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Message board > General Discussion > Pembroke's Boat Burning 
  

Pembroke's Boat Burning by JDT - Sun 15th Jun 2008, 7:45pm
Okay, so whatever happened to the Pembroke boat burning?

This is a tale to make us all realise how great Charles is. To re-cap, a boat burning organised by Charles goes as follows: Boat is taken to Backs; Boat is Burned; ????; Profit.

How the boat burning went for Pembroke:

> Boat was thrown into the river to get it to the other side by swimming along with it.

> Boat then carried to Pembroke

> Boat then covered in Petrol (yes, Petrol)

> Boat then lit with a lighter (yes, a lighter) by the W1 cox.

> Boat explodes with a bang; cox gets badly burned; rower gets injured; everyone else falls over.

> PCBC Dinner is a little bit unhappy.
by Richard - Sun 15th Jun 2008, 8:48pm
JDT said: > Boat was thrown into the river to get it to the other side by swimming along with it.

> Boat then carried to Pembroke
That's almost identical to how we did it - apart from the Pembroke bit...
by JDT - Sun 15th Jun 2008, 9:02pm
Oh right... that surprises me because Tom was remarking how very weird Pembroke were for doing that.

There's no better way to do it then?
by Richard - Sun 15th Jun 2008, 9:07pm
JDT said: Oh right... that surprises me because Tom was remarking how very weird Pembroke were for doing that.

There's no better way to do it then?
We could have taken it via the road, like we did in the Lents this year and last, but from Peterhouse it was easier just to float it over the river. Strawson got in and paddled it over with his hands.
by Mark - Sun 15th Jun 2008, 11:06pm
"cox gets badly burned"

How bad was it?
by Martin P - Mon 16th Jun 2008, 2:08am
I thought Diesel rather than Petrol was recommended (see link)? Petrol does sound a bit too on the flammable side...
by Simon - Mon 16th Jun 2008, 10:32am
I work with the 1st & 3rd cox from the Mays crew in 1964 and 1965 and we've just been talking about the results and this accident. Boats were not burnt in the 1960s, but he said coxes were thrown in the river... until 1965, when Fitz (who had overbumped in M1 and ended the week up 5) apparently threw their cox in after the bumps supper. He choked on his own vomit and drowned before anyone knew anything was wrong.
by Simon - Mon 16th Jun 2008, 5:06pm
> Boat explodes with a bang; cox gets badly burned; rower gets injured; everyone else falls over.
Friends of a friend who were at the PCBC dinner do, unfortunately, suggest the opposite. While these photos don't contradict what you say, and do suggest a much more relaxed approach to safety than in Trinity (can lycra melt?), there's no obvious sign of significant injuries.
Great tale though. Reminds me of when Girton painted the railway bridge and discovered it was live.
by mjb - Mon 16th Jun 2008, 9:53pm
Simon said: Reminds me of when Girton painted the railway bridge and discovered it was live.
How did they stop the trains ?
by Simon - Sun 22nd Jun 2008, 6:33pm
Mark said: "cox gets badly burned"

How bad was it?
As an update to my previous posts - apparently two people were burnt with the main issue being loss of hair and eyebrows. And it was a Porter who suggested petrol. D'oh!

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