50 By the Dart • Life Aboard
clearly hoping for fuel, he turns back and re-opens it. As if all that isn’t enough he’s a retained fireman! The other day, he had a “shout” and I saw him roar across the river to the pontoon – leap ashore, sprint the length of two pontoons, shoot up a flight of steps and carry on running through the streets like a greyhound.! so he is keeping us all safe both on and off theriver. Must give huge respect to Chris – harbour patrol and river
stalwart. He has exacting standards when it comes to correct roping. Your lines will often be on the receiving end of a long assessing look – very reassuring especially if a hooley is heading your way. If he hovers, run for a boat hook and re-tie the lines. If he keeps going, you can breathe easy. Should he ever decide to give a master class in safe mooring – sign up. He knows. But he is always scrupulously polite and helpful to those who don’t. Then you have your brilliant Yacht Taxi skippers. Where
to start? In essence, it is a fact that ship to shore is a most dangerous activity in a harbour. They are confronted daily with a potent blend of winds, tides, idiots and everything else the river can offer them. Yet you will always be greeted with courtesy, efficiency and a smile. If Tim is your on-shift skipper, I can guarantee a merry quip which, (at no extra charge) will brighten the worst of days. Responsibility for our safety is their lot and they certainly deliver. So how to sum them up? Let’s go all Devonshire. “Proper job, they are!” And what about the DHNA guys on the Hercules? Keith is usually on board when he’s not on harbour patrol. I saw
him lean over the side of his patrol boat once and haul a man who’d fallen in back to safety in seconds. Made of steel, can lift five tons; turn on a sixpence and fascinating to watch at work. (The barge is pretty amazing too…) They manoeuvre that monster - it’s a sort of crane barge thingy - making it look incredibly easy. Only recently they kindly returned some heavy, weighted mooring ropes to us as if they were handling strands of cotton. They clearly have many and varied responsibilities and it appears that they can move anything anywhere. Pontoons, moorings, you name it and have to pass gruelling examinations on “lifting and slinging”. (I could pass too, if it was about Gin). You can guarantee a cheery wave from them too even if it is stair-rodding down... None of the above mentioned have been throwing tenners my way, I hasten to add. So, raise a glass to them all - we can all sleep more soundly in our berths because of them. I was puzzled by Hub laughing at the thought of telling
anybody how we spend our evenings. “Well, think about it” he insisted “ I complain that my Soduku is so fiendish that I have to invoke Ariadne’s Web to solve it, whilst my wife bemoans the lack of Mandrake Root in Dartmouth and mutters that Dragons Blood will have to suffice for a truly workable spell,.” So? What’s odd about that? How else are you expected to cure trench foot...
If you’ve missed any of Marianne’s columns in this magazine, they are all available on our website -
www.bythedart.co.uk/topics/life_aboard
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