admin October 6, 2023 Getting the Boat Previous Blog The Southampton Boat Show Comments (0)
Some days you feel like everything is going smoothly. And then there are days when you’re delivered a puzzle with pieces from another box. Our Friday was shaping up to be the latter. Paul liked the RS Toura. It was his size. The RS Toura can take seven people and is quite a large dinghy. With a special Boat show price, we opted for this and ordered a nice new boat.
The allure of a boat show special boat, freshly rigged and shimmering with promise, had been tempting. But with no place to berth it and a slight sense of adventure, we chose the DIY route. Our membership at the Upper Thames Sailing Club gave us a neat little spot in their boat park, and we eagerly awaited our boat delivery.
On the Friday evening, as the afternoon sun began its descent, bringing along the early October chill, Beth and the boat in tow finally rolled up to the Upper Thames Sailing Club. A shrink-wrapped hull, a satin gleaming mast in a plastic bag, and a veritable Santa’s sack of boat parts. Progress was swift.
The launching trolley had its wheels attached, the boat unloaded, and my team’s anticipation grew.
But as Beth began to offload the various parts, something seemed…a bit off. While the boat and the sails screamed “Toura”, the parts whispered “Quest”. It was like getting Batman’s outfit with Spiderman’s web shooters. Not quite the perfect match.With a sinking feeling, she realized the warehouse crew’s mix-up meant no rudder for steering our course, no gennaker for harnessing the wind, and not even those pesky, yet crucial, split pins. Beth was apologetic, explaining the warehouse mishap, and soon, our anticipated maiden voyage seemed further away.
But every sailor knows the sea tests you in unexpected ways. For us, it was a lesson in patience, adaptability, and the occasional warehouse snafu. The boat delivery had not been a complete success but it was not a complete failure.
She promised that on the following Monday, she would sort out the warehouse and the correct parts would be dispatched (with a surprise or two for our inconvenience).
