Dan

http://www.drlmarine.co.uk/special-offers.php Dan

Hooray.... website now updated and ex Conway Castle has joined as Pacific Breeze http://www.pacificcruisers.co.uk/small-boats.html All the best Dan

Hello, welcome to the forum I think there may be others that know the Hoseasons story in better or more accurate detail than me, and I guess you already have found much on the net regarding James Hoseason, so suffice to say he was a true gent and with a great mind. He did much to help make Broadland, and boating holidays become as popular as they were/are today. They always seemed much more than a booking agent really. I always used to want to run a company like Hoseasons when I was at school, but after getting some relevant qualifications in the holiday industry to start me on my path I have worked in a totally unrelated industry ever since! Hoseasons was sold to a management buy out around 1999 if I remember rightly, and was then sold quite recently, in early 2010 to Wyndham, who already owned main competitors Blakes. At the time I was quite gutted as Blakes didn't seem to do any part of the job as well to my mind, but luckilly it seems Blakes has now come up to Hoseasons level in terms of website and marketing etc, and Blakes almost merged into Hoseasons rather than the other way round which is good. Gone are the days though where you would ring up and get accurate/informed boat information from people who really understood and knew what they were doing and talking about. Good marketing and the internet seems to have taken over, and they still do many things very well or better than ever perhaps, but in recent years people on the phones don't seem to know much about boating holidays or boat differences first hand .... still, this kind of thing is probably true of most areas and seems to be the way of the world now. I guess partly as the number of calls taken now (with the internet etc) compared to relatively recently, such as in 1995 say will be a tiny fraction. I think the offices are still at Sunway House in Lowestoft, which has been the location of the head office for many years. Good luck on finding out more, and hope you enjoy your holiday! Dan

That sounds a better plan... perhaps they could build a replacement for one of the hirefleet craft and you could have the retired boat as your own boat! Dan

I am probably not the man to say.... I have only just got the hang of which end you hold to your ear!

Will this tapchat thing work on a Blackberry then.... can currently view & login but all goes a bit wrong should you wish to reply! Dan

Not at all. Glad to hear things have calmed down onboard... enjoy your night, at 32ft I really do think that is probably the best layout or use of space yet created.... I'm not a bit jealous - as I'm sure work tomorrow will be just as much fun! Dan P.S I too prefer San Julian over Cavalier, but as I prefer blues stripe to orange! Still, everyone knows what a nerd I am!

Hi Robin Welcome to the forum, nice to see you participarting here. You might note that in my post I did say I was posting before I had read what the issues were.... foolish perhaps, but all I was meaning really was I didn't need to read them to be sure of Richardsons good maintenance standards nor would whatever have happened of changed my view. I was a bit suprised by the number of problems you've had on your different hires, but on reflection it was inappropriate for me to consider that this was anything more than bad luck - my apologies. As you say we all have different opinions... and different priorities of what's important and this reflects itself in selecting our differing individual hire yards of choice. It's a shame that what makes Richardsons my favourite (great value, great staff, great maintenance & a boat where everything that's there works and is good value for what you've paid) has not been your experience. Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip, Dan

An interesting one... I watched the first couple of instalments and have not had time yet to devote to all the others! It was clear in those I watched though that the interior & exterior were clearly painting the image of a well maintained & well presented, cared for boat so this would be the first thing I would taje into account. I also take into account past experirences of the person posting... there's been problems on each boat hired,all from different yards, and some harsh and possibly un-deserved critiscm of bad maintenance/neglect on craft, one in particular, that I have seen and been aboard myself where I thought there no reason for a hirer to be disapointed with what they have chosen yet it got a rather damning review at the time. As entertaining and good humoured as the blogs are with this in mind I might by now be starting to wonder if the problems were all coincidental or if there might be a bit of a theme starting to develop. I suppose one person could be so unlucky as to have problems with every single hire though when others find it an occasional rarety? Finally of course I would go off my own experiences with the company currently being reviewed, and having hired the same boat myself. After over fifteen years and probably a similar number of holidays with them little that is posted by someone else would change my own thoughts as I am a big believer in making your own mind up based on what you find out yourself and not being too quick to go off on a tangent or different view based on what somerone else tells you. A dodgy video player in 2001 and a dripping stern tube (fixed within a minute!) in 2005 is all I can think of thats gone wrong and the way the company dealt with those two problems and also the upset of a cancelled holiday in 2009 due to cancer just could not have been bettered. Dan

Not the only case of mistaken identity during your trip I hear! Dan

Interesting stuff. with Royall Continental leaving at the end of 2011 that will be three down - so it will be interesting to see how many replacements there are and of what style. Dan

Hey you... put it down and walk away A closet anorak eh.... I had my suspicions - next you'll be telling us which Richardsons boats have had new lino over the winter! Might the RC45 be seen with an 8/10 or full 8 berth layout, if possible.... you could even charge more for it too! Dan

Brinks Quartet 2 & Swan Reflection 2

Saw Brinks Quartet out on the river yesterday - looked a nice looking boat, look forward to seeing the Swancraft version too. Just looked at Royale Light's page now ..those branded sun lounger type cushions etc on the deck make it look a bit pretencious to my mind but the boat does look to be a good quality fitout and its good to see them building such good boats.... a definate quality level up from what they were building say four or five years back. The large windows look distinctive too http://www.herbertwoods.co.uk/hirecruis ... hp?vid=110 Dan

I remember the Goya Girl's from the mid 90s and their yellow roofs.... pretty sure I've got a picture of each one hidden in the depths somewhere! Dan

You cheeking Charles David.... Good luck with your search, they are spacious boats for the size but I agree - not everyones cup of tea. I think Richardsons have one for sale - at a good running standard I suspect, with orange bulkheads and there is a Mk3 on Broadland Boat Sales that has been up for sale for a while, though I haven't seen the laminates on that one, though I think it is ex Maid Boats Happy Hunting, and welcome back Dan

Interesting news, and good to see lots of money going back, continually, into moving forward and looking to the future. So many business and departments have been running the last few years on less people and those left therefore being expected to do more and businesses (perhaps unsuprisingly therefore) struggling to get to where they wanted, so it's good to see schemes helping growth, expansion and forward vision to not only help businesses and jobs stay strong now but also for the future.... something that has fast diminished in many places in recent years. Also good to hear that not only will there be boats but also plans afoot for other areas too that should happen sooner as a result- again, so much better than just closing or scaling to a lower level of staff or service which is what a lot of places would be doing.... no good for anyone really in the long term. I'm sure new and less stable businesses need schemes too, so this scheme alone would be no good at all and much else is needed to complement it.... but its a good example of how such a scheme can work and benefit companies and too of course their suppliers and associates and the locality. Dan

Richardsons have Broadsman 3 new for 2012, and also Carousel nearing completion with another later in the year, plus the Far Horizon for Acle. The hull stripings that have been disappearing over the last year or two on some of their older classes have also been joined by some crisper colour schemes, and there seems less yellow and more white. They look more modern and fresh to my mind, though the orange (the colour scheme that I am personally alergic to!) lives on a bit longer I think Herbert Woods have been making noise about a new livery, so I look forward to seeing that - I'm hoping it's not the same one they made noise about last season? Does anyone know of more changes that we can look forward to seeing this year?! Dan

Whatho Everyone, As the new season appears after another long & painful winter I thought it might be good to see what's new for 2012.... I was thinking hireboats & holiday companies of course, but I suppose the idea could be extended! Saw the new "Fair Prince" at Wroxham in January, and good to know that Brinks, Swancraft & Ferry all have their versions of the same design to catch up with too...

Great photo.... looks familiar!

Good heavens above, 20.12% off peak season bookings on a wide variety of boats, even when bookings are up 20% - have they taken leave of their senses??! Dan

Good to see Kingfisher Cruisers (and Maidencraft briefly) again in the first of Jonny's linked videos. A shame they and the other Thorpe fleets have gone, and the old Kingfisher base always looks a bit sorry for itself as you cruise past it now, not to mention that its a pity you can no longer hire a turqoise Elysian 34 of course! Dan

I thought they were just closing a lot of them but not all, for now anyway. Although I think ultimately you could run it all from one place until there are more changes they do provide some services which if every single local office disappeared would make it difficult to cover off by the current way of doing things, for example the services they provide to dealerships (albeit with the absence of any smile). I think it is definately an area that can be run more efficiently and masses of local offices are not needed. Although its sad for anyone who works there the reality in my experiences (admiteddly only really with the Manchester branch) is they have provide a dated and poor level of service in an unpleasant manner for many years, so I will not be too worried to see change. I am not too sure it will be less convenient either, as with items such as cherished number transfers which they are often used for most offices will not do it whilst you wait, so the most sensible option (especially on a commercial basis) is to post the information in and to have it returned also by post. On such a basis it does not matter where the office you are posting it to is. Also more jobs will have to be located at the central point, though admittedly not as many as will be lost. Dan

Hi Kuga' I think they are a strange looking boat (other opinions are available) but they do have some strong points, and when we hired the smaller version (Silver Emblem) in 2009 we did have a very good time aboard. There's photos and thoughts from that trip here viewtopic.php?f=26&t=6205 Have a great holiday! Dan

Seemed like a good case of if it seems to be too good to be true it normally is from what I thought as I read it, and also that if you are going to go into business stick to things that you know about or have a genuine interest in as your chances of success will be so much higher. Perhaps cutting back on and making some hard choices re losing the school fees, even if you lost some face might have also been the better pill to swallow, though of course easy in hindsight, but pride does sometimes come before a fall and I think that sort of example will be a timely reminder to many. Dan