ROW YOUR BOAT

There has been a steady rise in recreational rowing over the past few years, and the choice can be bewildering. What’s the right boat for you?

- ROGER NADIN

Many of us will have looked longingly at large yachts and wished we owned one. Many will have bought or built their first boat as a teenager and will have seen their boat-owning life as a progression from small dinghy or canoe through to ever larger and more luxurious craft. But life will eventually tell you that the simple things in life bring the most pleasure and for many, it is a realisation that takes them back to the smaller boats of their younger days.

The simplest form of boating is a canoe or a rowing boat. In the past, rowing boats were the mainstay of most harbours, and the Viking longboats took their oarsmen to the far reaches of the then known world. Today, unfortunately, we tend to think of rowing in terms of Olympic champions, muscled oarsmen and women bending their backs to beat their competitors. There is, however, another world. A world of peace and quiet, of infinite tranquillity and solace, of gentle, rhythmic oar strokes across lakes, down rivers and along a coast. Rowing can take you on solo trips or with a partner or family. There is, dare we say it, a special ‘socially-distanced’ satisfaction in being out on the water under your own steam.

WHERE CAN YOU USE THESE BOATS?