arty things afloat

Passage Out the way Out the way OUT THE WAY! Three blue hoods trip, stumble To the other side The coils of rope Twist around ankles Feverish tension, just for a minute Holding their breath Waiting instruction Then calm, just the waves Her shoulders slacken, then.... Pull Pull PULL! Out of her daze She starts, eyes darting The BLUE one! She hauls Sliding easily Then jams. PULL! I can't!! Everyone cowers Captain cross Huffs, heaves But Can't Yes, it's bloody trapped Lodged , told you so. Then as we Daughter and Mum Enjoy the ride High on the side A full gallop Through rolling hills of the deep We are called down From horseback It's too dangerous If you go over We're all in trouble A moment of freedom The back in the fray Where limbs and ropes entwine Moods are low then high The sea is softer now Bodies slump, heads down I feel quite sick Anyone for toffee cake? Yes please , and coffee Children drowsy

The 'River Soapies' are a curious breed Found in the Scottish Isles Very timid and shy But occasionally in favourable conditions Can appear from where they hide. Often seen in deep freshwater pools In groups of up to nine Sprawling, rolling Producing a strange noise and foam Often mistaken for mermaids from a far. Before they retreat from view entirely They can be seen basking on rocks Quiet and contemplative So if you are lucky enough to spot this breed Wander and puzzle on them indeed. JO

Encrusted in salt Sticky, warm. Turning this way and that Wanting to drift for a little longer. Hair, thick like straw Glowing, dark cheeks. But I put off my wash in the sea The wind seems too much. Tomorrow will be the perfect day to scrub up, I hope Hair gets tied back Shirt put on And I feel fine JO

The Real Story Early, early start Quite cold Starving at staffa Short shrift With each other Fried egg fight And then its all right. JO

Skinny Dip Emerging into the light Heavy with sleep Sticky, stale, stumbles Sharp morning air Skin tingling at once Chest hairs alert With cold excitement Gazing into the unknown Where blue becomes grey The black, deeper, deeper No hesitation Bravely launching into The chilly depths Punching the water It swirls pulling him down, down Then a vibrant release Breaking the surface Gasping he smiles, spits Limbs Alive again Pulse quickening Blood diverted A woosh, as numbed toes Heave him into the vessel He shakes, grins Torso awakened Mind sharpened Vitality restored Anyone for tea ? EP

Shoreline It pulls me along its entire length No inch is left undone Treasures and trinkets Memories washed up Life's essentials discarded A boot, a glove The other half Warm in a drawer Unaware of its partners resting place A tangled net, broken seive Plastic doll, empty jar Unopened tins ready to release their gassy contents On the cold shale In the dark nooks Something glistens Bronze? Silver? Ever hopeful But the shoreline Only delivers Gems of the deep And gathering the smooth and jagged, pink, Amber, violet and Chalk white shells I hide them in batteries of colour and texture Satisfied by the order And beauty of what they may become To a watchful eye The firm bright clementines Unscathed Cry out' I'm fine !' 'Eat me!' And the boy harvests the fruit Odd when all has been dreaming of oranges EP

Tom's existential angst To dive or not to dive To draw or not to draw To carve or not to carve To spear or not to spear To paint or not to paint To scribe or not to scribe To dream or not to dream Too many possibilities Too much potential So many disciples So much time The sun beats down The master has a headache Fill him with caffeine And still he sleeps EP

Responsibility is a thing learnt with risk

What a way to travel These desolate wastes Up through the narrows  Just for that enhanced feeling of Exposure and isolation Am i a responsible parent One my ask I try to be Where else can you so easily impress  A sense of personal resposability And respect for the environment  And others Forgive my self congratulatory tones But this sort of thing seems so rare these days TH

I love it when a plan comes together.

One air One water One sun One vessel of life One chance   One moment Time space mass gravity   TH

Treshnish Alighting We climb The whale spine Brittle in the sun Up on the ledge Where the puffins Squat and strut We edge ever closer Behind a lens As they tease us Towards the fall Through nettles Past dark havens Where shags spit And protect their young We arrive to the cacophony of bird call Each has a space And a role E P

DP > > >

Im in a cant resist you stupa stupid Well i cant wash my bits and peices You could jump in the sea But its too cold I cant live without your affection But you get carried away I feel your pain Give me something   A promise A sign TH

Drying at last Dreaming, dawdling The glistening, oily sea Surrounds us, the psychedelic patterns mesmerise us And we chortle on The children sleep Drifting, dreaming Sunny cries and scrambles last evening Slept off, making space for more We chortle on A simple life Dreamimg, again We capture a piece of Time to be together Just for living, laughing, loving We chortle on JO

Inaccessible culdysack Another culdysack But not like any-other Or at least we like to think so The kids love a semi One foot in both worlds Mums and dads too Home by home Reasuring references to the imperfect dream But afloat on yachts in an inaccessible anchorage White sand blue sky Children sailing dinghies Frolicking in the shallows Two boats come together One with one thing One with another Worlds collide in stories and banter Then depart we must Before the swell or tide or wind do us in The inaccessible culdysac No longer a distant dream But an ever growing reality One ocean one world one peoples one dream TH

Calm After the whirlpools All grey Dripping , motoring Towards The bridge Where cheered Relieved faces Toast the charts Over warm ale EP

Avocados Got 'em Mattress toppers Got 'em Peruvian blend Got it Watercolours Got 'em Chilli flakes Got 'em Ukulele Got it Merino socks Got 'em Egyptian sheets Got 'em Sailing charts Forgot ' em EP

Dont forget the broccoli Anyone for colsaw Really very sorry Shared responsibility Selfishly not a greens man But put things in perspective Davids forgot his charts Who needs broccoli It just makes you fart TH

Calm at sea The life for me Follow the land Start a band Sails flapping Captain napping Too much rum Dodgy tum Heads are musty Towels are fusty Whilst we sail Children wail Love boat tea But need a pee Anchor dragging No chance of shagging Spirits fizzle Whilst it doth drizzle EM pre trip

Packing the dreams of tommorow Who knows who wants what Expectations brim with excitment Distractions abound and call for attention The ties of habits unravel A new being demands faith in uncertainty No amount of preperation can forsee everything We must go, go we must To inspire new dreams we must see and find anew

well lets not bore you with all the details, i will try and keep it breif. this blog is to expose the creative work of two families cruising the west coast of scotland. In conversation an idea came that if we were spending so much time afloat (three weeks) lets try and fill our time wisely and make artful resposes to our adventure and record our shared journy in poetry, music, drawing, painting, photography, art-actions and any other means we can think of to record our experiences within the unique enviroment of these inspiring isles.