Saturday 7 June 2014

The Doors - 'Riders On The Storm'

Saturday Night Jukebox....
Everyone has a guilty pleasure

Cuba Libres all round!!
 


The Doors - 'Riders On The Storm' (1971)


Part 1...

Old Ma, Old Pa and I went to Cuba on our first real holiday after moving back from Saudi. I remember it so well, it was my first experience of an all inclusive. I was just 16 but no one ever questioned my age when I ordered the drinks. Cuba is a fantastic place, one I'd love to visit again. Havana was full of old school charm and real life. The beach in Varadero was probably one of the most picturesque I've seen, powder white sand and beautiful cool turquoise water. As we all love being on the water, we decided on a Jolly Roger catamaran tour, which is pretty much a booze cruise with other holiday makers but it ticked all the boxes for us! When you bought that, you got the sunset cruise free which could be taken at a later date. We enjoyed the day tour but were looking forward to the next instalment. When we arrived there were already a few revellers on the boat, who had decided to take their freebie immediately after the day cruise. Wow, they're hard core I thought! We soon worked out they were 3 German blokes and saw that they had a couple of empty rum bottles rolling around them. Hmm I smell trouble.....

The tour began and we were soon enjoying the spray on our faces and a few Cuba libres. Suddenly the sky went dark and it became dramatically cold. The waves turned rough and the heavens opened! We had sailed into one of the daily thunderstorms we encountered there! The group of holiday makers ran undercover and were all huddled under the only shelter available in the middle of the boat and reminded me of a busy hen coup. Old pa and I remained where we were, unperturbed by the dramatic change in weather. The skipper managed to guide us into a sheltered bay in between a couple of small deserted islands where we waited for the swell and enormous thunder claps to subside. In the meantime, one of the 3 drunken Germans was just getting into his stride and stood at the highest point he could clamber up to, and shouted as loud as he could: 'I've seen the lightning of the world!' and 'I am Jesus Christ'. It was all very theatrical with the storm above us. He had been getting into everyone's faces during the trip, barging into a large elderly lady and even old pa at one point. The group were almost at breaking point. I remember now I thought the guy looked like the lead singer from Wheatus with his odd specs.

Stay tuned for Part 2 next week....


I've seen the lighning of the world......!!

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 SATURDAY NIGHT JUKEBOX posts!
 

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The Doors - 'Riders On The Storm'
4/ 5
Oleh

3 comments

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Anonymous
8 June 2014 at 08:33

Trouble at sea and mental cases - looking forward to the next episode.

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8 June 2014 at 09:00

A vivid memory...with Germany heading for a defeat. Old Pa in Capitals please.

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15 September 2014 at 13:46

Funny tale, always seem to miss these dramatic storms. Even I was in Cuba, I remember watching the lightining and distant thunder over the Florida Straits, albeit with a Cuba Libre, with envy. On the last day of the holiday there was of course a massive storm right over our hotel. "Group at breaking point", loved that.

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