Broads01

Ah so Hoseasons are being their usual sharp, on the ball selves then.

Nice! Is that a leather sofa?

Intriguing how boats that are no longer available seem to be, well, available as Dan says. Looks very Richardsons-focussed from the quick look I had.

I agree, however the only issue I have with that relates to Ludham. There, as those of us who know it know, the height boards are wildly inaccurate and also inconsistent with each other. How you would advise a new hirer in the Ludham situation I'm not sure. You could tell them to adhere strictly to the gauge but if they did that a big proportion of Richardsons boats wouldn't reach the Bure and others would never see the Ant when in reality they had a foot to spare.

With regard to the corner mooring, can anybody estimate the maximum length of boat that can now moor there without encroaching on the white area?

You Yorkshire folk have a wicked way with words. I guess, if bolloxing has to be done, may as well find a lovely mudweighting spot.

Just been browsing NYA's website. They don't do boat hire, they do "private charter", don't you know. "Private charter" is marketing speak for "an upmarket description of boat hire so we can charge more".

Thanks Dan. I'm very surprised they're selling so many. I think for this year at least, if they could have booked out the whole lot had they held on to them. I can only imagine that with the budget end of what they hire the profit margins are very small. I guess if they cut back enough they can reduce the number of changeover days where they have to operate both Kingfisher and Swan Quay, so big savings in staff costs.

What have Richardsons sold Dan? I haven't kept up with boats being advertised.

Interesting to see something fairly mainstream on offer from NYA at Brundall, albeit at a premium price. I'd be interested to see the refitted interior. https://www.hoseasons.co.uk/boat-holidays/sephora-bh2676?page=2&region=21649

I visited them at Benson last August and they were friendly. I had a look aboard Claudette and was very impressed. I agree they're reasonably priced by Thames standards. They don't have any boatyard facilities at all at their site so you have to refuel and pump out elsewhere. Theoretically you could probably do this at Le Boat a couple of hundred yards away but you might need to take out a bank loan first.

Of course it has a future. Fewer hire locations, yes but no shortage of hire boats coming south and no shortage of privateers either. It's always been quieter than the north and I love the contrast between the two.

I hope not, that water point is worse than useless. People unwittingly grab the hose thinking they can top up their tanks with it.

I agree, I think it's only Hoseasons ineptitude that's left the Blakes website hanging around. The Blakes flag long since disappeared from boats and marketing.

I love it too, I'd definitely buy one.

I notice there's a Caribbean in the distance in the fourth picture. I think that was their first season? I always imagine how much they must have stood out at the time.

Also, make sure you leave enough slack on the rope to cope with changes in water level, especially on the south Broads. I forgot that at Bargate once and when the level rose we drifted a long way.

That's a website error. The earliest you can stay overnight is 12th April and that's for single households only.

What a fascinating photo. When was that bridge demolished?

That's the footbridge I was thinking of. I can't picture the Novi Sad bridge to be honest, I can't have been to Norwich enough. Darn it, another one I'd forgotten.

I knew I'd miss a few and I can't believe I missed Wroxham railway bridge. I was thinking about bridges on the main Broads navigation, so I wouldn't include the Lowestoft ones. Haven Bridge doesn't count as a Broads bridge does it?

In a stressful moment at home one day I decided I needed to "take myself away" for a few minutes so I shut my eyes and imagined myself setting off on a boat from Wroxham. I've found in the past that counting slowly helps relieve stress so I decided to imagine I was on a rapid cruise of the whole Broads and count how many bridges crossed the main navigation (so not counting marina entrances like at Herbert Woods otherwise I'd have had my eyes shut for a long time). I reached 22 - have I missed any ( no cheating by finding a published list)? 1 Wroxham 2 Ludham 3 Wayford 4 Potter Heigham old 5 Potter Heigham main road 6 Acle 7 Great Yarmouth Vauxhall 8 Great Yarmouth the other one 9 Breydon 10 St Olaves 11 Somerleyton 12 Beccles main road 13 Beccles old 14 New Cut 15 Reedham 16 Postwick 17 Thorpe railway downstream 18 Thorpe railway upstream 19 Norwich Trowse 20 Norwich footbridge 21 Norwich YS entrance 22 Norwich Bishops (us hirers are banned but I know it's navigable)

Mmm, I hadn't spotted the internal photos when I posted originally. Striped walls, really?

I don't doubt the cost is huge but surely a fraction of what a new build would cost?

They don't now. Until last year they had limited space at the Horning Pleasure Craft site but that's now operating independently. I tend to agree but I never liked the side door either. I've hired earlier designs and the side door is a disadvantage in my view.