Pain and soakings
Our Year 9 school camping trip - always a source of traumatic memories.

On day 2 of the five day extravaganza, we were doing an assault course in the morning. Being a proper fat little sausage at the time, I managed to dislocate one of my puny shoulders as it struggled to pull my sweaty bulk up a climbing rope. It sorta popped back in without much difficulty, but it was rather painful for a long time afterwards. On the plus side, it did get me out of abseiling from a creaky windblown tower that afternoon.

The next day we had sailing. I've never been a huge fan of boats, and this only reinforced my boat prejudice. Me and my friend Dave got in one of these terrifying little plastic dinghies with a sail and, with minimal instruction from an unhinged Australian fellow, we were struggling to keep in a straight line. We accomplished one U turn successfully but with the minimum of elegance, but when it came to the second turn we weren't so lucky. Dave was less than conscientious when it came to warning me he was steering, and that big metal boom crossbar thingy came and twatted me one round the back of the head. I went *plop* straight in the harbor.

So, now I'm floating around in some rather chilly water, with a useless right arm (due to the previous day's dislocation) and pretty dizzy from the recent head injury. Yes indeed - I was towed back to shore on a rescue boat from no more than a hundred yards off the beach.
( kingofpork is the king of pork, Thu 21 Apr 2005, 22:47, Reply)