Hire Boats Looking Uncared For This Season

[Viking23]

Due to illness, yesterday was our first visit to our boat in 6 months,  and I must admit it was fairly good.

Yesterday we visited Ludham bridge by car, having had a naff meal at "the dog" more on that later lol, anyhow,  we watched various hire craft pass below us, and the state of the upper decks and roofs were horrendus, there were black soiling around handrail supports and all over the roof.

The finish on the deck was dull, never seen any polish for years, we watched three boats from Herbert Woods pass through, and of those seen, these were the worst.

Ok it's well into the season, the turnaround crews, I guess spend their time on the interiors. When we popped down to Sutton Staithe later, and did a walkpast, there were hire craft with grass and moss between the rubbing strakes and the hulls. Not the turn out I would expect when spending that much money.

In the good old days, 70's and 80's that I recall anyway, crews would mop the decks and roof on a near daily basis, I do not remember that much grime on the roof or deck of any boat that we hired. People treated the hire craft as their own, well for one week only lol. So what has changed?  So is the modern trend, just plug and play, ie get on, enjoy the holiday, and walk away?

In my mind I still think that the non refundable damage waiver has created a cavalier attitude, an I don't care if I scratch it, or wreck it attitude, and I have paid enough, so why should I clean it? Sign of the times today I think,

Richard

 

[SwanR]

We were out in June and hired from Richardson's for the first time. On our final morning when we got back to the yard we moored alongside one of the older forward steer boats, probably one of the Gems of some description and noticed that there was indeed grass growing around the outside of the boat. I don't think that's down to the hirers, that is surely down to the care of the yard given that this was still relatively early in the season.

Our experience has been mostly that the boats are well turned out - at Swancraft the boats were always gleaming and we have had no complaints at all with the boats we have had from Norfolk Broads Direct and Ferry Marina. 

So please, let's not start another thread aimed at the attitude of the hirers. We choose to come on a boating holiday even though it costs us a considerable amount of money. Maybe it's down to the maintenance of the older boats while the newer craft naturally look much more clean and bright. And yes, when we pick up our hire boat at the start of the trip we do care much more about a nice clean tidy interior than the state of the roof. We try to keep the decks as clean as we can all week but there's only so much you can do with a mop dipped in the river and swooshed around - to adapt what I have heard Robin say many times on his blogs ... "One hand for the mop and one hand for the boat!"

[Gracie]

We tend to hire older type of boats, preferring a bit of character and never once have we picked the boat up and it's not been in excellent condition, even at the end of August and we as do thousands of other hirers treat the boat as if it were our own and when we take it back is as clean as when we picked her up. I think the hire yards to a tremendous job, especially in silly season

I know the demand for floating apartments with every gadget known to man is on the up, we have seen boats cruise past with kids sitting outside, heads down looking at phones and tablets etc, very much a plug and play society now. I think it's so sad that, because of this, so many children (and adults) miss out on the beauty of their surroundings when on a boating holiday. Techy stuff is banned when we are on a boat, that's the deal we have with our kids, they are keen anglers, know the difference between a duck and a moorhen and enjoy every moment on board without an xbox in sight, maybe that will change as they grow older but I hope we are educating them now on how to enjoy and have a brilliant time without the need to plug in and play.

Grace

[MauriceMynah]

48 minutes ago, SwanR said:

So please, let's not start another thread aimed at the attitude of the hirers.

Spot on, but I'm not sure that was the OP's aim, more the general hire yards maintenance and cleaning schedule.

At the summer meet Griff was having a right old go at me as my boat was looking far from it's best, green patches on the decks, dirty fenders and not all uniform etc. My priorities are not dissimilar from that of the hirers. I'm on holiday, I'm here to cruise the broads not clean boats. I do enough to keep the boat looking OK at a distance and that's good enough to suit my objectives.

2 hours ago, Viking23 said:

So is the modern trend, just plug and play, ie get on, enjoy the holiday, and walk away?

Yes, and that is exactly as it should be. If you want to swab the decks (unnecessary on a GRP boat) then swab away, if not, then don't! That is the job of the hire yard.

[BroadScot]

Most of the mops are rubbish, unless its the start of the season. A few yards use to put a deck brush on board for white boats, King Line did at Horning, but people nicked them, no, not the hirers "tea leafs" took them off the roof!

With the "summer" we have had so far this year, I would have thought the boats were well washed by the downpours.

Ah yes the weather, maybe, just maybe the yards did well in the time available to clean inside as it was too wet to clean outside. Just a thought.

Iain

[Wonderwall]

I know this thread wasn't intended as a dig and more an observation but I really feel I should add to it, to,say my small,piece.

We are after all , quick enough to critisize . The last 4 times I have hired has been Herbert Woods , and of course the reason I do so is because I like the level of service I recieve. 

The boats for example are turned out absoloutley spotless.

The damp warm summer we have had does make it hard I would imagine for a hirer to keep the outside of their boat clean. People are understandably on holiday for a rest and the thought scrubbing decks maybe just dosent do it for some , or it isn't practical.

Id like to think I always hand my boat back in a decent condition, but it certainly isn't ready for the next lucky hirer to jump on board.

[Hockham Admiral]

1 hour ago, Gracie said:

they are keen anglers, know the difference between a duck and a moorhen

There IS a difference, Grace?     

[Bound2Please]

I do wonder at times, would the OP if going around a holiday area of say static caravans, find a vantage point to check the cleanliness of their roofs?. No I thought not, the hire yards do an amazing job in a very short time to turn round boats.

Also how on earth has a damage waiver become part of the cleanliness of said boats. When we hired we took boats back as clean as possible,

Charlie

[JennyMorgan]

I agree with the comment regarding the appearance of many hire boats, some are a disgrace. Mind you, I have never had so much 'green' on my boat as this year, especially the ropes. Anyway, no excuse, pressure cleaners work wonders. Perhaps not so easy for smaller yards but I would have thought with a big yard a drive through cleaning facility wouldn't be beyond the wit of man. Spring this year saw hire boats coming to Oulton Broad that looked pretty much as they did at the end of last season, disgraceful really. 

[brandenjg]

If they attach scrubbing brushes to the underside of the bridges on the broads then the hire boats could have a quick clean as people scrape the boats through them (tounge in cheek) 

[Gracie]

Differences between Ducks and Moorhens.........

MOORHEN - The common moorhen also know as swamp chicken. The common moorhen lives around vegetated marshes, ponds, canals and other wetlands, The species is not found in the Polar regions or many tropical rainforests.

Scientific name - Gallinula Chloropus

DUCK - Is just a duck as far as I am aware (Haven't had time to look that one up )

Back on topic, I can't think what you mean Branden, we have never just scraped through a bridge  

Grace

[TheQ]

1 hour ago, BroadScot said:

Most of the mops are rubbish, unless its the start of the season. A few yards use to put a deck brush on board for white boats, King Line did at Horning, but people nicked them, no, not the hirers "tea leafs" took them off the roof!

With the "summer" we have had so far this year, I would have thought the boats were well washed by the downpours.

Ah yes the weather, maybe, just maybe the yards did well in the time available to clean inside as it was too wet to clean outside. Just a thought.

Iain

Over the years I have picked up many fenders, boathooks and mops from the river, I suspect most of those that were reported "Nicked" just went for a swim, I picked up an intact, new looking mop  and not so intact fender (unuseable) last time out....

 The fender had been scaped off of a Barns brinkcraft, by leaving The Swan, Horning, by going forwards, ripping the fender off on a metal corner of the Southern comfort.

[BroadScot]

2 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Over the years I have picked up many fenders, boathooks and mops from the river, I suspect most of those that were reported "Nicked" just went for a swim, I picked up an intact, new looking mop  and not so intact fender last time out....

Hi TheQ,

Sounds like you and JM should start up a second hand / recycling boat spare parts business, you On the North Broads, and JM on the South.

Iain

[Baitrunner]

It doesn't take long for boats to get dirty. Had mine cleaned last week and on Saturday you could hardly tell it had been cleaned from a distance. A lot of muck had been removed, but with a few days damp and that sand that is int he air again everything just looks grimy again. And that was in 3 days!!!!

One thing I don't agree with is the French style of hiring where you either clean the boat down before returning it or you pay xx Euros to the yard to do it for you. I don't mind leaving it in a reasonable condition, but a full clean down is not what I want to do on the last morning of my holiday before I travel home!!

And we do normally vacuum etc when we have hired cottages etc because it's not nice to leave places looking really messy.

[NeilB]

The yard I worked at had a team of people who's job it was to wash the exterior of every boat.  From the roof to the waterline including all windows.  I'm not sure there's many yards who do this now which is why there's a few grubby boats out there.

Before we had a dedicated team everyone used to muck in once their initial jobs were completed.  It was very rare every boat was not ready by 2 pm.

[NorfolkNog]

Its a shame to hear about hire boats not looking their best. As Jean mentioned the Swancraft boats were always immaculate, a real credit to them. They were cleaned thoroughly both inside and out, roofs, hulls, the lot. We hired in December (usually Swan Radiance) and the boat was always immaculate even after a full season in hire.

[Maxwellian]

We clean inside and out before we hand back. Does not take long if you keep on top of it as you go along. We are hiring in France next year and it is very clear what is required.

[Vaughan]

34 minutes ago, Baitrunner said:

One thing I don't agree with is the French style of hiring where you either clean the boat down before returning it or you pay xx Euros to the yard to do it for you. I don't mind leaving it in a reasonable condition, but a full clean down is not what I want to do on the last morning of my holiday before I travel home!!

I should just say that this is not the "French Style" of hiring. I have never heard of this policy before and the companies I have worked for did not apply it. They made no obligation whatever to clean a hull or outside before handing a boat back. In fact if we saw customers out there in the morning mopping the decks or cleaning the windows, we told them not to bother as we were going to do it anyway. I have only ever heard of this once and that was one recent post on this forum. The yard concerned in that case is a small independent franchise, who may well be hiring at a cheap price to attract custom and then piling on the extras.

All of our boats were carefully cleaned around the superstructure every week but the hulls not so often, as you can't get at them if you have all stern on moorings. Also, you just don't have time to do the hulls every week, these days.

[LondonRascal]

The fact is, really does a hull with some black scuffs along it, cabin tops with some dirt on it make someone who has hired the boat unhappy?  Does it mean they will not return..Unlikely. 

Because the interior cleanliness is where it is at - I have never got on a boat and found one untidy or hairs in the shower, or a dirty hob and grease splatted kettle.

With a larger yard comes with it in peak season a great deal of activity - you've got people coming back at 9am (but if you are at Richardson's watching them come back they will still be arriving at getting on for 10am) then they need to be re-fueled before the the hires depart so that gets underway as their are taking off their gear - usually another chap will be connecting the pump out hose too.

The customers have gone to the office, collected their car and departed - the yard is quiet but then the cleaning teams get to work, swarming over the boats.

By 12:00pm you've got  new holiday makers arriving eager to know if the boat is ready yet. Quite how there would be also time to go around the boat in a dinghy, scrub the hull or paint a little ding there and sort a fender out there I know not when you are dealing with this sort of size operation - of course you could simply employ more people but then could you keep the prices as keen as they are?

When you have a smaller yard - you generally have a more formal approach to matters - the cleaners you have will deal with each boat one at a time, and if your documentation says take over is 4:00pm then if the boat has not been readied to the standards the yard expect, you will just have to be patient.

This is fine, and you get that more personal service and less rush - but when you've a yard with a hundred or more boats on a Saturday afternoon with car upon car of families arriving you need a slick system in place to process them from arrival, life jacket, boarding, trial run and repeat...It s remarkable how it does not fall apart.

 

[Vaughan]

4 minutes ago, LondonRascal said:

The fact is, really does a hull with some black scuffs along it, cabin tops with some dirt on it make someone who has hired the boat unhappy?  Does it mean they will not return..Unlikely. 

Because the interior cleanliness is where it is at - I have never got on a boat and found one untidy or hairs in the shower, or a dirty hob and grease splatted kettle.

With a larger yard comes with it in peak season a great deal of activity - you've got people coming back at 9am (but if you are at Richardson's watching them come back they will still be arriving at getting on for 10am) then they need to be re-fueled before the the hires depart so that gets underway as their are taking off their gear - usually another chap will be connecting the pump out hose too.

The customers have gone to the office, collected their car and departed - the yard is quiet but then the cleaning teams get to work, swarming over the boats.

By 12:00pm you've got  new holiday makers arriving eager to know if the boat is ready yet. Quite how there would be also time to go around the boat in a dinghy, scrub the hull or paint a little ding there and sort a fender out there I know not when you are dealing with this sort of size operation - of course you could simply employ more people but then could you keep the prices as keen as they are?

When you have a smaller yard - you generally have a more formal approach to matters - the cleaners you have will deal with each boat one at a time, and if your documentation says take over is 4:00pm then if the boat has not been readied to the standards the yard expect, you will just have to be patient.

This is fine, and you get that more personal service and less rush - but when you've a yard with a hundred or more boats on a Saturday afternoon with car upon car of families arriving you need a slick system in place to process them from arrival, life jacket, boarding, trial run and repeat...It s remarkable how it does not fall apart.

 

I hardly need to say any more than that Robin. You have summed it up perfectly and concisely. 

I would just add : unfortunately in my more than 40 years I have seen a lot of complaint letters in my time - some justified, some not - but I have never seen a complaint about a dirty hull.

Conversely - if you have hired a boat that looks a bit tatty on the outside, and you see another going past looking shiny and well painted, then that's the yard you will hire from next year!.

[Maxwellian]

22 minutes ago, LondonRascal said:

By 12:00pm you've got  new holiday makers arriving eager to know if the boat is ready yet. Quite how there would be also time to go around the boat in a dinghy, scrub the hull or paint a little ding there and sort a fender out there I know not when you are dealing with this sort of size operation - of course you could simply employ more people but then could you keep the prices as keen as they are?

By 12:00 Robin, I was talking to one Yard during my recent two weeks and they said someone turned up at 10:00. We usually turn up between 12:00 and 13:00 at Maffetts and then walk to Rosie Lees. Turned up at 13:00 this year to be told that the boat had been ready for us for a while. Excellent service.

[JennyMorgan]

Why go round in a rowboat? A blast of a pressure cleaner is quick and easy. 

[Baitrunner]

25 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

I should just say that this is not the "French Style" of hiring. I have never heard of this policy before and the companies I have worked for did not apply it. They made no obligation whatever to clean a hull or outside before handing a boat back. In fact if we saw customers out there in the morning mopping the decks or cleaning the windows, we told them not to bother as we were going to do it anyway. I have only ever heard of this once and that was one recent post on this forum. The yard concerned in that case is a small independent franchise, who may well be hiring at a cheap price to attract custom and then piling on the extras.

 

Vaughan, If Le Boat are classed as a small independent franchise who hire on the cheap then I agree - I have never thought of them as cheap or small though - and this was last summer.

Charged for the cleaning as an extra despite cleaning the decks etc down - apparently they do the windows so they are nice and clean which seems to justify it!!! 

I would expect it to be included in the hire charges as they seem to find a way to charge you for it anyway so you may as well save the effort.

I have to say when I hired from Ricos in March the boat was an old one which we knew, but it had been washed down (still wet). Yeah not as shiny as she once was, but clean.

[vanessan]

I have just looked at Barnes webcam and I see at least 3 boats having their decks and hulls wiped down by the staff. I don't think I have ever seen a mucky Barnes boat, or Faircraft or Ferry Marina for that matter. Probably because those boatyards have mainly newer boats and are therefore easier to keep pristine. I have moored many times at Loddon and seen the staff at Pacific cleaning down their boats on a Friday or Saturday, they have older boats but really look after them.

Does anyone know what happened to the boats from City Boats when they ceased last year? I have seen some of them recently, particularly M733 which has no name, and they still seem to be out for hire.

[Maxwellian]

I thought M733 was Fine Freedom. We saw some of the City boats out this year. Assumed they were still hiring. Prepared to be educated.