I always knew my older brother had many talents and rather (lets say) special skills. What shone out to “Sam the salesman” though, were his engineering feats (I will tell you about them later). David could always figure out the most “over the top” way of to do everything physical and sadly I was usually the last sucker in most experiments to get the joke. Well, it happened at Straddy one summer. David had discovered the physics of falling water Vs compacted sand. He concluded that lagoons left high and dry (so to speak) by the low tide, could be made to do an incredible thing. They could be broken and drained within minutes with just a few little channels of strategically directed water flow. Why he thought of that, and yet it has never crossed the mind of another living sole, is testament to his “specialness”. (if you know what I mean!). Well we had had many lagoon busting successes together before (tell you about them later) and we were always on the lookout for new opportunities. Such an opportunity presented itself on Cylinder Beach one hot summer’s afternoon. The families were relaxing. Kiddies splashed in the shallows. Parents enjoyed the clear crystal water that is legendary there. But there it was – calling our name. Lagoon high on the beach – tide at its lowest! This was the moment to strike. So we began our choreographed routine, where we would each take turns at taking a handful of sand from the trench as we made our way up and back to the waters edge. Amazingly, it starts off as an insignificant trickle which gradually builds & then eventually rushes headlong like a river down a canyon gorge. Look folks, I put it to you – How was I to know that buried deep beneath Cylinder Beach was is the most vile and most putrid black gunk I have ever seen. I stood there watching the ocean turn a sickly black, kids started screaming, parents rushed from the water fearing the attack of Pharaoh’s curse. I was powerless to stop the evolving catastrophe unfolding there before me and was only jolted from my mesmerizing stance by the gruff growling gravelly voice of the islands most revered of citizens – NASHIE!!! – That professional fisherman with hands so big they could easily crush two boys my size right there and then. Well, that’s if there were two boys there of course. As I took the scolding like a coward, I could not help but notice the lack of wind protection at my back. A quick glance to the headlands revealed another boy similar in looks to me, but a little bigger, just sitting there looking out to sea with not a care in the world.
