Bosun a very special boat
This is a story about a very, very, sad small white boat.……… Why was it so sad?.........
Will you listen carefully and I will tell you?………
The small white boat was sad because it had not been on either the river or the sea for three years; it missed being on the water so much. The boats owner, Mr. Pollock had become bored with his boat and had moved it away from its mooring on the river Teign, and left the boat on a rusty old trailer outside his bungalow. The bungalow was on a hill overlooking the estuary, oh! How the little boat wished it could be down there with the other boats, now you know why it was feeling so sad.
On a warm summer’s day in June the boat’s hopes were raised as Mr. Pollock decided to give it a thorough wash with soapy water, he then hosed it down with the garden hosepipe, the little boat thought it was wonderful to feel cold water gushing over it again. As it sat drying in the warm sunshine Mr. Pollock appeared from the garage with the outboard motor which he then fitted to the back of the boat. That evening the sky was clear, the stars shone brightly and the moonlight reflected from the sea the little boat felt so happy at the prospect of returning to the sea again.
The next morning Mr. Pollock appeared and went into his garage, there were sounds of sawing, hammering and some cursing when he dropped the hammer on his foot, after a while he appeared with a sign, written on the sign were the words …………
‘Boat for Sale Apply Within’, the little boat felt so hurt, how dreadful it thought, and, what was to become of it? Mr. Pollock fixed the sign to the front gatepost and then went indoors.
For the first time in the little boat’s life it began to cry.
During the day two passing motorists stopped their cars and reversed back to view the boat and then knocked on Mr. Pollock’s front door.
The little boat overheard the conversations and neither person was really interested, one wanted a bigger engine and the other thought that the 400 pounds Mr. Pollock was asking was too much money for a small white boat.
It began to cry again…….
Later a third motorist stopped, he inspected the boat, and introduced himself to Mr. Pollock and said “Hi I’m John Brand, call me John”, they shook hands, John ran his hands down the boat’s sides, he must be looking for blemishes the boat thought, although John didn’t realise it his touch soothed the boat and it I felt less upset. John then stood back eyeing the boat from a distance, thoughtfully rubbing his chin between his thumb and forefinger; he then asked Mr. Pollock “Will you take 350 pounds?”, Mr. Pollock replied “I’ will take 375 pounds and not a penny less” John Brand replied “Ok it’s a deal”, both men shook hands and the money changed hands.
As the little boat was being hooked onto the back of John’s car John asked “Does the boat have a name?”, “No” Mr. Pollock replied “Never gave it much thought”. John replied “I will think of something suitable” with that John’s car drove away with the little boat following behind, they were heading for the little boats new home, it wondered where that would be.
After a short drive they arrived at a small seaside town called Dawmouth, it was a pretty place, there was a park in the centre with black swans preening themselves on the bank of a stream that ran down to the sea. They passed children who were eating ice cream and others playing on a minuture golf course. Where the stream meets the sea they then passed under a railway bridge which led to a high wall with multi coloured beach huts.
The sea was on one side of the wall with people fishing and the railway on the other, the sea was calm clear and blue, children were playing on the beach, and the little boats hopes were raised.
After a short distance they arrived at a small cove where lots of other boats were moored. John stopped the car and two men came and stood alongside the little boat, they also ran their hands over the boat, that’s twice in one day, the little boat guessed that they were also looking for blemishes, maybe it was something boat owners did, they perhaps didn’t realise that boats found it this very soothing.
The men were called Mr. Drecktly and Mr. Bell, Mr. Bell was nicknamed Dinger, the little boat thought that curious and couldn’t imagine why.
Between them the three men lifted the little boat off the trailer and onto the slipway and then gently slid it down onto the sandy beach, this felt wonderful for the little boat, it was so close to the sea again, what more could a boat want sun, sea and sand.
Shortly afterwards John appeared from Mr. Drecktly’s shed that was located at the top of the slipway, as he walked towards the little boat it noticed that John was holding a small paintbrush and a tin. He knelt beside the little boat and began to paint some lettering on its side just behind the front of the boat.
When John had finished one side he went around to the other side and painted the same lettering. Afterwards he stood back and spelt out aloud the word………….
B…….O….....S…….U….…N
He then said “Welcome to Dawmouth Bosun”, the little boat was so happy it had never had a name before and now it was called Bosun, whilst it was not a name that the little boat was familiar with it would suit it fine; it kept saying over and over to itself it’s new name ‘Bosun, Bo…sun; Bosun’.
That evening John gently slid Bosun into the water, he then climbed aboard, started the engine and together they slowly moved alongside the cove wall out onto the open sea, this was probably the best day of Bosun’s life. Dawmouth was such a pretty place, just behind the beach there was a high, wide wall that people were able to walk along, the wall seems to go on for ever. Behind the wall was a railway track and trains frequently passed along it; when a train passed by they would sound their whistles and people on the wall and the beach waved to the passengers on the train who then waved back, sometimes the driver of the train would wave as well, Bosun thought ‘what a friendly place this is’.
John fished for a while and after catching 6 mackerel he steered Bosun back to shore, when they arrived back at Hope Cove John secured a rope between Bosun and a metal ring on the slipway. He then spoke briefly to Mr. Drecktly and Dinger before heading for his home with his fresh mackerel. As night fell Bosun thought that he was possibly the happiest boat in the world, it wasn’t long before he slipped into a deep satisfying sleep……..The following morning Bosun was woken suddenly by a thud; a huge seagull had perched on his bow and was now preening itself. As Bosun was anxious to make new friends he thought that he would introduce himself and said. “Hello my name is Bosun” the startled seagull flew into the air and landed on the beach in front of Bosun, first the seagull stared at Bosun with its right eye and then with the left eye presumably wondering where the voice had come from. Bosun spoke again and said “Yes it’s me, I am a boat and my name is Bosun, what’s your name?” The seagull stared again first with one eye and then with the other, it swallowed and then said “I can’t believe I am talking to a boat but since you ask my name is Radar”
Radar and Bosun chatted for about an hour, Radar told Bosun all about Dawmouth and that he also had a brother called Nelson, Nelson lived on a rubbish tip on the outskirts of Dawmouth and Radar would visit him for the occasional weekend.
Radar also told Bosun that Mr.Drecktly looked after the cove for the council and also that he owned a black and white collie dog called Fathom. Apparently Fathom wasn’t very friendly towards seagulls and would often chase them whenever they went too close to Mr. Drecktly’s hut; Radar said that he would deliberately annoy Fathom by perching on the roof of Mr. Drecktly’s hut flapping his wings and squawking at him.
Radar then told Bosun that his brother Nelson had been unwell, apparently, he had twisted his leg when it became entwined in a plastic carrier bag, it would appear that some careless person had disguarded the bag in their refuse bin, some people don’t realise, said Radar that plastic carrier bags should either be reused or recycled, if everyone did this it would reduce pollution and prevent wildlife from becoming injured. Radar was clearly worried about Nelson and decided to visit his brother and see how he was recovering from his injury. Radar took to the air, said goodbye to Bosun, and flew off to visit Nelson.
It was almost midday, the sun was warm and Bosun dozed off, He wasn’t sure how long he slept but was woken suddenly by a thud, without thinking he assumed it was Radar and asked “How is Nelson”? With that Mr. Drecktly’s startled collie dog, Fathom, leapt into the air and then sat in front of Bosun turning his head from side to side; with an enquiring look he barked at Bosun and then moved closer and barked again. Still keen to make new friends Bosun spoke to Fathom and asked him if he would like to become his friend, Fathom was cautious and walked around Bosun checking that no one was playing a joke on him.
He then moved closer and whispered to Bosun “did you just speak to me?” Bosun said “hello Fathom my name is Bosun”. Fathom sat down, took a deep breath, sighed and said “I 'm amazed that you can talk, I have never heard a boat speak before and thought that only humans and animals could talk although most humans are not able to understand what animals were actually saying”.
Bosun and fathom talked for about two hours, Bosun told Fathom his life story, Fathom sympathised and told Bosun that he had also had a difficult start to life as he was a ‘failed sheep dog’. He had failed to qualify as a sheep dog because he thought it was rude to interrupt sheep when they were eating and then chase them around a field. He was then sold by the farmer to Mr. Drecktly and has lived with him for three years. Bosun then asked fathom why he chased seagulls whenever they came near him, Fathom then told Bosun that he wasn’t very fond of seagulls because they made a lot of noise and were always trying to scrounge food and that irritated him.
Bosun told Fathom that he had a seagull friend called Radar who was unhappy with Fathom constantly chasing him.
Fathom agreed that Bosun should introduce him to Radar and then he would hopefully be sympathetic to his situation and not chase him again.
Just as the pair had finished their conversation Radar appeared overhead he flew in circles because he was anxious about landing with Fathom nearby. Bosun called to Radar and said “It’s alright, Fathom is our friend and won’t chase you ever again” , very warily Radar landed beside them. “How’s Nelson” Bosun asked, ”He’s recovering well thank you“ Radar replied, and continued to say “But I have something urgent I need to tell you”, Bosun asked what was so urgent, Radar explained, “A small cat has fallen off the sea wall and is laying unconscious on the beach below the old Coastguards building and may be drowned as the tide is coming in”, Radar continued, “I took a closer look and the cat is breathing but looks quite poorly, I think it might be a stray”. Fathom then ran up the slipway barking, hoping to attract the attention of Mr. Drecktly and Dinger, but neither was there as they had gone to a boat auction at nearby Sheldon. Fathom then barked at a family who were sat on the beach, but couldn’t make them understand, he then ran back to Bosun and said “You’re a boat, let’s go and rescue the cat” Bosun told Fathom that his engine had to be started before we could go anywhere and that had always been done by a human.
With that Fathom leapt on board Bosun and stared at the engine thoughtfully, he had often seen Mr. Drecktly and also Dinger start boat engines, he grabbed the starter cord with his teeth and gave it a pull, the engine rotated but nothing happened. Undeterred Fathom pulled the starter cord again and again until the engine went ‘putt…..putt….putt’, and then stopped turning, by this time Fathom was becoming weaker , he clenched his teeth and snarled as he tried for one last time………..
Rrrim…putt putt….rim…putt putt putt…...rrrrrrrriiiiiimmmm…….rrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmm the engine went, it had started and with Radar flying overhead and Fathom on board the three friends left Hope Cove and headed towards the old Coastguards building.
Radar flew on ahead and as he neared the cat he saw that the sea was rising quickly and water was already lapping around the cat’s feet, there was a strong possibility that the next wave would cover the cat’s head and it would sadly drown……. Another wave rolled towards the shore, this was a big powerful wave and it made the sound of thunder as it rushed towards the shore…. Radar realised that the little cat was in great danger and instinctively slid his head and neck under the little cat’s neck and lifted its head above the incoming sea, this was a very brave thing to do and the little cat was now able to breathe as the sea swept over its body.
Within minutes Bosun and Fathom arrived, Fathom leapt into the sea and swam powerfully towards the shore, he quickly, and gently used his mouth to lift the little cat by the back of its neck and carried it towards Bosun, then in between waves he jumped aboard Bosun, Rrrriiiimmmm went the engine as it surged into full power; with the little cat laying motionless they hurried back to Hope Cove.
Mr. Drecktly and Dinger were deep in conversation and didn’t notice the rescue party returning to the cove, but, they were soon made aware by Fathom as he ran up the slipway barking loudly to attract their attention; they both realised that something was wrong and hurried behind Fathom down towards Bosun. As they reached the waters edge Dinger gently lifted the wet, almost lifeless cat with its chin spiked with blood and cradling it in his arms he shook his head with sadness saying ‘you poor little creature we’ll take care of you mate’ he then walked up the slipway to Mr. Drecktly’s hut and both he and Mr. Drecktly went inside with the cat. As darkness fell the cove was almost silent, Mr. Drecktly and Dinger hardly made a sound as they locked the hut and quietly made their way home. Mr. Drecktly whistled for Fathom to follow, Fathom said goodbye to Bosun and Radar before running after his Master. Radar also said goodnight to Bosun before flying up to his favorite perch on the cliff above.
Bosun prayed for the cat and tried to go to sleep but found it difficult. Following a restless night morning eventually arrived and Bosun anxiously looked up the slipway towards Mr. Drecktly’s hut hoping to see signs of life, but there was no movement. He then heard the sound of footsteps and saw Mr. Drecktly, Dinger and Fathom crossing the railway bridge, they were walking quietly, hardly speaking as they were also concerned that the cat might not have survived the night. Dinger unlocked the hut and went inside……….
The suspense was heart wrenching; a few minutes passed and Dinger reappeared at the door, wiping tears from his eyes he spoke to Mr. Drecktly and said something that Bosun was unable to hear, Bosun’s heart sank……
Then; from the darkness of the shed the cat appeared and rubbed against Dinger’s legs, the cat had survived, Fathom whimpered with pleasure and Bosun called excitedly to Radar ‘Mates’ alive , Mates’ alive’, Radar swooped down from the cliff top and circled above Mr. Drecktly’s hut squawking with delight..
The cat spent the day sitting at the top of the slipway resting and enjoying the warmth of sunlight on his back, although he had been unconscious during the rescue he somehow knew that his life had been saved by a boat called Bosun, a failed sheepdog called Fathom and a squawking seagull called Radar; he also realized that Mr. Drecktly and Dinger had helped him to recover. The cat felt a sense of belonging at the cove, he had found new, true friends and had been also given something he had never had before; a name: Mate decided to stay with his new friends and make Hope Cove his home.
