A Boy a Boat and a Dream

I get to drive now

I’ve found in life that if you visualise your dreams you can make them happen. I've numerous examples of making dreams come true. Almost every whacky thing I've done has started with a crazy goal as we call it.

 

In my second book, Sasha, the girl that David has fallen for, asks him, ‘Do you believe in magic?’

‘I believe you can help things land in your favour; if you do good things, good things will come your way,' he answers.

So what's this got to do with me sitting in the back of a boat on the lake on Menteith, aged eleven?

 

I arrived at Sciennes in September 1971 aged 10 and two months later I had decided that I wanted to become a mountaineer (see the earlier post). Spring 1972 saw our class taken to Dounans camp-school. I chose two sessions of hillwalking which involved an issue of uncomfy boots, red waterproofs, a blue canvas rucksack and a packed lunch. Then the big event; a short walk that left me buzzing.

I also won my one-and-only school prize: The Ladybird book, 'How it Works the Motorcycle,' for the fancy dress competition. As an aside, if school accolades were a mark of future success, then by the time I left Boroughmuir my life was destined to be a disaster.

 

Camp also included a visit to the Lake of Menteith where a boat ferried us to the monastery. I’m the wee guy with a brown jacket sitting in the starboard stern quarter (back left in the picture). I had never been in a boat like that and was captivated; this was something else that I wanted to do with my life.

 

Roll on seven years and I start training as an outdoor education teacher. Good old Lothian Regional Council had by then spent a small fortunate on developing my mountaineering skills and at college, with two amazing mountaineers running the course, that’s what I specialised in.

 

However, on leaving college my first outdoor post was back with Lothian Regional as an instructor at Port Edgar Marina. I love being on the water and whereas I had been OK as a climber, with sailing, windsurfing, and powerboating, and despite having nearly drowned twice as a child, I was able to learn quickly and move up the ladder to achieve high-level teaching qualifications. That won me the dream job of running a marina on Loch Tay.

 

Now, wait for this. As a continuation of that journey, for the past twenty years, and as part of my portfolio of work, I’ve trained the boat drivers for that very same boat we're sitting in as a class.

The Lake of Menteith is, without exaggeration, utterly gorgeous dipped in Belgium chocolate, and I am just the luckiest guy ever to be able to work there. You simply must visit.

 

The particular vessel in our school picture is now the workboat used to ferry materials, but when I'm there, I get in, sit in the same seat and think to myself, ‘that wee Oliver 47 years ago would be so pleased with what you’ve done with your life’. And I still love all things boats.

 

I’ve made a career of looking after and encouraging others and I say to those in my care, 'Be nice to people and follow your dreams,' something that has become a theme in my writing.

I know what my next dream is and I'm working hard to achieve it. Oh, and I wonder what will become of David and Sasha?

 

Our happy band

The island and the view today from where our school boat is - just the same