Our Much Loved Hearts Cruiser, Idea For Side Graphic.

[KitKat]

Hi to all broads fans. We have our first broads boat. When we purchased her she was called 'Little Fish'.  An Ocean 30 with the dog kennel cabin at the back. It turns out she was previously a hearts cruiser Braveheart 1 or 2. After a lengthy paint job and refurb windows etc she is now 'Rochomie' and splendid in navy and white. Also added amongst other refinements a much needed second mates forward facing seat. She is going back for a further top coat or two to the upper structures at the end of the summer and I would like to add, if possible...a hearts cruiser logo of some sort as a mark of her history. I think she was in hire during the 70s/80s. She has an area each side towards the stern upper structures where her name had been previously that I would like to use. Any ideas of an appropriate flag or sign that can be copied if possible would be appreciated.

We are pretty well smitten with her and if only we didn't have to go to work weekdays, would escape on her all the time.

Ideas much appreciated.

 

[Vaughan]

I think the Ocean 30s came to Hearts in the days of Pennant, who also owned Herbert Woods, so the boat was probably fitted out by them. I operated one of them when I was on the Thames and they are very well built boats.

Maybe you simply want to use the Hearts Cruisers flag, a white pennant with a red heart? Don't see why you shouldn't!

[JennyMorgan]

You love your Hearts Cruiser so why not this image:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Love-heart-arrow.svg

[Vaughan]

4 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

You love your Hearts Cruiser so why not this image:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Love-heart-arrow.svg

Oh, my bleedin' 'eart!

By the way, a warm welcome to the forum, Kit Kat.

[ranworthbreeze]

Hello KitKat welcome to the forum.

Regards

Alan

[JennyMorgan]

4 hours ago, Vaughan said:

Oh, my bleedin' 'eart!

By the way, a warm welcome to the forum, Kit Kat.

And I thought that you were a big softy! When we had Fowler's Boatyard all our boats were Something Waters, we did consider Passing Waters. Perhaps the owners of Hearts at one time did consider Bleeding Heart, or even Broken Heart.

[JennyMorgan]

This is on the stern of another ex Hearts cruiser, suspect that the crown is optional:

[KitKat]

Thank you for your replies. Not sure about the heart and arrow.....a bit like a valentines card....Can't see my other half accepting that in a hurry. The pennant sounds promising but only issue is the white flag on a white background. I did see this and wondered if it would be acceptable to use something very similar. 

[Vaughan]

Just now, JennyMorgan said:

Perhaps the owners of Hearts at one time did consider Bleeding Heart, or even Broken Heart.

Yes, we had two boats called Heart-beat and Heart-throb, so the next one was going to be Heart-attack!

We had a dinghy, a Landamore Lapstrake, on Wroxham broad as the tender to Evening flight, and this had a name-plate on the transom - "Sweetheart".

Everyone kept nicking it to get out to their mooring, so next year, it was called "not yours". Leslie Landamore came out one evening with his sign-writing kit and changed it to "wot's yours".

We also had a small glass-fibre launch with a little outboard and this was called "Heart - Starter".

[KitKat]

Wow, great minds think alike. Posted simultaneously... That's a good omen. 

[KitKat]

How she looks now.

[JennyMorgan]

Vaughan, for how much work Jamie Campbell has had to do on Evening Flight then perhaps she should have been called Heart Ache!

Kit Kat, perhaps you have already realised but if not then Vaughan is son of Mr Hearts Cruisers. He is also the Official NBN Hearts raconteur!  

[JennyMorgan]

Kit Kat, yes, very smart! Was she tarted up at 'Robins' on the Brooke industrial estate at Lowestoft? 

[KitKat]

Yes she was treated with tender care at Robins. I have some interesting pictures of some of the bumps and scrapes suffered as a hire boat. One significant one looks like it was hurriedly repaired between hires after striking a quay heading at speed. Whoever repaired her had a sense of humour as on removing the protective steel nose she had worn for many years the picture attached shows Robin found some writing.

It was repaired properly at last as time wasn't the most important factor for us. She has a beautiful profile now and not much remaining of her previous adventures other than some 'I woz ere' type scratchings under a mattress or two.

How interesting to have a real life Hearts expert to get the real stories from. Thanks Vaughan

[JennyMorgan]

My daughter and I had the old wooden sailing boat just ahead of you in Robin's shed when they started work on your boat. We won't be going there again but I was really impressed with the work they did to your boat. She was beginning to look very smart when I last saw her, Robin's missus was really building up the paint on the hull. They were very thorough in making good the hull damage. Robin is very good with old GRP boats.

[JennyMorgan]

1 hour ago, KitKat said:

Thank you for your replies. Not sure about the heart and arrow.....a bit like a valentines card....Can't see my other half accepting that in a hurry. The pennant sounds promising but only issue is the white flag on a white background. I did see this and wondered if it would be acceptable to use something very similar. 

A red flag with a white heart then?

[Vaughan]

 

The top photo is of the King of Hearts and shows the stem plate, in the form of a playing card, that all the boats carried. These were cast, in aluminium alloy.

The second photo, of the Ace of Hearts being launched, shows the two Hearts flags, also in cast alloy, that were carried on the transom, on either side of the name-plate.

As a matter of interest, these two photos were in the early 50s, before the Blakes emblem was carried.

The owners of the King of Hearts have done something similar (as per Peter's photo) on her transom, and so their flag is perhaps now specific to the King of Hearts?

Susie and I are thinking of a flag which would be more specific to "Braveheart" and will come up with an idea tomorrow!

[Bound2Please]

A warm to the  forum kitkat  from me and the  the Wench (some call her Inge)

Charlie

[JennyMorgan]

1 hour ago, Vaughan said:

 

 

Susie and I are thinking of a flag which would be more specific to "Braveheart" and will come up with an idea tomorrow!

Inspiration perhaps?

[KitKat]

Thank you all for your warm welcome. It's like joining a very special club. 

Vaughan, just a little extra info. The original Rochomie was my grandfathers herring fishing boat. My dad also went to see on her before the second world war when he was very young. He went on to become a wireless operator in the merchant navy and served on the convoys surviving some awful experiences where many of his friends on board were less fortunate. It would be maybe be worth a nod to the scottish family history as well as the scottish links with the name Braveheart by including a St Andrews flag if possible, 

Thanks for thinking it through Vaughan.

[Vaughan]

These are the ensigns worn by the regiment I was in, and the crossed swords is often used in Army badges, denoting bravery, of course. As it happens, the swords represent the Scottish claymore, which probably comes from the Royal Scots, as they were called the First Regiment of Foot.

The second ensign was worn by the LCTs, which were designated HMAV (Her Majesty's Army vessel) and had the Royal Cypher on top of the swords.

 

I was thinking of something similar, with crossed claymores behind a red heart but of course, I had forgotten that your boat is no longer called Braveheart!

 

[Minifer]

I'm waiting for a work email to come in so I decided to mess about in Photoshop, here's my sketchy Scottish Heart Pennant

[TheQ]

That appears to represent Robert the Bruce Quite well..

[KitKat]

Minifer, I rather like that. Quite a good mix. Thanks. We are heading out on the water tomorrow for a few days. Will mull it over and see if I can convince my other half that it would enhance the boat, He prefers the erm....minimalist look shall we say. 

[trambo]

Hi Kit Kat, I'm pretty certain yours is one of the ex Richardsons Braveheart / Lightheart classes that sailed from Thorpe after Pennant Holidays parent group sold the yard. They were still marketed through Pennant until their demise and then directly by Richardsons as a budget fleet. The two classes came from a number of large builds of Ocean 30s by Richardsons in the late 60s, Tideway 1-12 and Tidemaster 1-2 which had the larger galley arrangement. Escapade1-11 and Waverider 1-2 which had a smaller galley but a settee opposite the dinette.

Hearts did operate two Herbert Woods built Ocean 30s to their Duchess of Light class, Peacefull Heart and Restful Heart but these had the large aft cockpit with no single side cabin and returned to Woods after the Richardsons purchase. Two of the Woods built classes ended up with Sanderson Marine at Reedham as their Sandmartin class and were in hire until a couple of seasons ago

I hired one of the Lightheart class in the Richardson days and remember begging the booking lady to make sure I did not get one with the red superstructure! She made sure I didn't and below is Lightheart II in Meadow Dyke with her Hearts emblems.

Fred