You Know the Sea Has Accepted You

The sea does not tell you that it has accepted you with a certificate or a document. One day, you simply realize that fear has been replaced by respect.

When a wave approaches, you no longer run—you prepare. When the wind blows, you no longer panic—you calculate.

Years later, a young crew member asked me: “Captain, can I become a seafarer?”

I told him: “The sea will answer you.”

If, after every hardship, you still want to go back out, then the sea is calling you.

Because being a seafarer is not about loving the sea—it is about remaining loyal to it, even when it exhausts you.