Back again at Henley for the annual Piper rally – our last expedition on Karanja before closing her up for the winter and heading south (like migratory geese) – we moored up opposite picturesque Temple Island, at the end of a row of 11 Piper Dutch barges.
The idea of this annual UK event – another rally is held in France, at Saint Jean de Losne – is for prospective clients to come along, see examples of the finished product, traipse around them and talk to their happy owners about their experiences.
So, in exchange for food, drink, mooring and the chance to talk boats with fellow Piper owners, we showed visitors around our floating domains all weekend. Was it fun? Yes, but a mixed pleasure; some people are a delight, others a bit of an energy drain, as you can imagine. Roy was one of those prospective buyers just last year, having flown all the way from Singapore for that express purpose. It’s a testament to the relationships that Simon, Andrea and their team have built with clients like us that we make the effort to come along. Can you imagine a better marketing exercise?
Though Karanja was launched in mid-June this year, we weren’t the newest boat there. La Bamba (Trevor and Terry) went into the water only a few weeks ago; Angela Dawn (Dean, with daughter Kirsty, www.deansboat.com) only that week. Familiar faces included Catherine and Michael (Jacqueline H was our first neighbour at T&K Marina), Alan and Marianne (Dea Latis, also with permanent mooring at D Pontoon), Jeremy and Claire Jensen (Happy Chance), Ellaine and Mike (Merlot), and Phil and Alison (Alphi), whom Roy met here last year.
Hospitable Happy Chance hosted after-deck drinks for the “Forty-Niners” – owners of 49Ms, a particular design of 49-foot Dutch barge that Piper builds. Then came a chilli dinner in the Piper marquee, where I met the couple from 65-foot Elysium: Leonard Grieves and his wife, Diane, a London Tube driver. Rob and Nicola were on the 15- or 16-year-old Dorchester, which is owned as a timeshare; they have their names down for their own new Piper boat. Patrick and Sue are the owners of Eadlin, whose dinghy davits Roy was itching to have a look at.
All in all, it was a great weekend. Coming up, more about the boats and their owners; and some new photos of Karanja taken by a professional photographer during the Piper rally. And, as I’m posting this from France, there’ll be news from here, too.
