Introducing another new team member

Over the past year we have been kindly been given the use of a 110 Landrover to tow the boat (see previous posts re low ratio gears and diff lock!) but with the prospect of journey to Cornwall and a couple of other events I thought it was time to invest in some serious boat pulling wheels.

For weeks I had scoured the internet for a suitable Land Rover for the purpose but ot no avail. the only ones i could afford on my ocean rowing depleted budget were so old it would have been foolish (and very slow!) to attempt to use them for such a long towing or is it rowing trip.

Eventually I gave a gave up on buying British and settled on looking for a Toyota HiLux Surf. These vehicles are Japanese imports and are based on the same vehicle that Top Gear tried to drown, blow up etc. but did not succeed. So one Sunday afternoon saw me travelling to High Wycombe to look at several 15 year old specimens. After rejecting four of them following test drives and visual inspection I finally settled on a metallic red one with a large dent in the front wing. As part of the deal the seller included a new front wing that he had already ordered and would get it posted to me!

I am now the proud possessor of a 15 year old Japanese import Toyota Hi Lux 3litre auto diesel together with a spare wing. I know very little about cars however hoped that the reputation of these (almost cult) cars would prove true and that it would tow our boat the 400 miles to Penzance the following Friday.