Draking

Draking

'Who here's BRITISH?' a voice bellowed and startled myself and the only other two people, a German couple, sitting at the other table in the cafe. The idyllic setting for this next mini saga is Pan de Azucar, on the coast in middle Chile. It is a remote and deserted but beautiful area of coastline. It has dangerous seas, high winds and long, white, sandy beaches, interrupted by jagged hills protruding into the sea. There is a camp site on the beach and at the end of the dirt road a tiny fishing village, made up of about 5 shacks and a makeshift cafe, at which the Germans and I had until very recently been enjoying a relaxing moment of calm. Little did any of us know that this very place, the Pan de Azucar or 'Sugar Loaf' had once been the setting for a wholly forgettable and insignificant event in the life of Sir Francis Drake which, if he were still alive, no doubt even he would have entirely forgotten about. But one man hasn't, and that man is Michael Turner, inventor of that unstoppable feast of a new craze, Draking ( www.indrakeswake.co.uk ). Ruddy faced, sunburnt and mostly naked, he is the epitome of and eccentric Englishman. As far as i could see it, there was only one option in response to his question of nationality and that was to keep very very quiet, still, and try and look as non English as possible. I opted for a permanent gallic shrug and sneer in the hope he would think me French. At first my ploy appeared to have worked, maybe my tranquil cove would stay just that for some time more. He struck up a conversation with the German couple, and I was more than happy to let them struggle on, my Englishness a well hidden secret. But it couldn't last. Before I knew it I had fetched Fay, donned a life jacket and was thigh deep in treacherous sea with a naked Draker, two Germans and Fay, boarding a little motor boat. We were in search of the anchorage at which Drake had moored his boat during his voyage of piracy around South America. The story of Drake's piracy and daring at Pan de Azucar went like this:
Drake moored there many sugar loafs ago. One of his most pressing concerns was the need for fresh water. With that in mind he stopped at Pan de Azucur. He took a small boat ashore, spoke (and presumably gestured wildly) to some natives indicating his need for water. In my mind's eye the natives had a sense of humour and pointed to the sea repeatedly, enraging Drake. But the upshot of it all was that there was no fresh water, and Drake continued on his way, his appetite for risk and high sea adventures no doubt satiated. And as they would say in Private Eye, er.... that's it.