Chapter Two
Saturday morning was a bright sunny day, and at 10 in the morning the whole family set off for St Andrews barracks to pick up the canoe, there was a problem, a 14 foot canoe on top of a Morris Minor was impossible, there was no roof rack, and the weight of the canoe would be far too heavy for the roof. Then the instructor had a plan, he would borrow a lorry and take the canoe to the nearest creek to St Andrew's and Mike and Kelvin would paddle it round to Peita creek. Mother and father agreed, and within half an hour they were on the slipway with the canoe in the water checking for leaks. This was a proper canoe made of marine ply and canvass, no buoyancy tanks in this baby if it sank, it would go to the bottom like the Titanic.
While their dad helped them into the canoe, Kelvin in the front and Mike in the back, they slowly set off from the small jetty rather shakily, and with no proper keel, only three strips of wood, rolling over was always the main problem, but within minutes they were making very good headway, Kelvin paddling the starboard or right side and Mike the port or left. They headed out towards the open sea. Seeing them off, there mum and dad climbed back into the car and set off, the main road on the north side of the Island followed the coast, so it was easy to for them to follow the boy's progress, all they had to do was stop the car and with the help of borrowed binoculars the boy's progress could be monitored.
In the creek the water was flat calm so that paddling was very easy, but as the canoe headed into the open sea, Mike and Kelvin found themselves in a heavy swell, which meant that on top of the waves they could see the land to there right, but in the trough, nothing was seen but the water around them. Neither Kelvin nor Mike were wearing life jackets, they were very good swimmers though, and Mike knew that if they did tip over, then it would be his priority to get them both out of the canoe. With Mike being in the rear seat, there was no problem, all he had to do was push with his arms, and he was out. Kelvin, on the other hand, had his legs under the front cockpit, this would mean he would need a hand to get out of his seat.
Mike began to get the impression that Kelvin was beginning to worry about the way things were going, they were making good headway, and the canoe was prooving herself seaworthy. They past Salina creek which meant a long haul to Sliema then the flat calm waters of Peita.
As they passed the watchtower on Tower Road they were being tossed around by the white tops of the waves, Mike told Kelvin to paddle towards the shore, and when they got close enough they would head back out again, that way they would be cutting through the waves and not being bounced around by them. As they were trying to get organised ], the blade of Kelvin's paddle snapped off, that meant that Mike would have to paddle himself, then he remembered the double, this was in the bottom of the canoe. Mike did his best to get it out, but Kelvin was terrified that the canoe would turn over.
Mike realised that he was fighting a losing battle, the sea was taking them towards the shore, where they would be thrown against the rocks, the canoe smashed and them possible killed. As Mike tried to explain the situation to his brother who sat there in a frozen panic, a voice alongside him in the water was saying, "Michael, what the bloody hell is going on"
Mike did his best to explain that Kelvin's paddle had broken and that he was trying to retrieve the double, that was in the bottom of the canoe. "Ok ok", said there father, "I understand, Kelvin, get out of the canoe and swim ashore, Michael, you climb out and sit on the stern, let's
get the double out." Mike did what he was asked to do and within moments the double was out ready to use. "Right", said father, "you sit in the front seat and try and keep the canoe steady," Mike did as asked but he was having trouble, with his fathers help they turned the canoe into the waves, then his father climbed into the back seat and the pair of them set off, with dad using the double and Mike the single.
By this time, Kelvin had made it back to shore, when he got to his mother the tears were rolling down his cheeks and his mother soon discovered he was covered in red lines across his back, and on his arms and legs, in fact, his whole body was covered in jellyfish stings, Kelvin it seemed had swum ashore through a shole of jellyfish, and as mother dried him off she realised his problem, so taking the cars first aid box from the boot of the car, she removed a small bottle of vinegar and with a piece of lint wiped Kelvin's body with it. Mother was no fool, she had been told by a friend, the quickest way to ease the pain was with vinegar, and as the whole family loved swimming at that time, mother had put a small bottle of the stuff into the first aid box and kept it in the car, so she was able to relieve Kelvin of a lot of his pain. As she helped him, Kelvin gave mother the message to meet dad and Mike at the bathing area at Manoel Island. With kelvin dry and clothed the two of them set off for the bathing area, with Dorothy wondering if she would ever see her husband and oldest son again.
For Ken and Mike, the swell seemed relentless, and after some talk, they decided to use the swell to there advantage, By setting a course towards the shore and then back out to sea, Ken called it destroyer tactics, used in the last war to combat the sub threat, although the run would be longer, it would be easier and they had less chance of rolling over.
After a couple of hours, Ken and Mike found themselves in the calm waters of Sliema creek, and they had a nice fast run to Manoel Island and the bathing area, it was still quite early around 15-30, mum and Kelvin were waiting for them on the rocks with food and drink, which they needed, both Ken and Mike were pretty wacked and the sun was very hot. As they rested Dorothy noticed Ken's back, he was also covered in jellyfish stings, it soon became clear that when Ken had swum out to help his two son's he had swum through a shoal of jellyfish and Kelvin had without knowing it swam back through bthe same shoal, the only good thing about father, was he was very hairy, both on hid back and chest, so the jellyfish didn't get to him as much as Kelvin, mother put a bit of calamine lotion on dad's back, in the places that needed looking at, but as dad said, "after over three hours paddling the pain is gone.
After a good rest, it was decided that Kelvin and Mike would take the canoe on to Peita creek and the old boathouse. The boy's past all the small craft that was around Msida creek including the submarine depot ship H.M.S. Forth, and then on down through Peita creek, past some small fishing boats and on to the boathouse where their dad was waiting for them. They eased the canoe onto the slipway and as the bows touched bottom Kelvin climbed out followed by Mike, then both dad and Mike picked up the canoe and turned it over to remove any water, both of them looked at each other, there was very little water inside, considering the trip she had made. The three of them realised that what they had in there hands was almost perfection, Mike and his dad took the canoe into the boathouse and laid it onto the two stands that there father had aquired, and with a smile on there faces and a spring in there step they went home.
After dinner, Mike sat on the balcony looking across at the boathouse, he could see the canoe in the twilight and in his head he was dreaming of all the places he could go during the summer months.
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