HE IS WELCOME ON THE ROADS OF FLORIDA
The man, who had no nautical guides and only had a roadmap to navigate by, had been trying to sail from Gillingham, about 35 miles east of London, to Southampton on April 19 by following the southern coast of England.
But he ended simply doing laps of the 36-square mile Isle of Sheppey a short distance away in the mouth of the Thames.
(Thanks to Don Faber)
He had his right-hand turn signal on the whole time.
Posted by: bonmot | April 28, 2010 at 11:16 AM
Asking for directions is highly overrated.
Posted by: Not My Usual Alias | April 28, 2010 at 11:34 AM
Evidently his wife wasn't with him or she would have pointed out they had already seen that particular tree at least 20 times and didn't he think it was time to stop and ask for directions.
Posted by: nursecindy | April 28, 2010 at 11:43 AM
She would at least have given him astern talking to.
Posted by: bonmot | April 28, 2010 at 11:47 AM
He was practicing for traffic circles. Once you're in one, how do you get out?
Posted by: Tash | April 28, 2010 at 12:02 PM
He was looking for the A289 but kept missing the exit for Maritime Way on the A231, so he had to circle around.
Posted by: Horace LaBadie | April 28, 2010 at 12:31 PM
Very posh.
Posted by: bonmot | April 28, 2010 at 01:16 PM
I tried looking at my nautical maps but all I could see was "2010 Google". It did show the ocean bottom but I prefer taking a higher road.
Seriously, this would be worse than flying. Most of the private pilots I knew who flew over eastern Kentucky relied more on the "battleship-shaped strip mine" than they did on maps.
Posted by: Steve | April 28, 2010 at 01:38 PM
Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a wayward Brit
Inspired by some tawny port
That most likely passed his lip.
The mate was a mighty absent man,
The skipper's course unsure.
No passengers nor charts had he
For his pan-British tour, a pan-British tour.
The weather wasn't all that rough,
No pirates his path crossed,
Despite his trusty highway maps
The idiot got lost, the idiot got lost.
The ship lapped 'round the shore of this quite lesser British isle
From Gillingham
Round Sheppey a few
'Til the gas tank lost its life,
He hit sand bar
The Coast Guard got his sorry ass,
Back to Gillingham in style.
Posted by: Meanie the Blue | April 28, 2010 at 02:22 PM
Well done, Meanie.
Posted by: NotSherly | April 28, 2010 at 03:09 PM
*snork* @ Captain Meanie!
Posted by: trustf8 | April 28, 2010 at 03:20 PM
Embarrassing though it may be, sailing in circles around the island of Sheppey beats anything I'm doing today.
Posted by: Mad Librarian | April 28, 2010 at 03:35 PM
Clap clap clap clap @ Meanie! (no jokes on the word "clap" please)
Posted by: Tash | April 28, 2010 at 03:44 PM
kudos to mtb!
Posted by: bonmot | April 28, 2010 at 05:47 PM
*snork* @ Meanie!!! excellent!!
Posted by: Siouxie | April 28, 2010 at 06:26 PM