New Boat From Herbert Woods

[NorfolkNog]

Looks like HW are getting on the Brooms bandwagon? Wonder where the moulding comes from? 

https://mailchi.mp/herbertwoods/gleaminglight?e=9b04e49491

 

[SwanR]

Thanks for posting this Howard. I'm always interested in hearing about new hire boats. It does look very much like the Broom Captain.

[Hylander]

28 minutes ago, SwanR said:

Thanks for posting this Howard. I'm always interested in hearing about new hire boats. It does look very much like the Broom Captain.

It is identical.

[Hylander]

4 + 2    They have to be joking.   That design is really only for 2 people.       One toilet that fills up quickly you would need a pump out so often.        Most reviewers say the same.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, NorfolkNog said:

Looks like HW are getting on the Brooms bandwagon? Wonder where the moulding comes from? 

https://mailchi.mp/herbertwoods/gleaminglight?e=9b04e49491

 

It's available March-November so I assume it's not going to be featuring in a Quiet And Peaceful anytime soon Mr Nog 

[NorfolkNog]

Don't think my wallet would stretch that far either JF! 

[Guest]

39 minutes ago, NorfolkNog said:

Don't think my wallet would stretch that far either JF! 

Ever the Yorkshireman eh, Mr Nog 

Well done to you and Mrs Nog in the Calendar competition too 

[vanessan]

It won’t go under that bridge, in fact it might be quite limited if tides are high. 

[smellyloo]

3 hours ago, Hylander said:

4 + 2    They have to be joking.   That design is really only for 2 people.       One toilet that fills up quickly you would need a pump out so often.        Most reviewers say the same.

I'm confused, Why only 2 people. The layout indicates two separate double cabins with convertible dinette. 

 

[NeilB]

I believe Brooms are still building some hire boats so still have the moulds.

[webntweb]

1 hour ago, smellyloo said:

I'm confused, Why only 2 people. The layout indicates two separate double cabins with convertible dinette. 

 

I think Hylander was saying that really it is only suitable for two because of the one toilet.

Presumably its an electric freshwater flush, which use a lot of water, and appears not too have too large a holding tank because previous hirers have complained about having to have pump outs mid holiday when a full crew is aboard .

[Hylander]

12 minutes ago, webntweb said:

I think Hylander was saying that really it is only suitable for two because of the one toilet.

Presumably its an electric freshwater flush, which use a lot of water, and appears not too have too large a holding tank because previous hirers have complained about having to have pump outs mid holiday when a full crew is aboard .

In fact we had discussed if we hired again we would have two pump outs in the week and there are only two of us.   Following Griff's mantra of 'if its yellow let it mellow and only if its brown flush it down'  it still filled up quickly.

 

As for having 6 people on board - what privacy does that give anyone - and swinging a cat phrase comes to mind.    We were only two on board and it was just big enough for us two.      Storage - where do people keep their clothes,  where do you keep food etc.  At least on the Captains you have a bespoke galley with lots of storage and worktop space.  Plus a fantastic fridge that kept frozen food frozen really well.

 

The heating on our boat worked only when the batteries were well up.    Apparently the heating is on a separate battery from the domestic and starter.     When we put the heating on our last morning it cut out and we had to start the engine.     How some folk have their heating going all night amazes me as this knackered the battery after a couple of hours.

 

One plus on the Captain in this kind of weather was the demister , when you put the heating on all the windows cleared within minutes, plus two good windscreen wipers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JennyMorgan]

Privacy, on a boat, especially when moored side by side. Ho, ho, ho!

[Guest]

1 minute ago, JennyMorgan said:

Privacy, on a boat, especially when moored side by side. Ho, ho, ho!

You're finally getting in the Christmas spirit JM, Ho Ho Ho 

[webntweb]

It's funny how exceptions have changed. A large portion of the hire fleets from the late 60s were made up of boats based on the Bourne 35 hull, built by some of the Broads' finest boatbuilders.

Most of these were hired out as 4 to 6 berths and customers were happy with them, even with a beam 1ft 6ins narrower than Gleaming Light.

I do agree with Hylander in that I wouldn't be comfortable on that boat with more than four people though.

We often had 6 people on Lightning which is 43ft x 12ft 3ins and one of the other owners asked didn't we feel overcrowded - I wondered how they would have gone on on an AF42 centre cockpit when hired out as a 12 berth.

[Jbx5]

If you have to have 2 pump outs in a week with just the 2 of you on board there is something not right. I would suspect they have put too small a waste tank on them. It will be interesting to see if the fit out is done at HWs (on a Brooms supplied hull) which then could have a different set up?

We have the same design Hull with an electric toilet and it lasts us 7 nights before it’s full.

Also we tend to have just the 2 of us on board which is perfect for the design of boat?

 

John

 

 

 

[Guest]

How did we ever manage to keep clean and not go down with the dreaded lurgy, in the old days, when boats only had one shower (some of the older boats didn't even have that) and one toilet. I remember the lovely old 'Broadsventures' from Richardsons, I'm pretty sure they were listed in the Blakes brochure as ten berth and could squeeze one or two more in too. I never hired one, but I think they may have had TWO toilets and one shower, now that really is living 'cheek by jowl'. It never seemed to bother the hirers though, often saw large family groups on the 'Broadsventures' and they always seemed amongst the happiest of holiday groups...

I could never see us hiring one of these newer 'all singing, all dancing' boats, that by their design have cruising restrictions, which mean missing out on most of the loveliest, peaceful parts of the broads. Still, 'horses for courses' I guess, I've never felt I missed out because our hire boat didn't have a whirlpool bath or dual helm positions though...

[grendel]

well the jewels have 2 toilets, and with 6 of us on board, and using shore facilities where possible we just managed to last the lads week out without a pumpout, however the rear toilet was full by friday night, and the front one wasnt far off when we handed it back, the other 2 jewels had a pumpout I believe.

[vanessan]

1 hour ago, grendel said:

well the jewels have 2 toilets, and with 6 of us on board, and using shore facilities where possible we just managed to last the lads week out without a pumpout, however the rear toilet was full by friday night, and the front one wasnt far off when we handed it back, the other 2 jewels had a pumpout I believe.

That’s the thing about older boats, they were built to cope. Our boat is 40+ years old and has large water and fuel tanks and we last (without using shore facilities) at least 2 weeks before we need a pumpout. Not a large boat either. 

[DAVIDH]

I could never understand why the Brooms and now this new boat do not have 240 volts and a microwave. It/they are top end boats and their contemporaries, in general, do have them. Tablets, phone charging, game consoles etc accompany the average holidaymaker so it feels like a miss. 

[ranworthbreeze]

To be honest the inclusion of a microwave does not in my mind mean a top end boat, when ever we have hired narrow boats we get the boat yards to remove them, our crew prefer the additional space they take up. If there is an oven and hob who needs the use of a microwave? 

There are far too many gimmicks these days on boats

Regards

Alan

[vanessan]

9 minutes ago, ranworthbreeze said:

To be honest the inclusion of a microwave does not in my mind mean a top end boat, when ever we have hired narrow boats we get the boat yards to remove them, our crew prefer the additional space they take up. If there is an oven and hob who needs the use of a microwave? 

There are far too many gimmicks these days on boats

Regards

Alan

I don’t think I would class a microwave as a ‘gimmick ‘ these days. Now a whirlpool bath, that’s certainly something I would say was a gimmick and one that I don’t think caught on. 

[Chelsea14Ian]

12 hours ago, Hylander said:

4 + 2    They have to be joking.   That design is really only for 2 people.       One toilet that fills up quickly you would need a pump out so often.        Most reviewers say the same.

I have been over this boat at the London boat show (Brooms) .It is a 4 max people 6 who are they kidding .I would guess Brooms are selling the mould.I agree with Alan why bother with a microwave.Comfort, heating and a bit of space is important.

 

[DAVIDH]

People who book these boats are wanting an experience. They expect to see all the extras that will enhance their stay onboard. You have a microwave at home - why would you not expect to see one on a boat? Also the 240v thing is not just to power the microwave, it's so people can take their gadgets with them - just like they would if staying in a cottage. 

[Chelsea14Ian]

Six people on this boat,you may need in that case two microwaves.My boat a Alpha 29 built 1991,no mod cons,but has more space then the Brooms mould sleeps four in comfort and it has a half bath in the rear cabin.