Tuxford-based Bulldog Boats present bespoke wheelchair accessible vessel to family at Farndon Marina

A family travelled nearly 200 miles to take delivery of a wheelchair-friendly boat that will allow them to take to the water.

Johnathan, Angele and their daughter Abigail Johnson, who uses an electric wheelchair, travelled to Farndon Marina from their home in the Brecon Beacons to collect their custom-made boat.

Designed and built by Tuxford-based Bulldog Boats, it is fully accessible by wheelchair.

Angele said: “It is a new thing for us. We have been on a friend’s boat and just lifted Abi on.

“There’s beautiful canals and lakes in Brecon, and Abi wants to explore them.”

The boat ­— named Butterfly and engraved with the same design due to Abigail’s love of them ­— is accessible by ramp and has attachments to secure the electric wheelchair on the moving vessel.

Last week, the family, including their dog, Tux, boarded their boat for the first time in the marina before heading out along the River Trent.

It was met with delight from Abigail, sat at the helm and donned in a pink captain’s hat, as they got to grips with their vessel with the help of Brandon Kane, Bulldog Boats’ managing director.

They had been looking for accessible boats online, leading them to contact Alex Boden at the marina. He brokered a deal between them and the Tuxford-based firm for the custom boat to be built.

“We are super lucky,” Angele said.

“We were looking online and got in touch with Alex, who told us he could get us exactly what we wanted.

“Abi wants to try fishing in Swansea bay and Alex kindly gifted us a bright pink fishing rod.

“It’s lovely to have a different activity because when you are physically disabled and have a learning difficulty, everything is challenging. We want to make our life as accessible as possible.”

Hand-built in just six weeks by a team of 15 people at Bulldog Boats, the HDPE plastic boat is based on one of the company’s fish farming boat models.

The design was modified to include a removable panel for ramp entry and larger rear deck space, before the vessel was constructed from scratch.

Design engineer Tony Tait said: “It is a fully bespoke boat. It has a standard hull design but has been scaled down so it can be transported on a trailer.

“It is accessible by wheelchair and Abi can move around on deck securely, which is unique for a vessel of this size.

“The HDPE construction, filled with buoyant balls in the hull, makes it almost unsinkable and very safe. It is a very nice boat for us to build, we usually build for fish farmers but we are moving towards pleasure boats.

“The farmers just use the boats as a tool for their work, so it is nice to build a boat that will really bring pleasure to someone.”

The boat also boasts a Bluetooth speaker system and packs a lot of power, much to the delight of its owners.

Angele added: “We knew we were going to be blown away with this boat ­— they have done a wonderful job.”