Silverline Wisper

[Wigster1966]

 

 

Hi Everyone - I have just joined this forum and must say it looks great - Well laid out and lots of useful information.

Having hired the Conway Bridge from Bridgecraft a couple of times and a Topliner a few years ago (interesting experience and never to be repeated). The Conway although old was when we hired it a great boat. The Bridgecraft Conway was great but have seen lots of reports saying its now a bit tatty and old.

That was all around 9 years ago and we have decided its time to go back to the Broads having missed it so much. We have been looking to hire the Silver Wisper from Silverline and wondered if anyone here has any experience of this particular boat? We are a couple (Mark and Wendy) and a Boxer dog called Jasper. It looks a nice and a well appointed craft and we are particularly looking for a practical easy to handle boat. We were also looking at the Bridgecraft Forth Bridge as well but again the same reports of it being a little tired now, hence looking at the Silver Wisper.  We are trying to stick to under £1500 for 2 weeks this fits in nicely. - Thank you

[Bound2Please]

First off Mark and Wendy a warm to the NBN from me and The Wench (some call her Inge)

Sorry cant comment about the boat, but I'm sure you will soon get some answers.

Regards Charlie

[Guest]

Welcome Wigster

I hired Silver Wisper in 2016 I think it was.

Lovely boat, very well maintained, as all Silverline boats are I believe. Easy to handle, very comfortable which will fit under all bridges except "that one" if I remember correctly.

Heartily recommend it, Silverline and Bridgecraft.

[Wigster1966]

6 minutes ago, Bound2Please said:

First off Mark and Wendy a warm to the NBN from me and The Wench (some call her Inge)

Sorry cant comment about the boat, but I'm sure you will soon get some answers.

Regards Charlie

Thank you Charlie, I don't know why we have left it so long to return to the broads and thank you for the welcome to the forum.

[grendel]

from me too.

[Wigster1966]

14 minutes ago, Jayfire said:

Welcome Wigster

I hired Silver Wisper in 2016 I think it was.

Lovely boat, very well maintained, as all Silverline boats are I believe. Easy to handle, very comfortable which will fit under all bridges except "that one" if I remember correctly.

Heartily recommend it, Silverline and Bridgecraft.

Thank for your reply - Its always great to hear from someone who has experience of a boat - If you have pics of the interior that would be great. - Yes 'that one' bridge is always best avoided.... 

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, Wigster1966 said:

Thank for your reply - Its always great to hear from someone who has experience of a boat - If you have pics of the interior that would be great. - Yes 'that one' bridge is always best avoided.... 

I certainly will have Wigster, I shall have a look later when I get home

[Broads01]

Hi there. Bridge craft tend to get very good reports on here, as do Silverline. I've not hired Wisper but I've hired the same design and whilst far from new the design has stood the test of time well. You'd have a lot of unused cabin space with only two of you aboard but that's no bad thing. It'll fit under Wroxham but air draft isn't the lowest - it's over 7 foot if I recall so you could be disappointed at Wroxham and Wayford if water levels are high. 

The boat was originally Wisper at Gale Cruisers and then bought and refitted by Silverline around 20 years ago. 

[NorfolkNog]

Hi and welcome 

Big thumbs up for Bridgecraft from me too, out with them now. Family yard, really look after you 

Boat (Tower Bridge) running a dream 

[ranworthbreeze]

Hello Mark & Wendy welcome to the NBN forum.

I do not know the boat your are hiring, but Silverline have a very good reputation and I do have friends that have regularly hired from them.

http://www.silverlinemarine.co.uk/hirefleet/Wisper.htm

Regards

Alan

[ExSurveyor]

Hi, welcome to the friendly forum.

What Topliner did you hire and what was the problem.

 

[Guest]

9 hours ago, Wigster1966 said:

Thank for your reply - Its always great to hear from someone who has experience of a boat - If you have pics of the interior that would be great. - Yes 'that one' bridge is always best avoided.... 

I'm ever so sorry Wigster, I have looked through our photos and there aren't any interior pictures that show the boat I am afraid.

Sorry about that. I assume you have seen the photos here

It really was a beautiful, clean and comfortable boat though.

[Chelsea14Ian]

Welcome from me can' help with that boat before we had our own boat,hired many times from Silverline and as Jay said well maintained boats always look clean and Brundall a good place to start we are moored just up from them at Cove. Some great pubs near by.The ferry house at Surlingham,Coldham hall also Surlingham,waters edge Bremerton. The white horse Chedgrave. All great pubs also the Yare at Brundall a bit old school but a great pub always busy.

Best wishes Ian 

[Wigster1966]

Hi, welcome to the friendly forum.
What Topliner did you hire and what was the problem.
 

Hi. Thank you for your welcome. It was when Topcraft ran the fleet from Oulton Broad. It was a perfectly good boat if that’s what you wanted but it was our first time on the Broads and found it quite impractical as you couldn’t see anything behind you when you were in the front steering it. It had a very weird layout inside as well. I think the thing that attracted us to it was the fact that It had a four poster bed but it turned out to be a boat that we would not hire again.

I remember one night must’ve been around 2 AM and the engine just started up on its own. Bearing in mind the engine was under the bed that is quite a wake up call. It almost put us off the Broads as it was so difficult to moor up especially in the strong winds because the wind would just take it and throw it all over the place. I think Barns have bought the fleet now and are still running them. It almost put us off the Broads as it was so difficult to more up especially in the strong winds because the wind will just take it and throw it all over the place. I think Brinks have brought the fleet now and are still running them.

That was in 2007 and then in 2009 we looked up on the Bridgecraft Conway for two weeks and absolutely loved it. The boat had a brand new engine which had only done about 200 hours, was very smooth, easy to handle and has a great layout.




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[ExSurveyor]

Hi Wigster,  that model is a strange layout.

I have the two cabin model,  much more user friendly. They can blow in the high winds at times.

I think the engine start problem was probably due to an engineers start switch next to the engine.  I had mine removed.

Glad it didn't put you off the broads.

[Wigster1966]

 
 
Hi Everyone - I have just joined this forum and must say it looks great - Well laid out and lots of useful information.
Having hired the Conway Bridge from Bridgecraft a couple of times and a Topliner a few years ago (interesting experience and never to be repeated). The Conway although old was when we hired it a great boat. The Bridgecraft Conway was great but have seen lots of reports saying its now a bit tatty and old.
That was all around 9 years ago and we have decided its time to go back to the Broads having missed it so much. We have been looking to hire the Silver Wisper from Silverline and wondered if anyone here has any experience of this particular boat? We are a couple (Mark and Wendy) and a Boxer dog called Jasper. It looks a nice and a well appointed craft and we are particularly looking for a practical easy to handle boat. We were also looking at the Bridgecraft Forth Bridge as well but again the same reports of it being a little tired now, hence looking at the Silver Wisper.  We are trying to stick to under £1500 for 2 weeks this fits in nicely. - Thank you

So a quick update, we were about to book the Silver whisper during the week via Hoseasons only to discover that Silverline wants £140 to take a dog for two weeks and the booking stipulations then said that it had to be a small terrier size dog, and us having a boxer dog means obviously we didn’t qualify.

Therefore we decided to book up a Bridgecraft Forth Bridge 1 which we have been looking at as one of our options and after seeing some of the comments on here have decided that it’s the right choice. No way am I prepared to pay Silverline £140 to take a dog onto a boat when everyone else on the Broads is charging almost half that.

We pride ourselves on having a well trained well-behaved dog that we do not allow onto furniture or bedding and we always clean the boat before we take it back conscious that other people don’t want to come across dog hairs when they take out a boat. The bridge craft boat works out at around £250 Less plus we get duel helm positions.


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[Wyndham]

8 minutes ago, Wigster1966 said:

 

 

..... Silverline wants £140 to take a dog for two weeks....
 

 

Wow...I never realised yards charged extra for taking a dog, why would they do that.

Welcome and have a great holiday Wigster.

[deebee29]

We had Fourth Bridge 1 back in 2014 I think it was & it was a great boat. Only slight problem for us was for mum ( who’s now 87) found it a bit difficult getting on & off with the door being through the upper helm and having to walk along the deck but once on she was fine.

I’m sure you’ll love it. The layout is great for anyone with a dog

Bridgecraft are a great yard & we always feel like our custom is valued. We have just had Westminster Bridge in April for a week & have it again for two weeks in September and another week next April.

[NorfolkNog]

That is taking the proverbial. 

We are out with Bridgecraft now. Excellent yard, great customer service, nothing is too much trouble. Highly recommended 

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

On 16/05/2018 at 13:08, NorfolkNog said:

Hi and welcome 

Big thumbs up for Bridgecraft from me too, out with them now. Family yard, really look after you 

Boat (Tower Bridge) running a dream 

Hi Howard,

We hired Tower Bridge twice. The first time she had a perkins engine, and her original galley. The second time we hired it, she had a brand new engine a few months previous, and a new galley.  She was a great boat, but the formica laminates were looking a little dated and faded, and there was a cronic lack of storage for 2 adults in the mid double. That said, she was immaculately clean, reliable, and a really good family to deal with. If we were to go back to hiring,  Bridgecraft we would definitely hire from, along with Pacifics, and Freedoms. I`d also recommend the Broads Boating company, because people have given them a glowing report.

[Broads01]

I agree £70 per week for a dog is completely unacceptable. If Silverline are trying to put people off bringing dogs then why not just say 'no dogs'? 

I think you can't go wrong with Forth Bridge. I love that design and I've hired similar and we went under Wroxham Bridge on that trip. 

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

2 hours ago, Wigster1966 said:

 

So a quick update, we were about to book the Silver whisper during the week via Hoseasons only to discover that Silverline wants £140 to take a dog for two weeks and the booking stipulations then said that it had to be a small terrier size dog, and us having a boxer dog means obviously we didn’t qualify.

Therefore we decided to book up a Bridgecraft Forth Bridge 1 which we have been looking at as one of our options and after seeing some of the comments on here have decided that it’s the right choice. No way am I prepared to pay Silverline £140 to take a dog onto a boat when everyone else on the Broads is charging almost half that.

We pride ourselves on having a well trained well-behaved dog that we do not allow onto furniture or bedding and we always clean the boat before we take it back conscious that other people don’t want to come across dog hairs when they take out a boat. The bridge craft boat works out at around £250 Less plus we get duel helm positions.


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Hi Wigster,

Forth Bridge is an Aquafibre Lowliner 38, and was regarded as THE boat to hire in its day. The inside helm position is very good, but from the outside helm position, you can see all the outside of the boat, so mooring is much easier.  Lightning is a similar style, but is 5ft longer, and that extra length is ahead of the upper helm, so you have to stand up to see the bow, but on Forth Bridge, you WON`T have any problems.

[jeffbroadslover]

3 hours ago, Wyndham said:

I never realised yards charged extra for taking a dog, why would they do that.

If you hired a boat which had a dog on it the previous week I don't think you would be very happy if it had left some tiny creatures on board, quite likely where you sit or sleep.

I am a dog owner myself but totally agree that they should not be allowed on board in the same way that they should not be allowed in any eating establishment.

I was once having a meal when a woman came in with her "little darling" and proceeded to put part of her meal on a separate plate and allowed the "little darling" to eat it whilst sitting on her lap........DISGUSTING !!!!

Jeff

[Wyndham]

12 minutes ago, jeffbroadslover said:

If you hired a boat which had a dog on it the previous week I don't think you would be very happy if it had left some tiny creatures on board, quite likely where you sit or sleep.

 

You're damn right I wouldn't, but I would hope the boatyard had tidied it up in the place first. Just as they would have tidied it up if Mr Slob had left a present where it wasn't wanted.

 

20 minutes ago, jeffbroadslover said:

I am a dog owner myself but totally agree that they should not be allowed on board in the same way that they should not be allowed in any eating establishment.

That's a fairly strong statement there Jeff, I kind of see where you're coming from but pubs and boats without dogs would be less enjoyable.Jeez, let's ban kids too, pesky  monsters.

 

26 minutes ago, jeffbroadslover said:

 

I was once having a meal when a woman came in with her "little darling" and proceeded to put part of her meal on a separate plate and allowed the "little darling" to eat it whilst sitting on her lap........DISGUSTING !!!!

Jeff

Agree..... however

 

why does any of that make it right for a yard to charge extra for taking a dog?

 

To add...speaking as a non dog owner but loves dogs....(just as long as they belong to somebody else)

[Siddy]

We have to pay for small Yorkshire Terrier that doesn't leave any hairs and on the boat we put puppy mats in the doorway till we wet wipe his feet, he has a towel on the floor at home he does this as he comes in if it's wet outside. We don't allow at home so why on the boat.  

I hate dog hairs myself, I wasn't happy last year whilst I laid back across the seats whilst play fighting with the dog to calm him on the boat. I sat up and the back of my shirt was covered in hair. Fair play you couldn't see them on the seat but you pay to avoid this. So had to clean them myself.

A call to the yard to report and things were taken care off on my return should I say.