YesBut we're high and dry - Part 1

For YesBut’s Image posted on 12th June 2007 David McMahon suggested the caption: -

“Up the creek without a puddle”.


The photo suggested to me the following story:

I don’t normally go out for a drink mid week, but it was Pete’s birthday, so a couple of us lads went out for a few pints. You know how it goes; start slowly, then someone buys a round of shorts and before you know it, all semblance of common sense is urinated out at a visit to the toilet.

Can’t remember now who made the suggestion we should go for a swim. But the next thing I remember is being down by the river. I rate myself quite a good swimmer so I challenged the others to a race to the boat moored in the middle. With ten pints and a few whiskies in your belly doesn’t make climbing aboard after a swimming race. But somehow there we all were onboard a tourist boat in the middle of the Thames.

Snooping around we found the bar, but the cupboards were empty. Dave went up to the bridge to do his Captain Pugwash act. Meanwhile Barry was down in the engine room doing his “I’m a motor mechanic” thing.

A puff of exhaust smoke, let go forward let go aft and there we were like little boys playing Pirates of the Caribbean. It was more of a gentle drift down stream, soon we were passing the Houses of Parliament. I must admit, Dave isn’t all mouth, he steered that boat sweetly through the centre arches of Westminster and Hungerford bridges. I think it was as we were passing under Waterloo bridge, Pete woke up and suggested we should finish the night off at a nightclub.

OK, coming alongside Gabriel’s Wharf wasn’t the most perfect of operations, and we might have scraped some paint off the side of the boat. But we were careful in tying up the boat.

Can’t remember much about being in the nightclub, or even finding our way back to the boat. The only thing I recall is waking up with a thumping headache and feeling like “spewing my guts up” (pardon the expression).

To be continued tomorrow - Bookmark this page.