We love to curse like navvies when our carefully crafted World of Techno
unravels horribly, like right now when this piece was half written and then
just disappeared like some bloody electronic White Rabbit down some hole or
other...
Today, setting off from Exford on north Exmoor, the gremlins struck
again. I realised that I had failed, dismally, to correctly charge up the
SatMap. This ACME of modern navigation simply shows me, on a
square of OS map, exactly where I am, and enables me to hunt out all the
obscure little roads next to the sea. Without the dead ends, naturally.
Anyway, I ploughed on my merry way to Weston-super-Mare via Watchet, where I
enjoyed a cuppa with my nephew James, who is the Obergruppenkapitan of the
harbour, or some such title. Check out the picture of the Vosper MGB.
In its day, powered by no less than three
Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, say 2000 horsepower, these little puppies would
do nearly 45 knots. Quick, pass me another clip for the Bofors gun, there's
a good fellow...
I had to see the beast - the nuke at Hinkley Point - or at least get close
enough to smell its breath. But you can't get that close, and even
provocatively taking photos elicited a short one way interview with a
man carrying a machine gun and a nasty little Andy McNab habit.
Spoilsports...
The next dead end sported a fine view of the mud flats and a
chance meeting with The Mud Horse Man. Now a mud horse is a sledge that you
push along over the mud, on your way down to the low water mark, to check
out the nets that you set last tide. This man and his son are the last
people doing this arcane method of fishing in the whole of the UK. So I
bought a bag of yummy brown shrimps, these guys catch all sorts including
cod and bass, much better than drum and bass, I always think.
So here I am, sat in the warm at my niece Emily's gaff in sunny Weston,
plotting my next assault on the unsuspecting coastline of dear old Blighty.
But not until a Satmap charger comes winging in from Surrey. Cheers, Craig,
you're a gent. Try Azcari for all your navigation, adventure and biking
gear, they really are the business. More later.
Photos from Day 4
Charity Registration No. 206002 |
Combat Stress is the leading charity specialising in the care of British Veterans who have been profoundly traumatised by harrowing experiences during their Service career. |
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And the Coast Rider is off again, negotiating those lovely coastal views of the UK - he's off to Wales now - he's a tad worried about the lack of vowels in the signs and how he will navigate with the SatMap when words seem incomprehensible, and the teeniest specs you've ever seen in your life!!
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