NBYCo2124

I have only one NBYC badge left. We had loads in the NBYC office in Wroxham for the hirers They were made by W Reeves and Co, Birmingham, which according to an internet search no longer exist. I remember the Windboat enamel penants, as my mother worked for Trevor James after we sold NBYC, and I think we had one, but that was years ago, and many moves.

There is an advert on Apolloduck for a Windboat saying it was owned by George Formby as a Lady Beryl: https://www.apolloduck.co.uk/boat/motor-boats-classic-for-sale/648306 Barry, rather sadly I noticed Lady Christine is for sale too: https://www.apolloduck.co.uk/boat/windboats-fairwind-for-sale/655608

Love the picture of Sally. This is while she was in the NBYC hire fleet before my father added the bowsprit and extended the stern. She was a pretty boat in original form, and sailed well. popular with hirers. I haven't seen this picture before. Thank you

Dear Griff Thank you so much. I had better get my skates on, as a lot of work to produce a bow emblem. I saw a houseboat for sale either on Apolloduck or ebay, and she was advertised as a former Broads boat. She had a Bourne hull, either 35 or 40 ft, I can't remember which, and can't find the advert now. I think she was moored on the Thames. Looking carefully at the pictures she had a bow emblem that had been painted over in white. The emblem looked as if the boat was either a Jack Powles or an Ernest Collins cruiser originally. I have attached a picture of President around 1974/75 showing the bow emblem, which was painted on. Regards Robert

Griff, I see that you have sourced and fitted a Powles Bow Emblem for Broad Ambition. If new where did you get it made? President had a painted emblem on her stem originally, and I would like to replicate this but in alloy. My Internet searches have proved unsuccessful so far? I don't know whether useful to others, but we had a peculiar engine cooling issue with President which was initially diagnosed as weed fouling the filter, as the french canal she was on was full of weed, but it turned out the exhaust hose has delaminated inside, and acted as a block inside the exhaust pipe. The delamination became worse during the 200km trip to her new base in St Jean de Losne, culminating in no water emanating from the exhaust on the stern. Initially the water was fine from the exhaust. The whole system was checked from seacock, pipes, impeller to the aft of the heat exchanger. Engine is a Beta 43. We believe that when the engine was changed to the Beta around 5 years ago, that the exhaust pipe may not have been changed. I read your article on here about changing the prop and what a difference this made to Broad Ambition, so will source a 4 bladed prop, as our boat hulls are very similar (President is a Bourne 40 hull) , although will do the calcs to get the right prop. Currently she has her original 3 bladed prop, but also with the engine change the old Borg Warner Velvet Drive was junked with the Thornycroft 2.5!!! (2 owners ago) and a twin disc gearbox was fitted, but with a different ratio, so the boat currently wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. Upon arrival at the boat, there was curious damage to her starboard side at the rear flank, the side that was moored to the quay: The mooring cleat had been ripped off the deck, and the stanchions were bent/contorted. It turns out the canal was frozen and a large commercial boat was making passage through the ice (20mm thick apparently). President was pushed by the ice and water forward, but as she was moored securely, she heeled over to starboard, bent the stanchions from hitting the quay, and the mooring cleat was ripped out of the deck. I am pretty sure the stern gear has been affected too, as the steering on the passage apparently was less than good. Anyway, a huge thank you from me to all those who post invaluable information on this incredible resource; Norfolk Broads Network. Regards Robert

Another excellent insightful post. Thank you Vaughan. On the topic of President, Thank you for suggesting H2O, they have been excellent, and I will be taking President to them when I can. Regards Robert

I have just been watching their promotional video, and the interior layout reminds me of the Beaver Fleet boat, which I can't remember the name of. Must have been the late 70's and some found their way to the French Canals, I think. An azimuth drive in hirers hands, as you say Interesting. Wouldn't be my choice for a hire boat. The old design rule: KISS - Keep it simple stupid!!!! seems to have been forgotten.

I am a fan of good design, as it always pays off in the end. Andy has designed some great boats that work really well for their intended use. Of course implementing the design into reality is also key to the vessels success. Do the hire operators still run these boats? They certainly tick the boxes I would want in a hire boat, and look good too, no "interesting windows" that some of the hire boats seem to have!!!! How do they compare to the new boxy Le Boat offerings, which seem to be well designed inside and the superstructure, but the hulls resemble a barge? I can't image they are hydro-dynamically efficient?

Really interesting, thank you all for these insightful comments. Regards Robert

Aquafibre 42 Mk1 Did the Richardsons AF 42s Mk1's have a 6 cylinder diesel originally? If so does anybody know why, were they any good, and what make were they? I think they were fitted to the larger vessels in the fleet too, but I remember the AF 42s At the time they made a very distinctive exhaust note.

Dear Liz, Thanks for your post. I didn't realise the NBYC fleet moved from Wroxham to Horning. I do remember the interesting red lines painted on the hulls which we thought made them look like they were sponsored by cigarette companies. I wasn't a fan of this branding. We had a holiday on Ambassador (around 1971) just before we completed on the purchase of the yard, which I can still remember especially the flexible door between forward cabin and main cabin. On Envoy, my funniest memory was getting my lifejacket twine caught in the steering wheel while I was balancing on a stool helming. My father was doing something else on the boat, and I went straight into the muddy bank on a bend. The funny thing was my father pushing the boat off the bank, as she was quite wedged; the bank was quite low; a bourne 35 hull is pretty high at the bow; him giving instructions to put the boat into reverse, and finally he just made it hauling himself onboard. I think he helmed the rest of the trip! Happy memories. Regards Robert

Wow, so much making sense now. I was travelling with Pat Larner's son Chris? You were a saviour offering us a bed and supper. I think by this point we were down to the last of our cash and heading back to Norfolk! Reg Parsons had that twin engined Freeman 30, and there was another boat that was used to move Madie between venues before the Freeman? Regards Robert

Dear Liz, Thank you for the link to Richard's Cancer donation page. Its the first time I have seen this. In fact I saw President for sale on Apolloduck in the summer 2018, and immediately rang the contact number as I knew it was President, despite her name change. However, the vendor had just sold President to Richard. I missed her by a matter of hours. The vendor passed my contact details to Richard and we had many conversations about President, and his voyage. I was very fortunate that I was offered President to buy from Richard's Estate. I am sorry, after my parents sold NBYC, my involvement with the yard became much less, despite them both staying on for a while after the purchase. Therefore my knowledge and interest waned, and I moved from Norfolk in the Summer of 1983. My interest in the Broads remains with me, and I am thrilled to own President now. Regards Robert

Hi Neil, Thank you, she is looking rather sad. I have attached a photo of another AF42 in the colour I mentioned that I took in 2017 whilst cruising down the Thames. This was at East Molesey. Regards Robert

Wow, good detective work. I remember the Faircraft 30ft boats as pretty scruffy, but that would have been when they were being sold. There are lots of Broom design details, like the central helm position and the windows. I was probably comparing them to a Viceroy at the time, which were really well looked after. The extra Viceroys, I don't know, but agree it is very strange. Will see whether my mother can remember. Robert