Winter Hire

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

5 hours ago, grendel said:

as the boats i hire fit under Potter Heigham Bridge, I can normally (except extremely high tides - and then I wouldnt be getting under Potter Heigham) get under the bridges at Great Yarmouth at any tide state, assuming of course I dont mind punching the tide in one direction or the other either to get to Breydon or crossing it, - with the attendant extra fuel use involved.

My own personal preference is to punch against the tide on the Bure, as punching on Breydon, the Yare, and the Waveney is much more difficult. I find going across Breydon from the Yare or Waveney on an ebb then punching up the Bure a better option, the same in reverse, punch the flood down the Bure, then take the flood across Breydon. My reasoning for doing so is you're only punching hard for the first 2-3 miles or so of the lower Bure, but do so on Breydon and the Yare and Waveney, the tides will be hard all the way upriver. 

[Guest]

 

19 hours ago, SwanR said:

Ah well ... I'm going to keep that Christmas boat hire on my wishlist. Ooops ... did I mention the C Word after 12th night? Where's Jay when I need him. 

[Mouldy]

8 minutes ago, Jayfire said:

 

Mods!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I thought that the use of foul or abusive language (or cartoons) was not permitted on here!

[unclemike]

just for mouldy

[grendel]

58 minutes ago, SPEEDTRIPLE said:

My own personal preference is to punch against the tide on the Bure, as punching on Breydon, the Yare, and the Waveney is much more difficult. I find going across Breydon from the Yare or Waveney on an ebb then punching up the Bure a better option, the same in reverse, punch the flood down the Bure, then take the flood across Breydon. My reasoning for doing so is you're only punching hard for the first 2-3 miles or so of the lower Bure, but do so on Breydon and the Yare and Waveney, the tides will be hard all the way upriver. 

I would plan differently and punch the tide down the bure with a plan to cross Breydon on or near the high water slack or indeed while the tide is still coming in on Breydon, then perhaps get moored up at reedham and salhouse to ride out the ebb, as I dont generally have to worry about the bridge clearances as long as they are 6 foot plus.

[grendel]

24 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

Mods!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I thought that the use of foul or abusive language (or cartoons) was not permitted on here!

just respond with easter bunnies, that generally doe the trick

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

2 hours ago, grendel said:

just respond with easter bunnies, that generally doe the trick

He means chocolate ones too. 

[vanessan]

🐣 I can’t find any Easter Bunnies, will this do?

[vanessan]

🐰 Here’s part of one!!

[unclemike]

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, vanessan said:

🐣 I can’t find any Easter Bunnies, will this do?

Easter bunnies? You can't forget Christmas 

[vanessan]

47 minutes ago, Jayfire said:

Easter bunnies? You can't forget Christmas 

[Broads01]

On 13/01/2020 at 21:51, NorfolkNog said:

I think Freedom do/did but with a caveat that prevented crossing Breydon.

Freedom don't hire in December or January. I did hire from them last November, however and they're the only southern operator to offer that month I believe. They didn't want me to go north of Reedham and St Olaves but as I was only onboard 5 nights that wasn't an issue.

[NorfolkNog]

Thanks Simon, that's interesting to know. Basically the same as Herbert Woods. We normally take 10 days in December so going North could be an issue.

I know very little about Ferry - I think Jean suggested they hire in the winter? They do look a bit on the pricey side though.

[YnysMon]

When I first looked into hiring I did myself a little comparison table of the boats I thought would suit us most (showing key features we wanted and price including fuel etc.). I found that some of Ferry’s prices were cheaper up front on that basis, for like-to-like boats. Of course, if you aren’t planning to do much cruising and normally get back a hefty proportion of the fuel deposit, that might not be the case. Last time we hired with NBN we had to pay a little extra for fuel at the end of the week, but that was following 10 days in which we gone to Coltishall, Norwich, Geldeston, Loddon, and up the Thurne as far as Womack.

On the other hand, what I didn’t like about Ferry (under their previous ownership), was their reluctance to offer a loyalty discount or a discount for a hire longer than a week. For our second 10 day hire from NDB we saved over £300 compared to an equivalent boat from Ferry because of the combined discounts.

Jean, did Ferry offer you a loyalty discount at the end of your hire last autumn? I recall you said you got a good ‘incentive’ discount off the price to start with.

I wonder if both Waveney and also now NBD under Len Funnell’s ownership will be following the same non-discounting policies as Ferry used to have under his ownership.

Helen

[SwanR]

12 hours ago, YnysMon said:

Jean, did Ferry offer you a loyalty discount at the end of your hire last autumn? I recall you said you got a good ‘incentive’ discount off the price to start with.

No there was no loyalty discount offered. It just became apparent last season that Ferry Marina seemed to keep offering discounts for weeks outside the school holidays. We hadn't really intended to have another boat in October but when they offered 30% discounts how could we refuse?! There was another forum member who did the same but commented to me privately that the prices didn't work out so well for 10 or 11 day holidays. This was the first season that FM were under new ownership and they seem to have changed approach whilst still maintaining very friendly and high level service. They didn't used to hire between November and early March but seem to have been more open to that this year.

[Graham47]

14 hours ago, YnysMon said:

When I first looked into hiring I did myself a little comparison table of the boats I thought would suit us most (showing key features we wanted and price including fuel etc.). I found that some of Ferry’s prices were cheaper up front on that basis, for like-to-like boats. Of course, if you aren’t planning to do much cruising and normally get back a hefty proportion of the fuel deposit, that might not be the case. Last time we hired with NBN we had to pay a little extra for fuel at the end of the week, but that was following 10 days in which we gone to Coltishall, Norwich, Geldeston, Loddon, and up the Thurne as far as Womack.

On the other hand, what I didn’t like about Ferry (under their previous ownership), was their reluctance to offer a loyalty discount or a discount for a hire longer than a week. For our second 10 day hire from NDB we saved over £300 compared to an equivalent boat from Ferry because of the combined discounts.

Jean, did Ferry offer you a loyalty discount at the end of your hire last autumn? I recall you said you got a good ‘incentive’ discount off the price to start with.

I wonder if both Waveney and also now NBD under Len Funnell’s ownership will be following the same non-discounting policies as Ferry used to have under his ownership.

Helen

 

[Graham47]

Reading the NBD hire information for next year they are offering a 5% loyalty bonus to redeem on your next holiday booking. Only 1 bonus can be used per new booking.

[SwanR]

I think they've always offered that Graham. It's a good way of getting repeat business. 

[MrBlueSky]

Ferry and the Waveny River Centre are by far the dearest for 10 or 11 day holidays unless you can get a large last minute discount.

[Oddfellow]

Taken me a month to catch up on here! Soz. 

Freedom opens for hire in February. We sent our first day boats out yesterday and four cruisers go our over the next week or so. 

Until Easter, we limit the fleet to just a few boats according to maintenance workload and demand. At this time, we are limiting the fleet to Four boats: Spirit, Sweet, Song and Tranquil with Fine becoming available towards the end of February. 

We do limit travel to the Southern Broads only until the start of British Summer Time. 

Later in the year, boat are definitely available until the end of October and then it's weather dependent in November with the fleet being restricted again so we can begin maintenance. 

Sorry, but we will not hire at all in December or January.

[Happy]

1 hour ago, FreedomBoatingHols said:

Taken me a month to catch up on here! Soz. 

Freedom opens for hire in February. We sent our first day boats out yesterday and four cruisers go our over the next week or so. 

Until Easter, we limit the fleet to just a few boats according to maintenance workload and demand. At this time, we are limiting the fleet to Four boats: Spirit, Sweet, Song and Tranquil with Fine becoming available towards the end of February. 

We do limit travel to the Southern Broads only until the start of British Summer Time. 

Later in the year, boat are definitely available until the end of October and then it's weather dependent in November with the fleet being restricted again so we can begin maintenance. 

Sorry, but we will not hire at all in December or January.

Come on Andy, keep up!!

Happy (aka Alan)