Staouéli Shores
"Sihem runs a sailing school in Staouéli. When naval architect Paolo arrives studying traditional boats, she shows him that some vessels sail beyond the visible. 'El bahr yehdi' (البحر يهدي) - The sea guides."
Staouéli's coast had launched invasions and dreams. Sihem launched both.
"Traditional boat designs?" Paolo inquired.
"El design f'el ma." Design is in the water. "Machi f'el waraq."
Her sailing school taught what academies couldn't—sea-sense, wind-reading, wave-speaking.
"What makes Algerian boats unique?"
"El bhar yehdi."
"The sea guides?"
"El bahr y'araf wach ybni."
She was substantial—captain's confidence, body that had weathered every storm.
"How do you balance hull design?"
"Ma nbalancich."
"Every boat needs balance."
"El bahr ybalance."
Days sailing taught him. Paolo saw her vessels do what his calculations said impossible.
"This shouldn't float."
"Bas tehder m'a el ma."
"Talk to water?"
"El bahr yehdi."
"What does the sea say?"
"Yqoul wach ybni w wach la."
Night brought different sailing—stars for compass, intuition for charts.
"Ma n'arefch wayn rani."
"El bahr y'aref."
"You trust the sea?"
"El bahr ma ykhedbch."
"Sihem..."
"El bahr qalli."
"The sea told you?"
"Yqoul you're lost on land."
She kissed him on rocking deck.
"Hada..."
"El sail el jadida."
She undressed with sea-spray, her curves nautical.
"Mio Dio," he breathed.
"El bahr," she said. "Ana bent el bahr."
He navigated her like learning to sail—finding wind, respecting current.
"Paolo," she moaned.
"Hna." He found her harbor. "El mina."
She sailed beneath him, pleasure maritime.
"Dkhol," she gasped. "El bahri."
He set sail in her, and understood what design meant.
"El bahr yehdi," she cried.
"Fina."
Their rhythm was sailing—tacking, running, arriving.
"Qrib," she warned.
"M'aya." He sailed into her. "El bahr yehdi."
They anchored together, pleasure harbored. Paolo held her through the mooring.
"El designs?" she asked.
"Redrawn."
"Kifeh?"
"Sea-informed."
His architecture transformed—listening to water, not imposing on it.
"El methodology?" naval asked.
"El bahr yehdi."
Now he sails beside her, learning what drawing boards miss.
"El architect w el bahhariya," they say.
"El bahr jab'na," Sihem smiles.
"El bahr ykhallina," Paolo adds.
Some vessels design their designers.