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Deciding On Our Next Hire Boat


Franzipan90

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Hi all

Been looking at boats for our planned holiday in June. Some of the Herbert Woods ones are edging it at the moment. Anyone have any information/opinion on the boats/boatyard as this will be the first time hiring with them. Or opinions on other boats they would recommend. There will be 6 of us 5 adults 1 child plus a dog. 3 separate sleeping cabins are preferred and as we may go for 10 nights would like a boat that can do most if not all the broads (potter Heigham bridge is always a bit hit and miss from our experience).

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I was taking a look around online a few days ago comparing prices for later in the year on the off chance that we want to get away. The conclusion that I came to was that it's hard to beat Richardson's if price is your main criteria. If I could afford it then I would be straight back to Ferry Marina as I like their boats and their customer service but I would like to try one of their newer boats so may have to save a bit harder for that.

Howard speaks very highly of Bridgecraft - they don't have a boat with the sleeping arrangements that we want but if they did I would definitely be giving them a try.

 

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Sleeping arrangements and pricing are easy to find, as for the yards i don't think there is a bad one, there are however bad experiences. for every person that has a horror story about a yard there will be another who thinks they are marvellous. Sorry that is of no help, but it's truly the way I've found things to be, I've had problems with hire boats but every yard has always responded well when called.

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1 hour ago, Franzipan90 said:

Hi all

Been looking at boats for our planned holiday in June. Some of the Herbert Woods ones are edging it at the moment. Anyone have any information/opinion on the boats/boatyard as this will be the first time hiring with them. Or opinions on other boats they would recommend. There will be 6 of us 5 adults 1 child plus a dog. 3 separate sleeping cabins are preferred and as we may go for 10 nights would like a boat that can do most if not all the broads (potter Heigham bridge is always a bit hit and miss from our experience).

Hello Franzipan90.,

My advice is to always look at a boat that has a couple of more berths than you require especially when you are talking about a crew of 5 or 6 people. 

We do not hire on the Broads, we do however hire on the canals and our policy stand u in good stead with additional storage space on the boat.

One of the issues on most boats is being able to all sit around a table for a meal, most of the 8 berth boats we have hired have only been big enough to sit our crew of six adult around a table.

Regards

Alan

 

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Choosing the boat for next year's holiday was always part of the fun, however we were pretty loyal to Ernest Collins in the 60's and 70's. At the end of the hire Jack Latham would always come onto the boat and ask if all went well reminding us that bookings were getting quite full for "our boat" next year, so maybe make a booking now. Often he would invite Dad into his office and pull the cover off his drawing board to reveal next year's new addition to the fleet which was always "not public yet". I think we had the Diamond, Royal, Astral and Regal Emblems on their first year of hire.

 

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We hired Royale Emblem from Ferry Marina last May for a party of 5 adults and a dog, and I must say we found the design of the boat worked really well for us.  It's not the newest boat, but it has three cabins, 2 doubles and one which has a double and a single bed and like all Ferry Marina boats we thought it had been maintained really well, mechanically, exterior and furnishings. The best thing for us was that the lounge was huge with plenty of seating, with a good size table which we could sit at even whilst our dog's crate was set up on the opposite side of the lounge.  The amount of storage was decent too.

I had crossed checked the price against those of other boatyards and I'm convinced that it worked out pretty cheaply for us since the fuel and damage waiver fee was included in the up-front fee and we did a lot of cruising, including all the way to Norwich and back.  I posted a full review of the boat in the holiday tales section.

Helen

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8 minutes ago, YnysMon said:

We hired Royale Emblem from Ferry Marina last May for a party of 5 adults and a dog, and I must say we found the design of the boat worked really well for us.  It's not the newest boat, but it has three cabins, 2 doubles and one which has a double and a single bed and like all Ferry Marina boats we thought it had been maintained really well, mechanically, exterior and furnishings. The best thing for us was that the lounge was huge with plenty of seating, with a good size table which we could sit at even whilst our dog's crate was set up on the opposite side of the lounge.  The amount of storage was decent too.

I had crossed checked the price against those of other boatyards and I'm convinced that it worked out pretty cheaply for us since the fuel and damage waiver fee was included in the up-front fee and we did a lot of cruising, including all the way to Norwich and back.  I posted a full review of the boat in the holiday tales section.

Helen

Was it this boat ?

If you had a good time who cares!!!

1 of 3 %A9 Keith Carter

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Have you looked at Beam or Light?

We had 4 adults, 4 kids and 2 dogs for a week aboard Thunder last year and I am biased but the huge saloon makes all the difference.

However, Thunder is 6ft 10ish but they claim Beam of Light is 7ft 2 inches and won’t pass Beccles old bridge (which can have 9 ft of clearance.....) or Wroxham although I have taken Thunder under Wroxham!


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3 hours ago, Matt said:

Have you looked at Beam or Light?

We had 4 adults, 4 kids and 2 dogs for a week aboard Thunder last year and I am biased but the huge saloon makes all the difference.

However, Thunder is 6ft 10ish but they claim Beam of Light is 7ft 2 inches and won’t pass Beccles old bridge (which can have 9 ft of clearance.....) or Wroxham although I have taken Thunder under Wroxham!


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Beam of light would be suitable but no longer available for the dates we are looking at. Jewel of light is probably 1st choice atm, also shining light and glint of light plus a couple of others. As mentioned as we are hoping to be able to do most of the broads if we do 10 days instead of 7. So these seem to fit the bill in terms of going under the bridges also like the fact that the saloon  area is where the "driver sits". Don't like the boats where the only steering position is separate from the living area with only room for 1 or 2 people to sit alongside.

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3 hours ago, YnysMon said:

We hired Royale Emblem from Ferry Marina last May for a party of 5 adults and a dog, and I must say we found the design of the boat worked really well for us.  It's not the newest boat, but it has three cabins, 2 doubles and one which has a double and a single bed and like all Ferry Marina boats we thought it had been maintained really well, mechanically, exterior and furnishings. The best thing for us was that the lounge was huge with plenty of seating, with a good size table which we could sit at even whilst our dog's crate was set up on the opposite side of the lounge.  The amount of storage was decent too.

I had crossed checked the price against those of other boatyards and I'm convinced that it worked out pretty cheaply for us since the fuel and damage waiver fee was included in the up-front fee and we did a lot of cruising, including all the way to Norwich and back.  I posted a full review of the boat in the holiday tales section.

Helen

Did look at the ferry marina boats, I agree they certainly look from the pictures very well maintained. If we were going for 7 nights we may have considered them more or if my grandma had decided to come with us again this year (she likes it if boats have electric flush toilets) however, for 10 nights they are much more expensive that we are prepared to pay.

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Yes, I found that too, which is why we’re hiring from NBD this March for a 10 night break rather than Ferry Marina. By the time our loyalty discount, early booking discount and the 10 night discount that NBD offered got taken into account it made a huge difference to the cost.

We have booked with Ferry Marina for a 7 night autumn break though.

Helen

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1 hour ago, Hylander said:

Thanks for the link Peter,  will give that some thought for our 'tennis club' jolly.

Over the years I have enjoyed several 'jollies' aboard wherries, Albion, White Moth & Olive. Without exception huge fun & to be highly recommended. When Albion was based at Oulton Broad, long time ago now, we did a pub crawl on the Yare, that was a hoot! The ultimate Lasses' Weekend? It could be!

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All of these have a minimum 3 "made up" cabins and allow passage under all bridges at normal tides.

Broadland Mars

Broadland Neptune

Sovereign

Solitaire

London Bridge

Westminster Bridge

Grecian Girl

Merrymore

Rexmore

Royall Ambassador

Phantom

Tideway

Monarch

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Have to agree with David on all of the above, especially Broadland Mars, Neptune and Sovereign, all three from Richardsons's, top boats and a top yard, although they are a huge outfit they go out of their way to make your holiday the best it can be, been with them loads of times and can't fault them.

Also hired Merrymore from Barnes, again a smashing boat and excellent yard

All of the above are centre cockpits, fantastic for cruising with the roof back on a summer's day with the whole family together in the saloon, handy for when you're helming and need a glass of wine :default_norty:

Good luck with your search, let us know what you go for

Grace

 

 

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Ah yes the Jewel class. Good choice imho.  We like them v.much, have two of them (Along with 'B.A' of course) every October, this year we have all three of them booked.  Which number do you have booked?  - sent the yard a list of issues for numbers one and three last October and will still have it somewhere

Griff

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On 17/01/2018 at 07:33, BroadAmbition said:

Ah yes the Jewel class. Good choice imho.  We like them v.much, have two of them (Along with 'B.A' of course) every October, this year we have all three of them booked.  Which number do you have booked?  - sent the yard a list of issues for numbers one and three last October and will still have it somewhere

Griff

Jewel of light one.

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  • 2 months later...

Having hired for over 40 years, i`ve had many experiences, both good and bad. Some of the best boats won`t be the newest, but will be ideal for your needs. As for yards, if hiring on the noorthern rivers, i`d ALWAYS recommend Bridgecraft. A great family yard, with some great, if not new boats, and great service. The others would be either Summercraft from Wroxham, though not a big fleet, and the new fleet on the Broads, The Broads Boating company from Acle, which do have a number of big boats that will suit your needs, and have had some really good reviews. 

If hiring on the southern rivers, i`d recommend Freedom from Thorpe, who have a few boats that meet your needs, AND you can hire them from a single night to the whole summer if you wish, as well as starting on any day of the week / weekend, they are VERY flexible. Then there`s Pacific Cruisers from Loddon, a lovely small private husban and wife operation, and lastly,  Silverline from Brundall, who have some really stunning boats.  The yards i`ve mentioned ALL have bost that will meat your needs, as well as going under the bridges, though Potter Heigham is a rareity these day for most boats.

One last thing, Welcome to the forum, i like your name, it cunjours p one thought?..........................

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