The sea demands respect

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33740, 13 January 1975, Page 10

The sea demands respect

(By

JOHN LESLIE)

The sea is no crueller than the jungle, or many aspects of the harsh realities of present-day living. But it must be respected.

The sea demands this—but at holiday time, in spite of repeated warnings by men of experience, there are those who will not take heed.

Discipline may not be a popular word today, but it does not preclude happy harbour sailing. The sea is not necessarily cruel. When Nicholas Monsarrat wrote of “The Cruel Sea” it was wartime. Yehudi Menhuin, the distinguished violinist, said that only through discipline could one be truly free. Real seafarers (including yachtsmen and fishermen) are disciplined, if

they are competent. The majority are. Even with practical attention to detail, life is still full of chance. A person can sail round the globe in a small craft for the whole of his ute and come to no harm. A first-tripper can be drowned. But it is the same on landin the streets or anywhere. “Life is for living” but it is still hazardous. At Lyttelton, every endeavour is made to see that those who venture forth on the harbour, or further afield, respect the sea. This holiday time, as in others, there are those who have mocked it, although not always intentionally. They just will not listen.

The “speedboat cowboy” is fortunately becoming rarer on Lyttelton Harbour. He is regarded with contempt by the real seaman, who will still risk his life to save that of the miscreant. This is the