“The cure for anything is saltwater: sweat, tears or the sea.”

—Isak Dinesen

I take nourishment, my vitamin sea, on Kagán each summer. Leaving the high desert in spring, means the winds go from an assault of airborne grit to a means of locomotion on my fair little ship. The rhythm of my days slows from 75 mph on an interstate to a few knots upon rippled waters. Though mostly calming, those few knots (not many mph. since a knot is 1.15 mph) can feel quite exciting. Some skippers say “under three turn the key”—as in under three knots of boat speed, turn the engine on. But on those days when the only goal is to go where the wind blows, I’m happy to ease along on a gentle breeze and a planned-for ride on the tide. My late partner, and Kagán’s previous skipper, would call it “sail drifting.”

While taking vitamin sea, for me, it’s all about tides and currents, wind and weather. Nature’s schedule and no one else’s govern mine.

This year especially, as I fight fear, hopelessness, and grief for the direction my beloved country is taking, I am deeply grateful for my dose of vitamin sea. As the Dinesen quote says, saltwater is the cure—my daily dose of sweat (both from exercise and boat work), tears (from that aforementioned fear and grief), and the powerful healing of the sea (in all its states, from those that demand respect to those that elicit profound peace).

“If the ocean can calm itself, so can you. We are both saltwater mixed with air.”

—Chief Seattle