Maritime Tales

It was a bitterly cold winter's evening with frost glazing over the outside window panes exposed to the elements. People shuffled about the streets wrapped in their thick insulating garments as their breath panted in the air like puffs of billowing smoke. The darkness of the evening had descended and, apart from these lone figures trudging their weary way home, there was silence and stillness throughout the town.

It was the kind of evening that drew friends together in a cheering, familiar environment to keep the chills at bay with soothing toasts, shared laughter and convivial conversation, and it was with this in mind that various members of the Pickwick Society, including myself and Sam found each other in the local tavern.

A huge fire spat and crackled in the fireplace emitting a warming glow and pleasing complexion on all who sat nearby. Tankards of ale, glasses of wine and other diverse spirits, both full and empty, collected on our table, as well as all forms of snacks, ranging from peanuts, crisps and some aweful concoction known as pork scratchings.  We all basked in the warmth of such a cheering room and such hospitable company as we eased into the merriment of the evening ahead.

After excusing himself from our company to fetch more victuals, Sam eventually returned and supplied us all with the promised refreshments and another round of bar snacks. Along the way he had fallen into conversation with  a stranger whom he had invited to join us at our table. He was a man of advanced years with a frail appearance, but with a strong glimmer of life within his eyes.

He supped steadfastly from the drink Sam had kindly provided him with and began to tell us something of his life,  most notably recalling a tale about his father.

"My father was a man known for his gallantry and bravery", he began. "At a time when this noble land of ours was plummeted into dark times and faced the threat of Nazi invasion, my father served in the Royal Navy on a dreadnaught battleship. 

"He was fiercely loyal to his ship and saw many fearsome battles that would have had lesser men reduced to gibbering wrecks, pleading for one last time to see their loved ones. My father however was made of tougher steel, and with fixed determination faced the perils of war, knowing the enemy had to be defeated.

"There came that fateful day however when his ship had met its match, and despite each of the crew to a man exerting himself to the utmost limit, the fight was lost when the ship recieved too many direct hits and began to sink fast.

"It was every man for himself as each dived into the sea with only a life jacket to keep them from being engulfed by the cold murky depths. The ship sunk quickly and took with it many souls, but still, there could be seen heads of survivors bobbing among the waves. My father caught sight of an old friend who was injured and exhausted, and had only a tattered lifejacket to keep him bouyant. He swam to him as best he could and caught hold of him to keep him afloat.

"The two friends had grown up together and had been inseperable as boys. And now as men they served together on the same ship. Seeing his friend in so much distress was too much to bear for my father. Without a decent lifejacket his friend would surely drown. My father knew what he must do. He took off his own life jacket and struggled to put it on his friend.

" For a while my father was able to keep himself afloat, but the hours went by and he became more and more exhausted. Finally he could keep afloat no more, and with weary resignation he slipped quietly to the bottom of the sea. He had given his life to save that of his life long friend".

After listening to a tale of such heroism and virtue, a long silence ensued, each of our hearts filled with pride for all the heroic deeds that made this nation what it is. For that moment we shared the pride and sorrow the stranger must also have felt for his father.

The silence was finally broken however when Sam said he also had a maritime tale to tell.

"I once took  a barge holiday on the Norfolk Broads" he said.

"I got very drunk one night and woke up the following day in a terrible panic, fearing for my life. I was convinced the boat was sinking."

Sam gazed momentarily into his drink than added, "But it turned out I was so drunk I had pissed the bed".

At this point I considered it prudent to collect my hat and coat and politely say my farewells.