Broads01

That looks very nice indeed, Helen.

Half-term in my part of the world is the week coming, Howard, so if you want February and super quiet I'd go for either the beginning or the very end of the month.

Completely agree and no need for hook up either unless you want the heating on for extended periods. "If the batteries are in a good state of charge" is the key plus batteries in good condition generally. If your fridge and your tv start switching off you know you have a problem although I've hired boats with heating cutting out after no time but everything else runs OK. Hook up is good for peace of mind if it's very cold but I do tend to find that too limiting in terms of mooring options.

I use my Samsung A33 running Google Chrome for the majority of my posts and I've not experienced the issue. That said, I don't use the Samsung Internet browser as I've always got on well with Chrome. You could try Chrome and see if that cures the issue.

On their Facebook page they were offering 2022 prices and any day starts, so they've probably done well for last minute bookings.

I see they've been "Richardsonised" by being made all anonymous and with the name in silver on the stern. Sigh 😕

Yes good point about the sliding canopy, Malcom, I've experienced the issue of curtains getting caught when the canopy retracts. Maybe it depends on the curtains used though and how they're positioned because hiring Lady Kristina last year it was never an issue.

I'm not sure I'd like that, Malcom. I like the look of closed curtains at night and there's something I like about opening them first thing in the morning.

I remember Alpha Craft hiring out their 50 foot forward steers, Brabazon and Mirage. Are they still around? They'd be fun on the Ant and the Chet.

Howard, am I right in thinking you were able to moor there because you know the owner but it's not a mooring generally available to hire boats?

Clive Richardson has completed "Innovation" for a private buyer but the hire version will be ready later this year. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0KJ5M1S2W4NUiCMvLDiu95EVmnV8YGF2JzQk49C29xVMUcCxNBRA1xDAQm2VASrpGl&id=533407227

Keep the posts coming, Howard, I always enjoy reading about your winter travels.

Does the ranger ever ask you to move from your favourite spot?

Hi Chris, I'm a regular solo hirer. As has been said, it's all down to boatyard policy and it tends to be either a yes (with suitable experience such as yourself) or a definite no. It still niggles me that Richardsons stopped solo hiring and yet they're perfectly happy to hire to anybody else, somehow having two novice adults being safer than having one experienced one. Yes boatyards: Barnes Bridgecraft Ferry Marina Marthams Pacific Summercraft (I think) No boatyards: Richardsons Herbert Woods NBD Brooms (I think although you could ask).

I have a happy memory, Vaughan, of that sunny afternoon in 2018 when you kindly invited Mel and myself to join you and Susie outside your hired cottage near Wroxham Bridge. I met Jill and Peter for the first time. We'd arrived that day in a Richardsons hire boat and what makes me smile is that Jill must have been a sharp business woman. "Have you thought about hiring from Barnes Brinkcraft?" she asked me very politely with her Norfolk accent. She evidently wasn't one to miss a business opportunity! I don't remember the conversation after that but she must have influenced because I hired from Barnes the two years following.

I've just read the sad news that Jill Thwaites has passed away. It was announced on Barnes Facebook page and website. I only met Jill once (she and a husband were a guest of Vaughan) and she came across as a warm, friendly and energetic lady. I'd like to her acknowledge the significant impact she had on the Broads hire industry. My condolences to her family. https://www.barnesbrinkcraft.co.uk/jill-thwaites-tallowin-founder-of-barnes-brinkcraft-1992-to-2023/

Which is the "true left bank"?

Hello Bucket and welcome. Like you I started my Broads hiring in 1981 as a 10 year old with my parents. I'm still well and truly in the hiring game but may be tempted in to a syndicate one day. Which syndicate are you owning with?

I forgot about Fleetline. It looks very impressive in the photos, a kind of Broadsman mark 2 and I mean that as a compliment. Re Broadway 7, have Richardsons started building again or has it been sat in a shed for a while?

I thought it would be good to start a thread on hire fleet changes for this year, I.e. New builds, retirements, transfers and improvements. There's a few I'm aware of: Silverline stopping hiring and their boats transferring to Richardsons. Barnes Brinkcraft adding Brinks Prelude 2. Bridgecraft have given Trent Bridge a bow thruster. No doubt there are other changes as I don't tend to keep track of fleets I'm not interested in hiring from (of which there are a few!)

Yes I guess it does make a difference, not so much whether you'll be able to pass through but how many options you have on the day in question. I'm hiring early April this year and intending going south. When we return north, low water is around 6pm I think so we'll have to either go through a bit early or spend the night at the Yacht Station.

What month are you looking at? Most of the season there's a low water comfortably in daylight so the date wouldn't matter.

I'm not a legal expert but I'm struggling to see how any charge for mooring is legal unless it's being levied by the land owner. It may be the legalities behind the ownership of Ranworth Staithe and Reedham Quay are complex but I doubt the B.A. owns the land in either case. It feels like being charged for parking in a free car park by a contractor who's been employed for works on the car park.

Nice photo, 2013 being the last time I was able to pass through the bridge in a hire boat (Bright Horizon 1). Of the 11 boats I've hired since with an air draft theoretically low enough, none have actually been low enough.

I remember mooring there numerous times Malcom and indeed it was very popular. I visited Reedham Ferry last year and found the food ordinary to say the least. That pontoon is a sad sight nowadays. The location of the pub is lovely and somehow I enjoy the sound of the ferry close by. I hope it doesn't turn into another "pub I miss". I have a memory of that mooring which will always stay with me. We were on Jamaica from Richardsons in 2012 and my younger daughter was 12 at the time. Jamaica had a side entrance in the saloon and my daughter exited through it so enthusiastically her momentum took her across the pontoon and in to the reeds and shallow water beyond. She was thankfully unhurt but it was certainly a memorable moment.