True Grit
Billy Joel, a musical genius spanning three decades so far, sang lately of a river of dreams - a place visited to find solace, peace or the meaning of life, to revitalise, recuperate and relax - to find something worth looking for.
We too have such a river. It may not be as wide and deep as Billy's, but its shallowness and shifting sandbanks provide a sense of adventure and a realisation that it is the ruler, and its narrow confines near the top are a source of awe.
The Kromme river at St Francis Bay has been a haven for us for a decade of holidays now, and for some, it has been three times longer. Yet despite some development and increasing traffic, the times we spent up there remain very special, and the quite times we get off season are doubly appreciated.
There is only one craft on the Kromme River - lots of boats and trawlers, basins and sailors - but only one craft. A 21 foot red and white Butt-Cat with 2 x 60Hp Yamaha's on the back. "True Grit". A fitting name if ever there was one. If John Wayne was a boatsman and not a cowboy he would have skippered "True Grit". "True Grit" is a true all rounder.
Packed with 33 teenagers she provides the best booze cruise ever. With a few less, she gets on the plane, a few less still and one can ski behind her - sometimes with two or three skiers. There is no one alive who has befeated her power and certainly no boat has challenged her presence.
Good times abound aboard "True Grit". She brings flat water and makes memories. She teaches skiers and kneeboarders, she cruises boozers and fishes prolifically.
When the wind catches her hull on the plane it sways gently from side to side in a riverine waltz, the twin hulls unmatched in their grace and togetherness even by old, happily married couples.
She is dancing, and when she dances, she is happy.
Her dancing only accentuates our happiness and when we clamber off, it is always with a twinge of sadness. We never comment because inwardly we know that the Kromme River and "True Grit" which have been such an integral part of the salad days of our lives will smile on us once more.
