Harold’s Amazing Metamorphosing Suit

Harold’s suit was tailored in the Dominican Republic where I lived for a number of years.

But before I relate the saga of this amazing garment, I must mention something concerning De Toekomst, the Dutch fishing boat. It was this vessel that took John Morris and me to the Dominican Republic in the first place.

If you happened to read last week’s blog, you might recall that I devoted most of it to lambasting Nigel, our supposed engineer aboard Toekomst. He remained with us for only a short portion of the voyage from Holland to the D.R.

Well, I received an e-mail (not from Nigel) reminding me of something rather stupid that I perpetrated after Nigel had been given the boot and when we were out in the middle of the Atlantic.

It was a hot day so I figured it would be rather nice to take a dip. But rather than pause our voyage, I came up with what I considered to be a brilliant idea. I rigged up a boom that stuck out over the side, attached a rope to its outboard point and tied a loop at the end of the rope.

Big game fishing

Being the creator of the device, I tested it out by slipping into the loop and leaping over the side.

It worked beautifully!

When I'd finished my little splash, John had a go. As I watched him cavorting around at the end of the rope, four points flashed through my mind:

(1) This is a fishing boat.

(2) We appear to be fishing.

(3) The only creatures out here are likely to be rather large and toothy.

(4) We could easily lose the bait without the slightest chance of catching anything.    
     Idiot here had completely forgotten to include a hook.

Anyway, as it turned out, they weren't biting that day and the mighty Toekomst took us safely to the D.R. And it was there that I witnessed, in person, the wonders of Harold’s amazing suit:

I was living in Puerto Plata. A couple of British Navy ships were in the area and scheduled to dock there in a few days. The British consulate thought it would be a grand idea to round up a few expats for cocktails aboard one of these vessels. At the time there was only a handful of Brits around so I was invited as well. Harold, who was British and about sixty at the time, was also one of the invitees.

The ‘do’ was to be semi-formal and Harold was not in possession of suitable threads. So with only a couple of days to go before the ships arrived, he took himself into Santiago where there were a bunch of inexpensive tailors. He selected one, chose his cloth and a day later he had his suit.

A few of us—including Harold in his new suit—went for a pre-party drink at a local bar. Harold regaled us with the virtues of his garment. “Perfect fit,” he announced proudly, turning this way and that to allow us to admire it. “And only forty dollars!” We were all suitably (pardon the pun) impressed. After a couple of drinks we headed to the docks, a ten minute walk away.

Well, about half way there it began to rain, and that’s when Harold’s suit became ‘an amazing suit’. In no time at all it had transformed itself from a size 44 to a 40. The retreat of the cuffs up his legs could actually be observed.

By the time we arrived at the ship Harold had to fight to keep his arms at his sides. Robin Hood in tights had nothing on him. But the tailor had obviously not skimped on the thread for, much to our astonishment and against all odds, the seams held.

Edited by Davina Chapman