In the last entry Peter and Roddy, on their way to check on the den belonging to the City gang, were surprised to find that gypsies had parked their brightly painted caravans in a field at the end of the Lane. Fascinated, they approached the caravans very cautiously and were taken aback when a woman appeared at the door of the most brightly painted and decorated caravan and invited them inside. They were offered tea and nervously accepted but the biggest surprise was the arrival of a beautiful and very confident and self-assured young girl by the name of Dora; grandchild to the lady who was entertaining them and making tea. They were even more surprised to be invited to go off for a walk with Dora. They meandered across the fields to their den and after checking the City gang’s den Roddy persuaded them to go and meet Albert but when he was not to be found at his allotment, the children walked on to the yacht anchorage where Roddy was sure he would find his friend. They were in for a big surprise.
They were nearing the yacht anchorage now and Roddy ran forward to the bank and glanced at the boats straining at their moorings. Something was not right but at first he could not work out what, then he realized that Albert’s yacht was not in its usual place. Roddy quickly scanned the entire anchorage but all of the buoys were in use, so Albert’s yacht must be here somewhere. He thought hard to remember exactly which buoy was used by Albert and then counted along the row of moored boats until he reached the right place. The familiar shape of Albert’s boat was missing; instead there was a boat that was unlike any others in the small mooring. It was larger than the others and although the hull was painted a creamy white, the deck and deck rails were brown and shiny with varnish. There was no raised cabin in front of the cockpit but just a raised companionway with a sliding hatch on top and two doors opening into the cockpit. The deck ran without interruption, except for a small structure that looked a little like a dog’s kennel toward the bow. From the bow there protruded a very long bowsprit that was much longer than on any of the other boats.
Whatever had happened to Albert’s boat, the one that he had helped Albert clean and varnish just a few weeks ago? Roddy once again looked up and down the mooring but there was no sign of the neat little craft that had been Albert’s pride. He didn’t know what to do or say to the others. He had unwittingly brought them here on a wild goose chase and now he would have to disappoint them. Worse, Peter, who had always seemed to be skeptical of his stories about Albert and his boat, would now have the ammunition to criticize him and make it seem as if all of those stories were just fabrications; the outpourings of his febrile imagination, like the Robinson Crusoe stories that the Gang always half-listened to and then ignored.
He turned to Dora and Peter and began to tell them that Albert’s boat was not here at its usual mooring and it seemed to have gone from the River. Dora suggested that perhaps Albert had gone on a sail out into the Channel but that did not make any sense as there would have been an empty mooring to show for it and all of the moorings were occupied. Besides, although the tide was flooding up the River, Albert always said that he never liked to head out until near the peak of high water when the current was slower and he could navigate the extreme bends in the lower River more easily and with more water beneath the keel. He turned again toward the line of boats and looked more closely at the new, and very strange craft that was now moored where Albert’s yacht used to be. It was then he noticed that the sliding hatch in the front of the cockpit was partly open. There must be someone aboard the boat as no sailor would leave his boat with the hatch partly open as that would certainly let rain and wind into the cabin and damage it. He decided to shout at the boat in the hope that whoever was on board would know what had happened to Albert and his yacht.
“Ahoy there,” shouted Roddy in his best nautical fashion, but there was no reply or movement on the boat. He turned to the others and told them what he was doing and that they needed to all shout together to make enough noise to be heard. He tried again and this time Dora added her higher pitched voice but Peter only made a half-hearted effort.
“Come on Peter, we need to shout as loudly as possible and in unison, so that whoever is on that boat will hear us.”
So, with Peter’s fuller cooperation, they once again filled their lungs and together made a strong shout. Again, silence and Roddy began to despair that they would be able to rouse the person. Perhaps there was no one on board, but then he noticed the bow of a small dingy appear beyond the stern of the strange boat and then more of the dingy until finally it was in full sight and there, standing amidships in the dingy and grasping the wooden coaming that ran around the deck, was Albert. He was dressed in dirty dungarees and an old red shirt that was covered in dirt, paint and what looked like splotches of grease, but looking very happy and pleased with himself.
Albert grinned and waved at them then shouted to them to hang on and he would paddle across to see them. Disappearing behind the strange new boat for a short time, he soon reappeared, but this time he had settled himself on the thwarts and put the oars into the rowlocks and with a few deft strokes he got the dingy pointed in the direction of the bank and began to row toward them. The tide was not yet at its peak and so there was still a strong current coming up the River that Albert had to contend with. To do this he rowed a diagonal course toward a point on the bank that was well downstream of them and gradually and with painful slowness he approached the place where they were standing. When he arrived he was able to beach the dingy on the muddy part of the bank, but just a short distance from the top of the River bank, where the sea washed grass began. In places the grassy edge had collapsed and there were isolated “ledges” of grass sitting lower than the top of the bank and surrounded by mud. Albert was able to take a metal stake and drive it into one of these isolated grass ledges and to this he carefully tied the painter leaving lots of slack for the dingy to ride the last few feet of the tide before pulling the dingy as close to shore as he could. He could then stepped easily onto the wide shelf of sea grass into which he had driven the anchor stake and, as he was wearing his sea boots, it was easy for him to negotiate the last few feet of muddy bank and he was soon standing beside them on the grass and grinning with pleasure and anticipation. He knew that Roddy would be full of questions about this new boat and the whereabouts of the old one, but first he looked at the other children and then turned back to Roddy.
“Well aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends.”
Roddy nodded and introduced Peter first and explained that he was an old friend and that he had wanted to meet Albert before now. He also mentioned that Peter had wondered if Albert was a fabrication of Roddy’s imagination because he could not believe that any adult would take any interest in a strange young boy. At this Albert just laughed and gave Peter a friendly push to the shoulder. He then introduced Dora and immediately realized that he should have introduced her first.
“I’m sorry, I was thinking so much about being able to prove to Peter that Albert existed, that I forgot to introduce Dora first.”
She shot him a quick glance of annoyance. It was with horror that realized that part of this young girl’s personality was a deep sense of pride, and he had just unwittingly insulted her. Feeling terribly embarrassed that he had overlooked her; he stumbled over his apology. What made it feel worse was a sudden realization that he really wanted to make this girl like him.
Dora turned toward Albert and gave him a little bob of introduction. Albert smiled warmly back at her and welcomed her to the boat anchorage and apologized for it being so scruffy and humble and not at all like the fancy marinas that some were building these days and perhaps young Dora was used to.
“This is the first time that I have ever seen anything like this. I’m a gypsy, or traveler as we like to call ourselves, and the nearest that we usually get to water is to cross over a river bridge.”
She then smiled back at Albert and Roddy could see that whatever Albert’s opinions were about gypsies, he seemed to have taken an immediate liking to this one. He then put his arm over her shoulder and turned her toward the River and began to explain, at length, all about tides, tidal ranges, river currents and how to moor a boat in tidal waters, and so on and so on. Roddy was patient at first but he didn’t want to spend his time listening to all of this, especially as Albert was not really explaining anything about the new boat. That is what interested him the most. What was this unusual boat and where did it come from? Why did he get rid of the old yacht and where did he find this boat? How did he get it here? It was a sizeable vessel and it looked as if it would take more than just Albert to sail it.
Finally, his patience worn thin, he decided to barge into the conversation. But as his lips formed the first words he realized that Dora would find this rude and that he would, once again, fall in her estimation. So, he clamped his mouth shut and waited until Albert said something about his new boat and then, seizing the opportunity, he quickly yet quietly interjected a question.
“What sort of boat is that? It is so different to the one that you had before. The one that I worked on polishing the deck rails.”
Albert turned to him and said, “You are right and you did help me a lot with that old boat and I never told you that I was thinking of selling it even then. So, let me see, where shall I begin.”
So, the story came out and it was quite a long one.
“That Channel out there is one of the most difficult and dangerous waterways in the World, if you don’t know what you are doing,” said Albert, as he launched himself with enthusiasm into one of his favourite subjects.
The new boat, he said, was called a Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter, and they were used a long time ago by ship pilots in the Channel, to sail far out into the Atlantic Ocean and search for inbound ships that would employ them to pilot the vessel up the Channel and into one of its many ports. “They were remarkably seaworthy and just the thing to handle the swift tides, strong currents and heavy seas of the Channel and they were very popular. When the new steam cutters came in they made these old sailing boats redundant and also the pilotage was reorganized into companies that worked closely with the large steamship companies. The days of the individual pilots competing for business by sailing far out in the southwestern approaches and trying to be the first to intercept inbound ships was over and these lovely seaworthy boats were abandoned.”
He paused and looked wistfully at his new boat swinging from side to side in the tideway.
“But not forgotten, “ said Albert firmly, “ the memory of these marvelous sailing cutters lives on and people now recognize that these were some of the best small sailing vessels ever built. They were fast, very seaworthy and also what we call sea friendly, so they could be managed by a very small crew and could sail in some of the roughest seas that you could imagine. Although most of them were abandoned and allowed to rot, some were taken care of and such was their reputation that people began to restore them and sail them again.”
“Where did you find this one then,” asked Roddy.
“Oh, this one was laid up in a place near the mouth of the Avon gorge at a place called Pill. That’s where a lot of the Channel pilots used to live and that is where some of these old boats were built. I’ve known about this one for some years now and I used to go across and help the man who was restoring her. Well, he started to have some problems with his health and he wanted someone that he knew to have the boat. He especially wanted someone who really appreciated these old cutters and their history and would look after his boat properly so that all of his work would not go to waste. So, he arranged for me to have the boat and on some very favourable terms. I had to sell my old yacht but it was worth it to have a chance to own and sail one of these.”
They all stared across the water at Albert’s new purchase. She was a lovely looking vessel, but rather strange looking too and so unlike the other yachts in the anchorage. Having no cabin that sat above the deck as the other boats had made it look odd. All of the other boats in the anchorage had cabins that rose above the deck and took up much of the boat astern of the mainmast. This one had a companionway leading below decks and there was that strange kennel-like structure just before the mast, and a small low hatch in front of the mast but otherwise the deck was free of clutter. At the bow there was a pole that stuck out ahead of the boat like a bowsprit, but it was thick and it did not come from the center of the bow like the yachts, but came from one side. There were complicated halyards from this bowsprit leading up to the top of the single mast. Yet, even that was strange, for instead of just a single mast rising from the deck, there was another spar that stuck out at a sharp angle, about three quarters of the way up the mast. It was a very different rigging design to the straightforward rigs on the nearby yachts with their single mast and simple, triangular sails. Roddy also noticed that there was low deck rail or bulwark all around the boat’s deck but it was made of wood and had lots of gaps between it and the deck.
“So, what do the sails look like on this boat?”
Albert looked away from Dora and toward Roddy and grinned. He could see that he was anxious to hear all about this new boat of his and not the general things that he was telling Dora that he guessed the young boy was already familiar with.
“Alright, I know that you are anxious to know all of the details. What do you think Dora, should I tell him everything or keep him waiting and make him more nervous and impatient than he already is?”
Dora turned toward Roddy and smiled wickedly. She wanted to keep him waiting and was taking a special delight in teasing him and encouraging Albert to do so too. Roddy didn’t know what to think. What was going on here? He could not understand the unspoken messages that were passing between Dora and Albert. Peter seemed to understand, as he was smiling also. It was as if there was some secret that only the three of them knew about and he did not have a clue as to what it was. He tried to pass his discomfiture off by smiling back at everyone as if he knew what the game was and letting them know that he was quite willing to play his part. Beneath the smiling surface though he was nonplussed and a little hurt by their teasing.
“Oh, he looks so anxious that perhaps we should put him out of his misery and let Albert answer his questions” On saying this Dora laughed aloud and turned to Albert, who chuckled in return.
“Alright young butty, let’s satisfy your curiosity about the boat there. Yes, it has a different rig to the other boats in the anchorage and to the one that I just sold. That used the simple Bermuda rig with just a single mainsail with a triangular peak that we raised by pulling on a halyard on the main mast. It also had a simple foresail that was attached at the masthead and on the bowsprit. Now, this one has what is called a gaff rig. They aren’t very common but what they do give is much more sail area and with the right sort of design they can really sail well. It’s a bit more complicated than the Bermuda rig and you have more sails to worry about, but pretty easy once you get to know it.”
So, Albert launched into a long technical description of the cutter and its rig and the way that you could raise the sail and also pull the two halyards called a throat and peak halyard respectively, in order to adjust the sail. He told about Bermuda rig advocates who would never have anything else and who thought that gaff rigs were a bit old fashioned. The one feature that he liked most of all in the gaff rig was that it would sail so well before the wind and when he was out on the Channel he liked to sail before the wind as much as possible. Yes, he knew all about Bermuda rigs and their ability to sail close to the wind, but he reminded them what he had here was a combination of a gaff rig and a hull design that was specially made for those terrible Channel chops with fast tides. That’s what made this boat so special. He went on to tell them several stories of these cutters in heavy seas and gales and how a small crew could still handle them.
“Just the thing when we go on a voyage together, Eh!”
Roddy jumped at the mention of a voyage and looked at Peter who was now also paying full attention to Albert, while Dora was looking directly at Albert with a glow of excitement beginning to suffuse her pretty face.
A voyage, he thought with growing excitement. He would love that, as he had never been to sea in a small boat. Once he sailed with his Mother and Aunt across the English Channel to the Channel Islands. That had turned out to be a bit of a disappointment as the journey was long and a little boring while the return journey was ruined by rough seas which made most of the passengers seasick and he had a difficult time finding somewhere on the deck where he could avoid the sight, smell and sounds of people being violently ill. He felt all right as long as he didn’t see anyone else being ill so he tried very hard to keep away from them and he found that standing in the bow of the ship and keeping his face pointing into the brisk, fresh breeze kept his stomach calm. Also, he had no sympathy with many of the people who were seasick, as he had seen them stuffing themselves with food while ashore in St. Peter Port, and then smoking the strong French cigarettes on the return voyage. Just thinking about the smell of those cigarettes made him remember that day and a slight wave of nausea shuddered through his body. Trips across the Channel on paddle steamers, though interesting, didn’t really count as voyages he thought.
But, this would be different. It would be a proper voyage with things to do, such as hauling on the halyards and sorting out ropes and keeping the deck tidy and all of the ropes properly coiled. He would be too busy to even think about seasickness, surely. He was snapped out of his reverie by Dora saying to Albert; “Do you intend to take me too, or are you just making an offer to the boys here?”
“Oh, you are all welcome to come. It won’t be a long voyage. We shall just go out into the Channel and around the Holms and perhaps along the cliff coast for a while, depending on the wind and the tide, and then we shall come back here in good time to catch the tide near the peak and that will make it easy to come in to the River, anchor and get ashore. You can’t come into this River at any other time than near the end of the flowing tide. I know some who have done it at half tide, but they had some shallow draft boats and they knew the channel into the anchorage like the back of their hands.”
Dora looked as if she were very interested in such an adventure and even Peter, who liked to keep his adventures close to home had perked up and was giving Albert his full attention.
Roddy was certainly keen to go in such a voyage. He had often wondered what it would be like to sail beyond the mouth of the River and look back at the familiar landscape from the vantage of the Channel. He remembered lying in his bed on foggy mornings listening to the lugubrious sound of the foghorn on the Grounds lightship, with its deep and sonorous blasts every few seconds. He used to wonder how the ships out there would use these signals to check their location and make sure that they were in the right channel. Listening to the sounds of the foghorn from the warmth and safety of his bed was very comforting. The contrast between the cold foggy dampness of the Channel with its treacherous shoals, tides and currents and the security and safety of his warm bed, surrounded by the thick walls of his home, was very calming and reassuring. He particularly liked it when the fog was in the Channel at night and he could listen to the foghorn’s sound as a warm comforting drowsiness crept over him.
Then he thought of his parents and the difficulty of getting them to give permission for such an adventure. They did not know Albert and, as he was a stranger to them, they would be deeply suspicious of him and of course very fearful of their child sailing on a small boat into the Channel. His Father travelled a lot but that was in cars and vans along frequented roadways. He never ventured far off the beaten path and, unlike Clive’s father; he did not take to hiking or bird watching or other activities that took one into unexpected places.
Dora too would have a problem getting permission. After meeting her grandmother, he had a strong impression that travelers were very suspicious people and they were particularly cautious about settled folk and very protective of their children. Despite Dora being so apparently worldly and independent around her grandmother, he wondered how far that independence would last. It could be that she had developed that attitude of independence and challenge to her immediate family just to give herself some breathing room in what would otherwise be a stultifying environment. At least he could escape his family from time to time and go off and play with his friends for hours at a time whereas Dora seemed to always have some member of her family nearby. It was amazing that today she had been allowed to come with the boys and explore their world. How would Dora’s grandmother react if she knew where they were and what they were talking about?
He turned to Dora. “Would your family let you do such a thing?”
Dora looked at him with a defiant set to her face and said yes, she would be able to persuade them. A quick movement of her eyes said otherwise however, and Roddy realized that he was hearing the voice of bravado. He had seen it often enough in his fellow Gang members and had tried it himself and often cringed at the outward display of certainty while inside he knew that what he was saying was a lie and that he would have to lie again some time later when it was obvious that he could not do whatever it was that he had stated most definitely that he could.
Well that was something that Dora had to deal with. He hoped that she could persuade her family to allow her to go on the voyage. He also hoped that he could persuade his parents that the voyage would be safe enough and that Albert was a skilled and trusted sailor and a very responsible adult. Peter had also nodded his assent to taking part in the voyage and while Roddy wondered if he could also get the consent of his parents, it suddenly struck him that it would be awful if Peter’s parents agreed while his own parents refused.
“Albert, I think that we all would like to go but our parents don’t know you and none of them have been to sea in a small boat like this one. If it is just us who ask them, they are going to probably say no, what else could they say when they have never met you and have not seen your boat. My Mother has not even walked across the Lamby in years and if she knew what we did over here and the small scrapes that we frequently got into, she would have a fit. We shall need to have you come and explain to them all about the new boat and the voyage and how we shall all be safe with you. That is the only way that this will happen unless we sneak away to do it, and that would not work as you have said that it will take a long day, over a complete tide cycle, to do it safely and properly.
Albert nodded and let out a sigh. “ You are right young lad,” he said, “ I need to come and introduce myself to your parents and get them to trust me before we can even think about going on our little voyage. Have you ever said anything about me and the times that I have had you on the old boat and rowed you back up the River. If I remember rightly, you were late getting home on a couple of those occasions and would have had to explain why you were delayed.”
Roddy shook his head slowly and looked at Albert in a shamefaced way. “No, I always made up some other excuse because I was afraid that if they knew about you they would refuse to allow me to come over here any more. They are naturally suspicious of strangers and would have assumed the worst about you anyway. The only person in my family who knows about you is my sister B, and she gets into trouble a lot over being out late and wearing makeup, so they wouldn’t trust her either.
Albert nodded sagely and looked at him.
“Well, nothing bad has happened to you because of your meetings with me and I suppose that we shall just have to be honest with your parents and see what happens. Anyway, seeing as you are here you might as well come and see the new boat at first hand. I don’t see how that will harm anything. Come on, the tide is higher now and I can pull the dingy up and squeeze you little ones in and take you over.”
The tide had indeed risen more as they were speaking and it was possible to pull the dingy up until the bow was resting on the sea grass. Albert showed Dora and Peter how to get into the dingy by going over the bow and helped steady them as they climbed in. Roddy however was able to get aboard by himself. Albert then told them how to arrange themselves on the thwarts before pushing the dingy back out into the tide and spinning it around until it was facing the middle of the River. He then pulled himself over the stern in one easy movement that barely caused the small boat to rock, settled himself on the main thwart and, taking the oars he began stroking his way back to the cutter that was swinging gently at its mid-stream moorings. They could feel the tide pulling the dingy upstream and watched as Albert worked the oars to get the dinghy heading a little downstream and then began to pull hard so as to make way against the strong tide. It took several minutes and it did not seem that they were making any progress but when they turned their heads they could see the gap between them and the cutter slowly closing and soon they could feel that the dingy was moving a little faster as Albert pulled it into the lee of the cutter, where the tide was not as forceful.
“Alright young lad. You have done this before so get ready. I am going to bring the dingy under the stern of the cutter and I want you to grab hold of that loose line that I left there. Hold on to it and pass the end to me. Ready?”
Roddy turned and saw the line that Albert was talking about. It was hanging over the cutter’s stern and was looped over a stanchion on the deck. He caught the line and passed it to Albert who started to pull on it and maneuver the dinghy alongside the cutter, and then grabbing the deck rail while still holding the line, he pulled the dinghy fully under the stern transom where a short ladder was hanging from the bulwark, and then made it fast with the line.
“Alright ladies and gentlemen, time to go aboard. You go first Roddy as you have done this before and then you can help get the rest of us aboard.”
Roddy pulled himself over the stern. It was not too difficult, as the cutter did not ride very high in the water and besides, the ladder made climbing aboard very easy. He turned and put out his hand to steady Dora as she started on the ladder. She ignored his hand though and climbed the ladder by herself as if she were quite at home and very capable of doing this alone. Peter and Albert were last and neither of them needed any assistance, as they were both agile. Peter in particular was used to climbing around on unstable footholds and found this a piece of cake compared to the trees that he loved to climb.
The deck at the stern was not large and Albert told them to climb down into the cockpit. Unlike the yacht that Albert used to own, the cutter did not have a steering wheel; instead there was a large tiller attached to the rudder and that projected quite some way into the cockpit. Around the cockpit there was a high coaming and at the front of the cockpit was a hatch that had a sliding roof and doors and stairs that led below. The cutter was white which seemed to be the popular colour as all of the other boats in the anchorage were white also. But instead of metal deck rails she had low wooden bulwarks that were varnished in contrast to the white of the hull. The entrance to the cabin was also varnished wood and Roddy noticed that just before the mast, there was something that stood up from the deck and looked a little like a skylight. This was the strange protuberance that looked like a small dog kennel when viewed from the River bank. It sat between the companionway and the main mast, the deck was completely clear except for two ventilator cowls and the hatch forward of the mast. This was such a contrast to the other yachts, with their cabins that almost filled the deck, leaving just a small space on either side to walk from the cockpit to the foredeck. This clear deck gave the cutter a strangely old-fashioned look, yet at the same time the lack of clutter and the long and relatively open deck made the boat look very sleek and somehow, more modern than the yachts with their fussy cabin structures and their short foredecks and narrow side decks. He liked it and was dying to go below but first they had to stand and listen politely as Albert told them more about this strange but lovely craft and where it came from.
After talking some more about the cutters and their use in the treacherous waters of the Channel he settled into his real story. Albert’s grandfather had been a Channel pilot and although Albert had not known him for long, he did remember the stories of sailing out into the western approaches to the Channel in the winter and patrolling for ships that were coming into one of the many ports that lined the Channel. Just a skipper and a young boy as crew manned the cutters and then, in addition, there was the pilot. When they sighted a ship heading for the Channel they would put on all possible sail and try to be the first alongside. Being a Channel pilot was very competitive and the jousting to be the first to pick up a ship was fierce. The boy would row the pilot out to the ship and the pilot would already be dressed in shore-going kit with a bow tie and a suit with a waistcoat and a fob watch and chain draped across it. Both boys exclaimed surprise at this, as even though they each were required to wear a tie to school, the thought of being out on the open ocean dressed like that seemed strange and unnecessary.
“They were professionals and they wanted the skipper of the ocean-going ship to treat them as very knowledgeable and dependable people in whom they could entrust their ship and probably a precious cargo. It took them nearly half of their life to learn everything about the Channel and its tides, currents and shifting sand banks. They needed to instantly project solidity; professionalism and deep experience to the skipper of the inbound vessel and dressing that way was an expression of their hard earned knowledge and skill. How would you feel if you turned up at the doctor’s surgery to find him there in a pair of football shorts and daps? “
The boys could see his point and nodded but they still found it rather strange.
Dora asked Albert if they could look below. As a traveler she had a natural interest in how people fitted out small living spaces. Albert nodded and turned to push back the half open hatch cover and then he swung back the small doors and led them down the few steps into the cabin. The light in the cabin was not very good and it took a while for their eyes to get used to it. Gradually their eyes adjusted and a lovely neat cabin began to emerge from the dimness. On either side there were settees that were set against the side of the boat and underneath each one were deep drawers for storage. In front of them was another door and when Albert opened it they were amazed to see a long table fixed to the floor and on either side were more comfortable settees with pillows. Beyond that another door led to a galley where the food was prepared and beyond that was yet another door that led right into the bow of the boat. Albert explained the main saloon with the table was the place to eat and look at charts and write up the cutter’s log. The settees could also be used for sleeping. Food was prepared in the small galley and there was a coal stove there that kept the below decks warm and dry in cold and wet weather. Beyond, toward the bow of the cutter were a toilet and a place to shower, but he reminded them that there was not room to carry much fresh water on the boat and it was difficult to heat. In the bow there were two more bunks and also the storage for sails and spare rigging. The skylight over the saloon let in some light but otherwise it was rather dim until ones eyes adjusted.
Dora looked around appreciatively at the way in which the space was used so carefully and completely.
“This would suit a traveler quite well, but we would want more light and we would also use some brighter colours to make the space more interesting. We don’t like to just paint the interiors of our vardos in white. We find that just too cold and stark. We need colour to brighten things up and make the interiors feel warm and comfortable.”
Albert nodded and took them forward to the little cabin toward the bow. Here was another companion ladder and Albert took a few steps up and pushed open a hatch. Light and air flooded down into the forward cabin and a breeze began to waft past them, as the air was able to flow throughout the connecting cabins.
“You have to remember that these vessels were working boats and nobody would have been spending too much time down here. The seas in the southwestern approaches, where they had to wait for the incoming freighters, could be mighty fierce and so you didn’t want to have lots of glass skylights that could be broken in the high seas. If that had happened they would have been in big trouble and there was a danger that they could be swamped. At the very least, having a lot of water sloshing around the cabin would have made the cutter harder to handle and then they would not have been able to out-sail their competitors. Now, I don’t need to sail her in such rough seas and so I plan to be doing a little bit of work to put in an extra porthole in the deck, but I won’t be messing with her main structure by putting portholes in the sides. So, now that you have been able to take a look inside, what do you think of her?”
He stood back and looked at them awaiting their answer. Roddy could see that Albert absolutely loved this boat and everything about her. The history of the Channel cutters was very important to him, not only because of his grandfather but also because he now owned a piece of that history. For Albert, all that he did and took an interest in was either the culmination of, or was connected in some way to the past. Roddy had never encountered this before in an adult, though he noticed that his Father loved to talk about the alterations that had occurred to roads or villages that he had grown up with and seen change over time. Albert however, connected to both tangible and intangible threads of history in a way that his Father did not. For Albert, the progression of events was as important as the physical changes that those events spawned. When he looked at a landscape he would strip it back and try to imagine the series of past landscapes that preceded what was visible today. Roddy thought that he could understand this as when Albert told him about the past history of the area, he found that he looked at the landscape in a different way and began to imagine what it would have looked like hundreds and thousands of years ago. Moreover, he found the mental exercising of his imagination interesting and stimulating. He also knew that it was not something that he could share with the rest of the Gang, as they would find it even stranger than his constant reference to the books that he had read.
“I think it is really beautiful”, said Peter to the surprise of Roddy. “I really like the sleek lines of the boat and the rigging and the ratlines that run up to the mast. I love to climb and look at the world from a different perspective and I would really like the chance to climb that mast and look down on the River. Can I try it now please?”
They all looked at Peter with some surprise. He had been very quiet for most of the day and there was an enthusiasm present in his voice that Roddy had not heard earlier. Dora also threw a questioning glance at Peter. She did not know him well but there was a new intensity to him that she also had not seen before.
“I think it looks wonderful too and I like the cabin and would love to help make it look more cheerful and lived in.” Dora looked at Albert with a flash from her dark eyes and Albert relaxed and his face dissolved into a broad and happy smile.
“Well, I’m not sure about letting Peter climb up to the masthead. At least, I would like to be more assured about your climbing skills before I let you do that. But, I am glad that you like the cutter. She really is a beauty and she doesn’t need a great deal of work. I want to take her out on a little voyage down the Channel as soon as the tides and the weather are favourable and that would the perfect opportunity for you children to come along. Albert’s suggestion was met with a chorus of nodding heads, but Dora pointed out that although she really wanted to go sailing in this boat, it would be very difficult for her to get permission so they had to plan ahead. Her parents and grandparents had never even been on a passenger boat like the paddle steamers that crisscrossed the Channel during the summer, and to them a small yacht was completely beyond their experience. To use one of Albert’s words, they were true landlubbers and they did not even feel safe going close to the water. Roddy understood Dora’s difficulty very well and although he thought that a trip out on the Channel would be just wonderful, he knew that getting permission to do such a thing would be nigh on impossible. Strangely he had a sudden thought that such an adventure with Dora would be particularly enjoyable.
Albert nodded as she talked and waited patiently for her to finish.
“Like we decided when we talked about this on the bank before coming over to boat, we need to think things through properly and work out a good way to persuade your parents that a little adventurous voyage in good weather will be safe.”
Roddy tried to push those thoughts from his mind and concentrate on Albert and the new boat. It really was a lovely vessel and the lines were so clean and simple even when compared with the rather modest boats in the River anchorage. Just the thought of helping Albert in the changes that he had planned was appealing enough, but the biggest thrill would be sailing her, being free of the River and cutting through the waves and tides of the open Channel. He always wanted to go to see the Holms, those two strange islands that sat in the middle of the Channel and were such a dominant part of the view down the Channel toward the Ocean. The very few journeys that he had made across the Channel on one of the paddle steamers had taken him quite close to those small rocky islands, but not close enough to see well. He wanted to know why one was so high and surrounded by shear cliffs while the other was a low-lying rather flattish island with relatively small cliffs. He wondered if anyone had lived there as there was a lighthouse and it must require a crew of people to keep it working properly. Suddenly there was a slight bump outside and the cutter was moving in a different way with more side-to-side motion. Roddy looked quizzically at Albert who had also noticed the change but did not seem at all concerned by it.
“Tide’s just about ready to turn and we are in slack water so the dinghy is being blown by the breeze and is giving us a few friendly bumps. This might be a good time to get you little tykes back to the bank. What about it? There will be lots of other opportunities to come and visit and next time I will rig up a safety line from the mast and young Peter here can try climbing to the masthead. I think that you will find it quite different to your tree climbing. Those ropes between the shrouds have a bit of give to them and your footing doesn’t feel that solid. Anyway, we’ll let you have a try and see how you do.”
Peter looked at Albert and gave him a smile and a nod.
Roddy was quite surprised at how well and how quickly Peter had warmed to Albert. In future he would have some competition for Albert’s attention and it felt strange to imagine sharing Albert with one of his friends.
Dora led the way back up the companion ladder to the cockpit and the two boys followed. Albert was last and when he came to the top of the steps, they all looked silently around them. The tide had yet to turn and the River was bank full with the water lapping well onto the sea grass on either side. The breeze was just strong enough to make rigging hum lightly and the cutter was drifting almost imperceptibly from side to side. Under the stern the dinghy, which had been sitting at the end of a tightly stretched mooring line when they went below, was now lazily bumping against the cutter’s stern like a small animal trying to nuzzle against its mother. As they were floating so high they had a good vantage from which to survey their small and familiar world. Before them, the bluish green sea grass of the Lamby stretched until it lapped against the sea bank. Beyond the bank a cloud of green treetops stretched to the horizon. Up the river was the Village stretching up and over the hill beyond the railway line, while to the west could be seen the City and close to the coast the huge metal web of the steel works. At night, when the furnaces were tapped there would be eruptions of flame as if from a volcano. Roddy used to wonder about these flaming eruptions and for a long time thought that they were from a terrible fire until he was told that this was caused by the tipping of the slag into a heap along the Channel shore.
Swiveling his head back until he was looking up the River, he could see a broad re-curving lane of silver in the rays of sun that had replaced the persistent low cloud of the early part of the day. Also visible was where the River passed beneath the railway bridge and it suddenly struck him that it would be difficult to return that way as the high tide would probably have lapped against the path beneath the railway that they had used to come to Albert’s allotment and then the boat. Then he noticed some movement above the black curving iron of the parapet. It was too far to be sure but he somehow knew that this must be the City gang. He turned to Albert and asked if he could borrow his binoculars. Albert nodded and reached into a small locker just inside the companionway that they had just ascended to retrieve his well-worn but sturdy and powerful field glasses. Roddy took them, raised them to his eyes and quickly adjusted the focus and peered at the image of the bridge. Sure enough it was young children moving across the bridge and not railway workers. There were five of them and they were moving across the bridge away from the allotments as if on their way to their den in the fields below the Village. But hadn’t they seen the high tide and realized that they would not be able to use their usual path underneath the bridge? He followed them closely with the binoculars as they slid down the embankment on Channel side of the bridge and reversed course to reach the River bank. They hesitated as the leader turned back from the bank and began to wave his arms and point. Another member of the group moved around the arm waver and disappeared momentarily. He must be checking the path. Surely it would be flooded by this tide, which seemed to be higher than usual. The others seemed to be waiting in a cluster and then they began to move toward the bank and disappeared from view.
So, it must still be possible to navigate the bridge despite the high water. Roddy remembered that high up on the bank and almost under the metalwork of the bridge, the ground seemed quite dry as if the tide rarely touched it, but the headroom was so small that you would have to crawl to get through. He could not imagine anyone trying to do it, as they would muddy their shoes and clothes in traversing such a narrow space. But these children didn’t seem to worry about such things unlike him and the other members of his Gang who were always worried about getting their clothes dirty.
Swinging the binoculars back along the bridge and the railway embankment he noticed more movement by the side of the stationary railway wagons. At first he could no believe his eyes but then he saw more figures duck between the wagons. He must have missed them coming back from the path beneath the bridge, so maybe that way was impassable. Incredibly they must be attempting to cross the main lines instead. What madness as surely the signalman would see from his box and that would be bound to lead to trouble for them. Roddy handed the binoculars to Peter and told him to focus on an area just to the right of the railway bridge.
“What do you see?” he asked.
Peter struggled to get the field glasses to focus for a brief while and then he whistled softly, lowered the glasses and turned back to him.
“I can’t believe they are going to risk crossing the main lines but that’s what they seem to be doing. That is really risky.”
“What’s that you’re seeing,” said Albert.
Peter gave him the glasses and told him where to train them. After a few seconds, Albert turned back to the boys.
“Well, those young scamps are taking a big risk. I always thought they were trouble when I spotted them coming through the allotments. Some of the other men who have gardens thought that those boys were pinching their stuff. I never had any trouble, but there was always an air of devil-may-care about them that hinted at trouble. The signaler might see them and alert the railway police but I doubt they will be caught. No, the main risk is that they misjudge it and get caught by a fast train. Daft buggers. Don’t you two go off and do anything that silly.
Albert took the glasses and turned back to the cabin entrance while shaking his head and muttering to himself.
Despite the City gang’s rejection of the path beneath the railway bridge, Roddy knew that there was probably just a little patch of dry ground that could be used to crawl through to the fields. Yet, they could not risk using that route for as well as getting themselves covered in dirt and mud, they now risked running into members of the City Gang. They needed to get Dora back to her caravan safely and not covered in dirt and mud as that would annoy her grandmother and would almost certainly mean that Dora would be banned from future walks and from visiting the den.
It suddenly dawned on him that he wanted to do more of those things with Dora. Being with this independent-minded and self-opinionated girl was interesting. He liked her dark looks and her rather precocious ways and her confidence. The way that she had dressed for this day’s outing was so smart yet appropriate. There was a casual sophistication and worldliness in this young girl that Roddy had never before encountered in other girls that he knew and he wanted to experience more of it.
“Albert, I have just noticed that this is a higher than normal tide and our usual path underneath the railway bridge will be impassable or at the least very muddy. Would you row us to the other bank and let us off there and we can walk back across the Lamby and use the old railway bridge to get over the lines.”
Of course Albert agreed to that and they all got into the dinghy while he held it fast against the stern of the cutter and when they were all seated safely, he deftly clambered aboard and set out the oars and with what seemed like just a few powerful strokes, they were soon on their way to the far bank in the still slack water. Albert scanned the bank for the best landing spot and spied a place where there was a slight rise just beyond the water’s edge, and he aimed the boat there telling them to hang on tightly as there would be a bump. His powerful strokes drove the dingy hard up the slight pucker in the plain of sea grass and he hopped out and pulled the dingy up until it was halfway out of the water.
“There, how’s that for service? He said with one of his puckish grins. They all laughed as the whole thing was done with such sureness and aplomb. Once again Roddy marveled at Albert’s strength and agility and was reminded that his earliest assessment of him being just another old man was badly wrong. The man was a puzzle, not least because he did not conform to any of the adult stereotypes that he was used to. Yet he was a good puzzle and a very interesting one. They must work out some way to go on that voyage with him. It would be so fascinating and undoubtedly lots of fun too.
All of them got onto dry land without even getting their shoes and boots damp. Albert was already turning the dingy and preparing to push off into the River when they all turned and with once voice thanked him profusely for letting them see the new boat.
“It’s a beautiful boat and one way or another we shall persuade our parents to let us come on that voyage with you,” shouted Dora in her confident grown up voice. The boys looked at her in admiration. If she felt she could persuade her parents and her protective grandmother to let her do such a thing, then surely they could persuade their parents.
They all stood silently and watched as their kind, grown-up friend pulled the dingy strongly across the River and up to the cutter. In a few deft movements he secured the painter of the dingy to the stern of the cutter and pulled himself aboard. Turning, he waved and shouted a farewell before ducking down the companionway and disappearing from their sight. All three turned and, with Peter in the lead, began the walk toward the sea bank and the path that would lead to the bridge across the railway and to the Lane and Dora’s caravan.
LAMBY MEMORIES 