Captain

Hi, As far as I aware the first Bourne 35's (also known as something different?) were launched around 1964. 6 for Herbert Woods (Glistening Stream later to join the wooden Glistening Light class ) and 4 for Moores (2 Glenmores and 2 Baltimores), with another Glenmore and 4 more Baltimores following. Ernest Collins also had 4 in 1965 as the Golden Emblems. I believe the mould/designs came from Rip Martin, I wasn't born until 1971 so I am relying on features in boat magazines and word of mouth. As an aside the first hire boat I went on was Glenmore 2 (R430) in 1974 the last year before they joined Blakes and went out of Moores family ownerships a very nice boat indeed. Neil

Hi, I have to agree with Robin on this one. I believe Herbert Woods under the new ownership since 2009 have done a lot to turn the yard round. New websites, glossy brochures, new quayheadings, rebuilt the Fairmile shed and reception, and upgrade the toilet/shower block they were also one of the first yards to introduce auto inflate life jackets, smoke alarms. Carbon monoxide detectors. Can I also say the staff are generally excellent too. They also introduced goody bags and priority boarding for their Elite boats and all of these things were done ahead of the main competitor Richardson's who has followed with similar ideas. The one thing that Richardson's did a lot better was invest in the boats themselves whilst Woods have built 11 new cruisers and are in the process of building 10 new day cruisers the classic fleet seems to have had limited investment over the years. On the specific subject of the Connorsieur they have upgraded 8 of them Silver Light, Emerald Light and one other class.They have added Led lighting, new electrics shore power, new flooring Bow thrusters and new repositioned heating , its a shame they haven't done the rest but then I suppose there is only so much money to go around. Neil

Sorry meant to say Hobbs of Henley not Salter bros as Neil b correctly states Neil

Hi, if you are looking for full size boats then the choice is limited these days. Cotswold boat hire has about 4/5 boats at Lechlade. Anglo Welsh have say 15 or so narrow boats at Eynsham near Oxford. Benson waterfront have sold their boats however still operate Let Boat from Benson and Chertsey about 30 in total. Caversham Boat Services have about 22 cruisers and narrow boats plus day boats from Reading. Kris Cruisers have 15 or so cruisers and a fleet of day boats. Salter bros have day boats in Henley. I love the Thames however prices are 20-50Percent higher than the Broads Neil

Hi, Slightly surprised considering they hire to all parties including Stags and Hens that they would allow that given that most yards insist. Perhaps they have had few issues although with 90 boats and with say half or so able to get under strange. Martham boats let you take the boats through as well although most their boats are 6ft or less so should be less of an issue. Neil

I was on Janet from Martham between 5th and 12th May, heard cuckoo's at Martham, Acle near the bridge, kingfishers were few and far between however I saw a couple on the Ant and the safest bet is strangely the banks near Richardson's which proved successful. Saw a moorhen at Cockshoot Dyke. Coots are increasingly rare although I expect several are now in flood alleviation channels. Loads of herons and swan's which along with cormorant s appear to be doing well Neil

I vaguely remember that some went to France? At least two clearly stated on the Broads. Neil

Hi, These were originally Ferry Cavaliers, 6 were built between 1977 and 1980. Neil

Hi, I am regular hirer with Brooms and a hire boat anorak, just to confirm the fleet size was 20 at the end of 2017, as far as I aware they are adding atleast one boat for 2018 called the Chairman's Boat which appears to be an even more luxurious Explorer class boat. Not sure where the EDP get the figure of 24 from although they could be buying or building more which would seem odd in the current circumstances. The class numbers are as follows: 2 Boleros built 2014/5 2 Cadets built 2012/3 4 Skipper built 2015/6/7 1 Commodore built 2014 9 Captains built 2013-2017 Explorer 2 built not sure cc 2016 I think-Strangely these were built for hire on the Thames however I believe they couldn't reach an agreement with the marina at Windsor so they ended up staying on the Broads. I have a promo leaflet somewhere confirming this. I don't know how they all fit however the Explorers are moored in a different dyke and I have seen some out of the water plus they have 2/3 start days. Plus the Chairman Boat which I believe was indeed originally built for the Chairman. Neil

Hi, it was mentioned earlier in this topic about the airdraft of Broom Bolero. I have hired this boat twice and have it booked again this October and can confirm it has an airdraft of 6ft 2 as stated in the manual. I expect Brinks Encore and Silver Coral will have similar figures (along with most Aquafibre 28 Opals/Heritage 286) however most yards will rarely admit the actual airdraft for various reasons. I suspect these include protecting the superstructure from scrapes and even crushing, remember also that the airdraft is not the height needed for all bridges, for example at Potter this type of boat needs 6ft6 due to the bridge arch and width of the boat. Neil

I am not sure what happened to Fencraft however Challenger wasn't at the 1991 boat show, it was Rapide from Alpha craft of the same design, I remember going to see it, very striking and modern at the time although plush inside Alphas own boats in the 80's and 90's were in some ways basic with gas catalytic heaters I remember some of the 2 berths even had manual bilge pumps using a hand pump. Rapide had an electric bilge pump but still retained the gas heaters, seemed out of place in a boat show boat particularly when my first hire boat Glenmore built in 1965 had warm air. Neil

I hired Evening Light 1 back in 2011 and believe they were built in 2001 so not a particularly old boat as boats go. Herbert Woods were top class and we managed to get under Potter, the boat was well kept and had no faults however in some respects we found her poorly designed. I think this is exaggerated because I have a bad back so I have to agree about the cutlery being near the floor, the pots were under the cooker ( although several boats do this) the mattress were thin, the settee was a faff to make up and the fridge a little small all be it the same size as Bolero at Brooms. Not a bad boat just not as good as Swan Reflection which I hired in 2012 and 2014 which didn't have any of the issue s mentioned. Neil

My understanding is that three Silver Jubilee s were built one in 1970 to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of Martham boats, another in 1972 and finally one in 1977 to celebrate the Queen s Silver Jubilee. Only one and three remain on hire. I believe the Janet's and Judith s date from the early 50s and were rebuilt in the Late 70s to match the appearance of Silver Jubilee Neil

Hi, Swan Reflection is my favourite Swan boat, it's nice and easy to handle and two inches lower in the water than the Alpha 35s it needs 6ft 8ish at Potter Vs 6ft 10 which means if you are very lucky you may get under occasionally. Swans had two centre cockpits Renown Alpha 35 and Regal Alpha 44 plus three dual steers Rapier, Ranger Alpha 35 and Rapide a 42 Alpha Lowliner. All are still available at Richardson's, The newest boats are Radiance 2010, Reflection 1 2011, no2 2012, Renown 2012 and finally the last boat I hired from Swans Romance which was new in 2015. So far I haven't had the heart to hire from Richardson's as I would probably only consider hiring in the North early or late and wouldn't want to see the boats covered in scratches/dents. Don't get me wrong they are a good yard and one of the best value on the Broads however they won't have the time to look after them the same way, unfortunately only Summer craft, Silver line and possibly Bridgecraft appear to maintain the external appearance all season. Internally most yards including Ricko s are of good standard Neil

Hi Speed triple is indeed correct, I believe it was called Topdeck class (3) and was a distinctive American houseboat design from the late 60's or early 70's I have a 1974 Hoseasons brochure somewhere however I don't have access to it at the moment. Other similar designs included Jack Powles Star Corsair/Clipper/Trident/Cutter classes also cc 1970 Neil