Adventures in Punting

Doggy Navigator

Our punting boat

Punting Instructor

Other Students struggling to move along

Dictionary.com defines punting as rather concise, "To propel (a boat) with a pole." Sounds simple, right? In actuality, punting was a lot more complicated than it was defined.

On Friday afternoon, our program had the pleasure of taking part in a parting excursion on the river Cam (the major river that runs through the city of Cambridge....hmm, I wonder where they got name?). Usually any day on the river Cam, you can see lots of flat boats propeled up and down the river by a punter. A punter is a professional who stands on the back of a flat boat, balanced with his or her feet, and carries a huge, long wooden pole and moves the boat backward or forwards by pushing the pole in the water. Most of the tourists are smart and hire professionals to take them along the river Cam. However, our program decided to let us be a little more adventorous by letting us be punters for the day. We would be in a boat of six, and anyone who wanted to could punt for a little bit then switch.


We all headed down to the docks about 3 in the afternoon, and there we divided into groups of 6 (6 people in a boat) and received a short, 5 minute punting lesson. Our instructor basically told us to keep the pole in the water and use it as a rudder, steering the boat to the right or left if need be. We waited while several groups got out, and then I decided to punt first in my boat. I got on the back of the boat with my feet flat on its backside, balancing my weight evenly. I grabbed the wooden pole and put it in the water, moving it away from me so the boat would start to move. I did not realize how heavy the pole would be; it was similar to weight lifting, the resistance of the water made it even more difficult to push the boat along. I kept trying to get us away from the dock and then I heard the director of the program from the shore, shouting at me, "You can do it, Lisa!!! Do this for your Italian heritage!!!!!!" With him shouting at me (he's nuts and I have no idea what punting has to do with the history of the Italian people), I was able to get the boat out of the dock and through the bridge to the other side.


In just a matter of minutes, I was happy to exchange the wooden pole with someone else in my boat. Punting, as I learned quickly, was A LOT harder than it looked and definitely less fun. While other people in other boats jumped out and into the water, we were told it was not easy to fall in; you could only really fall in if your pole got stuck on the bottom of the river and you kept pushing, thus propelling yourself into the water. Once I was nestled safely inside the boat, I had an amazing view of "The Backs" of colleges, including King's College, Clare, and Trinity. The river was crowded though with lots of other punting boats, including one with a navigator dog! It was an action packed hour, and we were more than happy to finish punting and head back to the college for pizza and relaxation.

So that was part of my fun this past weekend, but this week is a different story. I am currently trying to finish up papers and other coursework due this week. Since we leave on Thursday morning for a looooooong trip to Scotland (about 8-10 hours by bus), this short week is jammed packed! I am thinking of everyone in the US and hope you are all doing well and staying cool!

Cheers, Lisa