We’ve been exploring various ways to take to the water and explore Newport Harbor. The harbor here (and yes, I’m using the American spelling, sorry) is really interesting with islands and canals, so it’s a fascinating place.
We absolutely love it, so do the boys and we’ve been trying to think what would be the best option for us, boat wise. OK, for me it’s the Duffy but they’re slightly expensive! Plus you have to think about mooring costs, maintenance etc. Also, the boys get completely bored in a Duffy. Where’s the fun? They’re sedate, controlled and mainly for adults to sit around drinking wine and enjoying appetizers. Yes, that’s why I love them. Whenever we take friends out on them when they’re visiting, they all take turns driving (sailing?!) and can’t understand why I don’t want to. Simple. It puts me too far away from the nibbles and wine.
We looked at an inflatable dinghy last weekend, it was great value plus it deflated so we could put it in the garage. We could simply walk down to the harbor and pop it in. No storage costs, no big maintenance bills. The credit card was coming out, we were all set to make the purchase, but they didn’t have one in stock. So instead of placing an order, we decided to calm down a bit and really think about what would best suit us.
The next day, we headed over to Paddle Power to see about renting kayaks and found some that you can peddle, they’re fantastic. I hate paddling, but love to cycle so they were perfect. You recline back in your seat and push your feet back and forth. The peddles were too far away for the boys to reach but we could still go quite fast, but I’m sure two adults peddling would really get them moving. We were out on the water for almost 2 hours and I really felt like we’d had a great work out.
The next day we headed off to Adventures to try out electric kayaks. These were quite bizarre like a poor man’s gondola. You could recline and putt along and although they were fun, I didn’t like them as much as the cycling kayaks. They just seemed a bit tame, but because you weren’t peddling, you could fish so the boys were happy with that. But as usual, didn’t catch anything.
We watched people whizz past us on their inflatable dinghies thinking that was for us. So we’re leaning towards a dinghy. My main concern is that they only seat four and you balance on the edge. As I tried to point out in the store, where do you set up the wine and cheese?
I’m considering sailing lessons. At least then I’ll actually learn the lingo, I’ll just have to acknowledge the fact that my instructor probably isn’t going to spend the first lesson explaining the best place for snacks.
As the guy in the store pointed out, a little dingy can be part of the big boat you upgrade too (yeah right!) so it’s a great purchase anyway.
Watch this space, as the millionaires take to the water in their luxurious yachts, we’ll be putting around them in something – I just hope I don’t spill my wine in their wake.
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