Paper Short Abstract:

The paper explores an anthropological journey describing 'the fall of the sea from the sky': from the planetary sea to the personal sea in navigation. In this way, an ethnographic itinerary on the maritime multi-dimension is outlined: planetary and terrestrial, experienced at sea, but also from land

Paper Abstract:

Drawing on my personal experiences as an anthropologist and sailor, in this paper I propose a reflection on the dimensions of maritime space through an anthropological literary journey describing 'the fall of the sea from the sky'. By scaling down the supra-terrestrial proportions of the sea investigated by the wet ontologies (Steinberg, Peters 2019) to the personal ones experienced on a boat, I shift the focus from the maritime planetary aspects to the material and experiential ones (Morton, 2018) of sailing. I thus introduce a reflection on the phenomenology of navigation (Phelan 2007) and the interspecific relationships (Helmreich 2010, Sahlins 2018, Haraway 2020) that bind us to the non-human equoreal world during navigation and boat maintenance work. The dimension of nautical refitting sheds light on the relationships that connect boats to land. Therefore, by referencing the ethnography I conduct within a company that produces luxury interiors for Mega and Giga Yachts, I seek to demonstrate how the economy of the sea is linked to mainland production regimes and discuss the radicality of recent perspectives that look the sea from the sea. In this way, an ethnographic itinerary on the maritime multi-dimension is outlined: planetary and terrestrial, experienced at sea, but also from land.