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Cal
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Posts posted by Cal
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5 minutes ago, SwanR said:
We’re seriously considering whether to book for next March now. This is the first year since 2012 that we won’t have hired but we had no desire to be out on such crowded rivers. Although if we did change our minds about looking at October then my plan would be to moor in the boatyards every night! 😂
We used to love hiring in October when the rivers were quieter. Never stayed in the hire yards!
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12 minutes ago, DAVIDH said:
Well the Broads won't get any busier than they are now - it's already sold out until late September (apart from the odd cancellation or 3 night weekend break)
Don't forget all of the new private boat owners as well as the hirers!
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27 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:
It was on the main tv news last that bookings for staycations are at an all time high, basically saying GB holidays - We are full!
imho this is good news for the home economy getting GB back on its feet
Griff
Absolutely agree with this.
Although sadly there are some people who are already complaining that places are too busy and we are not even into the summer holidays yet.
Scotland will be fed up of motorhomes by the time we get up there at the back end of September.
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On our boat which we used most of the time off grid but then was plugged in back at the marina when we went home the batteries lasted about 3 years. But that was with use off grid pretty much every weekend and four or five full weeks a year plus they were jolted around at sea which they don't tend to like.
After three years they started to show signs of loss of capacity so we replaced them before they let us down. Our old batteries we always gave away to other boaters and they usually went on to give another year or two or more of good service to them. But we preferred fresh batteries so that we knew that they wouldn't let us down.
I think our domestic battery on the motorhome will last a good deal longer than three years with it being fitted with a solar panel which keeps it topped up. The battery is almost always full even when we are off grid. It drops a little during the evening but by the time we are awake again at 8am it is charged up again.
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Excellent news.
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14 minutes ago, oldgregg said:
Where / when did you hear that WHS had sold out to LeBoat? I'm guessing if they have done so then getting the website shut down might not have been high on their list of priorities. It won't have been done in-house.
@Broads01 I think there is a plan for the two unfinished boats in the shed at Ricko's to be completed. I suspect you may see some other boats added to their fleet before that happens, though.
It was when we were up there in 2017 with Naughty-Cal.
Le Boat advertise the WHS boats for hire through their website and instead of shutting down the WHS website they advertise the Le Boat boats for hire through WHS website.
Strange way of going about it I agree.
I believe all of the boats operate out of the Le Boat hire base at Laggan.
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1 hour ago, oldgregg said:
Well if LeBoat have assumed control as you say, then they won't want to be running anything other than their core offering.
Also, those boats need to go somewhere they can get a bit of TLC and they won't be able to get that at Laggan.
They can't have sold the whole class of Braemore, Kingfisher and Curlew to Barnes as they still have some on the Le Boat and WHS websites for hire into next year. I just picked a random week next April and results returned all three classes of boats as available. Unless of course they have not updated the website yet!
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6 minutes ago, DAVIDH said:
Two "curious" additions to Hoseasons database this morning - both Richardsons boats - links below. They are both basically "Broadsman" type boats, but one is for four people, the other for two people. I say curious because the biggest demand for boats across the summer, is for 6+ berth family boats. They were put on the Hoseasons system overnight, and as yet don't appear on Richardson's own site. I guess the names won't stick either. They look to have been made up by one or other of the parties. Currently, there are no deck plans. Perhaps they don't exist as yet?
Richardsons Viking 31
https://www.hoseasons.co.uk/boat-holidays/richardsons-viking-31-bh2700
Richardsons Haynes 32
https://www.hoseasons.co.uk/boat-holidays/richardsons-haynes-32-bh2699Im guessing the pictures are library pictures on the Hoseasons site. NBS have a Viking 31 for sale (31 ft single level Alpha hull):
https://www.norfolkboatsales.co.uk/inventory/?post=5933
And a Haines 32 is a sedan style cruiser.
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8 minutes ago, oldgregg said:
Ah! I suspected we'd see some of those back here. Nice boats, shame there weren't more built for the Broads.
I think it's all about demand? There's lots of that at present...
You are right of course it is all about demand which has to make you wonder why Le Boat/WHS are selling them off. Surely there must be demand for the Caledonian as well?
We know from the motorhome groups that Scotland is a very popular place for people with vans to be visiting this year.
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8 hours ago, Broads01 said:
There's also a "Braemore" 34 foot dual steer there. I'll try and get a photo when we pass again on Friday.
It's odd as Barnes have sold a few older boats so why are they now buying ones of a similar age?
They will have to rename that one. They already have a Braemore in their fleet!!
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Ouch!!
Hope you get sorted soon.
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1 hour ago, oldgregg said:
I hadn't heard they'd taken the base over fully from WHS.
But yeah, when they were running LeBoat stuff before you could see why their own boats were not being listed on the website.
The LeBoat stuff was in noticeably better shape and was being given much more attention than the WHS boats (and that's back in 2007). They didn't have the facilities or staff to refurb boats on site, so 14 years in that climate won't have been kind to them.
No certainly not kind at all. We went on a few for drinks up while we were there and they were all very shabby. We certainly wouldn't have been happy had we hired any of them. I would have hoped that Barnes are going to give them a freshen up before hiring them out but that doesn't seem to be the case!!
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14 minutes ago, oldgregg said:
Well the picture they've used is of a Cygnet, but they've said it's called Kingfisher.
I'd imagine they're being added with the names they've got as the priority will surely be getting them into the fleet and on hire?
Will be interesting to see if any other WHS boats turn up in Hoveton...
Le Boat took over the WHS fleet a few years back. The WHS fleet looked very tired when we saw them a few years back when we took Naughty-Cal up that way. I'm surprised Barnes are buying them and putting them straight in the fleet. They looked ready for some major refurb work!!
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11 minutes ago, oldgregg said:
Well the picture they've used is of a Cygnet, but they've said it's called Kingfisher.
I'd imagine they're being added with the names they've got as the priority will surely be getting them into the fleet and on hire?
Will be interesting to see if any other WHS boats turn up in Hoveton...
Hadn't noticed that but you are right.
This one is a Kingfisher:
https://www.leboat.co.uk/boats/kingfisher-whs
Odd that Barnes have taken the Kingfishers on as they are very similar to the Ladymore Class that they already have which are for sale.
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Looks like Barnes have bought the Kingfisher class boats from the Caledonian as well. They have just appeared on their website.
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8 hours ago, CambridgeCabby said:
Would love to know more about “the curiosity” if anyone has further information , curious indeed
They sell them from York Marina
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8 minutes ago, Smoggy said:
I can see the glorious weather through an obscured workshop window, shut up will you.
That said the bank holiday was great and now I need to hide a bit till the red bits subside.
If you are lucky enough to be on a boat remember the uv comes from below as well on the water so you get twice as much.
That's reminded me of the first proper holiday we had on our old boat Naughty-Cal. It was a glorious sunny week and on the first day I sat up front on the bow with my bare feet dangling over the edge. An hour or so later the bottoms of my first were completely sun burnt
Had a couple of very uncomfortable days trying to walk on them before the burning subsided.
Lesson learned though. I never did it again!!
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Some of us are having to work through this glorious weather
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Looks like Barnes Brinkcraft have just bought the Curlew Class boats from Le Boat on the Caledonian Canal.
They are quite tall boats so are limited by bridges and won't pass under Yarmouth, Ludham, Wroxham or Potter Heigham so have quite a limited cruising range!
https://www.barnesbrinkcraft.co.uk/our-boats/detail/brinks-curlew-class/
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6 minutes ago, stumpy said:
AKA. - Nobs and Snobs 🙂
That's a bit unfair.
We always found it to be a very welcoming place. Always enjoyed a nice meal and a few drinks in there after a run down the coast from Boston or Hull.
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It will come good in the end. It's annoying but at least there is an end in sight and Richardson's are not being funny about changing the engine.
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1 hour ago, BroadAmbition said:
It may struggle with Ludham Bridge, however it sure is pleasing on the eye for a tupperware anyroadup
Griff
I agree not a bad looking boat. We were supposed to be hiring one on the Thames at Easter but that got cancelled due to Covid restrictions.
Would be a little bit too restrictive for us for hiring on the Broads though at 9ft air draft.
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14 hours ago, vanessan said:
I didn’t think hire boats had front ropes that long! Ours never used to.
Depends on the length of the boat.
On a shorter boat, if you are going to have bow mooring lines long enough to moor at Yarmouth then they are going to be long enough to reach the prop.
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Of course the weather will be better by then. We are out in the van for a few days
It is getting the rain in now while we are stuck at home and not going anywhere this weekend
I didn’t think hire boats had front ropes that long! Ours never used to.
Any New Hiring Boats 2021
in Broads Chat
Posted
We have hired an Alpha 31 before albeit an older one from Barnes, Joy when it was in the fleet. Now all sold into private hands.
They were nice easy boats to handle and had a view to the back of the boat from the helm to the back doors if you left the interior door into the bedroom open.
We did look at the Viking 31 when it was for sale at NBS. Lovely boat that appeared to be fitted out really well. I'm sure it will hire out really well given the very reasonable hire price. It will be interesting to see how the fit out stands up to hire use, same with the Haines 32s.