NeilB

The organisers have carried out another revamp for this years show, I've heard it's pretty much sold out but it's only using one of the halls. I hope they manage to reverse the decline in numbers, we shall see....

Will you be there much Clive? Our London show stand is mainly a dealer stand so I'm only there a few days setting up and breaking down. 5th and then 8th for set up, 9th to ensure its all going smoothly then back down on the 18th/19th to pack up. Over the first weekend there is a classic car show which I may have to inspect for a few hours!

The next models will be the Terminator 70 and the Rambo 80 !!

You are all thinking too small, this is what you really want. New Sunseeker Predator 57 being launched at the London Boatshow.

Another person worth talking to about Nanni / Beta and other makes for that matter is Jason Hatch at Ludham Bridge. I've never heard of a Perkins 104.19 but there will be lots of BMC's and Perkins around, most spares are still available although a few items like BMC 2.2 / 2.5 and Perkins 4107 cylinder heads are getting a bit scarce. Peachments for Nanni. Ludham Bridge for Beta Maffett, ASAP or Ludham Bridge for old Perkins / BMC. French Marine or Prior Diesel for Volvo. Robin - I would be a bit wary of relying on the tacho mounted hour meter on a hire boat, the engine could have been replaced / re-built several times but the hour meter has probably never been reset!! Volvo Penta spares can be expensive but there are others more expensive, Yanmar springs to mind. One of the motorboat mags did a comparison a few years ago and Penta were in the middle ground. Oil analysis can be a useful tool and kits are available online. I'm not sure how useful they are if the oil had been recently changed though, I don't really know enough about the subject.

I was pulled over for speeding a few years ago, the policman said it was near the end of his shift so if I had a good exucse he would let me off with a warning. I apologised and explained my wife had recently run away with a policeman, I thought he was bringing her back !!

I tried to buy one a few weeks ago but I believe they sold out pretty quick. I'll have to buy several normal ones instead to make up for it !

I know a Garnet is a gemstone but all I see when I read this thread is Alf Garnet with a knotted hanky on his head!! Has a look of a Viking mould about it. As other have said it's good to see new aft cockpit boats being built. I cannot think of any others built recently, the Broom 29/30 comes close but there's not many on hire.

Thanks for the tips Gracie. I have a son who is 8 and two daughters at 1 and 7, think I would struggle a little on my own with this lot ! My brother and sister in law are up with their brood tomorow, he's alway fancied a Broads trip so I can see a plan forming !

Monday After a warmer night we were up at dawn, had breakfast and proceeded the last 20 mins or so back to Richardsons. While cruising along Mum did some tidying up and cleaning, (I knew there was a good reason for bringing her), my packing took about 5 seconds and consisted of stuffing everything into my holdall. Fuel was checked, bags dumped in the car and we were on the way home. Back down to earth with a bump after being held up by two accidents and getting stuck behind a tractor on the new dual carriageway A11 at Elvedon but with only 1 lane open each way - took 3 hours to Bushey! Dropped mum off, had a coffee and then another 1 ½ hrs up the M40 to home in Warwick. Just got back in time to collect the kids from school, my daughter gave me a look as if to say “oh your back then?”. My son gave me a huge hug and said he’d missed me. Mmmm, maybe I could get away with a lads weekend on the Broads with my son, I need to think of a cunning plan to convince my wife! As for San Francisco 2 itself, yes you can hire boats from some yards that are in immaculate condition – Summer Craft and Royalls spring to mind. Summer Crafts AF32 was moored near us at Barton and it looked about 1 year old! San Francisco must be at least 25 years old now but was clean, tidy and good value for money. We had no problems apart from a dripping stern gland annoying my mother at night – but pretty much everything annoys her these days, I have 3 children; my mum seems to be becoming the 4th! Some of the steps were a little high for her but we wanted a centre cockpit as you get better views. My only real issue is that the saloon lights are mounted on the rear wall, they tend to shine in your eyes and made reading a bit tricky, plus there were only 2 so the saloon is a bit gloomy. It really needs 4 lights mounted in the roof with a power cable for the sliding roof. I struggled to get the wifi dongle to work very well and found it was better to use my phone to set up wireless hotspot. I had very weak signals in Acle and Coltishall but a very good signal at Barton Turf on O2. Now has anyone got any tips on how to convince my wife to let my son and I out for a long weekend over the Easter school holidays??

Sunday It was pretty cold overnight but we were nice and cosy under our duvets and blankets. I plucked up the courage to run out and flick the heating on and back to bed for a few minutes until it warmed up a little. My mum is made of sterner stuff and was up and about already. It was a lovely early morning cruise back to Wroxham with the mist and sun rolling across the river and the temperature slowly rising. I could see the river was still fairly high so we had another walk around Roys. For some reason my mum wanted to buy a frying pan from Roys, no idea why it couldn't wait until she got home but there you go! It was a gorgeous sunny day with very little wind so we just relaxed in the sun as we had to wait until 2pm to get through Wroxham bridge. We negotiated the suicidal and blind day boats through Wroxham and Horning and onto the Ant. Not sure where we would end up as long as we made it passed How Hill so we did not have too far to go in the morning. Once through Ludham Bridge we raised the canopy as kit was starting to get a little chilly. Clive took some stick about the amount of turns on the winch but I think it's just geared so 82 year old grannies can operate it. Lots of wild moorings were taken and Irstead was also full so we stopped at Barton Turf where there were only a couple of hire boats and a single private boat. I could see the couple on the private boat were looking with some concern at a hire boat approaching their pristine Alpha 31. Having been boating since I could walk, working at a hire yard for 10 years and the last 13 years at Volvo Penta I have a little experience of boat handling, rubbish at anything else though. So I cruised slowly past, did a smart U turn and came alongside the mooring in front of them as if I was on rails. They looked quite shocked and I was pleased I hadn’t mucked it up as is normally the case when you have an audience! Now Mum has been coming to the Broads every year, sometimes twice, since 1952. I’ve been coming along since birth until about 18 and then every 2/3 years since. We worked out that, as far as are aware, Barton Turf is the only location we haven’t stopped at in all these visits. I had a wander along the now famous boardwalk, (see Paddy's Lane thread!), over to Cox's boatyard and back to stretch my legs a little. We ate on board again as we seemed to have picked up quite a lot of nosh from Roys and it was too far for mum to walk to Neatishead.

When Clive mentioned Unicorn I guess he was referring to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYGJkdJ1WG4

I've just signed. We only stayed there on Sunday night and the moorings look to be in good condition so not sure what money would be saved in the short term?

My mum also finds pub meals too large so she often has a starter as a main course.

If you check the rev counter in the photo the boat is only running at tick over so going pretty slow! Saturday We had a warm comfortable night on board, nice breakfast of bacon sarnies and headed off to Wroxham. The tides were a little high, Richos said San Francisco needs 7 ft for Wroxham Bridge and the gauge read about 6ft 9. Phoned the pilot who said no problem, his gauge said 6ft 11 and took us through with about 2“ to spare. Confused.com ! Moored up and had the obligatory wander round Roys for some supplies that we didn’t really need and then onto Coltishall. Mum and dad always loved this stretch, when a cruiser became too much they swapped to one of the Summer Craft lodges so used to enjoy evening cruises in the day boat. The moorings were pretty quiet so we took a little cruise up to the lock but it was extremely weedy, over half the width has become overgrown. Decided to turn around at the mill stream junction and returned to the Rising Sun. Managed to get alongside just before the heavens opened so our luck with timing was still holding! The rain carried on until sunset when the sun made a brief appearance before setting. Had a curry ready meal thingy on board which was actually quite good and spent the evening chatting and reading. Had to run the heating as it was starting to get a bit chilly, it was a pretty good heater as we had to turn it off after about 45 minutes so we went to bed nice and warm. Only took a couple of photos this day so here's one of sunrise over Acle. I'll have to finish off tomorrow night as the washing up is calling

I just skipped the fishing bit and went straight to drinking beer !

Despite holidaying on the Broads for many, many years I've never written a holiday tale - so here goes! Friday Mums 82 now and not so steady on her feet so thought we would treat her to a weekend afloat before it becomes too difficult for her. She’s been visiting the Broads since 1952 on boats and in cottages and it’s definitely her favourite holiday. Dad passed away back in 2007 and his ashes now reside somewhere between Belaugh and Wroxham so we could also pay him a visit. Unfortunately my wife is not keen on anything without a full size bath, 24 hr heating, maid service, waiters etc. so it was just the 2 of us, effectively I was single handed. Mum knows how to helm a boat but her eyes and coordination are a little wonky so best suited to wide open spaces, like the Broads! I drove from home in Warwick, collected mum from Bushey and we arrived at Richardsons around 11:30. Checked in at reception and San Francisco 2 was ready to go so we loaded up, had a very quick trial run and were on our way by 12:15. We couldn’t believe our luck at such an early departure as the last time we hired it was 3pm. Headed down the Ant in lovely warm sunshine, mum helmed across Barton Broad and managed to avoid ramming the island so I could sort out a few bits and pieces. We made it to Acle and snagged a nice spot between two empty Horizon Craft so no noisy neighbours – mum tends to snore a bit I wandered up to the Bridge Inn to book a table and thought it would be rude not to have a pint of Adnams Broadside, very nice it was too! Mum had an enormous bowl of soup and I managed to clear a plate of hunters chicken, no room for desert but I did manage another 2 pints of Broadside. The food, drink and service were just as good as last time. We were pretty tired after a long day so were tucked up in our beds by 10, luckily mums bed is the other end of the boat and 2 doors away so her snoring didn’t affect my beauty sleep !

It's the first time I'd ever seen or heard of a winch mounted under the floor and I worked on hire boats for 10 years! I also thought it was for the table and was wondering where the winch was until the guy pulled the plug out and shoved the winch handle in there.

I've attached photographic proof that the roof winch on San Francisco can be operated by an 82 year old. Please note that no grannies were harmed in the making of this photo

I have also been struggling for a signal! Im on San Francisco 2 with my elderly mum so im effectively single handed. Currently at Coltishall and heading back up the Ant tomorrow as we finish on Monday.

I heard you popped onto the stand today, sorry I missed you but I've only just arrived at the hotel. You probably enjoyed talking to Michelle more than me anyway

It does actually have an engine, think its a Yanmar on a saildrive.

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.