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Coronavirus And The Broads


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“ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE TIMES HAVE CHANGED TO ALLOW TIME FOR DEEPER CLEANING OF PROPERTIES. PLEASE DO NOT ARRIVE AT YOUR PROPERTY BEFORE 5PM AND LEAVE BEFORE 9AM ON YOUR DAY OF DEPARTURE. THANK YOU”
I’ve just received a detailed invoice for our holiday boat hire with Broom in September, it states a change of handover from 14.00 to 17.00, now I’ve no complaints about this as the extra time is for the boat to be deep cleaned for our benefit but seeing as sunset is 18.00 on that day and with the understandable rule that there is no navigation after sunset then I am concerned that the available time will not be enough to complete the handover, obviously the first night will be in the boatyard,.
With the previous handover time being 14.00 we had planned to moor up around Cantly/Hartley Cross in preparation of crossing Breydon on the Sunday morning, that will now have to wait until the Monday. I’m not sure if having previously hired boats on the Broads ( Royalls and Richardsons) and I have taken the RYA power boating course albeit a few years ago will make any difference to the handover.
This “Safer Stays” procedure will be and is being adopted by responsible boat hirers so hopefully the inevitable delay in most instances causing an overnight in the relevant boat yards will not result on the following morning being turned into a waterborne whacky races
The quote at top of post appears to be a generic Hoseasons one on behalf of Broom so the boatyard may have other ideas, will have to wait and see.Having said all that we are so happy that at the moment it looks like we will get our much look forward to holiday, a bonus will be having time on the Saturday morning at a brokerage looking at a possible purchase of our own boat, but shush don’t tell the Missus.



Thanks for posting this, I am waiting to see what the new handover procedure will be like for us on the 4th July. We will be the first on the boat for 3 months.

Like you a private boat owner at home with years of experience and qualifications. We have hired from the yard twice a year for years, and we have had this boat before.

BUT I would imagine they maybe have to apply the same rules to everyone, for fairness. I don’t know..
🤷🏻‍♀️


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On 21/06/2020 at 09:22, grendel said:

thus so far i have not found a mask i can comfortably wear for longer than a few breaths, so have been having to make do without, while i am sure most people can fashion a suitable mask, for some this is not an option.

My husband Graham, has sewed a number of face masks for us. The first one he sewed by hand, following guidance on this website:

He's now onto Mk2, following the pattern on this website, and has started using my sewing machine instead of hand sewing.

 

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Fortunately we will have very little reason to need facemasks so I have held off buying as there were some very silly prices about.

Have now found some that are reusable/washable at a fair price so have ordered some for us both. I don't have a beard and I'm afraid that my wife, Gill will just have to shave hers off 😂

:default_coat:

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23 hours ago, Bluesman54 said:

 

“ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE TIMES HAVE CHANGED TO ALLOW TIME FOR DEEPER CLEANING OF PROPERTIES. PLEASE DO NOT ARRIVE AT YOUR PROPERTY BEFORE 5PM AND LEAVE BEFORE 9AM ON YOUR DAY OF DEPARTURE. THANK YOU”

I’ve just received a detailed invoice for our holiday boat hire with Broom in September, it states a change of handover from 14.00 to 17.00, now I’ve no complaints about this as the extra time is for the boat to be deep cleaned for our benefit but seeing as sunset is 18.00 on that day and with the understandable rule that there is no navigation after sunset then I am concerned that the available time will not be enough to complete the handover, obviously the first night will be in the boatyard,.

With the previous handover time being 14.00 we had planned to moor up around Cantly/Hartley Cross in preparation of crossing Breydon on the Sunday morning, that will now have to wait until the Monday. I’m not sure if having previously hired boats on the Broads ( Royalls and Richardsons) and I have taken the RYA power boating course albeit a few years ago will make any difference to the handover.

This “Safer Stays” procedure will be and is being adopted by responsible boat hirers so hopefully the inevitable delay in most instances causing an overnight in the relevant boat yards will not result on the following morning being turned into a waterborne whacky races

The quote at top of post appears to be a generic Hoseasons one on behalf of Broom so the boatyard may have other ideas, will have to wait and see.Having said all that we are so happy that at the moment it looks like we will get our much look forward to holiday, a bonus will be having time on the Saturday morning at a brokerage looking at a possible purchase of our own boat, but shush don’t tell the Missus.

I have been lead to believe that Hoseasons have been making the suggestion that arrivals are 4pm and later as suggested.

This is a special kind of madness to my way of thinking.

It will be massively unworkable in many ways for many yards and could lead rise to many other issues, not least of all social distancing if everybody is expected or needs to stay in the boatyard overnight because of the late start in relation to sunset. 

To me, this seems ill-conceived by Hoseasons which probably has very little concept of how a boatyard needs to work to get customers out of the yard. I cannot believe that any operator would want to be pushing boats out after 5pm after a busy and stressful day of cleaning. It was rare that we waved goodbye to any customers after 6:30pm and we only really ran that late because customers arrived late. 

It's fair to say that there will need to be changes: big changes. The most likely is that arrivals need to be properly timed: people will need to treat their time slot as though they were catching a scheduled service: once that train has left the platform, you ain't getting on it and will have to wait until the next available service which could be at the end of the day: oh, and by the way, we won't have space for you to sit around and remain socially distanced from incoming guests, so you may be asked to come back later. There are going to be problems. There are going to be frustrations (on all sides) and people need to realise that nobody wants to be awkward, but in the name of staying safe, it will have to be that way. 



 

 

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1 hour ago, FreedomBoatingHols said:

I have been lead to believe that Hoseasons have been making the suggestion that arrivals are 4pm and later as suggested.

This is a special kind of madness to my way of thinking.

It will be massively unworkable in many ways for many yards and could lead rise to many other issues, not least of all social distancing if everybody is expected or needs to stay in the boatyard overnight because of the late start in relation to sunset. 

To me, this seems ill-conceived by Hoseasons which probably has very little concept of how a boatyard needs to work to get customers out of the yard. I cannot believe that any operator would want to be pushing boats out after 5pm after a busy and stressful day of cleaning. It was rare that we waved goodbye to any customers after 6:30pm and we only really ran that late because customers arrived late. 

It's fair to say that there will need to be changes: big changes. The most likely is that arrivals need to be properly timed: people will need to treat their time slot as though they were catching a scheduled service: once that train has left the platform, you ain't getting on it and will have to wait until the next available service which could be at the end of the day: oh, and by the way, we won't have space for you to sit around and remain socially distanced from incoming guests, so you may be asked to come back later. There are going to be problems. There are going to be frustrations (on all sides) and people need to realise that nobody wants to be awkward, but in the name of staying safe, it will have to be that way. 



 

 

I totally agree with all the points you’ve made and had thought of most of them but didn’t want my previous post to turn into War and Peace, as it is it will be unworkable and I’m sure that after the first week or two each boat yard will sort out a procedure that suits them, taking into consideration the Gov’ guide lines, the idea of timed slots sounds good to me and is IMHO the only way for yards to get themselves organised, just imagine what’s going to happen at Richardsons if all their hires turn up at 5.00, doesn’t bear thinking about. As you say it is what it is but Hoseasons shouldn’t be calling the shots they are not at risk  it’s the customers and staff at each boat yard and it’s up to them to do a risk assessment and put in place procedures that suit their individual circumstances. 

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Are all the boatyards going to risk 3 months hard graft down the drain by having all hirers turn up at the same time ? Surely not.

The initial hirings shouldn't be too much of a problem as the boats are in the yard so if the boats are ready they could start sending them out at 9 or 10am couldn't they ?

After that I doubt it would take a fortnight to see if things are going wrong but fortunately that is up to the boatyards not me.

For my part I shall be aiming to comply with whatever they ask of me.

From Richardson's website:

"If you are due to visit us, it is your responsibility to ensure you are following the UK Government’s most recent guidance on social distancing. We have put procedures into place to safeguard both our guests and team. You will be sent a series of e-mails prior to your arrival with further information regarding this, as well as important information regarding your trial run and Captain’s Manual. Please ensure you carefully read these e-mails prior to your arrival – they are important. 

Social distancing measures mean we have made significant changes to the way we check in – again, this information will be included in an e-mail sent to you prior to your arrival via e-mail."

About two weeks to go. :default_eusa_dance:

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26 minutes ago, MotorBoater said:

The initial hirings shouldn't be too much of a problem as the boats are in the yard so if the boats are ready they could start sending them out at 9 or 10am couldn't they ?

My guess is that boatyards will offer 6 night holidays for all their regular Friday start boats for the first week, but start in the morning before the Saturday start boats in the afternoon.

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Crazy times! People must know what to expect, why do they do it? It can't be any kind of fun or relaxation. I literally don't underside the desire to join thousands of other people however nice the beach is whether or not the virus is over (not) it must be hell.

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3 minutes ago, Ray said:

Crazy times! People must know what to expect, why do they do it? It can't be any kind of fun or relaxation. I literally don't underside the desire to join thousands of other people however nice the beach is whether or not the virus is over (not) it must be hell.

A bit like Ranworth moorings, Horning Parish Staithe......

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1 minute ago, Poppy said:

A bit like Ranworth moorings, Horning Parish Staithe......

Spot on... I never try to moor at those places. Ranworth was empty once out of season so I stopped. I have never seen a space at Horning Staithe, not once! 

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I had to deliver an engine to lydd airport earlier and it was fine till Ashford, once off the motorway it was a stop/start crawl till lydd, this was 11.30ish, don't want to be near when they all want home, feel sorry for the guys in the hangar there when they want home.

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3 hours ago, vanessan said:

Best visited in November! 

Tried mooring at Horning last November and there wasn’t even room for Norfolk Lady.  I honestly can’t remember the last time we moored there.

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12 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

Tried mooring at Horning last November and there wasn’t even room for Norfolk Lady.  I honestly can’t remember the last time we moored there.

Unfortunately there is normally one live aboard there plus one boat which is normally moored on the opposite moorings moored there 

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Another report from your Canal du Midi correspondent and I am afraid the news is not good.

We had a day out in the camper van yesterday and called in at a few of the hire fleet bases.  No matter what the agents may say about bookings flooding in, I have always found that the real "proof of the pudding" is to go and see how many boats are still sitting in the yard un-booked in the middle of the week.  They can't hide that statistic!

Locaboat in Argens have about 5 boats out from a fleet of over 60; Le Boat in Homps have about 5 boats out from about the same number but they share the base with 2 other companies so I can't tell whose boats were actually hired.

And then we went to one of the main bases at Port Cassafieres, to see this sad sight :

IMG_0183.thumb.jpg.e062420468b13ad71909e68383fbe1f7.jpg

 

IMG_0180.thumb.jpg.8cf134ac60ced96c049f1053e5dc770d.jpg

This is the last week in June and this base (of about 90 boats) would normally have just 2 or 3 boats left in it.  As it is, the restaurant in the port told us there are only 5 out on hire.  Two Germans, two Swiss and one Belgian.  No French at all.  Although the restaurant was open we were the only customers.  Both here and in Homps the bases were totally closed, including reception, with no staff at work and so no-one seeming to make any effort to prepare boats for this weekend.

Virus or no, this is now the second week that the canal has been totally open for business;  there is no lockdown left in France and the borders are open for the Germans, Swiss, Belgians and Dutch to travel freely.  Bookings in what is now the high season would have been made well in advance, unless they have been moved to a later date?  But then Le Boat have been saying for some time on their site that they intended opening on the 14th June.  There is no government restriction on boat hiring in France any more, so this is not an official reaction : it is a customer reaction.  They are staying away, for some reason.

In yesterday's local paper there was an article on the effects of the virus on tourism in France, which included this, that I translate for you :

The directors of TUI France, the leading tour operator in the country, announced on 17th June that they were shedding up to 583 jobs, which represents two thirds of their personnel in France.

Le Boat is owned by TUI and I see that another main base in Trebes is closed down completely.  I don't know about the one in Narbonne.

I don't how this affects the Broads, where everyone seems to say that bookings are flooding in. I wonder?  I don't like the signs of this but I hope very much I am wrong.

I suppose in a week's time, we shall start to see how the rest of this season is really going to turn out?

 

DSC00340.thumb.jpg.b524c36607c366e410b637f2cf1bc50f.jpg

I assume this one must be for spares?

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57 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

Another report from your Canal du Midi correspondent and I am afraid the news is not good.

We had a day out in the camper van yesterday and called in at a few of the hire fleet bases.  No matter what the agents may say about bookings flooding in, I have always found that the real "proof of the pudding" is to go and see how many boats are still sitting in the yard un-booked in the middle of the week.  They can't hide that statistic!

Locaboat in Argens have about 5 boats out from a fleet of over 60; Le Boat in Homps have about 5 boats out from about the same number but they share the base with 2 other companies so I can't tell whose boats were actually hired.

And then we went to one of the main bases at Port Cassafieres, to see this sad sight :

IMG_0183.thumb.jpg.e062420468b13ad71909e68383fbe1f7.jpg

 

IMG_0180.thumb.jpg.8cf134ac60ced96c049f1053e5dc770d.jpg

This is the last week in June and this base (of about 90 boats) would normally have just 2 or 3 boats left in it.  As it is, the restaurant in the port told us there are only 5 out on hire.  Two Germans, two Swiss and one Belgian.  No French at all.  Although the restaurant was open we were the only customers.  Both here and in Homps the bases were totally closed, including reception, with no staff at work and so no-one seeming to make any effort to prepare boats for this weekend.

Virus or no, this is now the second week that the canal has been totally open for business;  there is no lockdown left in France and the borders are open for the Germans, Swiss, Belgians and Dutch to travel freely.  Bookings in what is now the high season would have been made well in advance, unless they have been moved to a later date?  But then Le Boat have been saying for some time on their site that they intended opening on the 14th June.  There is no government restriction on boat hiring in France any more, so this is not an official reaction : it is a customer reaction.  They are staying away, for some reason.

In yesterday's local paper there was an article on the effects of the virus on tourism in France, which included this, that I translate for you :

The directors of TUI France, the leading tour operator in the country, announced on 17th June that they were shedding up to 583 jobs, which represents two thirds of their personnel in France.

Le Boat is owned by TUI and I see that another main base in Trebes is closed down completely.  I don't know about the one in Narbonne.

I don't how this affects the Broads, where everyone seems to say that bookings are flooding in. I wonder?  I don't like the signs of this but I hope very much I am wrong.

I suppose in a week's time, we shall start to see how the rest of this season is really going to turn out?

 

DSC00340.thumb.jpg.b524c36607c366e410b637f2cf1bc50f.jpg

I assume this one must be for spares?

Hello Vaughan,

My guess is that the French Canals are reliant on tourists and at the moment everyone is or should be wary of being in public.

Regards

Alan 

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57 minutes ago, ranworthbreeze said:

Hello Vaughan,

My guess is that the French Canals are reliant on tourists and at the moment everyone is or should be wary of being in public.

Regards

Alan 

And none of that applies to The Broads ?

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