December 07 2005

Text By Greg Fallis

"There is nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." So sayeth Toad of Toad Hall. Toad, of course, was talking about the gentlemanly handling of small boats for pleasure and light sport. He wasn't thinking about sturdy working boats used by rough men for commercial fishing.

But Toad's observation still applies. There are easier ways to earn a living than through the back-wracking labor of deploying and hauling in nets. There are safer ways to make money than by going out on the sea in small craft. And yet men still crew these boats and routinely brave the treacherous sea to do this cold, wet, dangerous work. Why? Because to some people boats and deep water are imbedded in the soul. Doing the work may often be harsh and bitter, but not doing it is unthinkable.

In the end, Toad had it right: there is nothing half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.