minor2011

I generally find them to be a bit of fun. Most are just looking to have a good time & include others in that. Last year whilst moored up on a wild mooring on the ant we had a stag crew come alongside shouting "prepare to be boarded you scurvy dogs" I pointed out their boat was called pink champaign & we were never going to surrender to gay pirates after a good laugh they threw us a couple of cans of lager & were on their way. I find just have fun & treat them with respect & they'll return the favor

That's the one. Looks different to whenever I see it though. There's no boat there lol

Yes I think it is a fair charge for their (the rangers) service. But since it is us hireboaters that are more likely to need assistance than owners maybe the charge should be levied at hire boats only with the bill going to the hire yard for the customer to pay at the end of the holiday or for the yard to pay for them.

We must be lucky then. The worst thing that's happened to us on a wild mooring is to wake up & find the boat covered in leaves & have to spend an hour cleaning the boat before setting off.

You need to build some more of these for your moonfleet base Clive. We wanted one for our May 2014 holiday using the vouchers captain scarlet won for us for your 2014 brochure . But they're so popular they're already booked and your main Richos fleet don't allow dogs ( can't go on the boat without the captain )

I think the difference between the 2 forums is that the others take everything too serious. Ok the bingo may have been a little too much for some, but for gods sake was there any need to contact just about everyone except richardsons to complain or even go so far as to suggest legal action if they were hit by a richardsons boat. At least it's got Clive some good web exposure & I suspect you'd bee able to get some advertising revenue off your web hits stats from the last few days Clive. Lol Part of me thinks Clive did it on purpose to get all the attention for a while

If I remember correctly wasn't there a post a while ago on either here or the other forum re:a fisherman who was putting poisoned bait down for these little guys. One would hope that this practice had stopped or the guy caught. But by the look of this photo maybe not. God I hope I'm wrong, but if not then maybe it's time to start poisoning fishermen friends in the hope of catching the culprit

Can't wait to see the new brochure then get some lovely pictures of captain scarlet on moon discovery. Is she available for may?

I'm a little confused as you say you've hired Platinum Emblem, not hired her but seen her in July & she looks fantastic, but you talk about not wanting to go to Oulton because of the dog. I'm confused because Platinum is not a pet friendly boat unless anything has changed. I would agree about using the pontoons at Oulton if u want to go there, our dog loves running round the park there & the pontoons certainly make it easier to get her on & off the boat.

I think she has an airdraft of 8ft 6" so it would be very close at st Olaves, if it were me I would go via new cut. Plus you get the added advantage of a quick stop off at Reedham that way

I'll agree as I've seen her on the southern broads. Might have to time things just right @ Yarmouth though & I'd very much doubt she'll go under st Olaves so you'll problem have to go round via new cut if you want to go to Oulton

Clive will any of the new craft be dog friendly? Im thinking more about hiring moon discovery & using the vouchers that we won from the photo of our dog scarlet for next years brochure

Just remember Robin it will be tight under st Olaves other than at low tide, same at sommerleyton but at least that bridge will swing.

I've hired siesta (sister boat from richardsons stalham) so I know she is a very responsive craft, maybe a little cramped in the galley and toilet compared to other boats but she will be perfect for single handed cruising. One tip Robin keep the rear doors open so they don't get in the way when youre in the rush to get ashore to tie up. You will love the Chet it's my favourite better than the Ant as its much quieter. With your high commanding position on Mystic you will have a better view over the reeds to see what may be coming the other way. I normally travel the Chet at about 2mph just to take in the atmosphere of this magical place. While your down south I'd suggest a trip to Oulton Broad the Waveney is our favourite pub on the broads the food while not being the best we've had on the broads is constantly good, where other pubs (I won't name them) have either been fantastic or over priced rubbish so you can't be certain which it'll be when you visit.

Ah Now that's more sensible though not as much fun lol

That would be good for us boaters but I fear some train passengers may get wet

That is one of the problems I was on about John... Not your fault as the boat was like that when you bought her but, why are boats being fitted with electric hungry devices when they clearly don't have the power to support them on their own. Being on a boat in a way is like going camping on the water. When have you seen a camper erect a large satellite dish & start breaking out games consoles. I agree with the chicken & the egg simily, since we have started as a nation putting in more charging points for electric cars we have seen an increase in the range of electric vehicles on our roads. Now, imagine the uproar if a camper van pulled into one & plugged in simply because they wanted to use the microwave. I used a boat (superior light) which had shore power, but never once felt the need to use it. On a side note me & my wife recently used an electric day boat on Windermere & have to say it was far more pleasant than using a diesel boat much more quiet with no vibration or smelly exhaust & it provided just as much propulsion as the diesel version that others hired. I couldn't believe some people's reaction when they were offered an electric boat " oh god no we'd rather have a diesel boat please"

The Peace & quiet would soon be broken, not by the engines by the arguements that would no doubt break out when an electric boat needed the post to charge up & a diesel gin palace refused to move cause they needed the electric post to run the TV Playstation microwave & hair dryer simultaneously. If we are to ever see a wider usage of electric boats then there needs to be a clearly define set of rules on their usage by BA i.e, electrically propelled craft have priority or a seperate set of charging only posts which are locked with only electric boats having keys.

One thing that has been pointed out is that it doesn't have any windscreen wipers. Is this just an oversight?

Bleak for LeBoat is an understatement if what a former engineer told me. His comment was that himself & others had recently left LeBoat as the company was seriously considering pulling out of the Broads if business didn't pick up dramatically this year.

I think there are think there are a lot of factors which have combined to make the situation worse. There is the financial situation at the moment but this isn't affecting the canals or the Caledonian canal/lochs As was pointed out to me by a first timer to the broads, there just isn't enough infrastructure around to support the holiday makers. On the canals small things like water are much more readily available without someone asking to pay extra. There are more shower facilities without extra charge. The pubs wouldn't thinking of asking you to pay to moor up even if the money is refundable off a meal. Not so much on the Caledonian canal but there are more places to moor. I did point out to him the plus points of the broads ie no locks lower prices. But his comment was that he felt the extra he paid for a narrow boat was worth it. Another problem, when we arrived in Yarmouth (IN MAY) all the "touristy" shops were closing at "4" even the pier chippy was closed by 5. So unless you wanted to go to an amusement arcade or a bog standard high street you were out of luck for things to do. What a put off for a young family first time on the broads "come on kids lets go to yarmouth" kids, " yay" parents, "sorry kids it's closed. Let's go sit on the boat" The other off putting thing is the prices some business are charging for thing to make ends meet. One example a coffee shop in Reedham 3 coffees & 3 slices of cake £14. Now that's higher than Starbucks. How can you justify that when your boat is less than 5 mins walk away with tea/coffee making facilities on board. A drastic re-think is needed IMHO if we are to attract more people to the broads & arrest this decline. On the point of the discount website that still can't get the boats let, well look at this, smallest boat Moorhen, even with the heavy discount it is still more expensive than LBBY or Whispering Reeds without 30% discount for the same basic type of craft ' that's just one example. Even HW who like Richardsons are quite keenly priced, one member of staff admitted he thought they had got the step price change between bands wrong, mid May 70 boats out. One week later & in the next price band 25 boats out & most of their repeat business that usually comes the later week had chosen the earlier week for the same reason as us. Almost £400 pounds difference in the space of a week. Now that's too much.

Yes you could do that speed, but isn't it false economy as the money you save on diesel will just go on bus or taxi fare? As for spending 2 days of your holiday going North to South & back again, I don't see it as any time wasted especially if it's your first time ont the broads as you are still relaxing at the helm exploring & enjoying the views. The only downside is the stretch between Stracey & Yarmouth possibly the most blandest views & boring stretches of river on the broads. Still if your going with the tide it doesn't take long.

You can still hit from the north & then travel to the southern side, we have done this the last couple of years. This also enables you to stop off @ Yarmouth, plenty there for the kids to do. You then have the best of both worlds the North where there are more things to do & then the quieter southern side where you can relax a bit more. Just check you tide tables to make sure you are going with the tide not against it, this will keep your fuel usage down. For yards look at Richardsons or Herbert Woods better value & still good quality IMO.

How about a sliding patio door at the rear to let lots of light into the rear cabin & also provide easier access to those less abled. A more radical idea would be curved sliding doors on each side (similar to those you get in the alpha highliner shower but with less of a curve) they could follow the contours of the boat. Or maybe just on one side with a curved glass panel on the other. Make them tinted to make them more aesthetically pleasing with the steps by the "false door" leading upto the flybridge. Kind of moving on & refining the faircraft idea. I'm not a designer so apologies if my idea is totally rubbish

Just interested in what people think of Herbert Woods boat of the week promotion on their Facebook page