New Hire Boats For 2022

[oldgregg]

4 hours ago, andyg said:

Lots of 2nd hand Alphacrafts coming to market very soon lol..

If I owned one I think I'd be more worried about osmosis and delamination.

[MauriceMynah]

I take the attitude so we'll expressed in the film "Bridge of spies".

Tom Hanks..."You don't look worried."

Mark Rylance... "Would it help?".

[Meantime]

11 minutes ago, oldgregg said:

If I owned one I think I'd be more worried about osmosis and delamination.

Having had mine out of the water just recently, after an extended stay in the water due to Covid, much longer than planned, I'm glad to say it was fine.

For a 30 year old boat the gel didn't polish up too badly either. Compounded and polished by hand due to it being rather thin in some places due to over zealous buffing when it was in hire. 2 passes with compound and 3 passes with Starbrite Premium Marine Polish with PTEF 

[NeilB]

2 hours ago, oldgregg said:

If I owned one I think I'd be more worried about osmosis and delamination.

Maybe I'm lucky, mines had 2 surveys in under 4 years and both said while it has Osmosis it was less than expected.  I do however have a soft aft cockpit well which is going to rectified soon.

[andyg]

I seem to remember most of the old. Broadland lass tropical gems classes etc at Stalham all seemed to have soft decks especially towards the stern. Originally built by Wilds back in the 60s and 70s I guess. You always got puddles of water sitting in the same areas after it had rained. Would that be osmosis or just wear and tear ?? Is it repairable?? 

[Vaughan]

18 minutes ago, andyg said:

Would that be osmosis or just wear and tear ?? Is it repairable?? 

This is the result of the wooden strengthening "sandwich" under the deck absorbing water and rotting, usually through the screw holes of deck fittings, such as cleats and fender eyes.  Nowadays the sandwich is normally made of a honeycomb plastic sheet that does not rot.

As it is moulded into the deck it can only be fixed if you can get access under the deck and cut away the lower mould.  If not you have to cut into the deck.  Is it repairable?  Only with great difficulty and never perfectly.

[Meantime]

27 minutes ago, andyg said:

I seem to remember most of the old. Broadland lass tropical gems classes etc at Stalham all seemed to have soft decks especially towards the stern. Originally built by Wilds back in the 60s and 70s I guess. You always got puddles of water sitting in the same areas after it had rained. Would that be osmosis or just wear and tear ?? Is it repairable?? 

Vaughan would probably know better, but I believe it's due to the side decks and often foot wells being strengthened with wood sandwiched between the layers of fibre glass to provide stiffness and strength to the deck. Over time the decks take a pounding and cracking of the gel coat occurs and water seeps in to the sandwiched wood layer which rots or swells up and goes soft. Fibreglass naturally has some flex and what you are seeing is the wood no longer providing the stiffness and the layers of fibre glass acting as it normally would do had it not been sandwiched with wood.

I think some boats have a similar problem with the structural floor bearers that are bonded to the floor of the hull to stiffen the hull and provide a platform for the wooden floor. These bearers are often formed from grp around chipboard or similar material which breaks down over time and with the engine vibration leading to the bearers going soft.

The footwells often suffer as many are lower than or very close to the outside water level so it is often easier to drain them down into the bilge and let the bilge pump deal with the water. Where the drain holes are can often be a source of leak into the fibre glass layers and particularly the wooden strengthening. On my Alpha the rear foot well drains into the bilge, if nothing else it helps to keep the bilge a little fresher, although over time you do end up with a lot of silty mud and leaf material getting into the bilge which then breaks down into a sludge.

[Vaughan]

I think our two posts were a "photo finish"!

[oldgregg]

I've heard of people drilling holes and squirting expanding foam under the wobbly forward wells to make them a bit less spongy.

I suspect that brings other problems with it, but a proper fix would be very time consuming.

[Meantime]

23 minutes ago, oldgregg said:

but a proper fix would be very time consuming.

That tends to be the issue with anything boaty!!! Oh and expensive!

[NeilB]

22 minutes ago, Meantime said:

That tends to be the issue with anything boaty!!! Oh and expensive!

My looming lift out is going to be eye watering as having quite a bit of work done.   Strengthening the aft well, luckily access is good, bow thruster and anchor winch being fitted along with new engine plus a slap of new paint on the hull.  Superstructure is still GRP so I'm going to slowly repair the million or so gel defects and polish is myself, might finish before I die! 

[Meantime]

2 minutes ago, NeilB said:

My looming lift out is going to be eye watering as having quite a bit of work done.   Strengthening the aft well, luckily access is good, bow thruster and anchor winch being fitted along with new engine plus a slap of new paint on the hull.  Superstructure is still GRP so I'm going to slowly repair the million or so gel defects and polish is myself, might finish before I die! 

Ouch! I trust you get on very well with your bank manager? I suspect you could buy a small boat for what your about to spend!

[NeilB]

11 minutes ago, Meantime said:

Ouch! I trust you get on very well with your bank manager? I suspect you could buy a small boat for what your about to spend!

Thought I'd get all the pain out of the way in one go, well, most of it anyway, for now!  I did manage to knock a fair chunk off the asking price back in Feb due to the engine being on it's last legs, plus the new one is cost price which softens the blow.

[Happy]

15 minutes ago, NeilB said:

Thought I'd get all the pain out of the way in one go, well, most of it anyway, for now!  I did manage to knock a fair chunk off the asking price back in Feb due to the engine being on it's last legs, plus the new one is cost price which softens the blow.

I assume the new engine is somehow connected to Volvo?

[NeilB]

7 minutes ago, Happy said:

I assume the new engine is somehow connected to Volvo?

Yes, it maybe slightly green....

[Meantime]

10 minutes ago, NeilB said:

Yes, it maybe slightly green....

Hybrid or full electric? 

[NeilB]

3 minutes ago, Meantime said:

Hybrid or full electric? 

The, err, starter motor is full electric... rest is good old diesel.  There is electric, hybrid and hydrogen stuff being tested right now, but not for me at present.  Plus, it's mostly aimed at 300 to 1000hp - would make my Alpha hull twist back the other way!!

[Davydine]

On 21/07/2022 at 05:46, andyg said:

The upper deck seating isn't new, I've hired a couple of these now from woods and there all fitted with the integrated seats table and sunbeds. It's a very nice place to be in good weather. The access steps from the saloon to the upper helm should be scrapped in my opinion there to steep and are pretty useless in the rain. The table on the sundeck could do with some work. It's set to low I totally understand why but an adjustable one would be so much better. Woods will be launching there new one of this design before the end of the summer it will be interesting to see how they compare. No doubt prelude will be crammed full of tech as are all barnes new builds of late. I often wonder how barnes can afford to build at the rate they do but over bigger yards can't. Two of these have go to set you back a good half a million pounds I'm guessing. But it's good to see they have the confidence to do that. 

Just been looking at Woods new Platinum Light and it seems that your wish has been granted and there are no steps from the saloon.

Personally on a boat that size, sleeping 8 people I prefer to have the steps from the saloon to the upper deck, otherwise you are disturbing the people in the aft cabin every time you want to go in and out. To my mind it is also a safety issue if there were a fire in the galley.

[DAVIDH]

Just noticed that Broom's White Heron has been reclassified as a 4 berth cruiser. Guess the price was excessive for two people. https://www.hoseasons.co.uk/boat-holidays/white-heron-bh2728

[andyg]

Hi david, as someone who works in the sector can i ask how you see next season unfolding. Personally i really cant see the high tariffs of last and this season being sustainable. I fear we may see a lot of boats sitting on yards if they maintain there current tariffs. Hope I'm wrong 

[ScrumpyCheddar]

Brooms have totally out priced themselves now .. They got greedy with last years staycation and they think they can carry on by asking for stupid high prices..  They have killed it off for returning customers. I for one have not returned. And we was hiring with them for a few years some times twice to three times a year. Sad really but that’s greed and stupidity. 

[NeilB]

I don’t know if this is going to be completed by Richos or another yard, but they were dragging this out on Wednesday.

My kids then arrived so I’ve no idea if it was launched, put on a truck or into another shed.  The sedan is in the same shed, not sure if it’s still there.

I’ll keep an eye out!

[andyg]

I'd heard they had started on her, of all clives designs these were slow to take off I think, but seem popular now. Can't understand why they wouldn't finish her and put it into the fleet unless shes been sold. The sedan looked great on paper but maybe be a bit to high for Stalham going forward. Better suited at Horning like far horizon. Hopefully she will get finished and put to work or enjoyed by a private owner. 

[YnysMon]

Nice low airdraft…more sensible than some of the giant palaces that have been launched recently.

[Broads01]

2 hours ago, DAVIDH said:

Just noticed that Broom's White Heron has been reclassified as a 4 berth cruiser. Guess the price was excessive for two people. https://www.hoseasons.co.uk/boat-holidays/white-heron-bh2728

It's not good value for four people either, in my view, given there's only one permanent double berth.