The boat cost five pounds, for an hour. Oars cost £1 (per pair), or you could hire a pole for 50p. Engines were not available.
At the end of the hour, if unreturned to the point of hire, the boat sank to the bottom of the lake and scuttled back home, using the oars and the poles like crab’s legs.
The passengers bobbed up and down in their life jackets, awaiting rescue, recriminations rippling through the group like involuntary shivers.
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Notes:
1. Written on 1st August, 2018
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