(photo © kiwidutch)
We are at Camp by the Lake in Maine, when our friends ask us if we might like to go tubing?. Ok, first off, what they actually asked was ” would we like to go toobing” . I had no clue what was being offered here and so had to admit that maybe I might, if only I knew what a “toobe” might be.
Ah Ha.. it’s ” tube” … and a tube turns out not to be particularly tubular at all anyway. It’s a doughnut shaped tyre that has a canvas cover over it and a canvas bottom on one side. The Tube name originates from a tyre ” inner tube” , and if you go ” toooobing” then you get towed behind the motor boat on this contraption. There are handles inserted into the canvas to hang onto, but ultimately the speed of the boat is what determines the smoothness of the ride or if you get unceremoniously tipped off into the drink.
We accept the challenge and Hubby is first to have a go… he’s 196 cm tall ( which I think is roughly 6 feet 5 inches in non metric speak) so there was no way in creation that he would ever be able to fold his legs into the inner space that was the hole in the doughnut… so he hung them out over the front of the tube, parked his rear end into the middle space and hung on for dear life.
(photo © kiwidutch)
He made the mistake of telling my friend that she wouldn’t be able to get him to fall off, a challenge she took up with great relish, and his ride got rougher and rougher with many a close call. Amazingly she didn’t succeed , simply because he was strong and determined enough to hang on with sheer brute force… (this time at least LOL), but later she managed some excellent boat moves that sent him flying off the tube and into the lake.
Tubing is excellent fun and if you ever have an offer to go ” toobing” then you should take up the offer and hopefully like us you will find it a brilliant experience.
