Ground swell

The first time I really understood the term was as I boarded a large Navy ship from a small water taxi. I’d only joined the ship’s company of U.S.S. Long Beach three days before and was on my first liberty ashore when the entire crew was recalled in preparation to sail from the coast of Taiwan into the relative safety of the South China Sea. The ship needed to clear the area before we were caught inshore by Typhoon Billie, the leading edge of which was heralded by a ground swell that moved our little boat in a long, lazy sin wave as we neared the boarding ladder. Even with the ship hove to so as to create a lee, we were moving a good eight feet relative to the ladder, which itself banged and screeched against the gray expanse of cruiser.

It was quite an introduction to the life of the seaman as I gathered up my courage, took a deep breath and made the leap from gunwale to step. And I gotta say, firm footing had never felt so good as it did once I had both of my dogs planted on that boarding ladder.

Encountering a ground swell in a kayak is a less scary experience mostly because you don’t fight the swell, you ride it for all it’s worth. Oh sure, you have to pay attention when you crest if you want to stay on course and if you don’t keep hydrated you can end up wickedly seasick. But if you keep your head on straight, a ground swell in a human-powered craft can be a great time.

Ground swell is also a term applied to politics and it’s applicable right now. Hawaii just became the fifteenth state to affirm the right of gay couples to wed. This is clearly an idea whose time has come. It makes me happy to say that because I believe this signals a major move in the direction of equitable treatment for all of us by all of us. Social parity still won’t come easily and it will take awhile longer. But the current is moving and in a good direction.

To those who feel threatened, I hope you’ll take this advice from a novice paddler: You can’t fight the ocean. Enjoy the up swells and don’t sweat the troughs. If you panic, you go over. And staying in the boat is what it’s all about.