oldgregg

Yeah that's the one. The new model appeared some time after 2000, with the original being launched in the early eighties.

Alpha 35's are very spacious for 35 feet, especially the older ones. That sounds daft, but the later ones have a much more rounded superstructure which looks sleeker but wastes loads of space. There was a thread about them recently, although I can't immediately seem to find it... Watch out for the very cheap ones as there are a few 'Friday boats' around which have had major osmosis problems, and it's probably best to avoid the ones built by Sabena Marine. Craig's Database will help you identify the history of a boat.

I almost forgot... Broads Boating Co at Acle currently have a Broom 35 flybridge (not actually a Broom fitout, but a decent example based on the same mould) in hire. https://www.thebroadsboatingco.co.uk/ - The boat is called Walsham. It's not the best of websites, but flick through and you'll find it.

Yeah, I've seen a few of those... They seem to consist of posts saying "You don't want to do it like that" whatever the question is.

It won't go through most of the Bridges...

If you want a go-anywhere Broads boat, then no it's not really suitable as there a lot of places it won't go. You may be best hiring a couple of times, perhaps a centre-cockpit, a Sedan, a Dual Steer or to see what a full-on flybridge cruiser is like on the Broads, give Far Horizon a try. That process will cost you a bit of money, but you'll work out the sort of boat you need. I've picked a few older boats there to keep it sensible. I've seen plenty of people buy a Sports cruiser because it looks 'cool', and then realise that there's a reason Broads boats aren't built like that and they end up changing to something more spacious having already spent a load of cash on the previous boat.

No immersion heater running?

The trouble is that if you've tripped the post out then you've gone WAY over the rated current. The breaker is there to protect the cable supplying it, and the damage that I'm talking about was done without anything tripping out.

And provided you've not got much else running at the same time.. They pull around 2KW. People do assume that because you've got shore power it must be like a domestic supply, but the average Broads cruiser with shore power is wired for 16Amps (as are the majority of the sockets on the posts). That's only 3.6KW at 230V, or around a sixth of the supply most of us in the UK have at home. I have seen molten shore power cables and adapters...

I think we may yet see some other additions to the fleet for 2019, though Clive would be able to confirm.. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

Alan I've only just seen this and for once I'm lost for words (who knew that was possible?). So sorry to hear of your loss. Tan was a lovely lady and I can't begin to imagine what you're going through. My thoughts are with you. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

The Broom hire boats were built to a private spec and are very difficult and costly to repair. The fancy electric sunroofs have now been disconnected as they kept being taken off on bridges. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

I'm not sure tree technology has advanced hugely in the last 30 years... They really are built that way for a reason. That's why the Broom ones have got so wrecked by them trying to be 'clever'.

The simple answer I think is that it ages reasonably well and is durable and relatively inexpensive. Hireboats take an unbelievable amount of punishment so they need to be built to take it. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

Looking at the pics of the interior fitout, this is very much a boggo Woods build so will be quite different from the Broom boats (no great surprise there, admittedly).

Yes, I was shocked by that as well!

Or the Ricko's mechanic would just bring a genset with him... That's assuming there wasn't one fitted.

Exactly. So a pair of batteries rated at 100KWh / 375V would probably be enough. But not when they're £40K each.

I think we'll see a Broads cruiser with the powertrain from a salvaged electric car before too long, but the battery technology has to come a bit further before it's ready to put into hire. Those Tesla fast chargers are designed to give you a top-up in around 20 minutes hence the huge current draw - But a Broads cruiser could be plugged in for 12+ hours overnight so wouldn't be pulling that sort of ampage. A top-spec Tesla car has around 780hp, and a 100kwh battery that gives circa 250-320 mile range. I've tried to do the maths to work out what that would equate to in a boat with a 100hp motor, fridge, bilge pump, lights, toilets etc but failed miserably as there are so many variables. I suspect a couple of Tesla batteries in an RC45 might do quite nicely but they're about £40K a piece without the control systems, and there are quite a few engineering challenges involved in doing it. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

Mostly, but yeah the later hardware revisions had some issues. They even had issues with some PS2 games. Doesn't look like that particular game is one of the problem ones... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_games_incompatible_with_PlayStation_2

That's a PS1 game I think? Should be able to get hold of a copy on eBay though....

Anywhere with a soak dyke..... Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

The website isn't a lot better...

Just looked on the BA site versus Strowager's one and yes, they're miles out.

I think some of the hirefleets use that site and publish the times in their skipper's handbooks, as the BA / Broadcaster ones are not so good and have been known to be out by as much as an hour and a half in recent years.