Seasickness had made me unsteady on my feet,

Squalls of rain battered the sails canvas sheet.

Light mellowed while thunderclouds began to form,

All the telltale signs of an impending storm.

Steep waves kicked up by the stiff northerly gale,

Battered the decks, and buffeted the main sail.

Suddenly the tarpaulin was flung aside,

The captain took in the storm of the wet blackening sky.

His gold laced coat and black cocked hat,

Spattered with rain with a gentle rat-tat.

A large flat ray leaped clear of the water with a smack.

Other flying fish skimmed the waves in all directions,

As the sky turned jet black.

I could feel the rudder bite she was coming around,

She emerged into the wind on her new tack with little sound.

At last long volcanic coastline appeared along way off ahead,

Friendly ports for weary sailors to once more tread.

Out came the oars they growled in there rowlocks,

A steadied tiller I judged the distance easing her into dry docks.

My voyage complete, I need a bed hot food and tea,

Until dispatches send me once more out into the cruel sea.