EXCERPT This is a book in which the sea enters into theory. A book for a theory which, rather than taking the sea as its object, produces itself as subject directly on the sea, occasioned by the world. Neither a studiously detached case study of a single-handed sailor, nor an essay that takes sailing as its theme as others may take mountain climbing or cycling as theirs, with a view to introducing readers to some philosophy or brand of spirituality, nor a guide in which, donning my sailing instructor’s hat, I dispense wisdom about the ocean and the vessels that sail upon it. Nor is it a story of my own travels upon the sea. Indeed, what would I have to say? I can hardly compare myself to the contemporary offshore racer in their speedboat, the adventurer who sails the seven seas looking to cross new frontiers, or even the traveller for whom sailing is simply a way to visit distant lands. Racer, adventurer, traveller—the three modes of the solitary sailor. I am none of the above. But I sail, of course. I have been sailing for almost as long as I can remember…