When I lived in SA there was one of my dad’s friends, who was also my godfather, who worked in a quarry. His job was to maintain the machines used to crush big rocks into small gravel needed for making roads. He must have had lots of spare time because often you could find him at home making all possible handy works especially with iron.
One day he decided to build a boat, but not like most boats made of wood. His boat was going to be made of iron, the material he knew best. Even though it would be very heavy he was sure it would float.
Photo by Linda Lupowitz
He started building his masterpiece in his double garage. If you drove past his house even late at night you could see the sparks of his welding machine. Some months later in his garage the iron boat was ready. He put in a car engine to turn the propeller. To cool the engine down the system would fish water from under the boat and the hot water would squirt out the side and back into the water. The special thing about this boat was that it also had a four-speed gearbox and a reverse gear.
Early one Sunday morning a procession was ready to go and test the boat in water, although some people doubted that it would float. The procession consisted of one car ahead, a tractor that pulled a trailer with the boat on top and other friend’s cars which followed on the tail end. The tractor was driven by a native workman, my godfather was in the car ahead and I followed in a car at the back. We all traveled a little more than 20 kilometers heading for Midmar Dam.
The Midmar Dam is a large stretch of water filled with fish, surrounded by a big park inhabited by many wild animals. It has a massive concave wall and in the middle the excess water squirts out turning an electrical turbine. Many families have built a house under that wall, they must be very brave to live there!
Photo by Josiah Townsend
We stopped where there was a cement slipway. The tractor reversed backwards into the water so that the boat went in first. The tractor had to go far into the water and when the water reached the feet of the driver, he refused to go further. So we detached the trailer and pushed the boat even more into the water. All of a sudden we realized that the boat was floating and the trailer was stuck on the bottom of it. We all climbed on to the trailer and it came lose. Finally we could go into the boat.
The captain started the engine, checked that everything was working properly, blew the horn twice, engaged the first gear and after he had warned us to hold tight we were finally on our first ride around the dam. I chose to sit on the roof of the cabin as it was the highest place from where I could enjoy a full view of the surroundings.
We were in the middle of the dam when the boat suddenly stopped. We all had a worried look on our faces. The captain told us that the petrol was probably finished and we had no oars on board. Luckily somebody found a petrol can behind his seat. It was not full, however we were able to finish our ride.
Photo by Matt Erasmus
We passed nearby an area where the hippos were taking a bath and others were on the bank. At the sound of the engine, a cloud of birds that were among the reeds flew away breaking the silence with their screams and coloring the sky with their colored wings.
A little later a park ranger came towards us with his speed boat and asked us to follow him out of that area and about 50 meters before reaching the other bank he asked us to throw the anchor in the water. Then he gave us a lift to dry land and we went in his office to fill in some forms.
Our day was over. We went back on the same highway homeward bound, happy that the boat went above all expectations and was a great success. We realized that iron floats just as long as it has the right shape.
About Mauro
I got my inspiration for this website from the song called “Imagine”, and so I decided to go on this adventure. I have always wanted to put up something like this where my friends and I could express our memories and dreams for the future. Share them with us, because if many people dream the same dream it will certainly come true.
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