Ahoy there me hearties" and a very "Good Morning" from the ocean waves - well, would you believe river ripples? - where I slept aboard the LADY ANNE! (YES!!!, I bought the Savage Nautilus!) With the hatchcover open, listening to the fish jumping and gazing up at the stars, I quickly fell asleep. I slept like a sailor and dreamt of tropical islands and coral seas as the River Clyde flowed quietly on.
I was awakened by the insistent ringing of the cordless phone which reminded me that it was 6 o'clock on Easter Sunday and I was still moored only 20 metres offshore from "Riverbend" where a cooked breakfast and a hot shower were waiting for me. There was time enough though to still make myself a cup of tea on the boat's little metho stove (if I ever run out of tea, I can always drink the metho!) and to make everything ship-shape again. As the Water Rat said to the Mole, "There is nothing -- absolute NOTHING -- half so much worth doing as simply messing-about in boats or with boats, in or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do." (Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows")
I had written this almost twenty years ago, on 8 April 2007 - click here - and it all came back to me in a sudden rush when I received this email:
He must've been phoning me when I was out on the jetty having my hair cut in the sun. I could hear the phone ring but to go inside to answer it would've meant divorcing my hairdresser, and however tempting that may seem, I thought I had better let her finish cutting my hair first.
By the time I had all my hair cut on top and in my ears and nostrils, it was time for some mulligatawny soup, after which I wrote this email:
"You must've been the chap who called me while I was out on the jetty having my hair cut. I've forgotten where and when I had put that ad - I think it was GUMTREE - but long story short: it sold many, many years ago for a trifle $3,000, and last I heard it was sailed around Magnetic Island off Townsville by a doctor who later phoned me to learn more about the sail configuration. She was a lovely boat; built like a tank in the days when fibreglass was still cheap, and I spent many happy days on her up and down the Clyde River. I sold her reluctantly when I realised that I was too old and my sailing days were over. I hope you find some other boat that will suit you. Best regards and fair wind."
(As you can see, I didn't have the heart to tell him to stop "wandering".)
With my Van-Gogh's-ear for music, it could be argued that the Germans should have been required to lay down their accordions along with their arms at the end of the war.
It all stirred up long-forgotten memories and made me realise, just in case I had forgotten, how many happy years I have lived here by the river. "By it and with it and on it and in it." (The Wind in the Willows)
