About a week ago, one of my many daily emails was more than a little bit interesting. I believe it came from the Los Angeles Times. These communications usually close with a short tale from contributors that describes a California experience. In the instant story, this person had gone to the beach and found him or herself in the midst of a school of playful dolphins. The recounter was impressed by the magical nature of California life. My story is the same, but some would not think so. It was about 1967 during summer vacation. One of the clique, composed of Gladstone Douglas, Clive Mollison, Claude Foster and the writer, decided to build a raft- superior to that used by Tom and Huck, I assure you. Since Jumbo's (Gladstone Douglas) house was a mere 50 metres from the sea (Kingston Harbour) the engineering works were sited there. The chief engineer produced a contraption where an oil drum was placed at either end, and each was secured, by rope, to a "bed" made of 2 X 4s...