Barnacle Bill Magazine February 2016 | Page 13

13 Have shovel, will row British readers may remember the winter of 2010/11 - the one with snow, real snow that lay for a couple of week, at least here in Scotland. When the snow wasn’t falling we had some clear, crisp, high pressure days. On one of those days I realised what an ideal opportunity this was to get on the water. I set off down the road to the sailing club midmorning, but it wasn’t quite a straightforward as expected. First task. Clear the snow and ice of Scratch. Then discover the quad bike battery is flat. Work out how remove the seat to get at the battery. Find tool kit and remove leads. Discover battery is jammed in place with straw and muck. Get a light rope from boat. Fix to terminals and use it as a handle to lift the battery out. Take battery home, find charger… Back to the beach where the council have left a huge pile of snow at the top of the ac-cess ramp. Luckily I’d spotted this yesterday and brought my shovel. Shift snow and spread some sand from the beach on the ramp. Back home, quick early lunch. Remove battery from charger, take battery back to the sailing )