Ariel III

In the long summer days at Lapsley Road - when the angle grinder was silenced and there was nothing to vibrate in my head but the busy bees a' buzzing and the baby Bee a' chattering and the high pitched whistle of a man at work - life was complete.

We brought all the makings outside for a damn fine sarny, lots of bitey "Shhhheeees", fresh crusty bread that shattered on contact, ruby red tomatoes and a good slab of butter.

Miss Bee knew exactly what came next. Tottering down the stairs towards the boat, she ripped up a handful of mint and pressed it to her face in primal delight at earth's abundance. Then she headed straight for Donny.

The ramp up to the boat was precarious to say the least. But I knew I had to stand back and let her go. To see the look on Dad's face as he cheered her up the home-straight was reward enough.

For three years now Donna/Poppa/Dad had been creating this most remarkable thing in our own backyard - Ariel III.

Gone were the old days of Ariel I - 10 years of weekend blood, sweat and tears and just 20 minutes to sink. Ariel II was sold off long ago for a wave-bashing, arse-smashing centre console.

Now Dad was retired and living down the road from us, visiting daily to work alongside Grrra on this whole new beast.

We were told it was only a matter of weeks now until the crane guys would get the magic call and come hoist our new home out and set it adrift.

The name was hardly discussed. Ariel it had been and Ariel it was. "Where the Bee sucks, there suck I!" As a child, growing up as our own Bee has, with a bloody great yacht where there could have been a vege patch, I had thought the name a little odd, a nonsense, then later - pretentious. "Bloody Mum. Shakespearean bullshit. What's wrong with Zubenelgenubi (zoo-BEN-al-je-NEW-bee)?"

It was the funniest star name we could track down and star names were all the rage at the time. We even had a song to go with it:

"Zubenelgenubi is a wonderful yacht
There's coffee and bananas and the temperature's hot
So take a trip and on this ship
Go sailing away
Across the aqua to Managua, Nicaragua
Ole!"

(You know the way it goes… Carmen Miranda style!)

But Ariel it was. And of course now, we can see it. As clear as blue-day water rippling inshore. "Where the Bee sucks… there suck us all!"

These days of milk and honey, soon to make way for waves and foreign shores.

Let the spirit of adventure live on!

With love, laughter and ocean.

Lots of ocean.

...............

By Libby Davy

8 September 2002
Strawbale Cottage, Wilyabrup

460 words