Gustav Tjgaard

Echo of the Imago Gustav Tjgaard

Set in the vast forested wilderness of Alexander Archipelago, the author and his companion Sophie found a connection to their evolutionary heritage in their primal surroundings. They sailed the thousands of miles of passages, channels, fjords like a reed driven by the wind and this lapping of waters, bird songs, wind in the trees and crashing surf is a part of a magic medium compounded of adventure, distance, and danger. Their sail boat the Green Wind, a 36 foot, gaff-rigged cutter, became a part of their journey through the wilderness, giving them the gift of an almost forgotten freedom. The way of their sailboat was the way of the wilderness, it opened a door to waterways of ages past, to a life of profound and abiding satisfactions. I remember long trips in this wilderness when food was running low, when the weather for a week or a month had been impossible, and the joy of coming back meant comfort and the satisfaction of hunger. Coming back from any sort of a primitive expedition is the real adventure. We need contrast to make us know we're really alive.