DAVIDH

It's a Virtual private Network. Instead of browsing on Chrome (for instance), which notes you IP address and therefore your location, you use a VPN service to choose where the site in question thinks you're based. So The VPN service will have locations across the world. If you're based in France, then you choose a UK location, and any content available to us in UK, will be viewable. Normally, you will pay around £35 to £45 per annum to access a VPN's services. Vaughan might want to try Opera - just another browser like Chrome - which comes with a free limited VPN. Not sure if it will work, but it does say you can choose your location.....and it's free. Doesn't always work as some sites will note the VPN's IP addresses and disallow them. But it's definitely worth a try. Full details here: https://www.opera.com/features/free-vpn

It struck me, how well finished the boats were. So well varnished. Stainless steel plating around the gear and throttle levers, and the wheel itself was a work of art. I liked the curve of the wheelhouse sides, and the aft roof too.

That's not strictly fair Simon. The booking season doesn't really get going until into the New Year, so the time to judge is in a week or so. Fair Courier and Fair Aristocrat do not have the correct images yet....but neither does Norfolk Broads Direct on their site. I guess they don't exist yet. Both do not have a deckplan showing, so I wouldn't think anyone would try to book either. The image for Swiftway which was incorrect, has now been replaced. You are not able to book a boat which has long since disappeared, as all dates are blanked off. I do agree that they shouldn't be there, and in fairness to Hoseasons, they are all usually up to date before Christmas. I get a database from them in November, and it's usually settled by then. This year is different though. The boating season finished at the end of October, but boating represents only around 10% of their business now. So each time you read of lockdowns, such as in November, and tier jumps from 3 to 4, as in the whole of the south of England, they were affected by cancellations and refunds for holiday homes booked for November and through to the Christmas period. As a result, they have been taking no referral commissions for many months of the season, and like all businesses, have been forced to furlough staff at a time they are most needed to answer the phones and sort people's holiday refunds. The staff that remain, from all departments, will have been on this. They got a bloody nose by not refunding cancelled bookings earlier in the season. You can understand why they would want to put all hands on avoiding it again.

Yes, they've been there for a week. I keep watching them for the correct images, but I suppose Christmas has stopped work. The medley of images is what Hoseasons provide as the boatyard identity, rather than the individual boat. I think they are way behind this year, probably because some staff are or have been furloughed, and the pressure of sorting out masses of booked and then cancelled holidays due to the tier movements. I noticed that though 2022 is on sale, they still only have 94 of the 148 Richardsons boats listed, though his has more than doubled in the last day. Sure the rest will follow shortly. Also, the fact that Faircraft have gone all inclusive doesn't seem to have been reflected properly in their listings. No fuel charge is displayed, but neither does it have the "Fuel included" tag at the top of the boat description. Also, a damage waiver is still shown as being payable. They still have links for Le Boat on the Thames, Scotland and Ireland, but I suspect they may eventually be withdrawn, as you can't book any date throughout the season. They've said they will now only list UK boats and properties, and perhaps the deal with Le Boat was all or nothing?

Just seen Dunkirk. What a film. It must have been the epitome of hell for those servicemen waiting to be rescued from the beaches. This was not a triumphalist war film. Far from it. Churchill's speech at the end of the film sounded hollow, when you saw what these poor guys had to go through. I've often thought about The Book of Revelations in the Bible (I'm not a bible basher), which prophesizes a hell to come. It was written a long time ago, but after the death of Jesus. Was it referring to these manmade tragedies where our humanity disappeared? Think of the inhumane treatment and murder of people in the concentration camps, the horrors of the Vietnam war, Dunkirk, terrorist atrocities like 9-11. Perhaps the hell it forecast was not otherworldly. Perhaps we made it ourselves.

Hoseasons new image of Swiftway https://www.hoseasons.co.uk/boat-holidays/swiftway-bh2679

My guess - Ludham Bridge

There are no internal images, so wondering if Horning Pleasurecraft have submitted the exterior image as nearest available. Better than nothing. Sure it would have come from them, not Hoseasons, as it's not a stock image of theirs.

This is Swiftway at Horning Pleasurecraft. https://partners.hoseasons.co.uk/NBH/boat-holidays/swiftway-bh2679

Your right Dan. I didn't go through short break availability. Surprised it's so well booked though given the limits of it's cruising area.

Far Horizon is showing as full throughout the season (unlikely) so perhaps it's being withdrawn. It's not just a rename as Far Horizon is 36ft........unless they have added a bit on at the back!

Think that's it Dan, They always provide a deck plan. Interestingly though, there's no deck plan shown on NYA Charter web page for the boat either. It just has the "blown up" drawing of the inside. I guess there's a special department that does these deck-plans, and theirs is still to be done. There are lots of new boats added to the canals that are awaiting the addition of the deck-plan too.

i guess it's in the process of being refitted now. No deck plan either.

New boat for NYA Charter in Brundall - Sephora https://partners.hoseasons.co.uk/nbh/boat-holidays/nya-private-charter-nyap/sephora-bh2676

Haven't been able to full screen for ages on a laptop with Edge, or Chrome, and have just this minute updated Chrome too. Firefox however, does full screen.

It looks like the cottages are available to hire in January but not the boats Jean.

Need to do the delving first. Could be a treasure box of memories. Then use something like this to transfer them to your PC, then to a DVD. https://www.amazon.co.uk/DIGITNOW-Resolution-Negative-Computer-Required/dp/B01HZQZLXW/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=slide+scanner&qid=1606742479&sr=8-4

What an encyclopedia of boat hire knowledge you are Vaughan. We are fortunate indeed to have you on this forum.

Thanks CC. It still shows in Hoseasons, but when you try to book a date, it's unavailable throughout.

The partners bit is just the prefix for my overbranded site. Not sure about that. I think in the past there have been an odd few not available on Hoseasons. I vaguely remember one from Alphacraft that wasn't offered. An owners boat or something? Same with Topcraft - Sunwing? All in the mists of my memory I'm afraid. I can't think of any today. I checked before I removed them from the database, as it's a lot of work to put them back on again.

"Where do you look to see the other two WRC boats you mention, they don't come up when I look on Hoseasons site." https://partners.hoseasons.co.uk/NBH/boat-holidays/the-broads/wroxham-horning?adult=2&child=0&infant=0&nights=7&range=3&pets=0&start=09-10-2021 You need to scroll through to page 4.

Could be. I did clarify that this was just as a result of me updating for 2021. I only do it once a year at this time, when Hoseasons are updating. Not sure if Explorer is ex-WRC, as I looked at it and I think it states that plans could be modified whilst under construction.

I had put together a photographic list on the word doc, but for those who can't download it, here's the list: Removed: Brinks Airies, Brink of Peace Benmore, Crystal Gem Silver Gem, Opal Gem, Ibiza Royall Solitaire, Royall Oak Royall Stuart, Summer Horizon Phantom, Prelude, Quest, Majorca, Madeira, Bright Gem Broadland Breeze, Corsica Crown Gem, Dream Gem Added; Fair Consort, Fair Explorer Transferred from WRC to Faircraft: Waveney Andromeda now Fair Crusader (Interestingly, Hoseasons also list Fair Courier and Fair Aristocrat, all with the same Crusader image, so I guess these will be the names of the transferred craft, but Hoseasons have not (as yet) completed their database entries. (They are not on the boatyard's own site, so I can't check which is which.)

Just been updating my database of boats offered by Hoseasons, and it's striking how many boat classes have been withdrawn from hire. I've counted 21 out, and just two added. This is across boat classes of course, and as such, there could be more than one of each type. Similarly, it's possible that some of the boats have been incorporated into other classes. So the list below is just an observation. The 2021 season is already very well booked (not full), due to transfers from 2020, and those booking early due to perhaps having missed out this year. So it's counter-intuitive that so many boats would have been retired, when demand is likely to be strong for 2021. Doc1.doc

Andy, I've seem this said a few times, but over the last few years, they have added more boats to the different classes - the Captains and Bolero spring to mind, Clean Sweep and Broom Explorer too. Were these all purchased "ready made", or were they all completed more than 18 months ago? If so, it seems odd that they would have had such a spurt of activity, and then just stopped.