Posted by Jonathan Labaree on August 04, 2003 at 15:43:43 from 207.5.234.19 user JLabaree.
In Reply to: Re: another plot-defining nautical mishap posted by Ross Cossar on August 01, 2003 at 00:17:01:
This has been a great discussion! I am more than ready to concede to 2/3 of the episode – 1) the jibe creating loss of control and plenty of turmoil to cause the accident and 2) the force of the collision with the rock sufficient to hole Swallow.
I am going to hold out, mostly out of devil’s advocacy, on the sinking bit. It had not occurred to me that Swallow might have had ballast in her keel as well as in her bilge. That would surprise me a bit, but I am only vaguely familiar with boats of her age and origin. Although she was indeed in the water all season, only the planks below the waterline would have swollen – not in itself enough to sink a swamped boat. I still think that once the ballast had been removed, the boat would likely have floated. Indeed, I’m still not completely convinced it would have sunk in the first place, but I am wavering on that issue.
Regardless of my own ponderings on the subject, however, the responses here have convinced me that Arthur Ransome would not have considered the episode in the slightest bit a stretch. As far as I’m concerned, that’s what matters.