The names alone are enough to inspire wanderlust — Fortune and New Sunrise and Horizon, Blue Mist and Sea Ranger and Away. There is the cursive of lines uncurling from the cleats, the hum of warming engines, the tug of the boats on their tethers as if anxious to go.
A walk among the boats of a big Alaskan marina is a walk down a corridor of dreams. Each boat like a different version of that dream — here a working boat rigged for salmon dreaming of full nets, here a tour boat with each window reflecting dreams of humpbacks breaching and the sword-like dorsal fins of Orcas, there a sailboat with islands in its eyes and the hope of a quiet bay with bear tracks on the beach for an overnight anchor.
I can spend hours just walking up and down the docks, mentally letting go the lines, aiming for some distant shore, taking a voyage on each boat in turn, even just in my mind but true enough to feel the salt spray on my skin and imagine the slow, sure sway of the sea beneath me as we round some distant point.
Each voyage is just a dream, of course, but where is the harm in that? There are many ways to measure age but to me, a person does not get old until they stop dreaming and one way to know if you are still young enough to dream is to take a walk on an Alaskan dock.
— Jeff Rennicke (all photography by the author unless otherwise noted).
What sparks your dreams? Use the button below to send me a message and let me know.