Damage Waiver Was Paid!

[NBYCo2124]

Another excellent insightful post. Thank you Vaughan.

On the topic of President, Thank you for suggesting H2O, they have been excellent, and I will be taking President to them when I can.

Regards

Robert

 

[Maxwellian]

2 hours ago, Shemaha said:

Vaughan, I know it's been mentioned before, but you should really write your memoirs 👍 I would be one of the first in the queue for it😊

There are several on here that would have extremely interesting memoirs, that have a vast depth of broads/boating knowledge. 

[webntweb]

On 29/11/2020 at 05:43, Vaughan said:

Hello Griff,

If you crewed on Maidie in the 70s, with Reg Parsons, then I should think we have probably met!

I am very sorry to hear that the base at Gray has closed and I know that the old Connoisseur bases at Trebes and Narbonne have also closed.

We went by their big base in Homps on Thursday and it all looked a bit suspicious to me.  All the Le Boat fleet moored away from the service quay in order of classes and in nice neat rows, but no work going on and no staff on the base.  The only boats out on the hard were from another company that shares the basin, and whose boats had all the places outside the workshops.

I don't have any contacts in Le Boat's management these days (don't want to really) but I know that there has been an utterly drastic slump in boat hiring this year in France.  The French are only about 10 to 15% of their customer base and all the rest, especially the British, come from other countries.  But no-one is flying long haul any more and all the hotel barges had exclusively American customers.

I very much hope I am wrong, but I don't like the look of it, I am afraid.

Hello Vaughan,

I received an email of LeBoat yesterday offering last minute discounts. On the website is states that although Trebes is closed as a hire base for this year (as it was last year), it is still owned by LeBoat and overnight moorings are available for their boats from other bases.

Maybe hopes of it reopening in a year or two?

[Vaughan]

Sorry to delay in replying.

I don't know what they are doing at Trebes.  It was closed down all last year but all of a sudden, in March, a full fleet of boats appeared, about 30 odd and they seemed to have started up again.

Then, lo and behold, over Easter weekend itself, they all disappeared again!  They weren't moved to Homps so I don't know where they went.  Maybe the Lot but I doubt that.  And who did they get to move all that lot, over a bank holiday weekend?  They wouldn't have been able to hire any trucks, or a crane.  Their business decisions are a complete mystery to me.

They have had another disastrous season where we only saw one week, in August, when they had about 3/4 of the fleet out.  All the rest of the time it has been less than 1/4.  The only boats I seem to see on the canal are from French companies and there are no queues at the multiple locks, as there normally are.

Which is partly why we are thinking of hiring a boat from Locaboat in October!  If we can't get back to the Broads this year, why not?  I shall have to do a blog about it for the forum . . . .

[RS2021]

1 hour ago, Vaughan said:

They have had another disastrous season

Flash sale on at Le Boat up to 50% off...

[Vaughan]

6 minutes ago, RS2021 said:

Flash sale on at Le Boat up to 50% off...

Doesn't surprise me at all!

[andyg]

53 minutes ago, RS2021 said:

Flash sale on at Le Boat up to 50% off...

And still 10% overpriced 😉