ailor Davy Love From Marseilles

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

Davy Love, a sailor of some years, from the Port of Marseilles, had a small apartment in the dock area of Lake Lilliland. He was a constant friend of the Baron, Lady Angela, and Professor Hamblin.

It seemed that Davy Love had traveled all around the world and shared some interesting experiences from all the major ports of call. He seemed to have a rare gift of being able to fix almost anything, not just on a ship, but anything on land, as well. When he said he could fix something, he had the knack of doing just that. Born in Ireland, he was right at home in nearly every situation and any place.

Once, the Baron’s favorite sailboat would not sail in a straight line. In order to go straight, the rudder always had to be turned off-center. The sails were properly trimmed and in the proper position, but the boat always veered off in another direction from that which the skipper wanted, following a true compass heading.

Finally, in complete exasperation, the Baron asked Davy Love to sail the boat around Lake Lilliland to see if he could determine what the problem was and how to fix it. The Baron was so perplexed that he wanted to turn the sailboat over to the junkyard and get a new boat.

After several days of sailing in all kinds of weather, Davy Love said that he knew the real cause of the problem. When the boat was built, it was made in a mold, or frame, which would make certain that all of the beams were exactly the same. The problem was that the basic mold or frame was somehow twisted and the end result was that the bow of the boat had that same twist in it. It was not visible to the naked eye, but under sail it would glide in that off-center direction. The boat had to be taken apart and reassemble in the proper frame and from that point on, everything sailed as smoothly as it should.

Thanks to the expert eyes and feel of Davy Love, the Baron now feels much better when he goes out sailing.

Davy Love said it was all in that nautical touch.