Davydine

Yes, it is on All 4 and it is Emergency Helicopter Medics episode 4

Did anyone else see emergency helicopter medics that was repeated on More 4 recently? It was fist shown last April and featured a lady who fell off a hire boat and caught her foot on the propeller. She was taken to the Royal Norfolk and Norwich by air ambulance but sadly she lost her foot. Very scary stuff.

Thanks All, yes, it's a shame that Contessa is not available, I do like that style of boat, it reminds me of the old Brooms Sea Pilots, that I used to go on in the 80s with my parents. Next time maybe!

Unfortunately it's not available for the week before Easter, which is the one that fits with our school holidays, but otherwise I would gave been very tempted.

Thanks, thats good to know. Hopefully I won't get kicked out of the front double!

Ah yes, I had seen these thank you and they were on the list as well, the two single cabins are perfect, but they are still about £200 more expensive than corsair light for the week we are looking at. At first I thought I was missing the fuel deposit and damage waiver but they are definitely included, so £200 makes a big difference!

Thanks, everyone, for the replies. We would be a family of 4 so 3 cabins is perfect for us as the kids dan have one each, they could share, of course, but life is more peaceful if they have their own space and happy kids equals happy parents! I am a fan of a raised centre cockpit or a twin helm boat, I just think the views are better if you are higher up.The other option was Contessa from Richardsons but it isn't available and also it is quit high for stern to mooring. The age difference between Corsair and Jamaica is interesting, but the price difference is £300 whis us a lot, so I think Corsair Light is looking like a winner at the moment! We have been with HW before and have neen pleased with the service so no worries there. Thanks agian, David

Evening All, Does anyone have any experience of Corsair Light from HW? Looking at it for an Easter break and it looks very good value compared to similar boats from other yards. Thanks, david

Looks like they may have had a problem, they just landed in Brussels...

Nah, he is aiming for the waterline, never sink 'em if the hole is too high...

Wow, I have just got back from an amazing weekend and find that this thread is now on it's second page! Anyway, The boat in question had been at Womack Staithe earlier in the day. We had gone up to see what was available, the Staithe was busy but we could have got in, but we decided we would prefer to be somewhere more peaceful so went back down the dyke. The boat went past well after sunset and having had a few drinks I was full of righteous indignation that anyone could be so stupid, which prompted me to type the original post. Anyway, the following morning, it became clear that the boat had seen the error of its ways, because they were tied to the bank a few hundred yards downstream. Did I get the name of the boat, yes. Did I take it any further, no. They clearly hadn't gone very far, so I felt it was best left alone. On another note, hasn't it been an amazing weekend to be afloat?

Lol, ok!

I know, but does there not come a point at which someone should have a quiet word?

If you were, say, moored at The free moorings on Womack water and you saw a hireboat going down river well after sunset, (sort of well after 10:00pm) and navigating by torch light?

Well, the forecast for this weekend is looking fantastic and I am massively excited as we will be afloat on Regal Light from Herbert Woods. Can't wait! Does anyone know if Lathams sell bags of ice? With 8 of us on board fridge space will be at a premium, so thinking about taking a cool box for the drinks and Ice would be very helpful! Thanks, David

Sad news. As an older child (about 14, 15) I have very happy memories of a holiday with just my dad and one of my friends. Mum was working so was perfectly happy for us to go on a boys holiday. Not a single parent myself, but had thought I might take my two for a long weekend. There must be an age at which children are old enough to be responsible crew members, I can perhaps understand it being a problem with young children, but surely older children would be ok?

Thanks Griff, it seems very poor service from the bridge operators, I saw your arrival, I had been visiting a customer nearby and, although I don't know any of you, couldn't resist going to wish Robin well in person. They really do need to explain what happened. As you were talking to them as you came through the harbour the bridge could have been raised and you could have passed straight through with minimal delay to anyone and ahead of the 16:15 deadline they had given you. Always had two way vhf communication from the dutch bridge operators (in English! ) and they were always opened as advertised. We had to stooge around occasionally for a train to cross but the service was excellent.

As a matter of interest, was there any VHF communication between Indi and the bridge or was it all done by phone? I am just wondering if they treat things differently by VHF as that is how the pilot boat communicated with them. I know you were there in time on the Monday afternoon, but had time been tight, would you have been able to transit haven bridge first and pick Robin up on the other side? On a totally different subject, if you want to see how bridge opening should be done, may I humbly suggest a trip to Holland, they have no problem lifting bridges for boats, pleasure or commercial, fabulous country for boating on inland waterways. David

Nice to see a new yard and a new builder on the southern rivers.

The sea should calm down a bit when the tidal stream changes at about 18:00, so hopefully you can open her up a bit then. Unfortunately the tide will be against you then so you will gain on one hand and lose on the other.

Safe trip chaps!

When we purchased our last boat it came with an out of date life raft as well as a newer one. For fun, we thought we would set it off in the garden. It was a sobering experience. It inflated as advertised but promptly deflated where several seams had failed. If I ever have the good fortune to own another boat, the life raft will be chosen with a great deal of care. If you buy a new one perhaps you could inflate the old one as a video for the blog? If anyone has access to a swimming pool, it might be interesting to see just how easy they are to climb in to.

Robin, this may sound silly, but it might be worth putting the keys on to the key ring and testing that it actually floats if you drop it in water (suggest you try in the sink rather than the marina!) I used to use a little foam anchor key ring and was surprised to find it would only actually float with one small key on it. Often used to see people with massive bunches of keys with one little cork ball and I suspect that had they been dropped it would have gone straight to the bottom.

Ah, now Gracie, you have hit the nail on the head, two holidays, one North and one South! It doesn't bother me to go from North to South, but at the moment, we are tied to school holidays so we can't pick a week when the tides are at a convenient time and the summer holiday period is just too expensive for me and to be honest, I also prefer it when it is a little quieter, also, with children, I think it is important to get a good balance of time cruising and time ashore. I wasn't suggesting that that one of the big yards should open up "down south" just surprised that they haven't, there seems to be such an imbalance between North and South.

I mentioned it in the thread Gracie mentioned but it is nice to have a separate thread for it. We are booked for a weekend from Herbert Woods next May and I was looking for another boat to hire some time during one of the school holidays. Whilst I have no worries about the passage from North to South, it takes a long time and is time critical so to my mind it makes sense to hire on the southern rivers if you want to visit southern "ports" Given the lack of yards hiring in the south, Pacific Cruisers looks very appealing and I would hope that their business is thriving. "Vista" is too big for 4 of us but "Star" would be perfect for us as we can have the double in the bows and the children can have a cabin each in the stern. I have often wondered why one of the big yards in the north, doesn't have a second base in the south, it would open up the possibility of offering "one way" cruises. What does everyone else think? David