LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLLLLLLLLLLLLE.
Iiiiiiin the red corner, we have Goliath*,
the mammoth 70 foot ex-fishing boat, weighing in at 70 tonnes and current
champeeeeeeeen of the world. Iiiiin the
blue corner, we have David*, the plucky little cruiser weighing in at 15 tonnes
in his debut fight.
I don’t hold
much hope for David. Goliath is too big,
too strong and has much more experience but in saying that… David looks good
and he has lovely form. He’s been
working hard for this big moment and, let’s face it, everyone is rooting for
the underdog.
Ding….
Goliath is
straight out of his corner, dancing his way toward David but David isn’t
moving, he’s rooted to the spot! Is it
fear? No, it appears to be…. a mooring? That’s going to put David at a real
disadvantage.
Goliath,
known for his very aggressive style, swings and hits David bang on the
nose. David’s flown straight over the
top rope and way out into the crowd.
He’s hit a couple of spectators and caused a little damage. THE FIGHT IS OVER! Goliath remains heavy weight champion of the
world and will take home today’s purse.
David was
completely outclassed! The doctor will
make a full assessment of David’s injuries tomorrow and determine just how
long he’ll be on the sidelines. Goliath
will be responsible for David’s medical costs until he can return to the ring.
That is a light hearted look at the serious
situation that happened a couple of nights ago on the river.
After heavy rains and flood warnings, we’ve had a
very high tide and a fast moving current.
The combination of the current and debris means being on high
alert. Anchors tend to drag and that’s
never good news.
Our phone rang at 11.30pm, it was our neighbour Aaron*
saying “I need a hand”. Michael, being a
man, knew better than to ask questions and just jumped straight in the dinghy
and headed for Aaron’s boat (Goliath).
In his haste, Michael forgot to turn on the fuel tap on the outboard and
before he made it the 100m to Aaron’s, the motor stalled and Michael floated
past Goliath and headed down river. He
started the motor without any problems but our 3hp was struggling to fight the
tide to make it back.
Just as Michael reached Goliath, I heard a motor
start up back at the pontoon. Randy*
came flying past in his tender, he slowed at Goliath… and had a quick
conversation and then Randy sped off down the river. It was at this point I realised Randy’s boat
(David) was nowhere to be seen.
Goliath’s anchor had dragged. He
hit David and in doing so ripped David from his mooring. Randy was speeding down river looking for his
boat. Aaron called Randy at home
immediately after calling Michael. I have no idea how Randy got to the river so
quickly. He must have broken a world land-speed
record… either that or he sleeps fully clothed (including his shoes) and has
his car idling in the drive waiting for such a phone call.
Aaron and Michael took some time but finally
managed to secure Goliath. A phone call
later they found out that Randy had located his boat a couple of nautical miles
down river. David had a sustained some
damage and Michael and Aaron jumped straight into Aaron’s dinghy and in the
pitch black headed down river to find Randy.
By the time they got there, Randy had David
anchored and they undertook a few minor repairs to see it through the
night. Randy stayed on board David and Aaron
& Michael headed back up to our boats.
Michael arrived home at about 2.15am with tales of
heroism and glory. I’m just glad all 3
boys were safe and would face another day.
*Names have
been changed to protect the injured.
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