Beer-can used to repair crippled sloop
Truth of UK slogan underlined
Nine hundred nautical miles on one can of
Heineken!
That is the remarkable record achieved in
the Gulf of Genoa by medical student
Christopher Besse piloting a 45-ft sloop.
Writing to tell CONTACT of his extra
ordinary feat, Mr. Besse explains how he
suddenly came to understand the meaning
of the UK advertising slogan -"Heineken
refreshes the parts other beers can't
reach."
Holidaying in southern sunshine last year
he set off in his sloop from the French
Riviera for a cruise in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Suddenly smoke from the engine began to
pour into the cockpit from the aft starboard
locker. A quick examination of the ex
haust manifold and one-way valve re
vealed a hole about half-an-inch by one
from which exhaust gases were spewing
into the rear of the boat. The situation was
complicated by the fact that the hole was at
the junction of the outlet gases and the salt
water outlet - a moulded copper pipe de
signed to mix the sea water with the
exhaust efflux.
"It happened to be a Sunday," Mr. Besse
continues, "a day on which no Italian
would break his siesta to come to our aid.
Having no welding equipment on board,
and a hard and fast schedule to keep to, as
well as no wind and a strong swell, we all
felt very miserable. Having tried various
Heath-Robinson devices, none of which
worked, we decided to do some serious
thinking. The sun was beating down in the
mid-afternoon and it seemed a good idea
to 'crack a tube' as the Australians say.
After a few minutes of contemplation (and
humidification of the oral cavity) the
answer suddenly came to us - for there in
our hands lay the solution. We dissected a
Heineken can and by strapping it over the
perforated pipe with two jubilee clips we
were able to restore normal function to the
engine. From the time of this little pro
cedure to the end of our unfortunately
short holiday we were able to do approx
imately 900 nautical miles on one can of
Heineken!! The repair gave us no further
problems and we were able to enjoy one of
the best holidays ever. Since then I have
vowed to make sure that our stock of
Heineken never reaches dangerous limits
and that it will be the recognized brand of
beer on board!...
"Thank you, Heineken, for saving our
holiday!"
Mr. Besse certainly found the UK slogan
especially apt.
9
Heineken salvages
a nautical holiday
The Heineken repair
Our correspondent and crew member toast Heineken s health and their own success.
The sloop off Corsica.
