NeilB

Only burger and coffee vans there until the 1st day on Friday, no beer yet! The Guiness stand will be hosting a variety of tribute bands so I'm sure there will be a few visits to the "Irish office" at the end of most days.... I'm currently looking at pile of boxes and wondering how we can fit it into 2 x Volvo V70's to drive down tomorrow. Not there Wednesday I'm afraid.

I've just returned from the show, it's not open yet but I work for VP and the engines were craned onto the stand today. I would have been home a lot earlier if someone had not hogged the crane for so long!! Anyway, I will be on the VP stand the 1st Friday, Thurs, Fri, Sat & Sun. If anyone is down please pop in and say hi - I'm the fat one with glasses, eye glasses not beer glasses !

My PC is playing up and I cannot get the quote function to work properly! Maurice said "We live in a Nanni state, and I feel Beta for it" Personally I feel you are talking Bolinders, you must feel a right Bukh.

Oh no, I've just typed a load of info out, hit the wrong button and deleted the lot Not got any time to redo as I'm about to leave for Southampton to start setting up the boat show stand. The highlights were: 3 year warranty is good, but only supplies and not fits the defective item. Only 2 dealers in the UK, would Chinese factory back them up with warranty issues, product support and training? What is parts availability like? Service items will probably be OK but what about more unusual items? Very heavy engines, 37hp is 280kg, Beta 38 is 170kg and Volvo 40hp is 180kg. Only 50A alternator, Beta has 100A, VP is 115A. I've heard prices are not that much cheaper than Beta which are similar to Nanni. They are a new player and may well be good engines, I've not heard otherwise but they probably have not sold many. The marine engine market, like other markets, is very tough at the moment. I wish them well but other much larger companies have tried and failed in the marine world, BMW and VW spring to mind.

The Volvos we use have all got electric handrake now so I'm used to them. But, I also had a 5008 with a panoramic sunroof. Pulled up in a car park and flicked the handrake switch, took me a second or two to notice the car was slowly rolling backwards and the sunroof was opening!! Luckily there was nobody behind me and it was not raining!

You can fly on the one in Canada, my brother in law did this back in 2007. The cost then was $2,000 so it's probably a bit more now. He's Lancaster mad as his Grandfather flew one in WW2, he's going to dig one up in Holland later this year!! A friend also lives about 200 yrds from Coningsby and sent me these photos.

I worked on the Thames and we had the same issue. They were a pain to get out of for the locks as well.

Just booked San Francisco 2 for 1st weekend in Oct to give my mum a run out. As it's low geared it sounds fine for an 82 year old

Thanks,reading this on the phone so missed the info first time!

We may hire San Francisco in October and was wondering if the roof has a winch or does it need to be pushed? Sounds like you've not had much good weather to open it though !

From the Jam are good, has Bruce Foxton from the original line up. Paul Weller himself is playing at Warwick Castle this summer which is about 20 minutes walk for me!

Couple more photos giving a better view, show opens tommorrow.

Looks even better if I remember to attach the photo!

No, not you. The RC 45 at London Boatshow!!

Sealine's traditional customer base was in the UK and Europe, Brunswick had lots of boat builders in the US so were not interested in pushing Sealine there. When they were sold the new owners spent a lot of money converting their range to US spec, also in marketing, setting up dealers, stock boats etc. I think they sold 2 before going into administration, I'm not sure how many stock boats were left. I'm aware where the T50 and T60 moulds have gone but I'll leave it to the new owners to announce it.

This article has no gory pictures but it does not make pleasant reading, especially for men http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2389994/Father-48-castrated-getting-testicles-caught-piece-metal-slid-boat.html Be carefull out there!

Something along these lines has been expected for a while now. Having been made redundant twice I have a good idea what the Sealine workforce are going through, I've known some of them for a while. This may affect some of Sealine's suppliers as many are owed money. Personally I'm not sure they will find a buyer but I sincerely hope they do.

Yes it did go out to tender, it was in the October 2012 edition of Boating Business. Having trouble with the scanner so I've typed it out below: Public Notice for Tenders The Broads Authority wishes to invite expressions of interest for tendering for the following contract A, B or C: • A. To lay up {2) patrol vessel hulls and superstructures from an existing Broads Authority owned moulding. • B. To lay up (2) patrol vessel hulls and superstructures from an existing Broads Authority owned moulding and to fit out and complete one patrol launch. • G. To fit out and complete from the above moulding one patrol launch. Businesses with an interest in tendering for this requirement should apply to, Adrian Vernon at the Broads Authority, Dragonfly House, 2 Gilders Way, Norwich. Norfolk. NR31UB. Telephone 01603 756054. Or electronically to adrian.vernon@broads-authority.gov.uk for further information and to be later sent a copy of the tender documentation. Expressions of interest must be returned to the Chief Executive at the address below to be received no later than mid-day, Friday 26th October 2012 John Packman September 2012 Chief Executive Broads Authority Dragonfly House Norwich NR3 1UB

I think Excel does get a bit of a rough ride, I personally think it is a good exhibition centre. It may not have the charisma of Earls Court but it does not have the punch ups over who gets to use the lifts to unload their products at the start and end of the show!! At first there were not enough hotels and restaurants but over the years this has improved. However, I do not believe the UK will be able to sustain two large boatshows per year for much longer. Every year a few more companies drop London as a show, apart from a couple of people wandering around my company does not have a stand this year. Even Southampton was smaller than usual in 2012, too early to say how 2013 will fare.

Although a little tight the boat fits through the bridge just fine, the incident occurred because he tried in flood conditions. It was Chertsey bridge which although its not the most difficult it's certainly not the easiest to navigate in flood conditions. Not sure where they got £500,000 from either!! The red flags mentioned are actually red boards at every lock, boat owners are strongly recommended to stop cruising until the waters subside but there is no law forcing them to stop. Hire boats can be forced to stop unless they have an experienced helm on board, I've done this several times and it makes Gt Yarmouth seem like a walk in the park!!

I've had a quick look and noticed there are no dimensions listed. Not a problem for us old timers but surely a 1st timer would be interested in the size of boat they were hiring? I also noticed that Magical Time (Foster 30) is listed as new for 2013, while i'm aware it has been totally refitted from a bare shell it is definitely not a new boat. When you click on the PDF it shows an Aphlacraft 29 or 31.

Are you asking about the boat or the hair?

Who are you hiring from on the Thames? Just interested as I worked at Kris Cruisers to 10 years.

Summercraft and Royalls sometimes have space to moor up in Wroxham, they are down side dykes they are often overlooked by most people. Especially Summercraft whose entrance is very narrow.

Clive will probably correct me but I suspect hydraulic drive was fitted as a shaft set up may have affected the air draft.