Bridgecraft At Last

[Broads01]

A few photo highlights.

[SwanR]

Enjoyed your write up, thank you. We have been thinking about syndicate ownership as well including Thunder. But we watched Russell’s video walk through and noted his comments about head height for tall people at the helm. 

[YnysMon]

Glad to hear more people are considering syndicate ownership. We’ve been really glad we bought a share in Moonlight Shadow. Syndicate membership has its pro’s and cons, you can’t walk away from issues like you can when hiring, but we still think we made the right get move. When hiring I found it took a few days to get to ‘know’ the boat, how responsive it was and how it handled. I really like being able to ‘take off’ without any of that stress. 

[Mouldy]

9 hours ago, SwanR said:

Enjoyed your write up, thank you. We have been thinking about syndicate ownership as well including Thunder. But we watched Russell’s video walk through and noted his comments about head height for tall people at the helm. 

That is the downside of that design, sadly.  We hired one of the Gardenia Girls from Summercraft in 2005.  The overall concept of the Diamond 35 (and 43) is great, with a split sliding canopy to enjoy the sunshine, roomy interior and the ability to go under most Broadland bridges (Potter automatically discounted for obvious reasons).  I found the view forward and to each side to be restricted with the canopies closed, however both Thunder and Lightning have had additional windows put into them to help alleviate the side visibility issues. The problem goes away with them open, though.

I doubt if there is a design that fits all.  Low level boats (bathtubs) have restricted visibility due to their height, sedan cruisers don’t fit under all bridges, but have less gaps so fewer draughts for all weather cruising and offer better visibility, craft with centre cockpits and sliding roofs are a great compromise, but can be draughty and have the complication of the roof mechanism to go wrong (Moonlight Shadow has recently had a very expensive repair to solve a long term issue with hers).

As Helen said, syndicate ownership is an attractive proposition in a number of ways, but there aren’t many to choose from and what there are are of limited designs, so your choice is restricted.

[andyg]

Glad to hear another positive review for bridgecraft, they do get a lot of good feed back. I was really pleased to see them buy the old Alphacraft boats and put them back to work. They appear to be letting quite well for them. A new boat or two would be the icing on the cake for me. 

[Broads01]

13 hours ago, SwanR said:

Enjoyed your write up, thank you. We have been thinking about syndicate ownership as well including Thunder. But we watched Russell’s video walk through and noted his comments about head height for tall people at the helm. 

It's not just the helm, Jean. My son is 6 foot 2 and couldn't stand up straight anywhere on the boat including all of the saloon. He had issues on Forth Bridge 2 as well but at least the saloon was OK for him on that. The strange thing is, I'm 6 foot 0 and I had no issues standing up on either boat, save for the forward shower room on Forth Bridge 2. It's almost as if boat builders thought 6 foot was the tallest anyone would be. The trouble is a taller boat means more air draft.

[SwanR]

14 minutes ago, Broads01 said:

It's almost as if boat builders thought 6 foot was the tallest anyone would be.

Thanks for the info. That confirms what we thought. This highlights again why we don’t compromise on the bed position. Some boats are better than others for head height through the boat but the need to fit on the bed or hang one’s feet over the end greatly restricts our choice. 

[Matthew12]

On 21/07/2021 at 09:32, Broads01 said:

Tuesday 20th July

We made the short chug to Loddon Staithe for water and provisions. I think there had been one or two spaces available there overnight based on how many were available when we arrived. Our destination today was Oulton Broad and after a short stop at the Staithe we headed off in that direction. Coming up the Chet on Monday afternoon we met nobody in the opposite direction whereas on our return journey we must have met 9 or 10. As we passed Reedham I took a photo of Sanderson's boatyard (I'll add photos when I'm back on WiFi). Is this their last season? Shortly after the New Cut the helmsman on Silver Cloud coming in the opposite direction photographed us and smiled. Are you a forum member Mr Silver Cloud owner aboard this week? It was a little early in the day to head direct for Oulton, so we made a stop at WRC instead. We made use of their "onshore facilities" as Cian calls it. Later we had a short mini cruise further up the Waveney and then turned around and headed for OBYS. Not needing electric, we had the entire quayside nearest the harbour master's office to ourselves. Dinner was carvery at the Wherry which was very good value albeit the drinks were priced on the high side. Some late night adjustment of the ropes was called for as even though I'd allowed slack in the ropes it turned out not to be enough and the stern was caught on the quay. Maybe the pontoon side would have been the better option.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I noticed the broom skipper called sandhawk is still for sale on topsail

[Mouldy]

5 hours ago, Matthew12 said:

I noticed the broom skipper called sandhawk is still for sale on topsail

I could pass comment, but fear that it may not comply with the ToS.

[Broads01]

I felt a tinge of sadness passing Sanderson's. 

[Broads01]

Some more photo highlights.

[SwanR]

Great photos. Love the first one. Sunrise or sunset? I was guessing sunrise depending where that is taken. 

[DAVIDH]

31 minutes ago, Broads01 said:

I felt a tinge of sadness passing Sanderson's. 

Me too Simon. Having started out hiring with them in 1973, I will be sorry to see the site being redeveloped. 

[Matthew12]

1 hour ago, DAVIDH said:

Me too Simon. Having started out hiring with them in 1973, I will be sorry to see the site being redeveloped. 

Are sandersons closing down at the end of the season? 

[Mouldy]

19 minutes ago, Matthew12 said:

Are sandersons closing down at the end of the season? 

Yes.  All of their boats are on the market (or were).

[MauriceMynah]

I wonder how much they're asking for their Aquafibre 42. I've filled mine up already!

[Matthew12]

1 hour ago, MauriceMynah said:

I wonder how much they're asking for their Aquafibre 42. I've filled mine up already!

At the moment the broom skipper is the only one for sale

[Broads01]

14 hours ago, SwanR said:

Great photos. Love the first one. Sunrise or sunset? I was guessing sunrise depending where that is taken. 

Thanks Jean. It's sunset at Stracey Arms. One of these days I'll get up early enough to capture a sunrise somewhere!

[SwanR]

3 hours ago, Broads01 said:

Thanks Jean. It's sunset at Stracey Arms. One of these days I'll get up early enough to capture a sunrise somewhere!

Ah … I was trying to think where there is a stretch of moorings like that which faces west but couldn’t place it. We did see a stunning sunrise at St Benet’s in October a few years back. You don’t have to be up as early at that time of year. 👍

[Broads01]

I'm adding a post script to this tale because something very important happened on our last night at The Lion which I wasn't able to divulge at the time. Cian told me that he identified as female and had begun the transgender process and had chosen a new name - Keira. From that moment, although not yet "out" to the world (she is now and she supports my writing this) she wanted to be known as Keira and for me to use the she/her pronouns. She had been visibly tense and not always quite herself through the week and she now confided this was due to her building up to tonight. She deliberately waited until our final night as she was worried (unnecessarily) that the news would spoil my holiday. Whilst I didn't see this news coming and it came as a bit of a shock, I reassured Keira that I fully supported her decision and I would love her as my child just the same. She was relieved and visibly much more relaxed.

Having been coming boating with me since an early age, Keira will once again be accompanying me on 1st April for a week aboard Conway Bridge 1. The trip means a huge amount to both of us because it will be the first time Keira can go boating as her true self. Look out for my holiday tale.

[Gracie]

What a wonderful dad you are Simon. 

I wish Keira all the very best on her journey, she is a brave girl and lucky to have her dad by her side 

If she needs advice on make up and heels, I'm her girl 

All the very best to you and your family x

[Davydine]

We will be on Regal Light from HW from April 1st, we will keep an eye open for you. Give us a wave if you see us!

 

David

[YnysMon]

To be honest, I suspect I would find that situation quite challenging, but I hope I would be as supportive a parent as you are. Once our kids are adults they have to live their own lives and forge their own way through life. Best wishes to you and Kiera.