North Shore Atlantic (Cliodhna)

.: My boat: North Shore Atlantic (Cliodhna)
I read this comment on Dave's blog. What a great association for a boat.


It is now December and I have decided to name my boat Cliodhna (Klee-in-ah) after the Celtic Godess: The Irish/Scottish Celtic Goddess renowned for her Great Beauty. When she assumes human form, Cliodna is the most beautiful woman on earth: the fair skinned shapely one. She was the ruler of the waves. It was said that every ninth wave embodied her, and broke higher and stronger than any of the other wave. It was a Celtic belief that every ninth wave that breaks ashore has magical properties. It is also said that to hear Cliodhna's Wave is a fortunate thing, as it will solve for you any difficult problem you are experiencing at the time.Cliodhna rules the Land of Promise, an otherworld where there is no violence or death. She also took the form of a sea bird and therefore symbolized the Celtic afterlife.


When we lived in Orkney we often heard the tale about the Silkie, the mysterious women who were seal when at sea and women on land. The story is told beautifully by Stewart Hendrikson in his reliving of the tale.
http://www.stolaf.edu/people/hend/VictoryMusic/July-MusicTrad_SelkieLore.htm

When the air is damp and the wind has on those rare occasions dropped in Orkney you can stand on the beach at Tingwall jetty and hear the sound of the seals drifting across the water from Gairsay. It is a haunting sound like a low melodic fog horn. We used to run a whole food shop in Rendall then Kirkwall, called the Tree Bakery. I had a delivery to make to Mrs Gotts on Gairsay. For fun my friend Chris and I decided to paddle across in our Huntsman kayaks. Having made our delivery and stayed for a brief supper we set off back to Tingwall jetty in the dark. The air was misty as we set our Silva compass bearings. The tide had just reached that point of tipping from flood to ebb. The sea was lumpy and coming from three directions. I felt unnerved but Chris said to me, "Concentrate on each wave and paddle by the seat of your pants. Slowly we made progress until the green light of Tingwall Jetty came into view. I relaxed once we could see the jetty. We hauled the kayaks up the beach both relieved and reluctant to leave that magical place.