I hold mid-course at sea for salt (6,8)

I believe the answer is:

sodium chloride

'salt' is the definition.
(I know that salt can be written as Sodium chloride)

'i hold mid-course at sea' is the wordplay.
'at sea' indicates an anagram.
'i'+'hold'+'mid'+'course'='iholdmidcourse'
'iholdmidcourse' anagrammed gives 'SODIUM CHLORIDE'.

'for' is the link.

(Another definition for sodium chloride that I've seen is " It's found in the ocean".)

I've seen this clue in The Sunday Times.

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