Cal

There were only the two of us onboard so we didn't really use the second middle bedroom other than for storage and the OH used that as his shower room so we didn't really find it a tight fit.

Sir?

Look on the bright side. Things can only get better, including the weather!

If you are not slightly embarrassed by your first offer then it isn't low enough.

We hired an Alpha 35 centre cockpit last time and have to say it was our favourite Broads boat that we have hired so far. We had Viscount from Richardson's yard with the aft saloon layout. Have to say that she felt a much bigger boat than she really is inside. The layout really does make the most over every inch of the 35ft length. We will be interested to compare the interior space of Viscount to Swan Ranger which we are hiring this year as they are based on the same hull.

Brexit has been rolling on for several years now. It hasn't seen a significant decrease in numbers of over seas visitors for the last couple of years.

Is it not just a case that the school holidays have not started on 6th July? What are the boat booking numbers for the weeks after when the school holidays have started? As an example we have booked a lodge in Cornwall for a week starting on the 6th July. The following week on the Saturday that we leave the price of the lodge doubles for the same hire time period due to the start of the school summer holidays. It is booked throughout the summer period solidly!

The Silverline boats always appear to be really well turned out. But unfortunately for us, all of their boats that we would like to hire are pet free which means that we can't really hire from them as for us being on holiday involves Sydney our little dog.

They get easier to use as the fender ropes wear a little.

We clearly have not been often enough We plan to see as much as possible again during our week later in the year in October. Despite the shorter hours we will still see a lot of the Broads both North and South.

We have met folks from all over the world on our visits to the Broads. They are usually having a good time. One set that stick vividly in the memory were a group of Swedish, two couples who we met when moored at Stokesby Ferry. They had been in an accident (not their fault) on the moorings and asked for some assistance with filling in the accident form. Their spoken english was very good but they were struggling a little with the written english. We helped them, had a few drinks onboard with them and then carried on in the pub later on. We were not at our best the next morning to say the least!! The Caledonian Canal also seems to attract a lot of foreign boat crews both on hire boats and their own boats. We enjoyed the cruising up there.

We may have perhaps been lucky but we have not had a pin come out yet! You know what will happen this weekend now

I have to ask. How could they not cope with them? They are the easiest thing ever. Brilliant invention.

We have the type of clip that hook on the bow rails. Have used them for about ten years now. We love them. They make easy work of adjusting the fender height and taking the fenders off. They do wear over time with use. We always carry a spare set of clips. We tend to get about five years out of a set before they wear too much and either start slipping on the fender rope or unclipping too easily off of the rails.

We have hired from most of the yards on the Northern Broads over the years and our yard of choice now is Richardson's. You will get an exceptionally clean interior to the boat at a very competitive price. Depending on the time if year that you hire, towards the back end of the year the exteriors of the boats can get a bit scuffed and scruffy but that is just the wear and tear of a season on hire.

Sir?

Tried the Cadac out on Saturday evening and have to say that it cooked really well. We were very impressed with it. Cleaning was fairly straight forward. We used the BBQ grill rather than the hot plate which I think would have been easier to clean. But never the less it only took a few minutes to get it cleaned and packed away again.

Fully agree with this. We enjoy a drink or two while we are cruising down the rivers and have no intention of stopping doing so. There is a massive difference between being sensible and having a couple of drinks while enjoying watching the world go by and getting completely wasted and not being in control of the boat. The Broads is far better "policed" than most other waterways and we have seen the rangers flagging down boats where they believe the skipper is behaving dangerously due to drink. In the 12 years that we have been cruising the inland waterways the Broads is the only place where we have seen designated waterways authority rangers. We have never seen them on our home waters. Whatever you do though there are always going to be idiots about. You can't legislate for idiots.

Of course everyone messes up at some point. The difference that experience brings though is knowing that something has gone amiss and that you have got it wrong and either aborting the attempt or doing something to put it right rather then just ploughing on regardless!

I think you are very much right that style of boat is very much personal choice. This year we have gone for Swan Ranger a taller flybridge style boat. Last time we had Viscount a centre cockpit boat and we appreciated the higher outlook over the reeds and flood banks which is partly why we have gone for a taller boat again this time. We have previously had the low level tubs with Brink of Joy (similar to Sonnet) and Evening Light which enabled us to go to the quieter sections of the rivers beneath the lower bridges. Our first holiday on the Broads was in an aft cockpit boat on Brinks Breakaway. This really wasn't the best boat for a week on the Broads. In fact they only hire them out as day boats now but we enjoyed it none the less and it started a ongoing passion for the Broads and brought about years later the purchase of our own aft cockpit cruiser a Sealine S23, Naughty-Cal. This was Breakaway outside the Reedham Ferry on our first Broads holiday. More recently we have hired a sedan cruiser in Brittany, a Broom 29 the same as Brinks Duet and Mystic Horizon/Siesta. These boats certainly make an excellent choice out of season as you are very sheltered in the wheelhouse. So over the years we have hired pretty much all of the boat styles on offer. They all have their pros and cons. But for us now we really enjoy the extra scenery that you enjoy from the taller boats, which does mean that we forego some of the prettier sections of river.

We usually take our own boat to the Broads but this year due to other commitments and moving house wasting a lot of holiday days we are hiring down there in October instead. We always find it interesting to see how folks react differently too us when we are on a hire boat rather than our own boat. Regardless of if we are on our own boat or a hire boat we always treat them with the same respect and the same goes for the boats around us. It doesn't matter to us if they are hire boats or private boats we make the same efforts to make sure we do not hit them or cause them any inconvenience.

We have in the past bought a few write offs (and cars from clients that were going to be written off if they had claimed on their insurance) and repaired them and sold them on. We usually did quite well out of them. It is too much hassle now though and not worth the effort. The insurers and salvage yards want too much money for them and it doesn't make the job worthwhile. As a good example of this a chap has taken a written off Range Rover Evoque to the garage for repair. They have bought it for £9k. By the time he has done paying for body panels, suspension parts, labour, repairs and paint it will cost him well over £13k to get the car back on the road. There are examples for sale of the same year that have less miles and have not been written off starting at £10k. It just doesn't make sense.

We are going to try ours out this weekend. Not on the boat unfortunately as we have got a few jobs to sort out on the new house so we are going to fire it up in the garden to try it out before we take it to Cornwall in a couple of weeks time. Will let you know how we get on.

The OH is a panel beater. He refuses to buy cars that have been written off. They have been written off for a reason. They have changed the write off codes nowadays. What was a C is now a S.

There are also two different versions, a high pressure and a low pressure. I wonder if you had the low pressure version?