Listen:

The Norse god Aegir had nine daughters. These where the nine wave maidens: Bára (or Dröfn), Blóðughadda, Bylgja, Dúfa, Hefring, Himinglæva, Hrönn, Kólga, and Unnr. Their names reflect their character and where a way to describe what the sea was like. It was much more exiting to say that today we rode on Dröfn's ("Foamer") back than to say the sea was as rough as 6 on the Beaufort scale. Okham's razor often applies to myth as well. Is it more likely that the nine daughters of the sea god are descriptions of what it is like out there (before Mr Beaufort), or are they really physical beings like mermaids?

Today, at the bay, I met Kolga ("the cold one") or Hrönn (wavy one). This is at best a guess, unless I get to talk to a sailor who still describes the sea by Aegirs daughters.

My fascination with the sea has got me wet more than a couple of times and almost drowned once. Yet I still go out to see more. Water is a strange substance. It is a combination of 2 gases, yet it is a liquid. It even breaks some off the natural laws that other liquids have to abide by. There is a brilliant book about it titled "H2O" by Philip Ball.

You can stand by the sea till eternity and never witness the same sight again. The sea is a perfect example of beautiful chaos.