Vaughan

After 25 years of operating hire boats in 4 European countries (and the U.S.) I have never heard of that one. There is such a test for private boats to get an inland waterways skipper's ticket but for that, you don't even have to set foot on a boat! I think it is sad that you should make such a statement whilst admitting that you know nothing of the business. Whilst I appreciate the spirit of your post, I wish you also realised just how much effort has always gone into making a cruising holiday as safe as possible for our customers. I am sorry but by making such incorrect assumptions you are just adding to the armchair speculation.

Given that reports of this incident all suggest it was the result of a boat being blown off the channel after an engine failure, this conversation is all a bit academic, even for such an amateur mariner as myself. I was told the conical metal tops on the newer posts are there to keep the cormorants off.

I know a yard in Stalham that have the use of my boat, if needed. They built the boat, after all!

Not anymore. Fred No towboat or no reason?

I have just been tossing some figures about for fun, based on 25 boats going over Breydon on each tide, with an average 6 people on board, over a 26 week holiday season. The full season is actually 32 weeks. Based on that I suggest that well over three and a half million people on holiday have crossed over Breydon in the last 75 years. In the 50s, 60s and 70s, the figure would have been more than double, and maybe even more considering all the yards on the south rivers. As the old saying goes : you have more chance of being struck by lightning.

My mother "died of the 'flu" in a nursing home, back in 2000. There is no doubt that the 'flu hastened her end as she was not strong enough to fight it off. She actually died of a weak heart in old age and that is what the certificate said. It was January and there was a lot of 'flu "going around" but at least then, all of her close family were able to be with her at her bedside when she died.

Here is Blakes' tow boat, coming past St Olaves staithe in 1953. In later years they had a bigger one. For a suitable fee, it would tow Blakes yachts with the mast down, from above St Olaves bridge, over Breydon and leave them on the yacht moorings above the Iron Bridge in GYYS. Edited to say : notice that there were no Blakes emblems on their boats in those days.

I was just thinking, in the "old days" Blakes towboat would have come out to them from the Yacht Station, which was run by Blakes at the time. It was maintained there for that purpose and would have been able to stop them drifting further on to the mud as the tide came up. All done without mobile phones or apps, as well. Just a message passed by word of mouth from other boats passing on their way through Yarmouth. I must say Blakes never had a nice new big flashy helicopter though. How technology has changed! But is it more efficient, as it turns out?

I note the words "All deaths data" I think you may find that a lot of these positive tests were taken in hospital after the patient had already been admitted with serious illness.

I agree with the rest of your post, but it feels like a big drama, to those who find themselves on the mud! Breydon never used to be closed in bad weather until just recently but 'elf 'n safety now seems to think it should be.

This is a similar comment to one I have just posted about grounding on Breydon. How many dogs have been drowned on the Broads in the last 10 years? Or 20 years? Very few, I suggest. There is nothing in reports of this incident to suggest that they are not.

Can anyone remember how many people have been drowned, or otherwise died, or suffered serious injuries, after grounding on Breydon, ever since the war? I can't think of any, myself. I wonder how many millions of holidaymakers have safely crossed Breydon, in the last 75 years?

There might be, but it is not usual. If the boat is built CE then all hull vents, etc., have to be at least 40cm above the waterline.

This is another way of saying what I was trying to explain above. When the then new owners -First Choice - threw away the three prestige brand names that they had paid a lot of money for (Crown Blue Line, Connoisseur and Emerald Star) to create the silly down-market nickname Le Boat, from then on it was all about "driving down costs". You couldn't do anything that might have an impact on the bottom line. Believe it or not, Le Boat got through 7 new general managers in France in its first 5 years. And each one came in with same questions - "Why do you spend so much money on maintenance?" and "If you work on a basis of one man employed for every 7 boats in the fleet, why can't one man look after 8 boats?" And the next new manager would ask "Why can't he look after 9 boats?". By the time I left, what little staff we had were looking after 11 boats each. It is also an unfortunate trend in this business over the years, including on the Broads, to get rid of an experienced manager because he costs too much and replace him with a mechanic, who will enjoy the promotion, in return for not much more than a mechanic's wages. He also won't argue when you tell him to do things that he knows won't work. They don't usually last long either. They burn out quite quickly.

It occurs to me that last year the BA employed a Sustainability Officer (if that was the actual title) to look into such matters and this report is perhaps the result of his efforts so far. I am afraid I get the impression that he is working from a basis of what he has heard rather than what he knows from experience in the boat business. Remember what they always used to say about the difference between the expert, and the "man in the street" : The expert is a man with extensive specialist education, who starts his career knowing a great deal about a very little. As time goes on he learns more and more about less and less, until he knows anything about nothing. The man in the street, (such as you and me) relies less on education but more on experience. So he starts his career knowing a very little about a great deal. As time goes on he learns less and less about more and more, until in the end, he knows nothing about anything.

I would suggest that you can take their power requirements and charging estimates and double them. They also make no mention of the shaft horsepower required for a cabin cruiser to safely navigate Yarmouth and Breydon. They seem to think that an electric boat will cruise for a couple of hours a day and spend the rest of the time plugged into the bank. It will have to, of course, so that they can power up the microwave oven, electric hob, IR heaters, electric blankets, instant hot water taps, recirculating showers and all the other gadgets. Sorry, but if this is what a Broads cruising holiday is supposed to be like in future, then it won't work out in practicality and it won't sell to the cruising public.

Funny you should say that! The owners would blame the manager of course. But then if they employ someone who admittedly knows nothing about the business, but presumably has a nice smile for the public and comes very cheap in terms of salary, it is most definitely their fault. What was that old saying, about monkeys and peanuts?

Here's one of the first out on the canal this year, all done up ready for Easter week with what looks like a brand new set of mooring ropes. After all, they have had two years laid up in their bases to make sure that they are fully maintained and well presented for the new season. There was an article in the local paper back in January to say they had appointed a new manager at Trebes (where this came from) to oversee the re-opening of their base. He said in the article that he came from Toulouse and was new to the hire boat business but "he knew the Canal du Midi". If he does, he will know that the canal is under serious threat of losing its UNESCO World Heritage classification if tourism does not get back to normal. This is hardly going to help! When I think that it was Blue Line who saved the canal from closure back in the 70s and of all the work and effort that myself and my friends put into Crown Blue Line, to make it known as the most prestigious hire boat company in Europe (and so probably, in the World), all I can do is weep. By the way there is nothing libellous in my posting this - it can be seen by anyone like me who drives by on the canal bank. A disgrace on the company ; a sad sight for anyone it passes and surely an embarrassment for those who have hired it, for more than 1500 this week and probably twice that in high season, when it won't look any different.

Yes it would. I have carried it before! You would need two strong men to get it up there though.

I see what you mean. On their website I read : From £1285. Duration : 1 week. On looking again, the "1 week" is in a box, which can be ticked to check availability! If this juxtaposition mislead me, I imagine it will also mislead customers.

The charging of a premium price for the high season has always been a bit of a "chestnut" in the hire boat business and efforts have always been made to level out the prices over the whole letting period. This would be a lot fairer on all concerned. The practicality, however, is that most people are available to come on holiday during the school holidays only. Add to this, the fact that there are only six months in a normal season and you have to charge as much as you can get during the "peak weeks". All the same I am astounded to see that the advertised price of £3401 on this boat for a week in August is almost three times the off season starting price. I cannot see how that can be sustained and I have a feeling a lot of last minute discounts will be flying about as the weeks go by. The internet makes price adjustment very easy and this is why there are no longer brochures, with set prices. All very well but bad for the business in the long term, in my view. I do hope they are not "killing the goose that laid the golden eggs".

I agree with Smoggy about cable steering. If it is causing trouble this may be because of route-ing of the cable. It must leave the wheel in a straight line and not go round any sharp bends. Same applies to Morse control cables. they usually break because they have been installed round sharp corners. You also get a "feel" for the steering that you don't get with hydraulics.

Didn't I read somewhere that this is only a 4 berth boat? I think it was the EDP.

As others have said, it depends on what sort of boat you have. If it is a Dutch barge, maybe this engine is suitable!

All is now well - today a bee-keeper came from his nursery, near the Canal du Midi at Le Somail and very adroitly persuaded them all into a box. Rather him than me! He said they had already started to build a nest but it was not in a good place - too exposed to bad weather. But he is happy to have them, so they have gone to a good home. Now I can get on with clearing up the garden!