The Good Friday Gang

They hitched the CRABBSAC boat up and set off to the sea,
Liz said " I think this might be fun", Mumf answered "Not for me".
"At least it isn't raining" muttered Mumfie through his beard,
"I thought it would be cold" said he, and with this thought was cheered.

"It's time for brekkie" Mumfie said, after twenty miles,
They stuffed themselves with beans on toast which almost brought on smiles.
"There's the boat" said Karen as they whizzed along the road,
"I expect they're having breakfast to even out the load".

A good idea" said Steve who had had a similar thought,
But Karen said "keep driving" so that thought came to naught.
They all met in the car park at Wittering By Sea,
And Mumfie thought "I'm frozen,this lark is not for me".

"Lets have some coffee" Karen said "and plan our escapade",
"I hope that Rosie isn't late or we might be delayed".
"I hope she is" thought Steve "so we can all go home",
"And spend the day asleep in bed where we all belong".

Back in the car park by the sea they found Rosie and Si too,
"I suppose we've got to do it now" said Steve "Boo Hoo".
The boat was set, the kit all stowed, the divers all set fair,
But where was Buster, tractor man? He's out to sea, not here.

"We'll have to wait then" Karen said "or plot another plan",
"Or pack it in and all go home" said S and M to a man.
"We're all enthused" encouraged Liz "and Rosie's dead keen too,
And so are Kim and Dominic, we'll have to see this through".

"You've all gone mad" said Simon, "it's freezing cold and rough ,
And look at you, you weedy wimps, you're not exactly tough".
That decided the gallant band to prove old Simon wrong,
And hope that dear old Buster wouldn't be too long.

Eventually he reappeared and loaded up his trailer,
"Whoopee" said Rosie all enthused, "I'm going to be a sailor".
"I can't remember what to do" said Lizzie, all at sea,
"Use your woman's charm" said Mumf "and turn the ruddy key" .

"I'm turning it" she wailed aloud "but everything's too slow",
So Steve got in and took the wheel and made the poor boat go.
"Oh this is fun" said Rosie "we're off and I'm not wet",
"There's time ahead for that" said Mumf "we haven't started yet".

To dive the Nab tower was the plan and then back home for tea,
It should be easy enough to find, it's sticking out the sea.
Around and round the Nab they went, checking for the current,
"It's far too choppy" Mumfie said, the rest were all concurrent.

Mumfie did the sea vis test, for which he was revered,
He stuck the oar into the sea and the far end disappeared.
"Back to land "said Mumfie "we're not diving here,
It's far too dark and murky and miserable down there".

Towards the land the party went looking for a reef,
or something lumpy under keel to break up the relief.
Alas the seabed let them down, it was completely flat,
"Oh dear" said Mumf despondently "lets not dive on that".

But everyone else was all geared up and champing at the bit,
And Liz said "Now you've come this far - go for it".
Karen sorted the dive pairs out, first was Mumf and Kim,
Kim was all excited it was the first boat dive for him.

The second pair was actually three to make the numbers match,
Steve and Karen and Dominic formed the other batch.
Kim and Mumf donned their kit and were rearing to go
So Liz turned off the engine and off they went below.

Next to go was the trio, but alas poor Dominic
Had turned a very funny colour and unfortunately was sick.
The trio then took ages to get it all together
And Rosie lay along the tube saying "what nice weather".

By this time Mumfie had returned and said the vis was bad
Liz said "you'll have to stay beside the boat until I sort this lad".
Another plan was quickly formed for poor old Dominic,
So Liz checked all his buckles and chucked him overboard quick.

Mumf went off with Dominic, and Steve and Karen followed,
Then Liz and Rosie rescued Kim from where he happily wallowed.
No sooner was Kim aboard than Mumf and Dom bobbed up,
And Rosie got the giggles too and started to hiccup.

They rescued Dom from out the sea, who sadly still felt poorly,
And then retrieved old Mumfie who wanted a drinkie sorely.
No sooner were they all aboard than the others reached the surface,
And Liz got in a tizzy because there was kit all over the place.

She barked out orders left and right and made Kim put his lunch down,
And off they went to get them in before they began to drown.
Poor Dominic was still not well though Kim offered him some pie,
And Rosie felt quite grotty too and stared up to the sky.

All safely back aboard the boat and heading back to land
To get the boat out on the trailer, that was what was planned.
By this time the tide was in and waves crashed up the beach
"Oh dear" said Mumfie "this isn't good, I fear that we may breach".

The waves were huge the sea was rough and all aboard were scared,
And those that saw the problems coming were very much afeared.
The trailer and the tractor man backed down towards the boat,
Which jumped and lurched and heaved around to try and stay afloat.

Eventually they tied the rope and slowly hauled it clear,
And all the time the waves crashed in, but the crowd gave a cheer.
Back in the car park all felt drained but Dominic felt better,
And Rosie said" I'm really surprised I haven't got any wetter".

They cleared away, tied down the boat and made plans for the curry,
And Mumfie said "There's a dive shop here, I don't think we need hurry".
That evening saw the weary team planning for tomorrow,
Eventually they abandoned it without, to be honest, much sorrow.

The next day dawned all dull and grey and promising to be wet,
So all agreed that staying dry was the best plan yet.
They took the boat back to the woods and put it in its home,
"Let's do it again, but not too soon" said Mumf with a groan.

Aching and bruised and battered, but glad that it had been done,
They all agreed with one accord that it had been awful fun.
With thanks to Karen for organising, for Steve and Mumfie's guile,
And Rosie, Kim and Dominic for making it all worth while.

Liz McConnell

This page was last updated on : 09 Sep 2018