Heart of the Matter
Part 3 - I'll Build Me a Boat
A Short Story in Pictures
A Short Story in Pictures
- May and June 2010
I did build a boat for my father's ashes and I did take it to the Atlantic Ocean, not far from Halifax, in June, 2010. In retrospect, building a suitable boat, one Dad would have been proud to board, was easy. Getting it to the ocean, however, is another story, a long one, and one that almost ended with a broken promise.
["I sketched a wee boat, named after one in which my father circled
Africa on his way to D-Day Sicily in the summer of 1943"]
["I filled the cedar craft with his ashes"]
["The cabin holds room enough for messages in wee bottles"]
["A sturdy keel to direct the boat to Scotland"]
["Two stacks like the real Walnut, with lots of primer"]
["Navy blue trim and three coats of marine varnish look fine"]
["She floats too high. More ballast needed"]
["Two bolts, from Espanola railroad tracks, will do the job"]
["ID plaque needed, for when it reaches Scotland's shores.
Later I learned Dad was a member of RCNVR and Combined
Operations, and not with the Merchant Marine"]
["Twin stacks removed so boat would fit the saddle bag"]
["Motorcycle loaded for 2,200 km. ride to Halifax, June 2010"]
["Six days later. We made it by the skin of my teeth"
Photos GH
No comments:
Post a Comment