Anjelica Freeman
Working the Waters
Two Years Before the Mast
Rough Draft
May 17, 2007
Two Years Before the Mast: A Sailor’s Life for Me?
“There is not so helpless and pitiable an object in the world as a landsman beginning a sailor’s life” (Dana, p. 8). A truer observation has never been spoken, at least so far in my readings on life at sea, or maybe it’s just that I feel like a perspective that I can finally relate to is writing the book. Richard Henry Dana, Jr. brings more than a humble perspective to sea, he brings a Harvard education, which is invaluable in a world that has so commonly been, well, common. Dana’s observations no doubt give the reader an insight into a world so rich in description they feel like they are there, or want to be. The sea is romantic, don’t get me wrong, there is an indescribable romance to the unfettered existence of life and work on a boat. A sailor’s life is marked by many things; travel, danger, fear, excitement, accomplishment, sometimes comradery, but even Dana wouldn’t begin to delude himself that it’s easy or comfortable or even an understandable choice of vocations for an educated person who knows all this already. So, here I am pondering my own time at sea, curious about what it will bring. But don’t worry I’m already humble, picturing myself stepping onto the ship “with all my imperfections on my head” (Dana, p.7).