Posted by Peter H on September 25, 2007 at 15:13:27 from 86.130.129.223 user Peter_H.
In Reply to: Re: Existential Swallow sightings posted by Owen Roberts on September 25, 2007 at 14:43:06:
Although Swallow clearly belongs to the Jacksons, there are very few clues as to her use when the Walker family are not at Holly Howe. When the Swallows went down to the boathouse to take her out for the first time, Roger ‘had a tough struggle with the rusty lock’. However, when they brought Swallow out they stepped the mast and hoisted the sail without any trouble. Now I would gather from these clues that Swallow had not been sailed for very roughly 6 months, perhaps a bit less. That would have given time for the lock to have rusted up (in the damp lakeside air) but not been long enough for any of Swallow’s fittings to deteriorate (I stand to be corrected on this by a TarBoard boat expert – please do if necessary).
So who last sailed her? The Jacksons also have a rowing boat, and would probably use that for the odd journey along the lake. (Mr J used it to row Mrs W to the Island, although he had no alternative because Swallow was not available to him then.). Perhaps a more basic question is – what was Swallow for? She was a 13-14 foot sailing dinghy ‘built for sailing on a shallow estuary’. OK so what was she doing sailing on a deep-water lake? Of course this a is a bit of AR’s real life experience impinging on the story – perhaps, like AR, the Jacksons bought her because she was well-built and cheap.
Carrying on with the AR comparison, maybe Mr and Mrs Jackson acquired it for their children to sail. One assumes that said children have grown up and moved away from Holly Howe because of jobs/marriage. Was Swallow used by the occasional visitor at Holly Howe, but was not in constant demand, and if so, did the Jacksons maintain the boat just in case anyone wanted to sail her, whether it be a visitor or one of their own children or grandchildren? I feel that this is the more plausible explanation.
On this basis, someone might well have sailed her during the winter before the Walkers arrived and also during the summer after the Walkers have departed. When Captain Flint and John row to Holly Howe to tell Mrs W about the wreck of Swallow, CF goes on ahead to tell her himself. He also speaks to Mr Jackson. One assumes that CF gives certain guarantees, out of earshot of the children, that repairs will be prompt and at his cost. At this point, TarBoarders who are prone to vast speculation might wonder whether one of those prior or subsequent Swallow ‘skippers’ ever ran her aground.
In fact, the Swallows’ enjoyment of their ship was really a bit precarious. Suppose one of the Jackson family had moved her somewhere else – to another lake maybe? Or another ‘skipper’ had wrecked her completely? Or the Js had sold her to help pay for restocking the farm? As someone has pointed out, there was no such danger for Amazon and Scarab.
(If I may add a wince-free footnote: if one adopts my ‘existentialist’ principles, then Swallow does not exist between each of the adventures, and for that matter neither do the Jacksons or Holly Howe or the Island. I am not trying to dampen anyone else’s AR enjoyment, merely pointing out that this approach solves an awful lot of problems . . .)