Re: repairs made to Swallow in SA - should be SD


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Posted by Ed Kiser on January 23, 2006 at 20:13:08 from 152.163.101.7 user Kisered.

In Reply to: repairs made to Swallow in SA? posted by Lyn on January 23, 2006 at 03:22:09:

I believe the intended reference is not to SA but to SD, as it was there that the unfortunate encounter with Pike Rock caused the shipwreck, subsequently repaired after John raised her.

Acutally there is no reference to PIKE ROCK in SA at all, even though they sailed to what was to become Horseshoe Cove (so named in SD). That infamous rock was not seen since they had just had a rather severe storm, with heavy rains, so the lake water level was probably a bit higher than usual, thus leaving that rock below the surface.

Even though it was not seen, it was probably still a hazard to boats, as it was probably near enough to the surface to snag and rip out the bottom of any boat unfortunate enough to accidentally encounter this obstruction. It fact, its being under water completely makes this more dangerous than it would have been if it had thrust its peak above the surface, thus making it visible. It is easier to dodge a visible obstuction than to avoid that underwater hazard.

So that last day's voyage of the S & A's to the Cove was perhaps a bit more dangerous than they ever suspected. Now THAT would have been a bummer of a way to end the Holidays, by ripping out the bottom of a borrowed boat on an underwater rock, and it all happening on that final day. In SA, the Amazons made no mention of this hazard, so perhaps they were not that familiar with that part of the lake, even though they said they had been to the Cove before. Maybe they were just lucky on their previous visits also.

Perhaps, at the time SA was written, the PIKE ROCK had not been invented yet, even though AR had left this teaser of events to come by having them visit the Cove. We cannot know just how much of the detail of SD had been worked out in his mind while he was still finishing up the writing of SA. But that visit to the Cove did leave us with a degree of anticipation that maybe there might be more of such stories yet to come. It does sort of whet the appetite for more.

I know I wish there could have been more, or even just get that last partial book completed. It is still quite a remembered thrill to actually get my hands on a Ransome book that I had not yet read. Now we can only see that thrill in the eyes of the next generations as they too go through these discoveries for themselves.

And that is the magic of "All Things Ransome."

Ed Kiser, South Florida


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