Have you ever heard of, or seen, a stainless steel canoe, and flat-ended at that?
Our
"canoe" had the shape of the image below, but with no partition. And,
of course, it was shiny because of the stainless steel material. That
was the improvised "canoe" my playmates and I would sail with
whenever we had the urge to venture farther away from the shore.
Our flat-ended "canoe"
was actually an industrial rectangular kitchen sink, about 6
feet long x 3 feet wide x 12 inches deep, which we found in an
abandoned Quonset hut building, about three houses away from our
quarters. This building was presumably used as a galley or mess hall
before, thus the presence of that sink. We brought it to
our place, plugged the drain hole, and almost instantly launched it
to active service. It was capable of carrying two persons at a time,
and we were careful not to overload as it would sink immediately to
the bottom if water got in. Juanito who provided us with two wooden
paddles. Though difficult to navigate due to it's shape, we were
nonetheless proud, thrilled and happy, cruising just along the sea wall
during calm seas. After each trip, we would just pull it up onto the
sea wall where it would rest until its next use.
Intrepid as a growing up boy, I would sometimes, all alone, sail out this flat-ended canoe
to about 25 yards into the sea, drop anchor, and fish. My Mom either
seemed to trust in my swimming ability at my young age, or simply
had no knowledge of it, for I never heard any admonition from her
about these adventures.
I do not know what eventually
happened to this stainless steel, flat-ended "canoe", which had
served us well as a sailing and fishing vessel. It probably got lost when I was already staying at the dorm in college.
[Green Mussels Indulgence]
