Thursday, May 20, 2010

Britannia Rules the Waves


Yes, that really is a bouncy castle being paddled through a fleet of Lasers at an international regatta. Thanks to tonic.com for drawing my attention to the three plucky Brits who decided to honor the proud nautical tradition of our seafaring nation by paddling an inflatable bouncy castle five miles across Lake Garda. Full details and video at Three Brits Realize Their Dream Of Crossing Italian Lake In Inflatable Castle.

If further proof were needed that, when it comes to boats, we British are more than slightly unhinged, check out the story at Captain JP's Log of the skip with the outboard which is supposed to be demonstrating something about the evolution of boat design. (For American viewers, "skip" is Real English for "dumpster".)




Altogether now...

When Britain first at Heav'n's command
Arose from out the azure main;
This was the charter of the land,
And guardian angels sang this strain;

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never will be slaves.

The nations not so blest as thee,
Shall in their turns to tyrants fall;
While thou shalt flourish great and free,
The dread and envy of them all.

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never will be slaves.

Still mor majestic shalt thou rise,
More dreadful from each foreign stroke;
As the loud blast that tears the skies,
Serves but to root thy native oak.

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never will be slaves.

Thee haughty tyrants ne'er shall tame,
All their attempts to bend thee down
Will but arouse thy generous flame;
But work their woe, and thy renown.

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never will be slaves.

To thee belongs the rural reign;
They cities shall with commerce shine;
All thine shall be the subject main,
And every shore it circles thine.

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never will be slaves.

The Muses, still with freedom found,
Shall to thy happy coast repair;
Blest Isle! With matchless beauty crowned,
And manly hearts to juide the fair.

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never will be slaves.

12 comments:

JP said...

Hurrah Huzzah!!

Throw your hats in the air and honour us plucky limeys for yet again leading the way out on the water.

God save the Queen!

Tillerman said...

And all who sail in her!

Baydog said...

Thanks Tillerman. I've been singing Rule Britannia for about 5 hours now in my head. I originally had a pretty snide comment lined up for the bouncy castle, but when you popped your little ditty on me, I totally lost track and wandered deep into Jolly Old. I am proud as hell to be an American, but I find the adoration of you Englishmen toward your mother country to be positively contagious. I love you guys.

Sam Chapin said...

We shoould have Uffa Fox singing that for us.

O Docker said...

Never in a field of Laser conflict was so much rowed through so many by so few.

Carol Anne said...

LOL, O.

Pat said...

Hear, hear!
Or over there. Or both.
Or wherever you go, there you are.

Or Ask Not for Whom the Castle Bounces. It bounces for thee.

Baydog said...

A bounce of castle is worth a pound, I'm sure.

Chris Partridge said...

Britons never never shall be
Marr-i-ed to a a mer-may-id at the bottom of the deep blue sea!

Pat said...

But, I still gotta ask, where are their life preservers? That was probably one law broken.

Thinking too much lately about this sort of thing, I flipped through a sailing magazine, looking at the pictures of crews and boats on the water. About 10% of the editorial content photos showed a life preserver, and NONE of the advertising photos showed one.

The main photo for an article about sailing in fog showed a man wearing boots, peering through the mists, on deck outside the cockpit -- without any life preserver.

While I don't want to overdo the safety nanny thing, it's clear that this magazine isn't exactly ahead of the curve on modeling safety.

Blogger said...

Here's a quote from someone at the regatta: http://sailingscuttlebutt.blogspot.com/2010/05/3-men-in-boat-sort-of.html

Dennis @ Marine Electronics said...

Who needs a boat when you have an inflatable jump castel? I would have loved to have been in the room when the idea was first spoken.

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