‘Sea-Fever’

I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

By John Masefield (1878-1967)
(English Poet Laureate, 1930-1967)

Linda reminded me of this poem the other day. When we were first married we lived in London and on our occasional weekends home we would take the seafront route into town and I would recite this poem, I was back to the sea that I loved. Andy had probably never even heard of Sea Fever in his short life, but to me it sums up all of the feelings that both of us had for windsurfing, the ocean and life itself.

Our beautiful son is gone and nothing we, or anyone here can do or say can ease the pain or bring him back to us. In the past I have often said that there is a positive for every negative, maybe there will be other positives in the future but at the moment I can see only one positive and that is you, all his and our wonderful friends who are here today.

The lovely tributes paid to him this morning and that you are all here shows that none of us will ever forget Andy, he was such a very, very special person and the fact that he touched so many hearts is also a huge comfort.

Linda, Kara and I can only thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for all the kind words and thoughts, for being here, for being Andy’s friends and for loving him so much. Thank you.

These are the words I spoke at Andy’s Memorial Service last Tuesday, I would like to share them with the entire windsurfing community as I am sure that everyone in windsurfing was thinking of Andy that day and our thanks goes to all of you for your support and the tributes on the forums and on his website.

Trevor, Linda and Kara Funnell.