TARZAN SWIMS THE MIGHTY LAGOON
If you cannot laugh at yourself you have no right to laugh at the world.When this little incident occurred I near wet myself some days later. Actually this article may not be up everyone’s ally and in fact a thousand NEWS 24 readers will refer to it in the most common-est and wide spread terms. DRIVEL and I quite agree. You see I have been through my life’s escapades and have nothing left for my final article. All that needs to be said has been said and in all truth everything said is the truth. Those, and there are many, say that I have lied, and they, in some instances are liars. But that, currently, is not my problem.
This incident took place in 1972 in the lagoon of Walvis Bay. It was late afternoon and the tide was going out and the lagoon was becoming more shallow. I, my brother and some friends decided to launch the dingy and take a shot at fishing in the main channel. Fishing on the outgoing tide is usually more lucrative due to the tide carrying the fish pass the boat in the channel and are thus caught. We did have several bites but not much came of it due to the fast flowing current in the 4/5metre channel. We decided to pack it up. Just one small problem came to manifest itself. The bloody outboard motor refused to start no matter how much we cursed it and its maker. No problem: use the oars. Good: the oars were not loaded. The only aspect was the anchor still had a length of rope tied to it. We chucked it overboard to prevent the boat drifting out to sea. So we sat looking at each other racking non-existent brains to find a solution. Darkness was setting in so I, being the eldest and most stupid: (Check those users agree) decided to find a companion then we swim the kilometre back to the beach and fetch the oars. Anton decided to go with me. And so the swimming marathon was on. I entered the water first and a minute later Anton was behind me. The lights of a darkening Walvis bay beckoned us in the distance.
After several minutes we realised we were making little headway. But we carried on relentlessly and fought nature at every turn. The lights were approaching steadily, albeit slowly. I heard a shout from behind me and turned around to see what Anton was up to. The silly bugger was standing next to me and telling me to stand up. I did after I managed to get the hair out of my eyes.The water was knee deep. We walked out and eventually reached the beach. Anton and myself drove to his home and collected the oars. On the return we found the others and the boat drawn up to dry land. The engine had caught while Anton and myself had gone to fetch the oars. Hair always bothered me: Antons mother hummed to tune: “I can see clearly now my hair is gone.” with a wide grin. We received the 3rd degree as to the whereabouts of the others . Man-alive but the coffee was good.
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