hereintheUK
05-11-2008, 11:46 AM
Cliff notes version- Fat man falls into a harbour and can't get out.
On Wednesday I took the train to Cornwall which is basically the English riviera. I had some friends who travelled down there the Friday before and they said the Weather had been amazing so I decided to get the train down there.
I set off in a taxi from my house to the train station at about 4.50 and arrived at the Train Station in Leeds in good time for my 6am 7 hour trian journey. The ride down there was boring but uneventful apart from the last half hour or so riding next to the South West coast of England which provided some awesome views. My mates picked me up from the train station and we went straight into the local Cornish village (Fowey). It's quite a pictureesque little village on the water and has a few pubs and other things to keep the us occupied.
When I arrived the weather was probably about 90 degrees which for England is fucking awesome. We headed straight for the bar and I downed about 5 pints of strong Carlsberg export in about an hour. I was exhausted from the train journey and the lack of sleep the night before too. We were staying just over the other side of the river from where the town of Fowey was and the only way to get there without a 20minute drive was by boat, which took about 5 minutes. I have to admit I was quite apprehensive about getting on these little boats but it really was the best option.
I got into the boat and it was actually ok. Not really any problems getting on or off at this point. The tide was in so we were straight on and off the boat without any messing around. I got to the villa where we were staying at about 4pm. The plan was to have a couple of hours sleep get showered and get straight out on the lash for about 7 o clock.
It just so happened that after showereing I kind of felt ok so we decided to go straight back into the town by boat. We got there at about 5.50 and started pounding the beers again. I'll cut the long story short here We decided to head back home at about 11pm. So after about 5 hours of heavy drinking we head back to the harbour. There was about 10 of us in our party we had two boats. One was parked up right next to the Pontoon so it was just a case of putting your foot over, steadying yourself and getting in. The other was behind another small similar boat. My friend stepped onto the smaller boat and into ours to pull it around so everyone could get in. Instead of waiting like any normal person I decided to step on the first boat to get to the second as my about 100pounds lighter than me friend just did.
It's safe to say I didn't make the second boat after standing on the first. Infact Standing on the first actually capsised the thing and I ended up in the marina. Not been much of a strong swimmer I started to panic a little. One of my mates jumped in and I managed to grab hold of the side of the pontoon or Jetty that led you to the boats. With everything I had I tried to summon the strength to pull myself up onto the pontoon but just couldn't. By this time I could feel the current dragging my legs from under me towards the English Channel. Each of the seven men in my party had a hold of me so I wouldn't go under. At this point I was really calm. Everyone was panicking around me but for some reason I remained positive and tried to be calm because I didn't want to lose anymore anergy while I was in the water. My friends tried to pull me out again but to no avail. The current was just too strong.
One of our party ran into the local pub to grab the biggest guys he could find. By this point I had been in the water for about seven minutes. I was very fatigued and didn't have the strength to hold onto the side myself. The next thing I remember was my friends dad grabbing the back of my trousers and feeling someon grab underneath my arms and then both hands too. It took 5 people. Two big Polish gentlemen and some of the guys from my party to get me out.
It was the most frightening moment I have ever had. I genuinely thought I was going to die. I woke up on thursday with bruises all over my body. Hand size bruises under each armpit. Rings of black and blue around my wrists. It's a small price to pay.
When I was out of the water I snapped back into been my usual self with sarcastic wise cracks and making jokes. I'm still in a bit of a daze to be honest. Just glad to be here.
On Wednesday I took the train to Cornwall which is basically the English riviera. I had some friends who travelled down there the Friday before and they said the Weather had been amazing so I decided to get the train down there.
I set off in a taxi from my house to the train station at about 4.50 and arrived at the Train Station in Leeds in good time for my 6am 7 hour trian journey. The ride down there was boring but uneventful apart from the last half hour or so riding next to the South West coast of England which provided some awesome views. My mates picked me up from the train station and we went straight into the local Cornish village (Fowey). It's quite a pictureesque little village on the water and has a few pubs and other things to keep the us occupied.
When I arrived the weather was probably about 90 degrees which for England is fucking awesome. We headed straight for the bar and I downed about 5 pints of strong Carlsberg export in about an hour. I was exhausted from the train journey and the lack of sleep the night before too. We were staying just over the other side of the river from where the town of Fowey was and the only way to get there without a 20minute drive was by boat, which took about 5 minutes. I have to admit I was quite apprehensive about getting on these little boats but it really was the best option.
I got into the boat and it was actually ok. Not really any problems getting on or off at this point. The tide was in so we were straight on and off the boat without any messing around. I got to the villa where we were staying at about 4pm. The plan was to have a couple of hours sleep get showered and get straight out on the lash for about 7 o clock.
It just so happened that after showereing I kind of felt ok so we decided to go straight back into the town by boat. We got there at about 5.50 and started pounding the beers again. I'll cut the long story short here We decided to head back home at about 11pm. So after about 5 hours of heavy drinking we head back to the harbour. There was about 10 of us in our party we had two boats. One was parked up right next to the Pontoon so it was just a case of putting your foot over, steadying yourself and getting in. The other was behind another small similar boat. My friend stepped onto the smaller boat and into ours to pull it around so everyone could get in. Instead of waiting like any normal person I decided to step on the first boat to get to the second as my about 100pounds lighter than me friend just did.
It's safe to say I didn't make the second boat after standing on the first. Infact Standing on the first actually capsised the thing and I ended up in the marina. Not been much of a strong swimmer I started to panic a little. One of my mates jumped in and I managed to grab hold of the side of the pontoon or Jetty that led you to the boats. With everything I had I tried to summon the strength to pull myself up onto the pontoon but just couldn't. By this time I could feel the current dragging my legs from under me towards the English Channel. Each of the seven men in my party had a hold of me so I wouldn't go under. At this point I was really calm. Everyone was panicking around me but for some reason I remained positive and tried to be calm because I didn't want to lose anymore anergy while I was in the water. My friends tried to pull me out again but to no avail. The current was just too strong.
One of our party ran into the local pub to grab the biggest guys he could find. By this point I had been in the water for about seven minutes. I was very fatigued and didn't have the strength to hold onto the side myself. The next thing I remember was my friends dad grabbing the back of my trousers and feeling someon grab underneath my arms and then both hands too. It took 5 people. Two big Polish gentlemen and some of the guys from my party to get me out.
It was the most frightening moment I have ever had. I genuinely thought I was going to die. I woke up on thursday with bruises all over my body. Hand size bruises under each armpit. Rings of black and blue around my wrists. It's a small price to pay.
When I was out of the water I snapped back into been my usual self with sarcastic wise cracks and making jokes. I'm still in a bit of a daze to be honest. Just glad to be here.