Neither bus nor boat
Back when I was young (single digit young), I watched someone in a car drive down the bank of a nearby river, into the water. And then after a few minutes of sailing time, drive back out of the water and carry on as if it was a normal approach to life. It wasn’t, obviously. We have cars and we have boats. However, there is a distinct sector of society, called the military, that need to have rigs that do everything. Perhaps not very well, but that doesn’t matter.
If you have been in the tourist section of most cities where land and water are side by side, you may have seen an ungainly vehicle with loud speakers, carrying tourists around. These are big rigs, and not handsome. Call them ducks.
I was convinced that this was an invention of the tourist trade, but today I learned that it grew out of war surplus, back at the end of the last major war. The military built a lot of them, and then when the conflict ended they were sold to the highest bidder. And so the Duck was born.
I am fascinated to think that these rigs are still in use, almost a century after the fact. I have no idea where you would buy parts, or find someone with the required mechanical skills, but they are out there. Loud and proud. Collecting tourist money and carrying on.
No, I have not been on board this not a boat not a car, but I do know people that have. More than once, in some cases.
