Article by Howard Rice
magic carpet: a mythical carpet that is able to transport people through the air.
sylph |silf|. an imaginary spirit of the air
The laugh of a distant gull served as both early dawn soloist and alarm clock awakening me from a deep sleep. I was anchored at sea just outside the reef at Pakin Atoll, Pohnpei, Micronesia. I was tented in aboard my 15-foot sailing canoe Sylph, the most magical of carpets. Yawned and stretching I elected to take my waking slowly. Eyes blinking in the dawn light, I unzipped the tent door and rolled onto my side for a water-level view. The rhythmic tap tap tap of wavelets kissed Sylph’s hull; all was magic. From my low vantage point the curve of the earth seemed real. The ocean was hued in aquamarine colors, nearly slate flat tickled to ripples by the stirrings of a faint dawn breeze. Was I in the midst of a small boat dream?
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