Broads01

Darn it Clive I should have kept quiet and booked it! It would be good to have some internal pics on the website as there's only a cockpit photo at the moment.

Browsing the Richardsons availability checker (as you do) I notice Moon Quest has been cut in price dramatically. Previously this boat was priced with what I call the second cheapest 2 berths, e.g. Star Gem, Symphony. However now in the lowest price weeks it's £46 per week cheaper than the low price 2 berths (Crown Gem, Serene Gem etc), being a measly £242 for 7 nights. I'm not sure why it's priced less than Crown Gem as I would have said the fit out was more recent but never having seen the interior I could be wrong. Got to be fantastic value!

Ah ok so you were long before slack then. I experienced very similar on Tropic Horizon last year and for a similar reason. We didn't want to moor at Great Yarmouth (I never ever do) and we wanted to make Stracey before dusk. The boat was barely moving just as in your video. I've learned from the experience having stuck to slack water for years before. We would have been better to stop at Berney Arms and then go for the early morning slack. Trying to come downstream with the tide like that doesn't bear thinking about!

Robin, what can I say? Brilliant. To be honest I haven't seen most of this before, but this was well edited and very entertaining. You made me laugh( hot dogs, mad world!) but covered the edgy side of Broads boating too ( breakdown on San Julian and Great Yarmouth on Sunlit Horizon). That Great Yarmouth sequence wasn't slack water was it?

The other boat at Ranworth is a Faircraft Loynes dual steer. So not only do those guys hire in the middle of winter, they sit out on deck whilst they're doing it. Rock on!

Great pics Howard. I can understand the appeal of winter hiring. I've no doubt Swan Radiance is warm and comfy. How do you keep warm at night? Can you keep the heating on or do you have to wear your coat and hat in bed?

Sounds good Robin. Worth hirers topping up before returning the boat then. Perhaps cheeky but likely to save some money.

I hope for your sake there isn't a winch! Hand pushing roofs are less hassle in my view and I remember Clive saying they were converting winch-driven roofs to counterweights. A big old roof on Antigua though.

I only hired from Hearts once back in 1989 when it was part of Pennant Holidays. I always liked the location and being ferried to your boat was a fun quirk. I think the railway bridge was always an issue though. Even though we were on a little Safari 25 that year we were rushed away from the yard in literally 10 minutes because we might otherwise have been stuck at Thorpe for the night.

Great tale, thank you. Ah, you've just reminded me why if I'm boating in October I much prefer it before the clocks go back. It seems like you're up against the ticking daylight clock otherwise. I too have found Sutton very difficult to get in to recently. I guess its a nice place to eat and the default last night stop for Richardsons hirers. I last tried there around 5pm on Monday 6 October but got the impression I was way too late in the day, even at a supposedly off peak time of year.

It's not just me then phew! Regarding the question of generic boats like Connoisseurs, I'm geeky enough to memorise the registration number. The same applies to boats that have changed hands or been renamed. Norfolk Gem 1 at Richardsons, reg M258, I know to be formerly Whispering Teal at Mistral Craft. That boat gave me one of my happiest ever Broads holidays as a teenager in 1986.

Having been hiring for many years on a different boat every time, I've become used to seeing boats I've hired in the past very frequently. One night this year at St Benets I counted 4 ex hires of mine on the same mooring! Seeing a boat I've hired seems to have a noticeable effect on me. As you would expect I associate the boat in question with the memories of the particular holiday I spent on that boat. Immediately I'm transported back in time to the week in my life the boat will always represent. What you wouldn't necessarily expect is the sight of 'other' people on that boat feels strange, as if I own the boat and the presence of other people on it is intrusive. And yet there will have been many parties on there since the boat was 'mine'. I wonder if this sense of 'ownership' I experience is just me? When I return a boat at the end of a trip, it's as if in my mind I'm not really returning it. In my mind it will always be my boat.

Like it Mauricemynah. When I asked what the point was, I kind of thought of the 'because its there' answer. I like the charity idea. I can visualise a charity event where, assuming a boat with navigation lights, you could have a team completing the entire navigable Broads in one hit. To do the job properly you'd have to cruise down every navigable dyke as well. How many miles and how many hours would that be?

I love being active on the boat and getting miles in within reason, so I'm with you Robin on that one. I did Thorpe to Acle on a very wet day in late May and that was marathon enough for me though, albeit I'd have enjoyed it much more in sunshine. What I'm struggling to understand on the Coltishall to Geldeston/Norwich section is, how can I put this in the nicest possible way, what would the point of it be?

Great read so far, keep it coming.

Well done to Barnes for innovation. Whilst the hire charge is too pricey for me personally at the moment I can appreciate its a super luxury boat. I guess if you think of technology in cars and things like ABS that we all take for granted now at one time that was a luxury item but over time economics dictates pricing comes down.

Just read on the Royall's Facebook page that Royall Swan is now fully booked for 2015! What better demonstration of Royall's quality could you have. It makes me think given more investment Royalls could build more and reap the benefits.

Bearing in mind the pricing policy is completely different between the two its pretty difficult to obtain an exact price comparison unless you can predict exactly how much you're going to spend on fuel. So, pick the one you're heart wants to go for!

I enjoyed that. Yep technology has moved on light years. Savoy was showing its age even then but I spotted a few cruiser styles that are still plentiful now. A lot of the Broads sights look identical now and that's a good thing. Is that the same ice cream boat guy that's always been at Salhouse?

Great tale Moosey, keep it coming. I never stop at Great Yarmouth when I'm going south and you've just reminded me why!

Ah, Maid Boats and Benson Pleasurecraft, when you could hire on the Thames without increasing your mortgage, those were the days. Yes Iain, I did notice the deck height on Broadland Wave. Water levels were on the high side and it was a bit of a leap to go ashore sometimes.

I had an interesting conversation with the hirers of Garnet Emblem on a blustery day at Acle two weeks ago. I was admiring this near new boat which is aft cockpit but with the unusual addition of a folding hard top. The hirers were outside, seemingly about to fold down the roof. I remarked that I thought it looked to be a good design because it seemed a good alternative to the usual tent contraption. They told me the roof design was terrible! Their report was it was very fiddly and awkward to lower and raise. Not only that, when the roof folds down it swivels forward on to the main cabin roof after which it blocks your view ahead. Nice!

Tamar Bridge has survived Dan, which I'm glad about because I too have always liked the 38s even though I've never hired one. I remember looking aboard Benson Lady as was back in 1998, later Miss Tania at Thames Ditton. It made an impact on me somehow, something to do with the imposing presence of the boat I think.

Contessa is one of the few Richardsons boats that has dropped down a price band for 2015, hence bizarrely, as Dan says it's now a lot cheaper than the likes of Distant Horizon even though it's a lot larger. Looks fantastic value so if you like it, go for it!

And for the hire boat nuts like me, the interior of Broadland Wave 2.