Our first trip by dinghy to the Tesco Express on the other side of the Thames was a revelation. This was such a cool way to do one’s grocery shopping! We simply had to get a dinghy, and soon.
After giving us a little tour by tender of the Thames & Kennet Marina, our generous D Pontoon neighbour, David, insisted we use his little dinghy for our next supermarket trip. By car, it’s six or seven kilometres away, through sometimes heavy traffic and over Reading Bridge. By boat, it’s a mile at most.
Like many others, no doubt, David shops online and gets his groceries delivered, so he only needs to pop across the river every couple of days for bread and milk and such. Generous to a fault, he’s also quick to offer a lift to King’s Meadow, just before the bridge, from where it’s only a five-minute walk to the train station.
That was how we got to Reading Station before heading to London to visit Chas Newens Marine Boat Co. Ltd, located on the embankment near Putney Bridge, in search of an inflatable dinghy of our very own. (David’s dinghy being temporarily unwell, however, he prevailed upon his friends Howard and Sarah’s son, Oscar (14), to take us in their much fancier and more powerful motorboat – shown at the top of this page.)
“You’ll come back with something more [read: more expensive] than you’ve set out to buy,” prophesied David as he and Oscar dropped us off.
True to form, however, Roy had done his research. He’d decided on a Zodiac, and Chas Newens is a Zodiac agent. “Inflatables expert” Julie took just an hour to sell him exactly what he’d had in mind, anyway – a 2.7-metre Zodiac with an inflatable (rather than slatted) floor, plus the Yamaha engine he’d wanted from the get-go. It’s a 5hp Yamaha F5 engine, voted the best in its class by whatever motorboat magazine website Roy consulted. He was happy with the package deal, especially as Julie was able to promise delivery* to the marina just over a week later.
(Unfortunately, a couple of glitches ensued: (1) After James did the delivery on Thursday, he drove off with a couple of essential items, including the fuel lead line, still in his van; (2) The promised next-day courier service didn’t happen – apparently, the courier came into Chas Newens, got chatting to a staff member and left without the parcel; (3) Though we’d followed up first thing on Saturday, it seems the parcel was only picked up on Monday (this morning). Unsatisfactory service, to say the least.)
Why the 2.7m Zodiac is right for us
* It’s just big enough for Roy, me and a couple of large shopping bags. (Have I mentioned the Zara at Reading’s Oracle shopping mall, located on the Kennet and Avon canal, about two miles from us as the plover paddles?)
* Weighing around 30kg, it’s fairly easily for two people to move, on the level anyway; I reckon we could wrestle it up on to the deck if necessary, but Roy is dubious and has started researching an onboard crane. (Yes, really.)
* Once deflated, it fits into a bag that can be stored in the engine room – or possibly even the bicycle hatch.
* It’s perfectly colour-coded, and so cute!
