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Cal

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Posts posted by Cal

  1. Bridgecraft have always had nicely turned out boats in the 20 years we have visited the Broads.

    Not always the newest but very smart looking.

    It has been the high pet charges and older style interiors that have put us off hiring from them.

    • Like 3
  2. 4 minutes ago, riverman said:

    Facilities or activities? Anything. Something. A Waveney river style centre for the north. Significantly more moorings and advertising for the amazing powerboating at Oulton Broad. A regatta or paddle board race or something, anything in the middle of Wroxham or Beccles. Food festivals. Beer festivals. Boat festivals. And massively more boat access to our fine city. 

    Just something other than pubs really.

    And what do I expected? Progress. Ingenuity. Investment. Nothing too unreasonable. What is essentially the heart of the broads deserves to look and operate a damn sight better than it does.

    Now unfortunately I've never visited the Broads, I've only ever worked, started a business and lived here my entire life, so excuse me if I knock it but it's only because I have vested interest in it's continued success. There is nothing about this man made environment that is set in stone and it needs to change with the times.

     

    Apologies I don't see how it's a contradiction. Value for money has nothing to do with how much something costs. 

    Considering your modern hire boat is a floating mobile apartment that sleeps 6+, where you can do everything you could at home, and that it probably cost double if not triple to build than a motorhome, I think there reasonably priced.

    I almost agreed with you there until I thought about it again.

    A motorhome will be on hire for 3 years, 4 max then sold on into private hands before being replaced with a new one. Hire motorhomes are very rarely more than 3 years old. People expect new, the hire companies give them that unless they are at the budget end of the market. New motorhomes are now expensive. You won't get a decent spec van for much less than £80k now.

    A boat that costs a few times more will be on hire for 20, 30, 40 years, in some cases more.

    The boat will pay for itself many many times over in that time!

    • Like 1
  3. 48 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

    We used toll roads, because of the distance we travelled.  We went to the Ardeche a couple of times, keeping off the toll roads, but spent on overnight hotel accommodation instead.

    I know about the standing charges for keeping a boat.  Keeping a motorhome isn’t free, either.  Tax, insurance an£ running costs all need to be taken into consideration, and we wouldn’t be allowed to keep one on our drive either, it would need to be stored elsewhere, at cost.

    I agree that eating out in the UK is expensive, some places more so than others.  Two regular cod and chips to take away in Looe, Cornwall, earlier this year cost £24.  However, even with a motorhome, you’ll still take breaks in the UK surely, so will still suffer the costs experienced over here anyway at times.

    Im not buttering up the UK as a holiday destination, but it is not as one sided as your original cost comparison would have us believe.  My point still stands, if you compare like for like, the cost differential is not as great as you suggest, due to you owning the vehicle in which you took your holiday and to be fair, for a lot of people, investing upwards of £60,000 in a similar motorhome, is way out of reach.

    Having had both a boat and a motorhome the cost of owning, running and storing the motorhome are considerably less than the same were for the boat and we didn't keep the boat in an expensive part of the UK. We could never justify the cost of keeping NC on the Broads. The travel time to get there would have meant we used her far less.

    We do use the van in the UK. As I said in an earlier post a 9 day holiday in Norfolk cost not far off the same as our French trip of over 2 weeks. We use the van pretty much every other weekend as well. We bought it to use it.

    We still love travelling in the UK. That won't change. Living in the Midlands nipping on the train to Europe every weekend isn't an option. Much the same as heading to the UK coast isn't realistically.

    Thankfully there are still places you can visit in the UK that are not extortionately priced and we are ideally located to have a lot of options within an hours drive of home for weekend breaks.

    The Broads was where our love affair with boats started. It will always hold a special place in our hearts. Sometimes though, just sometimes, the rose tinted spectacles need removing and a dose of reality administering. It ain't perfect. But was it ever?

     

    • Like 2
  4. 22 minutes ago, PaulN said:

    How right you are. Where else is there in the UK that you are so relaxed that you wave to complete strangers when passing by. 

    Anywhere on the roads it would seem. Got a sore arm from waving at overly enthusiastic motorhomers 🤣🤣🤣

  5. 19 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

    My quote was for a two berth motorhome.  I have no doubt that a larger, more commodious vehicle would cost more.  You can justify your choice any way you like.  You’ve had a boat and moved on, but some people, me included, have a preference for a holiday afloat.

    Until I retired and reached the age of 65, I’d held an HGV licence from the age of 21.  Admittedly, I’d moved into management and hadn’t driven for a living for over 25 years, but I’ve still driven more miles in my lifetime than most folk who haven’t driven for a living, at times driving more than 2000 miles a week.  Personally, I find no joy in driving, especially on our pot-holed, congested roads and can think of better ways to spend my leisure time.  Again, driving in France is much easier, but if you use the Autoroutes, can be exceptionally expensive.  Our last trip to the Gorge du Verdon in 2016 was one such example, when using a toll tag we came home to a bill of over £200.

    As for the weather, we went to Argeles sur Mer in 2017 for two weeks and it rained every day.  The temper one day was a dizzy 14 degrees c.  It doesn’t matter where you go - the weather isn’t guaranteed anywhere.

    When hiring a boat that has cost over £200,000 to build, how much is a reasonable cost to hire, maintain and clean it?

    But again. You chose to use the toll roads. We have spent €0 on tolls. We were on holiday. It was nice to see the French countryside and villages. 

    I think however you choose to butter it up. A holiday in the UK is expensive compared to elsewhere. The cost of eating out, drinking out and shopping if you are going to eat onboard are more than elsewhere in the EU for an equivalent meal.

    And let's not forget that your "holiday" choice has to include mooring fees, licence fees, insurance and safety certificates. It certainly isn't as cheap as you would lead people to believe. Mooring fees alone on the Broads are expensive. 

    I'm not knocking the place. We have loved it in the past. But at present do not see it value for money however you travel there.

     

  6. 9 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

    Quote for 17 nights below, obviously bearing in mind that these dates are later in the year and will be lower than for when you started your trip.  Add in vets, tunnel, food, eating out, charges for overnight stays etc and it is still not a cheap holiday.

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    Just tried looking for a 4 berth boat on the Broads for the same dates. Nothing came up under £2k.

    And the fact of the matter is (proven by our own figures) that holidaying, eating out and drinking out costs more in the UK than elsewhere.

    How do you convince someone to pay more money for a not dissimilar holiday while taking a huge gamble with the weather and paying increased eating and drinking costs?

    The Broads have had it good while they have had a captive audience. They now need to pull something out of the hat to keep that audience interested while competing with cheaper foreign travel and an increased cost of living.

    • Like 3
  7. 19 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

    The difference is the fact that you’ve made a capital investment in your motorhome.  If you’d hired a similar vehicle at say £150 per day, added insurance, cleaning costs, sat nav hire etc, you would have added probably around £3000 to your bill, making the holiday truly comparable.

    We spent two weeks on our boat in July.  Pump outs x 2, 82 litres of diesel, food and eating out cost around £500.  Yes, if we hired a similar boat, it would have cost a lot more, but like you, we’ve made a substantial investment in the vehicle we used for our holiday, even if it is one of the ex Le Boat craft that from a previous comment, you found inadequate.

    Jumping on the ‘The Broads are too expensive’ bus is easy, but if you make a comparison, make it like for like.

    It wasn't the boat model that was inadequate it was the way that particular boat was maintained and cleaned, or not in that case.

    As I have just said in a previous post we had a week on the Broads earlier in the year with the van and if you discount the Eurotunnel fees and pet travel fees then you are not far off the same expenditure for 9 days as we have just had 17 with very similar pattern if eating out and drinking out.

  8. 12 minutes ago, DAVIDH said:

    Without discounting what you say Cal, don't forget that you already own your holiday accommodation. 

    A similar van could be hired for £750 a week so add £1500 to the total. You would probably get a discount on that for a longer hire.

    It would still cost a lot more to holiday in the UK.

    We had a week on the Broads earlier in the year and the total expenditure for that 9 day trip was £1440 doing far less miles with similar pattern of eating and drinking out and without the costs of the tunnel and animal health certificate. 

  9. We have just totted up how much our 17 night break to France has cost us.

    Including return tunnel tickets, animal health certificate, vets visit in France for the dogs return worming treatment, all fuel, food, drink and van related costs it has come to £1770. 

    (The two most expensive days were in the UK!)

    It would have cost us a damn sight more to have done a similar length trip on the Broads!

     

    • Like 1
  10. We are back home again after 1485 trouble free miles totting up a not too shabby 28.5mpg across the trip.

     

    It has been a great trip and we will take away with us some amazing memories from getting lost in a pedestrianised zone in a medieval town centre, being eaten alive by mozzies, amazing sunsets, being boiled alive in a heatwave and sharing adventures with friends old and new.

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    The van is ready for a good scrub which it will get next weekend. Its had a quick rinse off but needs a proper going over.

    Now time to tackle the laundry mountain!

    • Like 5
  11. The Broads is competing with foreign holidays again. It has had a captive audience for a few years with foreign travel off the cards. 

    It now has to compete with foreign travel again. 

    This year might be a wake up call for the hire yards that they have to offer value for money again to entice customers back.

    We have hired, had our own boat and moved away from that. At current hire rates we won't be tempted back any time soon. Its too expensive and doesn't offer value for money anymore. 

    Could we be tempted back? Yes at the right price.

    We are DINKYs so don't struggle for disposable income but we still don't find it good value. 

    • Like 1
  12. We were treated to one last French sunrise this morning on the way to Calais.

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    The crossing was smooth and trouble free. Syd was less bothered about the train this time and had a good snooze.

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    The UK roads were a shock to the system after two weeks of smooth tarmac and little traffic but we have eventually made it to Huntingdon Boat Haven where we are now settled in for a couple of days rest and relaxation. 

    Found the nearest pub had a few drinks and we will explore more tomorrow. Looking forward to a take out curry tonight. 

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    • Like 4
  13. 4 hours ago, Hylander said:

    Thank goodness for that.    We too worry about our car when on the boat, it is only natural and we like to leave early and that can be a problem if your car is tucked away where you cannot get to it.   Glad you are sorted.

    Barnes always had our car parked on the quayside ready to load up on the day we got back to the yard.

    • Like 2
  14. We had a longer day's driving yesterday and a last food and fuel stop. So it wasn't helpful when the three aires at our supposed destination were all full.

    Found another half an hour down the road on a nature reserve at La Molliere, which didn't seem great value at €10 when compared to some others we had stayed on. Still it was somewhere quiet and safe to spend the night.

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    • Like 1
  15. We had a lovely quiet night at Isigny-sur-Mer last night.

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    The vets appointment went very smoothly this morning.  Don't even think Syd realised he had been too a vets!

    We are now just having a stock up shop and will refill with diesel while we are here before heading just down the road to Le Treport our destination for tonight.

    • Like 2
  16. 21 minutes ago, ChrisB said:

    I have not been to Mont St Michel for 32 years but they used to allow RVs to stern Moor along the causeway. Strangely back then every other one was on Italian plates.

    We gave in on the Mont when we got stuck in the queue of traffic to get in there.

    We were going to stay in the car park overnight but couldn't even get near it there were so many vehicles. 

    Next time we come it will be later in the year so hopefully it will be quieter. Will give it another go then.

    We have seen one or two Italian registered vans but really not many. Most have been French or German so far. Getting a few more UK registered vehicles now we are getting further towards Calais again.

     

  17. It warmed up again yesterday after the rain so we had seafood alfresco again for dinner. We will miss the amazing seafood here. 

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    Wasn't long after that the sun started setting so we took the dog for a walk before retiring into the van.

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    It is much fresher and cooler this morning. I have had to put trousers on for the first time in over a week 🤣🤣🤣

    • Like 1
  18. 13 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

    Excuse me but that is not a fair comment.

    Maybe maybe not.

    None of the crew had what we in the UK would call a thorough hand over and none set off with sun shares erected in the midday sun.

    Although they did appear to provide basic pub garden type shades (on most boats) none were handed over erected in what at the time was over 35 degree heat in blazing sunshine.

    We know from our handover at the same base it wasn't the best.

    Could be unfair I suppose 😏 

  19. 2 hours ago, Mouldy said:

    Been there, done that many times, but further south.  I think, on reflection, the Gorge du Tarn region was my favourite and maybe we’ll go again one day, but we’re very happy with Norfolk and The Broads.

    We are doing it the opposite way round 😀

    Done the Broads, done boat ownership and now travelling with the van while we are fit and healthy enough to put in the miles.

    No doubt we will settle back with a boat when we are done travelling and have more time on our hands!

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