andyg

Here here...gotta have a good old larf. I won't show you a picture of the wife then...now where's me coat😉

It's getting a bit crowded behind here now...did some one mention rum. Mines a 7 year old Havana club please.

Totally agree, any more room for a small fatty behind the sofa il join you. 😀

That's a large chunk of potential commission to lose for hoseasons, but it wouldn't be the first time they've parted ways. I dread to think what hoseasons commission percentage is per hire. Richardsons have really good websites,covering both boats and land based holidays. They clearly know what percentage of customers book direct with them. So why not stand alone, like has already been said several other yards seem to do just fine. The re birth of new horizon holidays lol. Again it could be there not sure themselves what boats will still be in the fleet for 23 !! So no point taking bookings. All speculation of course, I have noticed that some of the new boats added last season don't appear to be booking very well. Overpriced in my opinion, but that's just my take on it. I spent a couple of hours yesterday searching for a holiday with tui that we owe our granddaughter. I had no end of problems looking through there website, I sent them a dm via there fb page. The reply I got back was just sheer volume of traffic. To be fair it did settle down later in the evening. Jet2 are also reporting a huge uplift in bookings for summer 23.. so potentially a quieter summer on the broads.

Andrew I'm sure the owners were fully aware it had sunk. Don't forget yards normally are working on a Monday to Friday basis this time of year. It could be they hadn't got the skilled staff available to re float it yesterday. I'm sure there on the case this morning. Or even worse something really has gone wrong and it's gonna need a big crane to lift her. But I'm sure that it will get sorted today.

All in a days work for a set up like Stalham I would imagine. I would imagine water ingress into the bulk head walls galley cabinets etc and the electrical systems would mean more then just drying it out. But I'm no boat builder. Isn't the 2nd boat in the class a bounty design? But definitely a spanner in the works and really annoying if it has already been through the shed.

Both are very popular boats, I just had a look and there quite heavily booked for the season, she will be up and in the shed 2morrow unless it's something more serious. Fingers crossed. Got a feeling that's going to need a bit more then drying out tho.

Sad sight indeed, I'm surprised it's been left there. I would of thought they'd of got straight on with lifting out. Sheds are probably rammed full with boats already. She be out on hire again in a few weeks time.

Thanks for all the pointers etc, it's obviously not a decision we would take whiout a great deal more research being done etc. It's only to easy to get carried away with the romantics of it all. But I now have the time and freedom to do that research. It certainly has sparked a fire in us. Ww have seen a nice boat we both like, it needs some investment to get it to the standard we'd both want. So it's all positive and heading in the right direction. Thanks again for the pm and support. Not a bad bunch are you 😉

Absolutely....

So here we are, two years after covid reached our shores. I've very recently retired my wife an NHS nurse is burnt out. We have had the most brilliant two days exploring boat ownership. I'm now seriously considering a live aboard, we own a lovely bungalow in a sort after part of Essex ( great local pub ) we'd walk away with a tidy profit. We both have good pensions. This may sound daft but I just can't do living in the south east anymore. I recently had a health issue and just want a quite life. It's bizzare but I could really see us just travelling around the UK canals..Two months ago I'd never thought I'd of said that.. so much to see so much history to explore. Thoughts !!!!

Not sure if all yards truly shut there doors andrew. Lots going on over the winter months. But the hire season starts again in a few weeks time. Richardsons will Defford have boats going out in early March. I've personally trundled up the river ant in March and come across the odd Richardsons boat wild moored with fishermen on board. So not long now..

We have ended up back in norfolk to look at a boat that came to market on Friday. I've learnt quite a bit these last two days and realised this isn't going to be as quick a process as I'd first thought. I have realised that I really don't like dark wood interiors and aft cockpit boats. I do very much like the alpha 35ft centre cockpit design that has the saloon in the rear. So we continue to look. Silverline have a couple of good examples and a broker told me to call them and see what they have to say. He said your be surprised.

I've been surprised by the amount of narrow boats that now sport full canopies over the stern. Having a fully open area at the stern always put me off. The yards always offered free waterproofs with every hire lol. We both were surprised by the space inside.

Funnily enough that was one of my 1st thoughts. Pretty unproductive day to be honest, but we have had a chance to look aboard a narrow boat. I've never been aboard one before. I'm was very pleasantly surprised. Tomorrow another day.

A friend of ours has booked a boat from Richardson's this coming May Bank Holiday. He phoned me to tell me all about it and asked how long it would take to get to Ely. I said about 2 hours in your car !!! He seemed quite surprised that Ely isn't on the broads. What a pilchard....

Premier inn for us, I don't drink ale unfortunately, my brother loves the stuff. Always thought he was a bit weird lol. I'm not a spoons fan either I've yet to visit a good one tbh. But thanks for the pointers 👍

We are a bit off from thinking about transport, but that's not an issue my best mate owns a haulage company so no big deal. The boats I've looked at on line do appear to be cheaper then similar broads boats. We will see what today brings. We've decided to stay in the area for a day or two to have a good look around. This will be our 1st outing since catching covid. So it will help blow the cob webs away.

I'm off to St Neots tomorrow to look at a boat, I don't know a great deal about the ouse or the fens waterways. How do they compare with the broads. Are they as busy as the broads etc. ??

Andy, I get your trying to be positive. But come on, there's only so many times you can kick a dead horse before you realise its dead. Ferry marina had one of lens aft cockpit boats sitting on the yard at Horning all wrapped in plastic for ages. No one wanted to hire it let alone buy it. Even stevie wonder could see that the bbc at alce has gone, the owner made a big fanfare on social media about his plans and the move to Brundall. My understanding is he came from a background of running guest houses and his Pedro's restaurants. Brilliant, because I hear Pedro's is or was a great place to eat spend an evening. Sadly life isn't all puffy white clouds and candy floss. Life's poo at the moment and many a good business have fallen by the wayside that's just life. We need to stop being over protective of things. I feel your coments are driven by your own bad experiences of social media and bad reviews aimed at freedom, that you have publicly commented on here on this forum. Personally I see no wrong in what Mouldy has posted and if your right in what your saying then fair play to Ryan for pushing through. But what kind of forum would this be if we stiffel all its opinions etc. The world's gone PC madd. Nothing personal just bored with the snowflake society we live in. Life's crap then you die springs to mind..

Great to see Clive adding to the fleet, nice little compact sedan. Haines fit out will ensure a good quality boat. Hope it does well. Personally I can wait to see fleetline afloat.

Lol...should imagine it's already tolled...

I'm sure I've seen both the ex Scottish boats listed on there brokerage site, I can't remember how much for tho. I didn't think they would keep them in there fleet. Probably brought cheaply earned a few quid over last summer with them. Ideal time to move them on with 2nd hand boat prices still relatively high. Good business if you ask me.

I've only ever heard or read good things about Pedro's, oh that's a real shame. We wanted to try it later this year. Let's hope it's only a temporary closure.

I wonder if you'd ever get planning permission to dig out some of the land surrounding the acle yard and turn it into a marine. Hard to see what else you could do with the site as it stands. I guess richardsons are in no rush to do anything with the site. The rent they must get from the restaurant covers their costs of retaining the site. Good to hear Ryan is still involved in the business.