oldgregg

There really is no 'true blood' argument to have. Aquafibre was Broom's sister company and they used to lay up all of the mouldings. There were a set available for anyone to buy, and once a Broom model had finished its production run (and in some cases during) those mouldings were also made available for any yard to buy as a set of mouldings - or indeed just a hull. If it wasn't fitted out by Broom, it's not a Broom. It's that simple.

Thunder is a great boat, but not necessarily the easiest if you'll be single-handed - At 43 feet she can often seem to be just that bit too big to fit into the gaps people leave at popular mooring spots. Also, from the interior helm the visibility of the stern is best described as 'quite limited'. The size is also such that really you do want one person at the helm and then at least one person on deck (ideally at least two). If you're planning on boating more as a party of two or three then she's a different proposition, and doesn't feel cramped with a larger party aboard. With a group of five mates, we've been able to use her comfortably with no-one making beds up each night as she has five separate beds (plus the saloon). There is plenty of space in the saloon and also upstairs, because of the large flat area on the aft cabin roof giving you more room. Silver Cloud, Goosander or one of the Pearls (Moonlight Shadow / Evening Shadow) may be a good fit if you're mostly likely to be out on your own.

What I would say is that be very aware that this boat may well have a wooden superstructure, and if that's the case then you're looking at wooden boat levels of maintenance on the exterior. An all-fibreglass boat will cost you more, but will just need a good wash at the start of the season and ideally a polish and to then be kept clean and sensibly looked after. Any wooden boat really wants to be kept in a wet shed, and that will cost you more every year than just a regular mooring. You can of course put a cover on it, but then you've got to keep that maintained and keep taking the thing back on and off every time.

I think Vaughan may have just spat his tea out at that one... I'm no marine surveyor. I have a reasonable knowledge of Broads boats but not in terms of the technical detail you'd need to inform a purchase.

By very definition, she can't be a Broom unless they built her. If the builder was sold a full or partial set of mouldings for fitting out, then it's an Aquafibre. A lot of stuff gets listed by brokers as 'Broom' because a) they don't know any better and b) it sounds good. The hull does look like it could be Aquafibre, certainly, and I'd agree that the superstructure looks to be DIY so it'd need to be very carefully surveyed.

They are. Haines reworked Ferry's existing mouldings to improve the aesthetics and as part of the works they produced one complete boat. Ferry have since completed further boats themselves from those mould tools, some of which have a similar layout and finish to the one Haines produced. I don't know who actually laid up the sets of mouldings, but the fitout was certainly in-house. The Haines-built boat has stayed at Ferry, I believe.

More fleets down south can only be a good thing. I know many people prefer the southern rivers (I'm one of those people) and throughout the year there are always plenty of Northern hire boats making the trip. I think that probably many experienced boaters mainly hire from the North because the bigger yards have such a choice of boats and make it so much more affordable, and if they're out for a week or more then the two 'travel' days is no major hardship and potentially all part of the fun. Certainly when I was out last year for Whitsun half term, pretty much all of Ricko's available boats were out and there was a big convoy of boats coming down to WRC and Oulton Broad. I think the demand is there, but how it is marketed, positioned and priced is where the challenge lies.

I have a vogue idea where the moulds may be coming from...

Ah so it's official now... Have known about this for some time but didn't think I'd better say anything. Yes, they are the former Fair Diplomats! Not on the Ricko's site yet though https://www.richardsonsboatingholidays.co.uk/boats/sunway Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

There's a fair amount there really... You have the pub which does breakfasts as well, and if you have people joining you they have the option of staying in the rooms on-site or one of the lodges. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

There were others?

Yeah I think that's pretty much it. Also, some 'experienced' drivers were probably marginal passes anyway and have gone downhill from there...

I think maybe the intention is to reduce speed to make it easier to join from a minor road? That awful roundabout at Newark just before joining the A1 / just after coming off it onto the A17 is probably what they're trying to avoid? The problem is that people just take them at the same speed and then come unstuck, especially as the trend is for people to drive SUV's and crossovers which have an inherently high centre of gravity and therefore poor handling.

Maldonado Island claims another victim! Yeah it's not a bad road really. The camber and geometry of the roundabouts catches people out but really if they can't judge the speed they shouldn't be driving.

That's an interesting one, but I think if it were the standard 'biscuit' provided with the car then you should be okay? They are awful though, yeah. The 50mph rating is little to do with straight-line speed and more to do with the fact that they're scary if you push into a corner at anything like normal speed. I've had to use one once and on the way to get the puncture repaired I came off a roundabout and felt that corner go all wobbly, followed by a blink from the ESP light just to remind me that biscuits have no grip.

They don't seem crazy actually compared to other mid-range tyres, and considering the extra grip you get in the winter. I was one of the crazy ones who got in the car last year the morning after the beast from the east had hit... Winter(ish) tyres would have been handy then. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

Yeah very true. What is road noise like on the Michelin Crossclimate?

I'm not generally a big fan of french cars, but Peugeot have a fairly clever electronic system on some of their models which works surprisingly well. You wouldn't use it for proper off-roading, but if more cars had something similar then it would make the average front wheel drive car a lot more usable for the couple of days a year that it gets really snowy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIBMs3GHdzY

This is why the managed syndicates use cleaners on turnaround days. I get what you're saying though in that not everyone looks after the boat in the same way (sadly) and some owners have a limited understanding of how the boat works. Trying to explain to some of our owners why it's not a clever idea to plug in two 2KW electric fires on the 16A shore power (in addition to the battery charger and immersion heater) tends to result in raised eyebrows and suggestions that we're being melodramatic.

I wonder if Appleyard Lincoln were building them, given that they all seem to be Elysians? Still a lot of boats to finance, though! Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

It's a big saving that can be re-invested, for sure. I know of a syndicate where three individuals offered to take on the management duties in order to keep everything realistic and spread the load, and in recognition for their time and effort they'd get a reduction in their running costs. This would mean the boat was run by people with an interest in maintaining it well, and would save the syndicate over £4500 a year which could instead be spent on the boat, include winter maintenance etc etc. The consensus was that anyone taking up the role should be doing it for the greater good and not getting anything back for their vast amounts of time, emails, phonecalls, handovers, turnarounds etc. Funnily enough, the offer was withdrawn and the vote taken to carry on chucking money at a management company.

Although of course we can book the boat in for a clean at the yard on return, which costs £25 + VAT and if you build it into the cost you expect to pay, it still beats hiring. The management company is definitely the biggest avoidable cost, I think, although if you don't have one then one or more people need to run the accounts, share sales, turnarounds, maintenance etc and that's not a small task for a boat that has 14 owners and (in theory) a 50-week season. The work would clearly be less for a smaller syndicate, though, and most of the comms and discussion could be done via a private Facebook group or even a 'Club' on the NBN forum rather than lots of emails flying around the place. Our syndicate is doing more work on the boat itself now, and that is certainly saving quite a bit of money, but major tasks are left to the professionals. I've been on BA in the shed during the biennial maintenance period, and the amount of work the boys undertake on her is huge. There's no doubt it's the cheapest way of doing it, but if you're limited on annual leave then it could mean giving up a week's holiday so it is a bit of a balancing act.

Yeah, although not because of the location. I'd prefer to have a mooring like our current one, but in the South... They don't seem to really exist, though.

It is a good spot and hopefully will help attract more people to the South. We don't want everyone getting in on the secret, but a bit more of the tourism cash going that way wouldn't hurt

Details are a bit sketchy at the moment... I guess it will depend what moulds are in vogue. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app