Call me Ishmael.

The whale came, we chased it away, it came back again and sadly it died.
I was sceptical about the efforts of the do-gooders who chased the whale back into the North Sea. After all, the North Sea is full of mad Norwegians with explosive tipped harpoons. Perhaps 'Moby' was seeking sanctuary in the Forth and not just lost as all the experts claim.

And the name, no doubt some creative genus working for the media is patting himself on the back for coming up with the name 'Moby'. Why not Gazza, fat and always blubbering, or Major, lost and out of his depth. I feel naming Moby Moby was an opportunity lost.

Anyway, I knew something nautical was going to happen - it always does when Edinburgh Speedway moves home or start up again.

1928 Marine Gardens (note the sea connection already). coincided with the launch of The Golden Lagoon which was sunk by a U-boat in 1941. Opening night in 1947 and The Star of India sank off the coast of Spain in 1953 after being caught in a heavy storm.

The 1959 re-opening of Meadowbank and the launching of the Mesopotamia. This much loved vessel had many adventures before being ran aground and sunk in mysterious circumstances in 1969. Some say for the insurance money so the owners could buy and build a better ship.

1977 saw the Monarchs open Powderhall and the good ship Lucky Lady took to the high seas. she survived an onboard fire only to strike a reef off the coast of Hawaii. She is still stuck there. The Shawfield experiment ended in disaster for the SS Virtue a mid-class mine layer. It was actually blown out of the water by one of its own mines.

So when Moby swam across our daily papers I knew the Armadale opening was imminent. Let's hope we don't end up beached and exhausted with a handful of do-gooders trying to re-float us. So it's all hands to the pump and an "Aye Aye Cap'n Ahab."

How did they know Moby was a fellah?

If it had been a girl they would have called it Moby Chick.