Usually when you hear loud shouting on the Phoenicia your mind prepares for the worse. Perhaps someone’s fallen overboard, there’s some serious damage to the ship, or we’re on a collision course with something. Often though, the racket is about something less problematic like dolphins jumping in the distance, a fish on the line or some unwanted spice in Yuri’s lunch.
This morning we were woken up to a lot of noise. The shouting was like nothing I’ve heard before on the ship: a mixture of bewilderment and celebration; somewhere between someone scoring a world-cup winning goal and winning the lottery. It could only be one thing: we caught the rat!
The rat has been the source of a gnawing sense of unease among the crew. Paranoia, sleepless nights, lack of appetite and strange smells is all that our unwanted passenger provided.
The trap door was clearly closed and there was vibration coming from within the wooden and metal trap. Yuri looked through one of the small holes in the trap and sure enough the Rat was inside. The trap was then brought up on deck and some discussion then took place as to how the rat should be disposed of. The almost unanimous verdict was: death by drowning. The is was achieved by putting some rope around the trap and towing the contraption for a few minutes and opening the trap door by means of another piece of rope. A few minutes later the trap was brought back on board with no sign of the rat. Hurrah! The rat was dead. Spirits lifted and the crew rejoiced. No more Rat nightmares.
As Yuri came up with and executed the clever trap, and because he plays the flute, he has now been dubbed the Pied Piper of the Caribbean!
Charlie
