Brooms

[Guest]

Just now, ZimbiIV said:

If you are going to pay 7 figures for a riverside penthouse, would you really like to see smelly boats fuelling?

Me cynical, never!

If the plan does not work, charge 7 figures for the fuel!

paul

I would hope that my 7 figure penthouse in Brundall would come with a mooring for a boat that gulps slightly more diesel than I would gin

[Simon]

6 minutes ago, Philosophical said:

I guess that you need to read  your new berthing agreement carefully.

Indeed I will,  my tanks are fairly large so I can refuel elsewhere if they aren't competitive. 

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Simon said:

Indeed I will,  my tanks are fairly large so I can refuel elsewhere if they aren't competitive. 

I have been using Broom's and knowingly pay a over the odds for the convenience, but a massive premium on many hundreds of litres makes the combination of a trip and fuel fill an attractive combination.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Just out of interest, when yards offer diesel, is it for berth holders only?. Brooms sell to the public, but small yards with limited facilities, maybe like Swancraft etc, do they have the shere capacity to sell to anybody that calls in?.  Maybe i`m thinking of the fact that the smaller yards that are well away from the main river, unlike Brooms, Goodchilds, and even Sandersons at Reedham, who are in a prominent position.

[NorfolkNog]

2 hours ago, Londonlad1985 said:

99p at Boulters. £1.10 at Southgates that was 2 weeks ago - bit of a schlep from Brundall though 

99p from Swancraft as mentioned. Paul is very helpful, not sure of his pump out prices (I'll try to find out). I'm sure he wouldn't charge you for water either if you were buying fuel.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, SPEEDTRIPLE said:

Just out of interest, when yards offer diesel, is it for berth holders only?. Brooms sell to the public, but small yards with limited facilities, maybe like Swancraft etc, do they have the shere capacity to sell to anybody that calls in?.  Maybe i`m thinking of the fact that the smaller yards that are well away from the main river, unlike Brooms, Goodchilds, and even Sandersons at Reedham, who are in a prominent position.

There may be a capacity issue, Brooms have a large tank so if a number of boats come and take 1000L (very possible for the boats moored in Brundall) they can still supply fuel to others.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Philosophical said:

There may be a capacity issue, Brooms have a large tank so if a number of boats come and take 1000L (very possible for the boats moored in Brundall) they can still supply fuel to others.

I wouldn't be surprised if they have upped that given the growing hire fleet , you only need 4 big boats to make a big hole In the amount they have in stock though once the figure the new costing I recon even more boats will be floating weekend tea rooms .

[socrates]

I must be missing something here, might have to put my prices up to 7 figures to get a better class of client  then use the excuse that I have a new accountant.

[Guest]

This issue has now got me thinking.

Despite the massive fuel consumption of twin screwed sea going cruisers, most of the fuel used on the broads will be by the 45HP hire boats, it therefore in the interest of all the yards on the broads to keep the cost up otherwise all the hirers would be fueling on the last day and bringing boats back to the yard  full and getting a 100% refund on the fuel deposit.

Given this additional premium to boat ownership on the broads and owning a boat that is sea going I do have a choice of where it is moored outside of the broads ( there is an immediate significant saving on Broads Toll)

Maybe I regard the broads as a destination (and pay temporary toll) rather than a base.  

[DaveRolaves]

Goodchilds are always more competitive than Brooms for fuel. Under the new management Brooms have become too expensive.

If you want your boat hauled out of the water and stored ashore during the winter months and then launched in the spring then Brooms will cost you £1000 more than some other boatyards.

[Guest]

43 minutes ago, socrates said:

I must be missing something here, might have to put my prices up to 7 figures to get a better class of client  then use the excuse that I have a new accountant.

Unless it is "new money " i.e. a lottery win, most people that have money, do so because they spend it wisely

[Guest]

54 minutes ago, Ricardo said:

I wouldn't be surprised if they have upped that given the growing hire fleet , you only need 4 big boats to make a big hole In the amount they have in stock though once the figure the new costing I recon even more boats will be floating weekend tea rooms .

But after a few weeks the view could get a little monotonous.

 

[Bound2Please]

10 hours ago, grendel said:

we used to have a thread showing the current prices of all those things, maybe someone would like to start one.

Last year I phoned every yard and made a table of deisil petrol and pump out prices. also did one for doctors in the handy info drop down, i see the doctors one is still there but not the fuel and pump ot one???

[Simon]

10 hours ago, DaveRolaves said:

Goodchilds are always more competitive than Brooms for fuel. Under the new management Brooms have become too expensive.

If you want your boat hauled out of the water and stored ashore during the winter months and then launched in the spring then Brooms will cost you £1000 more than some other boatyards.

When we started looking around At marinas in Brundall late Feb we found Brooms annual mooring price to be competitive, no not the cheapest but wasn't the most expensive by quite a bit.

I am told hard standing over winter for annual berth holders is no extra, just crainage costs. Never looked what it costs though for non berth holders, possibly high because they need to allow space for their annual berth holders first? But then again maybe not.

 

 

[ScrumpyCheddar]

You get what you pay for at the end of the day...prime location and restructuring . I’m not surprised they started charging for water... there water rates must be massive and non hires and boat owners call in for a free water top up .. petrol stations charge to fill up your water.

  Reedham Quay do and no one grumbles at that...  

The ones who will notice the difference is hirers like my self who get money back on fuel at the end of the holiday.... 

As you all say there’s others with cheaper full... my advice is go there...

 

[Chelsea14Ian]

At present  during the year I get fuel,pump outs and gas.Once in a blue moon water.Being moored at Cove I rarely need water at Brooms.May well in future limit my stops at Brooms.

[vanessan]

33 minutes ago, ScrumpyCheddar said:

Reedham Quay do and no one grumbles at that...

Unless something has changed in the last 4 months,  Reedham is a donation system. 

[Chelsea14Ian]

All BA moorings  as far as I know suggest a minimum  £1.00 donation.

[LondonRascal]

One of the things I have often pondered about is why boatyards - especially those who are no longer letting boats but concentrate on moorings and engineering services do not try and really push the fuel sales and a 'one stop shop' element of boating.

Let me just take one example: Swan Craft as that has been talked of a little here already.

They might not be able to advertise on the river front - but could very well get in the thick of Forums and Facebook Groups (Techy people from Shoreditch would refer to that as 'Organic Reach') and other smaller promotional means through the above like targeted adverts that would only show up to people who express an interest in the Norfolk Broads or boating.  By doing the first step people would know where they were and what they could expect to find and the second would catch those who were not actively looking but might be interested.

Meanwhile at the yard they should clear an area of mooring - could be a single side on, or a couple of stern on moorings which were always kept free during opening hours.  One thing that has often bugged me about boatyards who are open and you've called ahead to check if they have fuel and a pump out, is arriving without anyone visible and no where to moor. A couple of toots on the horn and someone might come out (sometimes not) if they do they will then set about starting up boats and moving them while you try to not drift about too much waiting before you can squeeze in. Having a ready 'bay' would be ideal.

You would have a clear idea of the fuel price, and maybe a locality scheme where once you had bought x number of litres over a period of time, you got a discount on future fill ups. If you were having fuel you saved a little on a pump out when done at the same time. But while that would be a boon not only for a hirer as well as owner, 'quick fix' things could be attended to at a fixed rate while you waited.  This might be an oil change, battery check up and change if required or even a boat wash.

Take my own personal experience at Boulters - a yard I have often gone to for fuel and pump outs. Upon my arrival they asked if I was the gentleman who called about getting new batteries and fuel, and they were really kind and efficient in getting things done. They have a small Chandlery there too - they also offer a host of services for owners. When i got talking about issues with the boat and what I wanted to have done (which amounts to several thousand pounds) I did not mention that I have already received an estimate for this to be done elsewhere.  Here I was having bought a boat just a couple of weeks ago and eager to have things done - but what was said to me was things like "she will look beautiful when that's complete". I was a sitting duck waiting for them to offer me anything else, or ask 'do you need a pump out?' or 'do you mind me asking sir, have you had an estimate for those works?' anything, something to have snared me as a future customer to build a relationship with. But none such was forthcoming and after paying just a couple of hundred pounds I was away - a missed opportunity for sure.

While the above would not take that long, it would allow an owner who perhaps was wondering about other things from a polish of their boat to having a new toilet fitted to be given a flyer with their receipt showing what the yard could do with some easy to understand basic estimates for small jobs - be it anti-fouling, or polishing etc. 

As it goes right now, us Forumites on here know of many yards we could use and read about how others have got along and what has been done to their boats. Many people will have forged good relationships with the boatyards over the years and would see no reason to go elsewhere if the service they are getting is as they expect. However, there are countless new owners coming along. Some will be former hirers and others new to the Broads so any yard who is more prominent about the services they offer, have clear pricing for fuel, pump outs etc surly will get more enquiries than those who wait for word of mouth to reach the new folks and get in touch.

[oceandawn]

Swancraft is a great little yard and Paul is always helpful and his prices fair.The issue for him would be if he pushed the diesel and pump out facilities is the space as most of his points have boats moored on them (including ours).However he does have a visitor mooring and obviously If boats are out you would be Ok so it would be worth a call.

[Simon]

Excellent post Robin,

you are right about them missing a trick or two. Is this because they are older businesses pre Internet / I've got a go daddy website what more do I need, just happy ticking along or don't have the resources to run these social media campaigns.

in 2 weeks time I'm bringing my own boat to Brundall so I've been reading lots of forum posts and checking out marina websites for a few months now.

Swancraft is interesting to me as I've heard it mentioned and gather its on the Riverside estate but that's it, I was planning to have a walk down to make enquires after I arrive.

 

[Guest]

56 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

Swancraft is interesting to me as I've heard it mentioned and gather its on the Riverside estate but that's it, I was planning to have a walk down to make enquires after I arrive.

 

Its very close to Cove, Paul has done a few jobs for me over the past year, injector pipe replace, engine mount replace and a annual service and I have been happy

[Simon]

2 hours ago, 40something said:

Its very close to Cove, Paul has done a few jobs for me over the past year, injector pipe replace, engine mount replace and a annual service and I have been happy

Thanks, good to hear happy customers. I know where cove is as we nearly moored there.