About Us
Hello!
We are six Mount St. Mary's University students. This summer we are studying abroad at Cambridge University's Pembroke-King's Programme, and we're blogging about our experiences.
18
Jul
2015
The Joys of Punting
/
0 Comments
It is a truth universally acknowledged that when a visitor comes to Cambridge they must punt* at least once, lest their visit be considered null and void. If you forget this, you will be helpfully reminded by the people holding cardboard signs, clustered outside King's College and St. John's, advertising historic punting tours. Walking along the river, you see large punts filled with tourists, who relax (perhaps with wine and a cheeseboard) while the punter smoothly maneuvers the boat like it is the easiest thing in the world.
As PKP students, we get to rent punts from King's College, so last Sunday the Mount girls and a friend decided to try our hand at punting. Caitlin bravely volunteered to be the punter. After getting the key from the Porter, and a small adventure trying to find the punt cushions, we went down to the river Cam with our equipment.
Our punt was named Edward VIII (1). That, if you'd like, could be taken as an omen of things to come. The cushions were laid down, we gingerly stepped into the boat and settled ourselves in, Caitlin and our friend removed the mooring chains, and we were off! Off on a voyage of slight terror, it seemed. The punts had never seemed as low in the water as ours, and every rock and wobble of the punt made us cling more tightly to our purses, brownies, drinks, and cameras. To add to the adventure, we were reliably informed by signs everywhere that Cam water could cause gastroenteritis. We didn't need the signs - a closer look at the water was enough to convince us that falling in would be (at the very least) a disgusting prospect. Caitlin was discovering the difficulties of using the heavy wooden pole, especially to steer.
"You use it like a rudder," came a voice from the bridge. A porter had appeared from nowhere, like some guardian angel (2), and he tried to guide us as Caitlin turned the punt. "You know what a rudder on a boat is?" A few tips, scrapes, and a willow later, we were on our way. After a while, we were even able to get a unique tour experience from our punter:
"Who was Clare College founded by?"
"Clare College was founded by a princess, who was an independent modern-minded woman who decided that women should all have access to an education. She had three husbands and three ugly children, who were so ugly that she never registered them for an education."
We got some funny looks from professional tourist punters as they heard Caitlin's stories. We had a few scrapes and near collisions, but Caitlin soon got the hang of steering and we glided down the Cam. Mooring took a few tries, but we got back safely - in Caitlin's case, as safely as she could be when covered in Cam water.
-Kathrine
*punt - noun. Generally a word used in Britain to refer to what looks like an oversized canoe, with a covered back. It is operated by a punter, who stands on the back of the punt and pushes it forward with a pole, which is also used to steer. Also in verb form, i.e. to punt, as in "Johnny punted down the river in a punt."
(1) aka "the king who abdicated in order to marry the divorced Wallis Simpson". I did not quite believe that the boat's name was Edward at first, but at a second thought, punting in a boat named Henry VIII would hardly have been any better.
(2) It was afterward that we imagined how we looked when we came in - a gaggle of 6 clearly amateur punters. The porter probably had sprinted out to make sure no one drowned or broke the punt.
 |
| A view of Clare College from the river Cam |
As PKP students, we get to rent punts from King's College, so last Sunday the Mount girls and a friend decided to try our hand at punting. Caitlin bravely volunteered to be the punter. After getting the key from the Porter, and a small adventure trying to find the punt cushions, we went down to the river Cam with our equipment.
Our punt was named Edward VIII (1). That, if you'd like, could be taken as an omen of things to come. The cushions were laid down, we gingerly stepped into the boat and settled ourselves in, Caitlin and our friend removed the mooring chains, and we were off! Off on a voyage of slight terror, it seemed. The punts had never seemed as low in the water as ours, and every rock and wobble of the punt made us cling more tightly to our purses, brownies, drinks, and cameras. To add to the adventure, we were reliably informed by signs everywhere that Cam water could cause gastroenteritis. We didn't need the signs - a closer look at the water was enough to convince us that falling in would be (at the very least) a disgusting prospect. Caitlin was discovering the difficulties of using the heavy wooden pole, especially to steer.
"You use it like a rudder," came a voice from the bridge. A porter had appeared from nowhere, like some guardian angel (2), and he tried to guide us as Caitlin turned the punt. "You know what a rudder on a boat is?" A few tips, scrapes, and a willow later, we were on our way. After a while, we were even able to get a unique tour experience from our punter:
"Who was Clare College founded by?"
"Clare College was founded by a princess, who was an independent modern-minded woman who decided that women should all have access to an education. She had three husbands and three ugly children, who were so ugly that she never registered them for an education."
We got some funny looks from professional tourist punters as they heard Caitlin's stories. We had a few scrapes and near collisions, but Caitlin soon got the hang of steering and we glided down the Cam. Mooring took a few tries, but we got back safely - in Caitlin's case, as safely as she could be when covered in Cam water.
The porters had a little laugh - "You should have seen them, it was hilarious!" - and we emerged having paid 4 "squids" total for our hour of punting. Then we went down to the river, pulled out our drinks, and relaxed. Until it rained, of course.
-Kathrine
*punt - noun. Generally a word used in Britain to refer to what looks like an oversized canoe, with a covered back. It is operated by a punter, who stands on the back of the punt and pushes it forward with a pole, which is also used to steer. Also in verb form, i.e. to punt, as in "Johnny punted down the river in a punt."
(1) aka "the king who abdicated in order to marry the divorced Wallis Simpson". I did not quite believe that the boat's name was Edward at first, but at a second thought, punting in a boat named Henry VIII would hardly have been any better.
(2) It was afterward that we imagined how we looked when we came in - a gaggle of 6 clearly amateur punters. The porter probably had sprinted out to make sure no one drowned or broke the punt.
