minor2011

I guess it's a sign of the Austerity that people don't like having to form out any more money than they used to, for example parking charges near me are going up by 10p next month ( the first rise in over 2 years ) & there is absolute outrage. People forget that with these government cuts councils & authorities having increasingly less money with which to run things. We don't always see the results of our "funds" but add it all up & at the end of the day we DO have a navigable system that wouldn't be there without money being spent.

Well it's obviously working for HW which is probably the reason why BB have followed this business model. To be honest at least in HW's case it's swings and roundabouts, although they are offering discounts via their second business you don't qualify for any loyalty discounts. So the yard doesn't lose too much in the longer term. Plus hiring via these last minute sites you don't get the full choice of boats, only what's left. The cost of setting up & running a second website is also minimal these days. I wonder how long it will be before others follow this new business model.

Remember though since going it alone as it were Herbert Woods have added some very attractive cruisers to their fleet. If business was that bad surely they wouldn't be able to afford to build new boats to such a high spec would they?

I mast be missing something here so please forgive me, but why don't the hire yards set up affiliate marketing themselves as hoeseasons does. This could open up a whole new customer base for them without relying on agents and wouldn't be too costly. For those who don't know, an affiliate site (like google Adwords but with Banners as per our site header) is where the company places a banner ad on someone else's website. Every time someone clicks on the ad & makes a booking the website owner is paid a set fee. This isn't too difficult to set up provides lots of extra traffic & most website owners would be happy at receiving ANY extra income. When I had my own website I had lots of affiliate sites & whilst my payment was only £10 per transaction, this soon added up to become 20% of my online revenue. Quite profitable for me & my affiliates.

We used Herbert Woods last year and were so impressed we have hired with them again this year. No offense Clive (the service we received from yourselves was first class) but your newer boats are priced considerably higher than HW. Also we have our four legged friend with us and all your newer craft don't allow dogs whereas HW and some of the other yards do have a selection of newer boats that do. We have hired Superior Light in May for only £870

Well done Robin. Now that's dedication

What are you talking about deltic? The pedestrians are just walking fast not been sped up. If you watch the swans you will see this is shot in normal time.

A quick server check shows this website was registered by John Butler Broads Haven Pottr Heigham So it is Herbert Woods second website

Hi again. Don't worry too much about the height of the boat, if your boat won't go through potter or Wroxham bridge you could always hire a day boat from the nearby boat yards to explore those sections of river. When looking at potter as has been pointed out, at times no boats are able to pass (except day boats). Remember as well that you will need a bridge pilot to take you through. It's worth checking with the boat yard before you book if they include the pilot fee otherwise it will cost you extra. I know Herbert Woods include the pilot fee for both Potter & Wroxham Also fair raft loynes include the fee for Wroxham (as they provide the bridge pilots). Richardsons will charge you for the pilots fees when you return your boat.

If you like the look of the more modern higher spec or bling boats as some people call them. Then you should deffinately check out Herbert Woods Elite class. They tend to be a more reasonable price when compared to some of the other yards. Look at royal light their newest cruiser, very nice.

Well me and the wife walked it last year with the dog. Now our dog loves to walk fast and has loads of energy, but by the time we got there even she was shattered. This year we took the train. Still took ages but at least we werent tired when we got there.

Be sure to stop at the New Inn horning, very nice pub good food and a children's area with arcade to kelp the "younger ones" happy. It is always a popular stop so it's worth phoning them and reserving a mooring. Gus is excellent & will be on hand to help you moor up

Sorry if I offend anyone but I was just wondering ( not being an owner myself ) would you prefer ( I use that term very lightly ) to be hit by a hire craft rather than a private cruiser. Hire craft are more easily identified & better chance of getting the damaged repaired?

Well I have done a weeks cruising in gliding light covering a fair few miles both north & south & due to a delay returning over breydon ( dog decided she wanted to follow a couple of ducks, lucky she had a life jacket on) we ended up crossing against the tide. I was very surprised to have only used £81 of fuel @ £1.40 per ltr. ( sorry hopeless @ maths ) I felt this was rather good considering siesta from richardsons last year cost just over £100 & she is a smaller craft

We did both but all the bumps were off the northern rivers, probably as stated because they are busier. I somehow don't see that as an excuse though as even at the busiest spots I never hit anything, well a slight push to part the bows of 2 hire craft @ ranworth who's bows had drifted together. But this was done @ very slow speed.

As promised here is my review of gliding light 1 from Herbert woods She is a dual helm 35 ft 6 berth cruiser built by fair craft loynes. There are 3 cabins, a double berth at the stern which is a good size and felt very roomy it is an en-suite shower/toilet , which is a cramped space & the location of the toilet against the bulkhead & partially under the gunwales does make sitting on the toilet a little uncomfortable. The bed is of ample size although the side by the bulkhead has slightly less legroom due to the design of the rear of the boat. The double bedroom midships is a much smaller room & is directly under the upper helm position so it does have reduced headroom over the bed, having said this my mother slept in this room & felt very comfortable in there. The bow cabin is 2 singles which can be made into a double, it is the second biggest room although the height of the beds was such that my mothe didn't feel comfortable climbing on & off so she used the mid cabin. There is a second shower/toilet just behind the forward cabin off the lounge area that is slightly bigger than the rear en-suite. The lounge area is very spacious and very comfortable with a fold out table that can be stowed completely out of the way in a compartment behind the lower helm position, this gives more space when not needed for dining etc. The kitchen is along the starboard side of the boat & stretches from behind the lower helm to the rear bedroom so there is ample work surfaces. There is no microwave but if you want one just ask Herbert woods who will be more than happy to supply one. The upper helm position has adequate seating area for four people with a flat area behind which could accommodate two sunbathers. Both upper & lower helm positions provide good views for navigating though the lower position does mist up quite badly in adverse weather, both helms have the same feel when driving so you don't have to adapt a different style of driving when changing between the two helms. I found the upper helm provided much better vies when stern on mooring ( as you would expect. Now the bad bits. As I mentioned the screens do mist up badly in adverse weather which makes visibility very tricky from the lower helm (at the time you are most likely to use it). The stern of the boat is very very low (just above the water line) which can make getting on & off tricky for the less well abled when stern on moored especially when the quay heading is quite high. This did cause some troubles for my mother & if she comes with us again means we wouldn't hire her ( for this reason only ) Lastly the engine is very noisy and showing signs of her age, very smokey across breydon & in the mornings & also breathing heavy. This appears to only be a problem on gliding light 1 as the sister craft & the ray of light sister boats didn't sound anywhere near as loud and didn't smoke at all. Hope this review is helpful for anyone wishing to hire her. I also found Herbert woods to be a very good company ver polite & very friendly, they seem to be doing very well & we were informed that this week EVERY boat is out on hire. So well done Herbert woods

We have just returned from a week on the broads & we were hit several times, but in each occasion it was a private cruiser that hit us. One was extremely hard. We weren't hit once by another hire craft. So bumping into things isn't just a problem with lack of hire training, both richardsons & Herbert woods gave very good training.

It's not just about the amount of training given though if someone is just going to think they know better then they will have bumps and accidents. Take life jackets for example. Not much training required to put one of those on & everyone is told to wear one for safety, but how many people think they know better and just leave them inside the boat. I'm afraid it's the society we live in today & the attitude of " I'll do what I want cause I know best" that is causing problems & not just on the broads

I'm sure I moored next to her last year I was in a siesta 8ft3 and they both looked the same height maybe princess was slightly lower but not as much as would make much difference.

I wonder if the Berney Arms will get any compensation for this, i expect they will lose a lot of trade with boats being unable to travel North-South and vice versa. They get a lot of trade from boats stopping off whilst waiting for the tide. This trade will be all but gone.

I'm with Jim get some dynamite and blow the bloody thing up. I know some will say it needs saving its part of our heritage but come on how is it restoring ut by putting wood underneath & lowering it. Also isn't there better things to fpemd money on like hospitals & schools. Went under it last year on ricco's Siesta (wonder if they'll make it through now) & the thing looked like nothing more than a hulk of scrap metal. You want a foot bridge between Asda & the town, then why not build a new one and make Asda pay for it. Oh and make it higher while you're at it.

we went from north to south and back again last year and still managed to have a relaxing time (although it was in may when there were more daylight hours). Obviously you have to be more selective over which parts of both areas you want to see as trying to do it all would make it too hurried. what we did was put in a LONG day of cruising to give us a more relaxed pace the rest of the weel. So much so that we even spent two nights on Oulton Broard. ( didn't want to miss the power boat racing. I suppose its all down to what you want to see and at what pace.. I must admit though its more relaxing down south as the north is much busier with boats taking up moorings, the idiots that couldn't navigate to save their lives and the obligatory crews.

actually you make a good point senator. When we moored up it was at slack water so its easy to forget that the current can be so strong.

Thought it might be good to have a topic where members could post their reviews and thoughts on boats that they have hired. Seen some reviews of boats on the forum but thought it would be easier to have them all in one topic. Let me start it off Siesta Richardsons This is a small Sedan type cruiser with berths for 3 people. The forward cabin has a large double bed which we found rather comfortable considering we were on a boat, there was ample cupboard space but not much room for moving around. (It is a bedroom though how much space do you need?) The living room and Galley are in the next room. the galley area we felt was very small and cramped but since we were eating out most nights this didn;t effect us much, however if you were planning on cooking during your holiday maybe this isn;t the boat for you. The living room area comprised of an L shaped sofa with fold down table. This converts into a bed (although we didn't use it). Again this space was a little cramped but again it sufficed our needs. The cockpit is towards the rear of the boat and is enclosed with a sliding sun roof and two chairs one for the driver and one other. Strangely this was the most spacious part of the boat. With large windows all around this provided excellent visability all round. ( well maybe not in the rain as the windscreen wipers were at best, useless) The boat had excellent manoeverability and the controlls felt very responsive. With its rear cockpit this made stern on mooring a doddle. I found this to be a nice little cruiser for two people and would recommend it especially to first timers however due to its cramped nature I would'nt advise it for parties of 3 even if one is a child it will still seem cramped. Also you should note that at 8ft6 this is a very high cruiser and care needs to be taken on most bridges, but again if you want to go through potter Heigham or Wroxham bridges you shouldn't hire this boat

Hi I'm a new member on this forum and have read quite a lot about the lack of training that some hire yards give. Me and my wife hired Siesta from Richardsons in May last year and i can state that they did not just give a 5 min training cruise. I felt the training that was given was very good. the gentleman went through all aspects of navigating, mooring with and against tides, with and against the wind, stern on mooring, tidal conditions on different reaches of the rivers. he was with us for about 30 mins on the river until he gone through everything that we needed to know. The only niggle i would say ist that he was adament that mooring at Graet yarmouth Yacht station was a bad idea, when in fact on our return from Oulton we moored there and couldn't see any reason for being put off mooring there. It was far better than at Stracey Arms where we moored on our way down south. We both found Siesta to be a fine boat although the galley was a little small. We have hored Gliding Light 1 with Herbert Woods this year so I will let you know how there training went and since there doesn't see, to be any reviews on that boat yet maybe i can post one.