. Ease back the throttle, unfurl the jib and the force of nature now responds to our will. The power of the engine pushed us on our way. The force captured in our sails has breathed life into this boat. Angles, vectors, sail shape and trim all combine to move us on upon the sea. Direct it well and feel it leap ahead, but err in judgment and it tells you so. We are talking to each other this boat and I, growing more familiar as the moments pass. Heavy weather teaches fast, a test of resolve to hold the course. The sun has raced us across the sky and has beaten us to home. As the darkness falls we seek the haven of a port to rest body, mind and soul. I can not yet digest all this day has been to me; that time is yet to come. Thin white lines hold Chakra fast as I take leave to celebrate this first of many days ahead. Fifteen hours upon her deck, a mere flirtation as we danced. The timid touch of our first date has changed as night does fall. Familiar feel of lines and tiller have been pressed into my body’s memory.

      Sleep has fueled my tired form as dawn arrives too soon. With clouds obscuring the sun’s advance we cast off lines and embraced once more. Today is calm, no rising seas to test our lessons learned. She yields to touch and tug of ropes and steadily moves on. The rhythm of the sea is shared with music of our own as 7^th Chakra frolics in the swells and we advance to home. This time, more relaxed, intuitive as we move, Chakra and I are becoming one. Lead is shared from boat to mind and instinct settles in. The conscious concentration of our first day out no longer exhausts my mind. As I understand my partner’s desires, my movements anticipate her needs. We glide along an increasingly familiar shoreline as shafts of sunlight pierce the gray. I have become a sailor as I guide 7^th Chakra home. The afternoon brightens as this mystical journey fades into reality. Familiar faces on the dock kindle excitement in my smile. These two days out upon an empty sea have given me a key, a means to travel paths ahead. 7^th Chakra is a sailboat, documented by the United States Coast Guard. At merely twenty-eight feet in length she carries three hundred fifty-two square feet of sail. Her bow is high and proud and poised to reach into the beyond.

      7^th Chakra is a state of consciousness, a way to bridge our realities from physical to astral. It propels us on to seek a rarefied state of being and understanding of our selves, connecting inner and external realities as a pathway to perfect enlightenment. It is the vehicle for this most perfection seeking quest. To fix our position within land and sea and define our purpose by blending spiritual and physical being, imparting ultimate knowledge and awareness in the process we have labeled life. There are rituals at sea, each act in its place triggers memory for that which follows. The repetition seems to flow without the imposition of thought. This meditation of tasks permits the mind to freely anticipate what is yet to be. Distracted by the reality of each moment, the events of each new day unfold to reveal the patterns of our lives. We interact with self, with others and with time in a physical framework that defines our existence. There are natural rhythms imposed upon all the events of living, cycles of light and dark, tidal ebbs and flows, seasonal alterations in climate and environment, variations in weather patterns and intensities. These phenomena of nature are mirrored in the experiences of those who sail. Each day’s course is both familiar and unknown. The interplay of nature’s elements creates ceaseless variations upon many themes. Becalmed in an afternoon lull stimulates introspection and thoughtful conversation. At the helm in heavy swells with wind at thirty knots, attentions riveted to sail trim and detail. Capturing heavy pressure in wings of Dacron fiber challenges all the senses, demanding concert of man and machine in harmony with nature’s changing moods. The times between extremes are subtle, permitting refinement of technique. Diminished intensity of conditions allows a softer rhythm to unfold. Sailing in the zone, a meditative melding of wind and tide, of speed and force, of man, his boat and the purity of motion in resonance with the movement of the sea.

      These first months upon 7^th Chakra’s decks have stimulated thought, rejuvenated awareness of innocent discovery and magnified all sensual experience. There is a duality to humankind; we are at once together and alone. We process external occurrence by ingesting experience and responding both reflexively and learned. Each stimulus repeated adds to our personal folio of experience. As unknown becomes familiar, time mediates our growth. We are vessels containing an ever increasing fund of knowledge. It is our lot to seek out who and why we are. We are positioned in life between insignificant and infinite, growing greater as we age. It seems our very purpose to explore the environment we inhabit and extend our understanding of our self. As merely transportation our vehicles take many forms. Upon the land, the sea and air we are propelled by natural forces and fossil fuels to all points upon the globe. Through vehicles of the mind we are propelled by our experiences on ever expanding helixes toward enlightened consciousness. Great quests result from small journeys. It is our compulsion to create pathways into the unknown. Each day should add a new experience to our too familiar life routines. We grow in increments and occasional leaps, at times discouraged by dead ends. Even journeys to no apparent destination provide experience along the way.

      Resolve to venture out to places yet unknown, to depart the security of home, to leave the dockside ties, to inhale each new challenge that awaits, then again return to port. Some let go for just a while and others stray for good. Our journeys all seem different, while our goals are all the same. I launch from dockside, each day by routine. First the aft line, then the bow, and finally the spring. As the boat drifts back anticipation mounts, not knowing how tide and wind will play upon this small hull as it navigates near shore. As waters widen and land recedes, I become one with each moment as the elements take ownership of my craft. I set a course, control the speed and trim the sails to capture nature’s mood that day.