Boat Rivets Teacup Travels

Here they come, my two intrepid explorers,

Charlotte and Lokesh.

I'm their Great Aunt Lizzie

-and I wonder which one is coming to see me today?

-Your turn!

Ah, so it's Lokesh.

-Hello, Lokesh.

-Hello, Great Aunt Lizzie.

Once upon a time I travelled the world,

discovering treasures from long ago and far away

and no end of stories to remind me.

But my most precious possession of all

is my extraordinary collection of teacups.

Here we are.

No time to count the clouds.

Let's have a nice cup of tea and a story.

But first, we need the teacup.

But which one?

That one.

Ah. The boat's rivets.

But what do they do?

Well, you could say they hold boats together.

That's pretty important.

-It is.

-Is it a story about boats then?

Yes, but it is not only a story about boats.

This story is about two people who longed to try something new.

That reminds me...

So, are you ready?

-Ready.

-Then let me tell you the story of Lokesh

and the Adventure Of The Boat Rivets.

This story begins in old Scandinavia where sheer cliffs dropped down

to the sea and waterfalls tumbled into gullies.

And it was on one of these rugged shores where Lokesh pitched up

one cool morning.

And as he wandered along the coast,

he saw a woman repairing a boat

and a man sitting nearby telling seagoing tales.

The locals made us so welcome.

Oh, the feasts, the songs, the stories around the roaring fire.

It sounds wonderful. Do you know, all my life I wanted to go to sea.

-Really?

-Yeah.

I think it would be great to go sailing across the seas and explore

-foreign lands.

-That's funny

-because I've always wanted to be a boat builder.

-No?

In the name of Thor, I swear I have.

I think it must be great to work with wood!

Without boats, we'd have nothing.

Lokesh suddenly had one of his brilliant ideas.

Excuse me, but I've got an idea.

Maybe you could swap jobs.

You could go to sea and you could build boats.

That's a great idea. I don't know why we didn't think of it before.

Neither do I. Except it is not easy for a girl to go to sea.

-That's true.

-Maybe you could borrow his helmet

and could tuck your hair up and pretend.

Pretend to be a man?

It's worth a try!

-How does it look?

-Good.

And maybe I need to speak in a low voice to sound like a man.

That's perfect!

And so it was decided Adella would become a Viking

and Val would become a boat builder.

It's tricky, but you have seen me do it lots of times.

You overlap these...

And then you hammer in the iron boat rivets.

Then, you seal the joins using wool and pine sap to keep the water out.

It's called clinker building.

You try.

In no time, Adella could see Val and Lokesh had got the basics

of boat building.

Right. I think you're ready to fix boats.

And you're ready to get your sea legs.

Lokesh and Val waved Adella goodbye as she went off to be a Viking

and then they set about their important task of boat building.

Lokesh, if you can help me put this in position.

The two of them worked away on Vibrand's boat.

Everything seemed to be going well.

The repairs began to take shape.

Oh, I love boat building. It's so satisfying.

And it's fun. I like how it all fits together.

-I'll start sealing it with the wool.

-Thanks, Lokesh.

It was a sticky job,

sealing the joints with wool and resin

so Lokesh wasn't too disappointed when Val called for help.

Would you pass me one of those new rivets, Lokesh?

There was a rivet on the ground nearby.

Here's one.

Oh, well, that's too old. It is no use to anyone.

The bits are all stuck together with rust, see.

The old rivet was still recognisable after years of use, but true enough,

the seawater had made it skinny and flaky and you couldn't separate the

rivet from its washer.

-There is more in the bag.

-This one?

-It's empty.

-There couldn't have been a worse moment for Vibrand the boat

-owner to show up.

-Hey, there, I saw you still working.

You will have my boat ready for the next tide, won't you?

Sorry, friend, we've had to replace a lot of wood

and we've run right out of new rivets.

-But Adella has never let me down.

-Give me a couple of hours.

-I'll do it as quickly as I can.

-My boat is my living.

I need it on the water before the next tide turns.

I can't fix the boat without the rivets

and I don't know where Adella gets them.

Maybe I could catch up with her before she sets sail.

-She'll tell us where we can get them.

-Good thinking, Lokesh.

-I'll finish sealing the boat.

-I'll be as quick as I can.

Lokesh ran as fast as his legs would carry him to find Adella before she

-went to sea.

-Adella, wait!

You just caught me. We're about to set sail.

We need more boat rivets to finish Vibrand's boat.

Where can I get some more?

Well, I get mine from the blacksmith in the town,

but it is a good way from here. Miles and miles.

What was Lokesh to do?

Was there time to head for the hills to get new boat rivets or should he

persuade Val to try and use something else?

Heave away, Lokesh, heave away.

-Wonderful!

-That's amazing.

That's a perfect little ship in a bottle.

It's like magic.

Except, it is not, it is very clever engineering and boat building.

Like how the boat fits together in the story.

Exactly, without rivets a Viking ship would fall to pieces and sink.

-I think Lokesh needs to find a blacksmith quick.

-He does.

Because even if it was miles and miles away...

He couldn't leave Val high and dry without rivets, could he now?

Off went Lokesh in his hat, bag and boots.

Through the spiny forest.

And over rocky windswept crags.

Until, when he was almost out of breath...

..the path ran out.

There was only one way to get to the other side.

Lokesh took a deep breath.

At last Lokesh came to a small town

clinging between a chilly blue glacier

and a line of ragged crags.

But there was no time to stop and wonder,

Lokesh had to get those boat rivets.

He ran through the town until he came to what was unmistakably

the blacksmith's.

Excuse me. I need some boat rivets.

Do you have any? I need about 20.

Boat rivets. Oh, yeah, I got lots and lots of those.

-That's brilliant.

-What sort do you want?

-Sort?

Yeah. I've got lots of different kinds.

-What sort do you need?

-Black ones.

-They're all black.

-Without the right rivets,

Val would never be able to finish the repairs to Vibrand's boat.

Then he remembered the old rivet he picked up from the ground,

the rivet that came from the boat.

I have this old rivet.

Would you be able to tell the sort I need from this one?

That's a really old rivet.

I bet that could tell a few seagoing tales, but yeah,

I got plenty of new ones.

The new rivets were so smooth, a world away from the old rusty

one from his pocket.

Who would have thought these little things were so important?

That's perfect. Thank you.

As fast as he could,

Lokesh put the boat rivets in his bag and set off back to Val and

Vibrand's half-finished boat.

Back came Lokesh.

Over the rocky crags and through the spiny forests.

He arrived back just as Val was ready to finish the boat.

-I've got the boat rivets.

-Well done, Lokesh.

The boat is almost done and all I've got is a load of blisters.

Oh!

And now a very sore thumb.

And while Val was complaining that boat building was tougher than it

looked, who should turn up but Adella, looking a little peaky.

-You're back.

-Well, that ship was terrible.

I never felt so sick in my life. I had to get dropped off early.

Oh, dear.

Maybe our old jobs aren't so bad after all.

No, I like boat building.

And I like going to sea.

That's settled then. Let's swap back.

Yes, let's!

Adella, are you going to be able to fix my boat in time

for the next tide?

Not a problem. Hand me some rivets, Lokesh,

and we'll get this boat on the water.

There you go.

May I?

And that was that.

The whole nine yards, the story of Lokesh and the boat rivets.

It is funny how they both wanted to do each other's jobs,

but when they actually did it, they didn't like it.

When somebody is good at something,

they make it look easy even when it's difficult.

Before you know it, everybody wants to do it.

Like how Adella thought being a Viking would be great.

Exactly, or how Val thought he would enjoy boat building, but he didn't.

I'm glad they gave it their best shot, all the same.

Crikey, is that the time? We better get you ready to go home.

Now, how did that get there? Home time now, Lokesh.

-Thanks, Great Aunt Lizzie.

-Cheerie-bye, Lokesh. Bye!