Broads01

I agree Jean. For an overnight mooring, I prefer it to the basin because it's quieter and an easy and scenic walk to town.

Congratulations John and Linz, great news.

The very best of luck Robin, whatever happens. Becoming Norwich based you'll be well placed to do lots of hire boat reviews, whahey!

Oh dear and it's such a lovely mooring spot. There's another of this design that lives at one of the properties at Potter Heigham, on the right as you go towards the bridge. It's been there for a long time and doesn't look exactly pristine.

Yep, nothing in life is risk-free and I always enjoy crossing Breydon. Follow the guidelines about timing and channels and there's nothing to worry about whatsoever.

I think 50% is very optimistic Neil. I'd estimate 70-80%. September is very popular with anybody not restricted by school holidays. Even at the beginning of October I've found I couldn't moor at popular spots like Sutton Staithe.

I couldn't imagine anything less stressful and more enjoyable in life than cruising the Ant, busy or not. I guess life would be boring if we all liked the same things.

Ah, the great North Broads early night mooring myth. Yes, it's a bit true, but only if you want a popular mooring in the summer. It's not true if it's not peak season and even then it's not true if you're flexible about where you moor. Then of course there's the great south Broads "it's quiet and you can moor anywhere" myth. We'll, it's almost true, but there are notable exceptions. Bramerton, Reedham quay and Loddon Staithe come to mind.

I'm liking the look of that rear seat on the stern.

I'm with you on this Tim, especially as I do some single handed helming as well. You guys that lift fenders seem to be saying you're doing so to make the boat look better, but does it really? I can sort of understand that with a timber boat like BA but why go through all the faff for every single mooring?

I guess it makes sense to have the engine restricted to a sensible speed. I'd be very surprised if it hindered you on Breydon though, providing you timed it right. I certainly saw more than one Captain on the north Broads two weeks ago.

I've never lifted fenders. To be honest, it's a faff I can do without. Rarely have I had fenders low enough to drag in the water, so it hasn't made any difference from that perspective. Do they need to be as low as that to be effective at a mooring?

Sorry to read things have been getting more difficult for you, health wise, Richard. I hope you can continue to enjoy boating long in to the future.

Captain, you've just taken me back in time 20 years. The only time I ever hired from Alpha Craft was 1997. It was a recently built boat called Mustang, a 29 foot forward steer (not to be confused with the dual steer that layer took the Mustang name). You've reminded me it had a manual bilge pump. Oh what joy.

Hi Scrumpy. I remember enjoying your tale a year ago. I saw quite a few Broom boats on the north Broads recently and they looked amazing. Are you planning a trip north this time around?

Congratulations and I'm glad you had a good time. Waving is alive and well in my recent experience so perhaps you were a bit unlucky.

I still haven't had chance to watch the film but the brochure pic is very reminiscent of a different time. There Fencraft are in 1992 with their brand new boats and Challenger having been to the boat show. I recall though by around 2004-5 they'd very much lost their way with a reduced fleet and some damming reviews about the state of the boats. I think that grey colour scheme didn't do them any favours (unfortunately the ex-Fencraft Pacific Dawn is still stuck with it) and they stopped hiring soon after. Whether or not they continued in business I don't know.

Years ago there was no pilot at Wroxham and I took a boat through on several occasions. The most memorable is on Sarah Bee from Bees Boats (32 foot Alpha forward steer) in 2001 where going upstream I went too slowly and skewed to one side - I only just got away with it. I was relieved when the pilot service came in and I've never been tempted to pass through without using it.

Richardsons absolutely do insist on use of the pilot, as do all operators now I believe. Whilst clearance may have been generous it doesn't take much in novice hands to cause damage. Some people think they don't have to comply with rules and see no need to respect other people's property.

Hi Mike. I hired Concerto 5 in September 2015 and in the most part thought it excellent value for money. Have a look at my post in the hire boat section which has some internal photos. http://forum.norfolkbroadsnetwork.com/topic/8547-concerto/ There were only two of us aboard but I don't recall any issues with storage. Robin - in fact Concerto and Rhapsody are priced identically (along with all the Bounty 37s bar Topaz which is priced higher for no good reason) so it comes down to personal preference. I always prefer a full sliding roof over a sun roof but that's just me.

Regardless of the fumes situation, an engine running next door on a stern-on mooring is noisy and irritating at the best of times. At 7am it's taking the mick. Well done Griff for speaking out.

I take back my earlier statement that there could be no excuse for this situation. I can imagine an inexperienced hirer, hurtling towards the bridge from Great Yarmouth direction on a strong ebbing tide and, never having visited before and never thinking of the possibility of insufficient clearance, realising late in the day and making an attempt to turn around close to the bridge. Being inexperienced, when attempting to turn they under-use the throttle and the rudder and the tide sweeps them sideways before they know it. Alternatively, it's possible they could have been negligent as my first post suggested. We may never know.

I understand your frustration Scrumpy. Whilst it's true to say St Olaves is a tricky spot for the inexperienced in terms of tidal flow, I can think of no excuse for these people. It's not as if the bridge gauge would over-estimate the clearance available (probably the reverse) so what were they thinking about. I'm not a legal expert but I suspect Brooms could sue for negligence. In practice they probably wouldn't think it worth the time and cost to do so.

This is to post my thoughts on Tobago from Richardsons having hired Tobago 3 last week. My apologies for taking no internal photos - I meant to do so as we were leaving. Rest assured though the internals on Richardsons website are still accurate http://www.richardsonsboatingholidays.co.uk/boats/tobago/ Tobago is a 44 foot 7-9 berth centre cockpit cruiser, built some 30 years ago originally as Fair Entrepreneur 44 in the Faircraft Loynes fleet. In common with all Richardsons fleet it's been maintained and updated over the years to a very good standard. Equipment now includes 240 volt electrics, microwave, dvd player and carbon monoxide detectors. It's priced at the budget end of the range hence there is no bow thruster or shore power. At the rear of the boat there are patio-style sliding doors to a very spacious rear well, more akin to a sedan cruiser than a centre cockpit. Inside there is a rear galley area spread across both sides of the boat with a large folding table when needed. Overall the galley is a good size, if lacking in worktop space on the starboard side which contains the sink unit and cooker. Leading off the galley there is a good size twin cabin with crossover bunks. There's no ladder to the top bunk and so it's a scramble up by stepping on the bottom one. Also leading from the galley is a long narrow passage way to the centre, with entrances to the rear washroom and single cabin starboard and rear double cabin port. The rear washroom is a little cramped but not unusually so. The single cabin is tight on floor space and the bunk is narrow but would have been long enough for me to sleep on (I'm 6 foot 0). The rear double cabin is a little short of floor space but has a good size bed. The central saloon area is large with L shape sofa to port and two further fixed smaller sofas to starboard. The L shape sofa is comfy and converts to a good size double bed. The other sofas are very upright and aren't at all comfortable, having the feel of sitting on a bus seat! There is a small table by the L shape sofa which works well although a large crew would need to drag through the heavy folding table from the rear in order to eat together. The fore cabin is by far the most luxurious cabin on the boat, having large double bed (possibly 4 foot 6 wide), window seat and good size ensuite. It also benefits from the large cabin windows all round. The large saloon and sliding canopy are a great benefit, the only down side being the canopy is enormous and very heavy to slide up and down. It requires at least two people on the outside decks to put their full weight behind it and keep it moving all the way to the end of the runners. Although it's a centre cockpit cruiser, the helm position is a long way forward and thus handling has the feel of a forward drive in that there is a long length of boat behind the helm position. Handling was manageable. I was aware of the boat's size and weight and manoeuvring required some firm throttle bursts to achieve the required turn. Overall, Tobago is an excellent choice and a spacious comfortable boat. For reasons I've never understood, it's priced considerably lower than its sisters of similar design (San Elena and San Diego) and costs no more to hire than many Richardsons 6 berth boats (even though it's a 7-9 berth) and this makes it excellent value.

MM - how do you find handling the canopy and screens solo? I've hired solo a few times but I must admit when I had Crown Gem 3 (Bounty 27) I found raising and lowering the canopy OK but a bit of a faff, especially when I was caught by an unexpected shower.