.png.5ff10cca1d0967e44a17e4a2edde2a80.png)
Coryton
-
Posts
397 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
2
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Articles
Posts posted by Coryton
-
-
40 minutes ago, andyg said:
Reading between the lines of the latest interview from Greg munford, I wonder just how much control the family still have over the company and its day to day running. He also confirms more luxury boats are in the pipeline and the Stalham fleet will consist of 207 boats for 2022. It also confirms what I thought and the move away from boats for all budgets and re alignment to more up market smaller fleet. This could be good news for the likes of bridgecraft who offer boats at the lower end of hire tariffs.
But - if our recent hire was typical of them, and I think it was - in good condition and very well turned out.
-
1
-
-
9 minutes ago, Captain said:
I am thinking Bridgecraft maybe a possibility for a cruise on the North, the boats and yard appear to get good reviews and they haven't pushed their prices up to silly levels. My only concern is that the boats appear to be old school in their interiors I appreciate the immaculate outside however they seem to have an awful lot of Vinyl flooring and even vinyl berths brings back memories of cold out of season berths or hot and sticky berths in the summer. Are all their boats like that or just some or certain berths.
Thanks Neil
On our recent hire with them we were very impressed with the company. The boat was as you describe - looked like vinyl flooring and indeed berths. The beds could have been more comfortable but it didn't seem too cold even though the weather got a bit chilly. The heating was most effective.
-
1
-
-
1 hour ago, andyg said:
Different thing Andrew, very few day boats head to acle or stokesby. Maybe the odd one from bridgecraft. Everyone and the kitchen sink heads to Horning simple as that unfortunately.
On our last visit we went from Acle to Wroxham on a rather breezy day. They must have kept the day boats in during the morning because of the weather then at some point decided it was OK, because we suddenly hit a wall of day boats heading South...
-
14 minutes ago, andyg said:
I seem to remember one of the forth Bridge class, took some heavy damage to one of its stern corners. They done a temp repair and that's gonna have to have some serious repairs.
This, perhaps:
-
6 minutes ago, Smoggy said:
Of course theres no weight to a boat as it will move with a slight push, but 6 ton of momentum against a solid stone edge (or another 6 ton boat) will do some horrific injuries.
You can easily see why canals were such a great invention when moving a cruiser along on the ropes.
-
7 minutes ago, Graham47 said:
They lift all their boats out one by one end of the season. They post the work done on each craft on their website. It is amazing how thorough they are and to see all the damage and repairs / updates that they carry out ready for the next season.
Fascinating. I'll have to wait for the one we were on to come out then.
I thought it was in very good condition, particularly considering it will have been on the go all season.
-
Before hiring this year I was a good boy and watched all the Broads safety videos.
I'm pretty sure at some point they mentioned that it is a Bad Idea to sit with your legs on the outside of a moving boat.
In any case it doesn't sound like a very good idea to me.
So maybe photos of boats for hire shouldn't show someone doing just that?
I think there might also have been something in the videos suggesting that life jackets are a good idea when on the deck of a moving boat.
-
1
-
-
2 hours ago, Broads01 said:
The Bridgecraft Facebook page is interesting through the winter as they show each boat as they take it into the shed (and sort out the numerous damage that's been inflicted during the season).
https://www.facebook.com/464031777030041/posts/4058187377614445/
That's really interesting. The Tay Bridge followed us down on the way to Acle to hand back the boat.
-
1
-
-
26 minutes ago, SwanR said:
. The yacht station is of course closed so no boats about.
When we were there the week before last there were very few boats in the yacht station. I was a bit surprised given that everyone seemed to have all their boats out.
I presume everybody was clogging up the Northern Broads (as we were later in the week).
-
1
-
-
7 minutes ago, Heron said:
I cannot imagine why anyone in the UK would buy one of these!
We had one of those overtake us last week.
They do look rather odd, but I suppose they do the job.
-
Just now, andyg said:
There boats still looked very smart considering the busy season they have had.
Absolutely.
I'd walk past a row of boats looking rather the worse for wear then think that the next one looked pretty **** and span. Then realise that it was ours.
-
2
-
1
-
-
46 minutes ago, andyg said:
If your a small family yard and the boats are still set up to hire,why not. Im sure ppl that would hire this time of the year are fully aware of what there getting into. That said winter months are generally warmer nowadays. I've just had a cuppa in my garden and was just thinking I'd be quite happy to be afloat at the mo. I had my first dealings with bridgecraft this week making an inquiry and have to say I was very impressed with how helpful the guy was. I could here lots of sanding and banging going on in the background so clearly busy. We are going to be spending a few weeks afloat next year ( covid has put us off flying ) so I'm 90% sure il be giving them ago.
I was very impressed with Bridgecraft on our recent hire - they seem to be a very friendly lot.
I expect after the season they've just had they will have a busy winter, though there wasn't anything obviously wrong with our boat apart from a rather stiff throttle.
-
6 hours ago, andyg said:
I knew they did winter cruising I just thought it would be guys fishing. But these were families with young..bit to chilly for me but good to see.
I don't suppose it's much colder than it was last week, and we certainly weren't too cold then.
-
15 hours ago, Mouldy said:
Im no expert, but heaters use a lot of power when firing up. It may be that on the occasion that it didn’t start, the batteries were not quite up to the capacity required, maybe as the result of a short cruising day or that other appliances or lights had been used to use reduce what was available when you moored up.
Yes that all makes sense. But based on engine hours and what we ran from the batteries, they shouldn't have been lower at that point than others when we ran the heating.
Unless we left the inverter on by mistake maybe.
And we didn't have any neighbours to notice or complain about a little light engine running....
-
5 minutes ago, Broads01 said:
No, neither of the Forth Bridges have a stern door. I've hired Soprano in the past which does have a stern door. It was a mixed blessing though because whilst it was useful for stern moorings, it was a big old climb up to the stern deck from the door well. The stern cabin was nowhere near as nice as Forth Bridge 2.
Ah apologies for the confusion - I'd somehow got it into my head that the Forth Bridge 1 was a Mk II Lowliner. I did like the stern cabin we had.
-
On 31/10/2021 at 19:15, Mouldy said:
Hmmm. I’d suggest that the yard were being over cautious. If the batteries are Kerry Packered, then the heating probably won’t fire up, but if they’re in good shape, it should fire without issues. The batteries are expensive and the yards will probably try to squeeze every last amp out of them before they’re replaced, so my assumption is that if they tell everyone to run their engines to make the heating work, they’re covering the backsides. Not only that, but the hirer will be burning more diesel to reduce their rebate at the end of the holiday.
Interesting. Previously we've been told to run the engine before putting the heating on. On our hire last week, there was no mention of this, so we just put the heating on when we wanted it and it worked fine.
Except once when it just flashed a little green light at us. So I tried putting the engine in neutral and this time the heating came on. Not sure what was going on because we seemed to have plenty of battery left.
On 31/10/2021 at 22:01, DAVIDH said:Either Forth Bridge 1 or 2 would be good. I chose 1 because it accommodates six as opposed to seven people, and therefore might give a little more space.
I'm just back from 4 days on Forth Bridge 2, and in a strange coincidence thie evening I've been comparing the interiors of the Lowliner Mk 1 and Mk 2 (Forth Bridge 2 and 1 respectively) from a boat yard on the Thames with some nice "VR" walkrounds on their web site.
So far as I can see, the saloon space is exactly the same in both designs. If the Forth Bridge 1 is like the one I was just looking at, the extra capacity comes from replacing the dressing table in the rear cabin with an extra single bed.
The Forth Bridge 1 gives you a rear door which avoids the need to climb around the boat at a stern-on mooring. On the other hand, the lack of a door gives you the nice diagonal bed that the Forth Bridge 2 has, and more storage space in the rear cabin. Apart from getting our luggage on and off the lack of a door wasn't really a problem, but it would be for some people I'm sure.
The bed was....OK, though I have to say I don't think I've ever enjoyed my bed at home as much as getting back from the boat. Various reviewers mentioned problems with the boat none of which were apparent to us, and it was in very good condition inside especially considering it's the end of a very busy season.
I'd happily hire a Forth Bridge again, though I would take a Diamond 43 over it any day - in almost every way the design is a great improvement (separate shower, opening canopies, both helms central, a bit more length so you get an extra proper cabin rather than quarterberth, the canopy doesn't get in the way of the wheel when down). The only thing that I'd say is better about the Forth Bridge design is that you can lift the 'hatch' to the upper helm without it blocking the view from the person at the helm. And the fact that it was actually available when we booked a replacement for our lost summer holiday. (Shame there's only 3 Diamond 43's for hire....and if I had the money and the time for it I'd be looking to buy a share in Thunder or Lightning when one came up).
Happy to answer any questions about the Forth Bridge 2...
-
9 hours ago, marshman said:
Swimming steps - cannot help you!
But for flags try this lot
https://www.flags.co.uk/boat-flags/
I think they make proper flags from approved material - not flimsy printed ones
Looking at their web site you can choose between printed and sown flags.
-
1
-
-
1 hour ago, andyg said:
I noticed bridgecraft boats and clives. I sat at acle last Saturday watching all bridgecraft boats come back in. That's some juggling act fitting all them boats in. I hadn't realised they had so many. What was obvious to me hardly any of there boats had black scuffs on the hulls. Now either all there hirer's are expert helmsman or they clean the hulls on turnaround. Something most yards don't do anymore. Always a good sign in my opinion, hate it when I pick a boat up and it looks like it's been sitting in an oil slick.
I was told they had 20 boats (if I remember correctly).
I can assure you that their hirers are not expert helmsmen because they've hired a boat to us.
To be honest when we hired on the Broads before and the boat was looking less than immaculate it didn't bother me. It was quite reassuring in a way because any extra scuffs we picked up wouldn't show.
58 minutes ago, grendel said:I have seen the yard staff there going round the hull in a dinghy cleaning down to the waterline.
But not below? I don't know....standards these days.....
-
2
-
-
1 hour ago, Mouldy said:
I saw a photo show just 7’3” at Ludham yesterday. That will restrict quite a lot of their fleet, even allowing for the discrepancy between advertised and actual clearance. This being half term week for many, will impact a lot of hirers.
From what I've seen the boat yards still have every boat they have out - so can half term be any busier with hire boats?
-
16 minutes ago, CambridgeCabby said:
n locally produced products , albeit sadly at a monetary price but the price to our planet in the long run by not doing so is far greater .
I think it says something about our society that supermarkets work very hard so that we have the same fresh food all the year round, and then we have artificially "seasonal" food like Cadbury's cream eggs.
-
4 hours ago, FairTmiddlin said:
And the good old Ministry of Ag, fish and food for the idea that, because it worked in the USA and Mexico. It would be good to introduce Myxomatosis into the UK. Thence decimating the food larder, of just about every person living in the country. We went from hunting them with a 4-10, to hunting them with a spade.
Interesting.
My understanding was that it was deliberately introduced to France by an estate owner and then spread across Europe - almost certainly with some help. But the government's role was a futile attempt to prevent the spread.
See this for example.
-
1
-
-
19 minutes ago, grendel said:
The majority of work will be left to the winter maintenance, as we are hiring at the end of a busy season, you can expect issues to develop, so probably by this time of the year maintenance is reactive.
Fair point - not much time to do maintenance while a boat is being turned round.
And I'm sure if they can have the boat out every day in the season they will.
-
1 hour ago, Mouldy said:
From my point of view, the issues with the gearbox, loss of steering (especially at Reedham), combined with the boat taking on water due to an issue with a toilet, would almost certainly put a novice crew off boating for good and would have caused a degree of panic even to folk who’ve holidayed on The Broads before. Those issues, coupled with running out of gas completely on one boat and only having a part bottle on the other indicate a lack of maintenance and/or handover checks.
The Broads are advertised as being a relaxing holiday afloat, which with these issues to most people, certainly would not have been. Although they were dealt with, should so many have occurred over a week to one party? A very poor advert for the boatyard imho.
It does sound like a lot!
Our incident on the Broads last year where we completely lost steering near the start of our two weeks certainly didn't put us off boating. (Then again we weren't complete novices - it was our second go at hiring a cruiser).
It was dealt with (out of office hours) quite promptly, though it did require the engineer to commandeer another boat to get out to us.
It was all a bit of an adventure really. The only other thing that went wrong was the spring on the engine cooling fillter cap going sproing into the bilges and that was worth it for the chance to visit the Sandersons building where a replacement was found for us.
If we'd had even more things go wrong I don't think it would have put us off boating, but it might have made us consider a different boat yard next time.
(On the other hand we really liked the Beam of Light and there aren't many other Diamond 43's available to hire).
-
1
-
-
2 minutes ago, Andrewcook said:
Hi all just to say the Boat just got Under Wroxham Bridge Monday as it 7 air draught the Wroxham Pilot say's must get back to Wroxham Bridge by Tuesday midday to back under Wroxham Bridge to continue back traveling through Horning please beware the New Inn is now Closed going Under New ownership from November 2921 .
OK somebody has to say it.
2921 is a long wait.....
-
2
-
Armistice Day
in The Broadscot Lounge
Posted
From my local bus company (admittedly last year):