Campus Life - Letters from Oxford University

To punt or not to punt

By Wahei Aoyama

チャーウェル川沿いは緑にあふれ、パント舟の川下りで気分もリフレッシュ。船尾に立った操船者が、3メートルのさおを使ってパント舟を操る

Summer's in full bloom, and the city of Oxford is basking in the summer sun. The summer term is the most beautiful time at Oxford. The sun is bright, yet the temperature rarely rises above 30 degrees Celsius. Furthermore, daylight lasts until 10 p.m. Long, beautiful summer days are a wonderful reward for the Oxford student who was crammed with work and stuck in a library for the long winter months of rain and dreariness.

I, for one, had recently survived many painful examinations. Now emancipated from this dull, ascetic life, I could finally have some fun in the sun. My new freedom from the shackles of academic life was first spent by taking my friends to the Cherwell River, a small tributary to the Thames River, to enjoy an old Oxbridge pastime: punting.

A punt is a flat-bottomed boat, and is usually one meter in width, 31/2 meters in length. The punt is both propelled and maneuvered by a very long wooden or metal pole, about three meters in length. One must stand on top of the boat at the stern and thrust the pole into the river bottom and push the boat along, while steering the punt with the pole. Once the punt moves along the river, one lifts the pole from the water and repeats the process once more. Sound easy? Not quite.

Punting needs little strength but much technique. First, simply keeping one's balance while standing on top of a tipsy boat is rather hard. Secondly, the poles are both long and heavy, and lifting the pole up, thrusting it in, pushing it off the river bottom, and then steering the boat in the correct direction are often very difficult for people without experience.

Sometimes the river can get crowded with boats, and steering past other boats can be backbreaking. Often one can observe reckless tourists crashing into the river bank or into other punts, and many times a clumsy punter can be seen falling into the river, especially when he gets his pole stuck in the river mud, or gets the pole caught in a tree branch. I have heard that the student who falls into the water while punting will receive good luck on his examinations, but I have yet to find out if this legend is true.

Honestly, punting just takes a little getting used to, and I'm proud to announce that even I mastered it on my third attempt. It's definitely worth the practice. The gratification one feels when the punt meanders past the beautiful architecture and the vegetation along the river is sheer delight. I personally think that Cambridge has a more beautiful punting course, as many of the more spectacular colleges are built along the river, while Oxford's rivers are often enclosed with tall, old trees and pastures.

I usually like to do the punting, while letting my friends sit back and snack on fruits and chilled alcoholic beverages. The stereotypical Oxbridge drink of choice is Pimm's, a sweet liqueur that is refreshing when mixed with cold fruit juice, fruit bits, and oddly enough, cucumbers. While sipping on Pimm's, the passenger can devour baskets of grapes, raspberries or strawberries, and will enjoy the illusion of being a Victorian aristocrat living in the 21st century.

I recommend punting to all visitors to Oxbridge, yet I suggest trying it on a summer weekday, when the weather is grand and the number of punts on the river is few. Guaranteed, you'll have a memorable time.

Shukan ST: Aug. 8, 2003

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