Vaughan

Just as a matter of interest, there are very many words that we use in Norfolk Broads boatbuilding, that came across here from the Dutch. Snoer, in Dutch, means a cable or bridle and we use it to describe the hole for a pin (usually a bit of old prop shaft) that was passed through the "snore hole" for attaching a chain bridle, shackled onto the winch wire. Other words from the Dutch that have passed into our common language are keel, and floor, which refers to the structural framework inside the boat, onto which the floorboards are placed. The leeward side refers to the leeboard, which was lowered on Dutch sailing barges - or "botters" - when they were sailing in deep water. The Starboard side is the side where the steering board was rigged, before rudders were invented. This is also the origin of the Dutch Leeward Islands, in the Caribbean. Our word yacht comes from the Dutch yaght and the original British royal yachts, in Tudor times, were built by the Dutch. Our boatbuilding has learned a lot from them!

Actually I don't think the keel is much deeper than most traditional wooden hire boats - just a bit longer! The AF42 may be in GRP but it is a genuine Broads cruiser which was designed to be hauled out of the water on a slipway, hence all the old ones have a "snore hole" in the stem for attaching the winch wire, and a long, straight keel for sliding up the "ways". The hard chine and "deep V" construction means it can happily sit on its keel, without too much strain on the hull. Incidentally, as this thread is about a sinking after a grounding, I am pretty sure an Aquafibre moulded boat would have ridden up over those tree stumps, without them puncturing the hull.

The cap badge looks like P&O and that also looks like a voice pipe at the helm position. So maybe the Canberra or perhaps the Oriana.

I think I am in "tier 3" on this one . .

I am afraid that the two great companies that we used to work for and put so much effort and experience into building, are no more. The two famous brand names have been thrown away in favour of some silly nick-name and the bases are now owned by a huge corporate tour operator whose management believes that you can run a hire fleet boatyard by clicking a mouse, on a computer somewhere in America. That's just my view, of course . . . .

Hello Griff, If you crewed on Maidie in the 70s, with Reg Parsons, then I should think we have probably met! I am very sorry to hear that the base at Gray has closed and I know that the old Connoisseur bases at Trebes and Narbonne have also closed. We went by their big base in Homps on Thursday and it all looked a bit suspicious to me. All the Le Boat fleet moored away from the service quay in order of classes and in nice neat rows, but no work going on and no staff on the base. The only boats out on the hard were from another company that shares the basin, and whose boats had all the places outside the workshops. I don't have any contacts in Le Boat's management these days (don't want to really) but I know that there has been an utterly drastic slump in boat hiring this year in France. The French are only about 10 to 15% of their customer base and all the rest, especially the British, come from other countries. But no-one is flying long haul any more and all the hotel barges had exclusively American customers. I very much hope I am wrong, but I don't like the look of it, I am afraid.

You and me both, as it happens! In 1985 I was recently divorced, back from France after Rank had sold up and so I applied to Bill Moore for a job as a manager out in France, to try and get my life back on an even keel. I was interviewed by the yard manager who I shall not name out of courtesy. He made it clear he was only giving me an interview because Bill Moore had told him to : he made it clear that Connoisseur only recruited from within and he then made it even clearer, by inference, that as I was Commander Ashby's son from Hearts Cruisers, I was therefore born with a silver spoon in my mouth and was no use for anything practical on a boatyard. Well, that was his choice, wasn't it?

I would go for the fitted sideboard in the aft cabin, remembering that most of the present unit will be under the deck, so a bench seat might be rather difficult to sit on.

I didn't reply yesterday as we were out visiting a notaire, to sign a contract on a house. But that's another story! My answer is in two parts : Firstly, those AF42's that NBYCo built for the Beaver Fleet must be the same ones that I knew in 1983 and which later became the Cavaliers, one of which is now owned by Shiralee. There were only 5 in the fleet, so it must be them. I know they were built to Richardsons' spec as their electrician, Walter Nicholls, had the big boats fitted with 2 alternators on 2 separate circuits, for starter and domestic. Quite modern, for those days! Richardsons had been bought by Rank and in 1976 they built 100 new boats, all in one winter. They built a lot themselves but also contracted out to a lot of other yards, including Sutton Staithe, Woods, Horizon Craft and Easticks. So those AF42.s would have been more like 1976 or 77, and not 1981 as I thought. No wonder they were such good boats if your father built them! As to your query about your boat in Vitry le Francois, I can't be of much help there, as what we would call boatbuilders are about as rare as rocking horse droppings, unless you go to the coast around Marseille, or in Brittany around Nantes or St Nazaire - which do not connect to the French canal system. The French canals are commercial, and so the yards build steel barges. In addition, the canal you are on, although it is a wonderful place in the foothills of the Jura, is not a canal where hiring is allowed, so no hire boat bases. When we fitted out the Condors, as described on this thread, I employed a Norfolk boatbuilder, Arthur Garrett, to come and do the work, so that we could treat the St Gilles base much more like a normal boatyard. Most French hire boat bases have little more than an office and a car park and none of them build their own boats. One thing I could suggest is the Le Boat base at Gray, just north east of Dijon, which used to be Connoisseur's head office base in France. Porter and Haylett were a very "in house" company who trained their own staff in Norfolk and then sent them to work in France, so if any of the old Wroxham crowd are still working there, they may be able to help. All the same, like us, if a boat needed serious work it got sent back to Norfolk. Another thought would be to ring up a broker called H2O, who are based in St Jean de Losne, on the Saone. They are the only real yacht broker on the French canals and they may know of a business that could do the work. I am sorry I can't suggest anything more than that!

I try to avoid these virus discussions as there are a lot of areas where I remain unconvinced about the way it is being handled. But of one thing, I am certain! Here in France, all was well and the virus was contained in the Paris area and the north east corner around Alsace. There was some also in Bordeaux, which is a huge city. Then all of a sudden, July arrived and everyone charged off for their sacrosanct summer holidays on the beach. Within a week, the virus was all over France. There is no question at all I am afraid, that holiday travel spreads the virus, so Christmas is set to be no different. I am also mindful that my father was one of only 57 servicemen who escaped the fall of Hong Kong to the Japanese, on Christmas Eve in 1941. The last thing he ever saw of Hong Kong, as he escaped in his MTB, was his own house, on the cliffs above Stanley Bay, in flames. Christmas is lovely, for most, but it is by no means essential.

Yes, but that reply needs a bit more thought. Coming shortly!

In my truck driving days, I spent one Christmas Day parked up in a "Routier" restaurant, just north of Rheims, which is said to be where Douglas Bader was re-captured by the Germans after he had escaped and was trying to steal an aircraft from the nearby fighter base. I was stuck there for the whole weekend, among a lot of French truckers who enjoyed their red wine! A time I shall never forget. Several of my other Christmas Days and New Year's Days have been spent on ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary or on gas platforms in the North Sea, and memorable, they were! Let us spare a moment to think of those who keep the country running, and defend the country, even though it is Christmas. For them, it is just another day's work and right now, I wish I were still out there with them!

I remember them well! These were the days when yards were experimenting with Fibreglass hulls but still built the boat itself like a "real" boat! Yards such as Ernest Collins and NBYCo did the best versions, in my memory. They were beautifully built boats. Scan from Blakes catalogue of 1978.

This had occurred to me as well. Do we know whether boats on that list missing from Hoseasons are still offered on the boatyards' websites? If certain yards are drawing back from Hoaseasons a bit, that would not surprise me.

I just want to explain that if a farmer, for instance at Upton, wishes to rent out a length of his river bank for an angling club to stake out for match fishing, that does not mean that he has granted them fishing rights over the Bure navigation. I wonder to what extent a permit system might change that? Could it even lead to a length of river navigation being closed during a fishing match?

I would like to add another possible complication to this, concerning navigation. I know I bang on sometimes about staithes but a navigation, in law, is a waterway leading to a staithe. On a navigation, boats have priority over fishing and if a fisherman does not reel in his line to let a boat pass, he is obstructing the navigation, whether it is tidal or not. I suggest this causes quite enough tension between anglers and cruisers, as it is. On the contrary, when a waterway is not a navigation and the landowner has granted fishing rights to an angling club, then the fishing takes priority and boats have to try and go round the fishermen. If there is now to be a system of permits, to fish on a navigation, whether or not it is tidal, I don't like the sound of it!

I do like all the specialised yachting clothing worn by the crew. They look as thought they have just got back from a christening, in time for the cruiser race. Wouldn't be the first time that has happened on Wroxham Broad! I remember Tom Percival and his crew, on Swallow, doing the cruiser race in morning suits, on one occasion.

I see that Sally is still registered with the River Cruiser Class, and has a racing handicap.

Hello Robert, I don't remember the day boat I am afraid but I remember your father! Nice to have you with us on the forum!

I have to say that I regard this sort of trial by forum, based on free viewing of some-one else's webcam, with contempt. I have never forgotten the saga of "The leaping lifebelt" on the HW webcam and this has no more credibility than that. We have no right, in all courtesy, to spy on others in this way.

It's a point of view and this is a forum, so no problem there! I would contend though, that the wildlife we enjoy on the Broads is there, and thrives there, because of the way it is managed. In most places the sight of that wildlife can only properly be enjoyed by water. This is the reason why I am happy to pay my river toll even though I can't use the boat this year. I wonder what sort of wildlife there would be if we just let it all go back to a peat bog? That may be one of the RSPB's favourite dreams but there would be no public access for anyone to enjoy the wildlife!

I do remember them but not that clearly. This may be because we couldn't see them going by on the other side of the railway embankment, but the coasters, and the masts of the Thames barges, were clearly visible. If I remember, the towed barges themselves were traditional Thames dumb lighters. Getting to the gas works quay up near Bishops bridge, meant going under Foundry bridge, of course.

Webasto do a similar system which pumps hot water through little radiators in each cabin and each radiator has a small fan which blows warm air into the cabin. This can also be used (I am told) to heat hot water but on a hire boat the engine does that, so we didn't bother! To be honest, they are a bit of a faff and each little radiator is another fan to break down and need replacing. We also had problems with air locks in the pipes now and again. The whole set up is a bit noisy as well. If you want a real all singing central heating system then you need the Kabola, which is a mini version of the oil fired heating in a house and supplies household type radiators in each cabin, plus hot water at all times, day and night. I have worked on hire boats with these and they are very effective but expensive on parts if they break. Problem would be the cost of installation which I imagine would be prohibitive, if you are not building it into a new boat. Peachments in Brundall have fitted them for Haines and could quote you if were interested.

I should have been more specific. I meant to say "on boats." I know that a lot of people had the front of their hair singed off when trying to light them - me included! Frightfully dangerous things they were, on a boat.

Nice to hear from you and I am glad you are enjoying your boat! There were five of these AF centre cockpit boats in the Beaver Fleet (Freshfields) fleet at Port Cassafieres, on the Canal du Midi, when I was first out there in 1983. I believe they had done a couple of seasons in Norfolk before they came to France and I think they were fitted out by Richardsons. They were called Fleur du Midi and had a BMC 1.5 engine. Very smart, new boats at the time! When Crown Cruisers bought the Beaver Fleet and then Blue Line, these boats went to Castelnaudary where they were based until about 1996 - if I remember rightly! Keith Gregory, the owner, decided they were getting on a bit and needed a refit, so they were trucked back to Crown Cruisers at Somerleyton and rebuilt to what we called "Crown Class" standard. The sliding canopy and windscreen were replaced with a new mould on top and the interior was almost entirely rebuilt. Crown used very high quality plastic faced ply with all bulkheads and partitions in 3/4 rather than half inch, with teak mouldings and surrounds, all spindled on the boatyard, so a very strong boat which should last a long time. I feel we should have added a top steering position on the sundeck aft, but couldn't quite work out where to put it. So you have a hull built in about 1981 but all the rest is around 1996-7 and fitted out to a high standard by Crown Cruisers. You also have the AF42 hull design which makes a lovely boat to handle. I hope you have a lot of fun with her!