This week's program: "Four Days Before the Mast"
This week Phyllis Rousseau introduced our speaker, Allen Anway, who showed a power point program called "Four Days Before the Mast". Allen explained that the title is a reference to the classic book "Two Years Before the Mast" that inspired Herman Melville to write books like "Moby Dick", etc.
In Allen's case, no whales were involved, but he and his family survived 4 days last summer operating a 70 foot long canal boat in England for their family vacation. First they had to learn the rules of navigation, such as "Don't sink the boat", "Don't tie up the boat while it's moving", and "Don't break the toilet." The boat was 7 feet wide and the canal wasn't much wider, so boats had to pass each other carefully. His son-in-law was the pilot, who only stranded the boat once when they had to turn around in a wide space in the canal to return to their starting point. The scenery, other boats, locks, pubs and wildlife were charming and quaint and easily photographed at a speed of 6 mph. Somehow they all managed to return without damage to the boat or themselves and had an unforgettable experience in the process. Thanks, Allen, for sharing your adventure, wit and humor with us!