Back in the days when boats still leaked and electronics weren’t even a glimmer in the sunrise, I learned many a useful lesson from the foreman at the Elephant Boatyard up the Hamble River. The late, great Davey Elliot was a classic Solent longshoreman of the old school. I really don’t think there was anything about boats he didn’t know, but his talents reached far wider. He was an accomplished student of the human condition, he had a tongue that would split solid oak to take down any upstart sailor who fancied himself, and he was a natural healer. This latter gift was kept private and I had no inkling of it until one day, suffering more than usual from a cartilage injury, I was limping back to my boat from a trip to the skip when he called over to me.
“Looks like you’ve got a problem with your
