I didn't find it funny at the time

The Adventure Activities Director of the Corps, and responsible for the organisation's safety policies nearly parked his car in the wet bit of Shoreham Harbour today.

At least that's how I imagine the Corps magazine (if it was published regularly) would report the matter. I ran a conference and a training course today, and arrived at the centre to find ALOT of cars in the little road leading to the centre. I don't know what was going on, but it was busy. I backed down the lane (because you would never turn around), and went to park behind a van. I backed the car in, and then went to go forward and turn the car in behind the van. All sounds fair enough...

I should explain that this road runs directly next to Shoreham harbour's canal. What I hadn't noticed, is that unlike the the rest of the quayside, the quayside where I was parked suddenly cut in, and got narrower. From a distance, it looked straight, and the actual point where the quayside came in, was hidden from my view by my bonnet. So as I drove forward to go behind this van (and I think you can see where this is going), my front left tire found the gap and... CLUNK! 'Ah,' I said, 'that's not gone well' (or words similar to that, I forget the exact wording).

Fortunately, some of my friends from NTC's London region were there to help (and they even managed to contain their laughter). They got in the boot to counter balance the car, and Mark pushed from the front, whilst I put the car in reverse, and put the wheel full over. With the help of some of the centre's neighbours, Ernie crawled back onto the bank, and avoided going for a swim. I asked the guys if they had seen that James Bond movie, and explained that the Lotus had gone due to budget cuts...

The irony is, I was convinced I would end up in the drink this morning. It's a steep little road, and my driveway was very icy. Funny though, ice played no part in it. (I wish it had, at least then I's have an excuse other than being a muppet...).