Brooklyn, New York-Sail Away
Hong Kong to Southampton
A maritime memoir carried by Queen Mary 2: Hong Kong memories, New York Harbor, the Atlantic crossing and the return to Southampton.
It is not a cruise but a voyage; not a cruise ship, but a liner—the last of the great ocean-going liners.
The title names the larger journey. The photographs concentrate on its Atlantic chapter: New York Harbor, the open ocean and Southampton. Sarah Kennedy and Ed Reif are onboard the last of the great ocean liners.
From harbor theatre to open water
The voyage moves through six scenes: entrance, arrival, bridge clearance, Manhattan, the Atlantic and Southampton.
Sailing Into New York Harbor
The magnificent approach aboard Queen Mary 2. Sailing past the Statue of Liberty and beneath the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge is maritime theatre at its finest.
New York Harbor Arrival — “I knew then…”
The Manhattan skyline turns arrival into recognition: you are experiencing something that belongs to the golden age of ocean travel.
Verrazzano Bridge Clearance
The funnel passes under the bridge with only feet to spare. Engineering precision becomes a public drama played out above the harbor.
Manhattan Adventures
Central Park, Circle Line and the city from land and sea—the urban counterpoint while Queen Mary 2 rests at her berth.
Atlantic Crossing
Seven days across the same water travelled by generations before us, aboard a ship designed not merely to visit the ocean but to cross it.
Southampton Arrival
The home port of Cunard and the sight of the sister Queens complete the passage in the grandest maritime tradition.
Two moments from the crossing
Under the Verrazzano
Watch the dramatic bridge clearance in action.
The grandeur of the voyage
Seven days of ocean, distance and the particular rhythm of a liner.
New York to Southampton
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Sailing Into New York Harbor
The magnificent Queen Mary 2 approaching New York Harbor. The last of the great ocean liners makes her stately entrance into America’s greatest port.
New York Harbor Arrival
That moment when the Manhattan skyline turns arrival into theatre and connects the voyage to the golden age of ocean travel.
Verrazzano Bridge
The ship’s funnel passes beneath the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge: engineering precision meeting maritime drama.
Manhattan Adventures
Central Park, Circle Line and the city from both land and water while Queen Mary 2 rests at her berth.
New York City Views
Manhattan’s skyline seen from the water—the perspective reserved for those arriving and departing by ship.
All Three Queens
Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth gathered in Southampton, home waters of the Cunard fleet.
What made the voyage memorable
Last of the Great Ocean Liners
Queen Mary 2 carries the working tradition of the true transatlantic liner.
Bridge Clearance Drama
The Verrazzano passage turns navigation and scale into visible theatre.
New York Harbor Entrance
Statue of Liberty, skyline and ship combine in one of travel’s great arrivals.
Transatlantic Crossing
Seven days in which distance is not an inconvenience but the whole point.
Manhattan Adventures
Central Park and Circle Line create the land-and-water counterpoint.
Cunard White Star Service
British maritime hospitality gives the crossing its ritual and rhythm.
20,000 leagues into my brain
Working on ships was a real life saver—and a life extension.
“Those who do not move do not notice their chains.”
Putting the he in hero, all action-adventure films have the same moral: perseverance pays. Of all the things I am not content doing, living on land is the most outstanding. I was an armchair sea dog, growing up on LAWNGUYLAND—Long Island, New York—dreaming of going places. I had never stepped onto even a motorboat. I never started, and therefore I never failed.
“How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.”
Let the Orinoco flow. Travel can produce an exhilarating state of mind in which everything becomes fresh, vivid, intensely interesting and memorable.
My universe is made of stories, not atoms: land, air and sea travel, and the power of now. If I wanted to become a multinational soul, I could not do it in the cities where I taught English—New York, Los Angeles, Paris or Tokyo—alone. I needed to be consecrated by sailing on the oceans. It is a wonderful thing to get rid of everything and everybody and go somewhere you know no one; where, as Melville said, God’s one and only voice is silence.
Despite the camaraderie, the laughs, the jollies and the tribalism that attend any cruising project, the profession remains notoriously lonely. Friendships are intense but brief. When the gig ends or the curtain comes down, you can find yourself back home staring at your phone and wondering whether any of it really happened. Memories are short. Time moves on. Fame is transitory.
Nothing fails like excess. Six times around the world does build confidence. It is not real life but an alibi—like going out of your mind every day in order to come to your senses. It is a blessing.
In my own private mythology, blessing sits beside the French blessure: wound. A blessing carries another side. My cruising obsession—this invisible wound—became a private religion, the place where much of my spirit was invested. Yet I was divinely compensated. The wisdom of excess is that we die to the present tense and are born again in the future perfect: heroes of our own lives.
“Freedom is what you do with what has been done to you.” — Jean-Paul Sartre
I would add: freedom is what you do with what has been done to you by your own thoughts, words and actions.
The crossing in figures
Figures retained from the source draft.
A fleet of adventures and maritime memories
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Queen Mary 2 Atlantic Crossing
Sailing across the Pond on the shortest bridge between New York and Europe. It is not a cruise but a voyage; not a cruise ship, but a liner—the last of the great ocean-going liners.
A Real Life Saver and Life-Extension
Working on ships has been more than a career. It has been a journey of self-discovery, adventure and transformation across the seven seas.
Venice Beach, California
A place noted for second chances—where I gave myself permission to LEAVE ASAP and recreate my identity.
Continuous Learning
Rule of thumb: if I am not embarrassed enough by who I was last year, I am probably not learning enough.
Glacier Bay, Alaska
The Great Land. Leaving the ritual of ordinary living, I embarked on an unplanned trip and became the Accidental Sailor.
FunEmployment
Success at sea is continued enthusiasm despite failure after failure. Instead of punching a clock, you head for the high seas.
2012 Adventures
The journey continues—magnetized and full of charisma, always managing to stay on course without realizing it.
Greek Isles 2009
Early maritime explorations: Mediterranean cruising and ancient cultures.
cOPENhagen
Wake up and smell opportunity—Scandinavian culture and the beauty of Northern European ports.
Fiji — Freedom Island
The cure for anything is salt water—sweat, tears or the sea. Freedom is not free, but it is not for sale.
Full Speed Ahead
There are three sorts of people: those who are alive, those who are dead and those who are at sea.
An I for an Island
Living well is the best revenge. The sea is the place I house my soul and access my higher self.
Gauguin Inspiration
Freedom is what you do to what has been done to you by your own thoughts, words and actions.
The life behind the voyage
Hong Kong to Southampton links
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“I’m beginning to think that maybe it is not just how much I love being at sea. Maybe what matters is who I am when I am doing it. I’m my best self.”
Wherever I go, there I am.