Silver Coral, Silverline Marine Brundall.

[trambo]

Derek and myself spent a week on Silverline's new two berth cruiser Silver Coral in mid April. The weather was mostly dry but on the chilly side.

The arrival. We had a very relaxing journey from Runcorn with just one pit stop and a quick diversion off the A47 into the supermarket at Eaton to pick up the provisions and arrived at Brundall just on 14:00.

I was aware of criticisms made on the forum about the friendliness of the yard and did make a conscious effort to recognise any failings. I had booked direct with Lesley and she was aware we were having a second week on the shared ownership boat Silver Cloud. As we turned into the yard all the staff were outside, dressed almost like cabin crew, ready to welcome their hirers. Colin approached the car and welcomed us, told us everything was ready and that Robert would show us where to park and once unloaded would I like to go to the office to complete the red tape. There we did the necessary forms and had a chat about Silver Cloud, how shared ownership works and a couple of canal trips we had made since we had last hired from them. So forms complete and no car park charge because we had been past customers, we were shown around Silver Coral, no trial run required we sailed forth! As I said I was tying to see just were there might have been a fault. The only thing I can think of is that the whole procedure runs like clockwork, it has obviously been worked out over many years and is rather Germanic in it's efficiency but always friendly and the Dyes are genuinely interested in their customers. I can see this style might not be everyones cup of tea but it does work. Very different from another great yard, Pearson's at Reedham, Jimmy Pearson (now sadly passed away) was so laid back you had to almost say can we get off Jim. Both great yards with superb fleets but different approaches. The opposite was a yard, still in business but no longer hiring cruisers. We arrived, no one to be seen, boatyard looked a mess, found the owner in a shed, come office, in shorts on a reclining chair with his feet on the desk playing on his mobile phone. Now I know which I prefer!

Review of Silver Coral to follow.

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, trambo said:

Derek and myself spent a week on Silverline's new two berth cruiser Silver Coral

I was aware of criticisms made on the forum about the friendliness of the yard and did make a conscious effort to recognise any failings.

We spent a week on Silver Wisper from Silverline last year and found them to be very friendly and helpful too

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Hiya Fred,

I did repeat some adverse comments on here re Silverline, and what some people told me, or have reported elsewhere. Maybe word has got back, and they`ve reassessd their handovers and customer service, or maybe, there was nothing wrong with it in the first place. The one thing that is well worth noting is that you have excellent reports through personal experience. We`re looking at possibly hiring a large cruiser for my brother and his extended family next year, so that they can coincide their week with us on Lightning, so we can host some of his family, and cruise in company, and to read your first hand experiences will encourage us to hire from Silverline, due to convenience of start bases, as we`re moored in Brooms.

[deebee29]

Great write up Fred

 looking forward to the boat review.

We have only ever had great service from Silverline ( see my Tales from the South Side & Tales from the South Side the Return in Holiday Tales)

I'm sure they would be a great choice for your brother & family Neil, and handy when you are on Lightning.

I do agree that the operation runs like a well oiled machine but Colin, Lesley Robert & the staff we have met have always been really friendly and helpful to us. We've often popped back part way through the holiday for a pump out and found them much more relaxed when it's not changeover day, having more time to chat with us.

I'm sure everyone has their own experiences and expectations and can only speak as we find

[Chelsea14Ian]

Have  said many times before we hired a number of there boats before we owned  boats.Always very good

There boats well maintained. We still see them being based atCove.For me one of the best yards on the broads

[Broads01]

Good to read Fred, I look forward to your review. 

[trambo]

Review of Silver Cloud.

 

 

Silver Cloud is one of the Heritage 286 breed which started life as the Aquafibre Opel.

Silverline have been building them for a couple of years for the private market and this build run will also include a number for Barnes Brinkcraft at Wroxham. This will be the Brinks Encore class in their fleet.

 

Silver Cloud's layout is a contemporary version of their superbly rebuilt Opel, Silver Symphony (ex Swancraft, ex Harbour Cruisers) and is marketed as a two berth but is licensed for three. Starting at the bow, we have a proper semi circular seating area, much more practical than the Alpha moulds step arrangement, and would be ideal on a hot evening especially with it's blue glow led lighting. The mud weight is powered and very simple to use.

 

We enter the saloon through double fully glazed doors.The top third is clear and the bottom two thirds is opaque white. I was in two minds about it. It was very nice to sit in the saloon at night with just the  cockpit blue lighting shining through the opaque glass but during the day I could not get it out of my head that it reminded me of a very old fashioned fish and chip shop window, the sort you could imagine in an old Gracie Fields film. All the glazing on the boat is bonded with black opening insets and is tinted. On entering the saloon the first thing that hits your eye is the L shaped seating in the most vivid dark blue material. I guarantee you will blink a couple of times while your eyes adjust! I just hope the sun will do it's bleaching act.There is bedding storage behind if being booked for more than two persons. After your eyes adjust you will then notice the shear craftsmanship of the woodwork and lining work, The linings are in coffee and cream and compliment the woodwork superbly. To the port side is a built in t.v. cabinet and to the starboard side a cabinet containing an excellent selection of glassware from tumblers to sparkling wine flutes. You have the L shaped settee with a handy shelf behind. Opposite is the steering position. Again this is far superior to the Alpha mould, in that when the split canopy is open the helmsman is actually in the open as well. The helm position is very comfortable and as well as all the usual dials and buttons you treated to a rudder indicator and a very useful GPS speed indicator. No more guessing your speed although in reality it was often necessary to average the reading as it jumped a few miles per hour either way. The settee pulls out to to form a single berth (in the case of Brinks Encore a double) and there are drawers under. Also under the settee is the storage for the table legs. When Derek saw the two round cavities for the legs he thought it was a built in wine rack! The table itself is stored at the end of the galley unit but we left it up and at no time did we feel it an incumbrance. Lighting in the saloon (and the rest of the interior) was by led spotlights. These ran down the centre canopy and to be honest I found them very harsh on the eye. A table lamp on the shelf area (as on Symphony) would have gone a long way to alleviate the problem.

 

The galley on Silver Cloud I could find no fault at all with. Those who have hired similar class boats will know how little storage space there can be. I remember seeing the internal photographs of one of the Royall versions and they had put the microwave oven in the bedroom! Silver Cloud follows the design of Silver Symphony and improves on it, using modern worktops with integrated drainer and splash-backs. The gas oven and hob is a one piece model and worked without fault. Opposite the sink is a full height unit with large base cupboard, work surface, shelf and at eye-level a built in microwave. There is a 240v plugs available for the toaster, kettle (normal stove kettle also provided) and the all important coffee bean grinder which you will have to provide yourself! A kitchen knife block is provided and the inventory is as expected to normal Silverline standards. Again the standard of workmanship is superb.

 

 

The toilet area of the boat again follows the normal layout for this class of boat but using the most modern materials. The finish is in pure white with some relief on the sink cabinet. It looks clinical but in a good way. The only points of criticism are the use of a single tap/shower head. It worked very well in practise but it felt just a little bit flimsy and I wondered how it would fare after a few seasons use, also I find the toilet area on all the boats of this type to be rather narrow. Fine for myself but for those a little more portly I wonder if it would be a little constricted.

 

The galley leads into the cabin and I'm glad to say has bucked the trend of some other new two berth cruisers to go open plan and has a door. May be a personal fad but I do like the perceived extra privacy it seems to give. I believe from Robert Dye that this is were the two boatyard versions differ. Silverline has the island bed arrangement while Barnes Brinkcraft will have the more traditional side one. Bit of confusion over this as I looked up BB's website to look up Encore and the publicity shots do show the Silver Coral configuration, complete with BB cushions, however the plan shown is as Robert described. Anyway unless someone tells me different I am not going to argue with the man who built the boat! The cabin is a little restricted with this island bed but we did have the next week on another boat that had the traditional arrangement to compare and on balance I think it is slightly better but would not be a deciding factor on hiring (or buying) a boat. The bed on Coral has been made as big as possible with the headboard curved at the ends to give more room when walking around it. I'm six foot and and there was plenty of spare room. Another factor which people worry about on this configuration is that some of us sleep on our backs and your feet are under the deck. I'm a size nine shoe and would say there was about an inch and a half spare. The bed certainly seemed more spacious than that on the similar Silver Symphony. Sleep quality on the bed was perfect and the cabin had a very relaxing feel about it. For such a small cabin there is abundant storage. A large wardrobe, three deep and wide drawers and a large double doored cupboard with shelving.

 

 

 

We pass from the sleeping cabin to the aft cockpit through a single door, glazed in the same fashion as the fore cockpit and find the usual gas locker on one side and the engine and hydraulic transmission on the other. Silver Clouds exterior is finished in the same style as their other recent builds which is neat and stylish but as always with Silverline nicely understated.

 

What did I like about her. Well almost everything. The quality and finish was just superb. You will only see very small amounts of fibreglass, you will probably not even notice unless you look. The coffee and cream linings of slightly different textures compliment the wood. The inventory was good, thoughtful things like different shaped wine glasses showed some thought had been given. Heating was the normal diesel powered system and had outlet in all areas including the toilet and was excellent  and very quiet for its type. The simple liveability of the boat. It was easy to handle andy easy to live on, it just seemed to all gel together.

 

What I did not like about her. I'm still recovering from seeing the blue settee! Also it showed every bit of fluff. Also it was L shaped which although comfortable did not compare with the curved L settee on Symphony. Plus a couple of cushions needed please Silverline. The engine compartment needed some soundproofing, there was none at all and although you could have a normal conversation considering the engine is at the stern it should have been quieter. On our shared ownership boat Silver Cloud, which is soundproofed and you sit over the engine to steer, we noticed sound levels about the same, which it shouldn't be. The saloon lighting was too harsh, would have been nice to have been able to dim them. Now the worst thing about her and to us not very important but it was atrocious! The television. First it was small, it could have been twice as big and looked a bit silly. We turned it on one night to catch up on the news. I don't think I have ever seen such an awful picture on a television......ever. Signal was fine but however you tried to adjust it the picture quality was just dreadful and if you changed your viewing angle even slightly it got even worse. We stuck to the radio for the rest of the week! Which? reviewed a much larger TV from the manufacturer and it got a "Don't Buy".

 

Just a few other comments. It was asked at one point about ventilation and condensation. Although very chilly all week we suffered no condensation problems at all and the boat was exceptionally draught free. Silver Coral is a two berth boat but can accommodate three. As a two berth she is one of the best low air draft boats available and I do not think there would be a problem with a third person. If you are considering hiring the Brinks version for four, it might however, to be positive, be a bit cozy. Silver Coral is part of Hoseasons "Starboard Fleet" and for that you get different bedding (which did coordinate with the decor very well), some hotel style toiletry freebies and a bottle of cheap but drinkable fizz. Worth considering when choosing a boat? Defiantly not in my opinion, simply a marketing exercise. Lastly is it worth paying the extra for Silver Coral over Silver Symphony? Probably but only just. Coral does look lovely with her modern materials and is worth the extra cost but the settee on Symphony is sublimely luxurious, so the answer is if you want a Saturday start boat then it's Coral. If you want a Friday start then Symphony. If you want an island bed and a South side start then Silverline, if a traditional bed and a North side start then Barnes Brinkcraft. If you want the boat to look the same in October as it did in April then.................

Fred

 

 

[Gracie]

Fantastic, thank you Fred, she certainly is a cracking little boat, loved your holiday write up, too

Grace

p.s As for that Ranger, you'll have to fight me for him

[SwanR]

Thank you so much for such a detailed write up and the photos. We haven't tried Silverline yet but it might be a possibility if we want to hire on the south again at some point.

 

[Hylander]

You say the TV was chronic , did it take a DVD at all?

[Broads01]

Thanks for the very comprehensive write up Fred. The TV issue is frustrating because it sounds like they've tried to save a couple of quid where they shouldn't. For the sake of an extra £100 or £200 they could have done better. I think the blue looks lovely in the photos but based on your experience I'll reserve judgement until I see in real life. 

[trambo]

5 hours ago, Hylander said:

You say the TV was chronic , did it take a DVD at all?

Yes, it was an integrated Television - DVD but we did not use so can not comment. I suspect though as the TV was picking up the signal ok the poor picture quality would have been down to the quality of the appliance.

Fred

[Hylander]

Oh dear a Friday afternoon job.  One for the tip.    I wonder if Silverline realise it is so awful.

 

 

[ranworthbreeze]

Moving from location to location if you want to watch the TV you will more than likely need to do a DTV re-tune/scan to get the best signal. and if it has a standard DTV aerial then to get it into the correct position, i anyone has an aerial near you try pointing it in that direction.

Regards

Alan

[deebee29]

On the subject of faulty equipment it reminds me of a conversation I had with Colin from Silverline last year.

We were on Silver Elegance and found the toaster wasn't working.... no great problem to us, we just used the grill but when we called in for water when passing I mentioned the toaster and was promptly given a new one.

Colin said one of the biggest problems is people don't mention these things to him when handing back the boat ( not suggesting this to be the case here by the way) and on busy turn around days it's not possible to test every appliance. 

 

[ranworthbreeze]

The best solution is if you have hired a boat and find a faulty item is if you can do without it as David mentions above is to report it during you stay so the boatyard can replace it on your return to the yard. If it is urgent then report at the time so an engineer can get to you.

I have spoken to hire yards on the Broads and the Canals, at times they even get urgent calls relating to there being no water, even though the customers will have been told to fill up with water at every opportunity.

I think we have only called out engineers for faulty heaters and no drive on the prop, that one turned to be no drift pin on the shaft and the castellated  nut did not have a spit pin. Carpets and 50 foot of rope around the prop, not a problem, just a normal day on the Canals.

Regards

Alan 

 

[trambo]

1 hour ago, deebee29 said:

 

Colin said one of the biggest problems is people don't mention these things to him when handing back the boat ( not suggesting this to be the case here by the way) and on busy turn around days it's not possible to test every appliance. 

 

The problem with the TV was not that it did not work, it did but it was just so very poor. Not a big issue to us because we very rarely have the television on even on Silver Cloud. What I thought was poor,  seeing we where on a  so called "Starboard Quality" boat was the total lack of quality in the product, it really was dire and so at odds with what you expect and get from Silverline.

[trambo]

4 hours ago, Broads01 said:

 I think the blue looks lovely in the photos but based on your experience I'll reserve judgement until I see in real life. 

Sunglasses advised Simon. 

[deebee29]

Such a shame really when the overall quality of the boat is so high to cut corners on a relatively cheap item these days.

We've just had a week on an old Herbert Woods boat and the tv was fairly cheap but the picture quality was excellent

I only mentioned that because it reminded me of the conversation not that you should have said something

[addicted]

I'm a huge fan of" Strictly" The problem is that when it starts in September we are still using the boat and the time it goes out clashes with going out to dinner which is de rigeur on Saturday nights. I got round the problem by getting a Cello T.V.. which records. It will only record the channel that is being watched but does have a timer  so you can set it up much the same as a video recorder. Works a treat. We liked it so much we bought a bigger version for the kitchen at home. It was relatively inexpensive as well.

 

CarolE

 

.

[Woodsie]

I'm taking Silver Coral out next week. Can anyone tell me the height so I can work out if I ned to worry about high tide when going under certain bridges. I'm staying South the whole week btw.

[YnysMon]

It's a shame their website doesn't give the boat's air draft. However, it looks pretty similar to Fair Regent and Evening Light, and they are both 6'10". 

[Chelsea14Ian]

56 minutes ago, Woodsie said:

I'm taking Silver Coral out next week. Can anyone tell me the height so I can work out if I ned to worry about high tide when going under certain bridges. I'm staying South the whole week btw.

Phone Silverline, they will tell you the height.Looking I think at low tide she should  get through  Beccles old bridge. You will need to check on high tides also.You can ask for bridge heights at Beccles  YS.