Broads01 Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 In April I'll be hiring Silver Mirage having last hired it in 2004, a gap of almost 18 years. It's been too long - I loved it the first time around and it's had a refit since then. What's the longest gap you've had between your first and second experiences of a boat (owning or hiring)? I don't mean just seeing a boat you've experienced before, I mean being on it for real. How did you find the return experience in comparison to the original one? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwanR Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 Very interesting. We haven’t had a gap in the way you described but we have been hiring Swan Reflection 1 and 2 for 10 years now. Age is starting to show. And it is a different experience as the boats have moved from Swancraft to Richardson’s. We haven’t been back to the southern rivers since that change. No matter what other boats we hire, we still come back to this one especially for short breaks. Handles so well, quite cosy out of season and a reasonable price. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVIDH Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 25 minutes ago, SwanR said: We haven’t been back to the southern rivers since that change. Jean, if you do ever feel like doing the south again, I can recommend Silver Serenade. All the features of Swan Reflection as far as I remember, (which I've holidayed on with Swancraft), including the island bed. https://www.hoseasons.co.uk/boat-holidays/silver-symphony-bh1404 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
addicted Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 I had no idea how involved boat hirers were with the boats they hired until I joined this forum and it totally changed my perception of boat hirers. I was given an an inklin some years ago while moored at Reedham Ferry when the hire boat moored behind us broke down and we got talking to the man on board who was waiting for the engineer. He told us that he had been hiring the same boat since it was brand new many years before and he clearly thought of the boat in the same way as if he actually owned it. We were astonished. I still find it amazing how knowledgeable some of the hirers are, they seem to know more about the boats they hire than some owners do about their own boats. It's pretty remarkable when you consider it. Carole 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaughan Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 In our case, it is 26 years. When I was running a yard on the Thames, we had two AF38 Pearls, built by Pat Simpson. In 2019 I ended up buying one of them, and she is still moored on Pat Simpson's Yard, where she was built. Unless you count the Ultimate Gem that we hired in 2017, which I had helped build, when I worked for Richardsons. In that case, it was 42 years! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bikertov Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 20 minutes ago, Vaughan said: Unless you count the Ultimate Gem that we hired in 2017, which I had helped build, when I worked for Richardsons. In that case, it was 42 years! That must be weird - hiring a boat you actually built ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webntweb Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 Mine was only two years. Constellation II from Chumley & Hawke in Horning. July 1964 and September 1966. Hired many times in 60 years of Broads' boating but never the same boat twice since; there was always too many new boats to choose from - a bit like being in a sweet shop I suppose. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouldy Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 I think the only time we’ve return hired a boat with longer than a one year gap was Grande Girl 1, which we spent a week on in 2004 and returned to in 2015. Aside from new upholstery and curtains, I can’t honestly say that my feelings were anything other than one of familiarity, having been on Yare Moonlight 1 from Brister Craft and Royall Commander 1, from Royalls, too. The internal design of the AF Pearl, with few exceptions, is such that all three craft were very similar indeed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetAnne Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 I managed to be away from my boat for almost a week last year.... bloody Christmas I'll try to not let it happen again! 3 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQ Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 1971 sailing on Loch an Os behind Iochdar School on South Uist, 1980, Sailing training At Horning Sailing Club with the RAF Sailing association. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broads01 Posted February 24, 2022 Author Share Posted February 24, 2022 5 hours ago, addicted said: I had no idea how involved boat hirers were with the boats they hired until I joined this forum and it totally changed my perception of boat hirers. It's true, Carole, at least for us regular hiring types. I do feel a sense of ownership not only whilst hiring a boat but also when I see the boat on later occasions. The only other boat I've hired twice is Broadland Wave 2 (2014 and 2017). I loved it on both occasions and the sense of ownership feels even stronger. 5 hours ago, Vaughan said: When I was running a yard on the Thames, we had two AF38 Pearls, built by Pat Simpson. In 2019 I ended up buying one of them, and she is still moored on Pat Simpson's Yard, where she was built. Remind me which yard you ran, Vaughan and what your boat used to be called? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broads01 Posted February 24, 2022 Author Share Posted February 24, 2022 4 hours ago, webntweb said: always too many new boats to choose from - a bit like being in a sweet shop I suppose. Absolutely, one of the great joys of hiring is the variety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaughan Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 1 hour ago, Broads01 said: Remind me which yard you ran, Vaughan and what your boat used to be called? The yard was Aquamarine Boats in Staines and the boat was called Diamond. The yard only ran for just over 3 years as it was a way of conforming to planning permission for a new office development on the site. I was asked by old friends in Norfolk to set it up and run it but I knew it was only a job for a limited time. It did get me back into the boat business though, and from there I was able to join Crown Blue Line in France. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webntweb Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 Vaughan's boat? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YnysMon Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 Although we’ve bought not a syndicate now, we always look out for the boats we have hired. We feel quite proprietorial about them for some weird reason. Compared to others on this forum, we discovered the Broads quite late (not until 2014 or 15), so we are relatively late comers. I remember seeing adverts for Broads holidays when I was a child, thinking that would be a lovely holiday. It wasn’t going to happen though, given our family was just Mam and me. Mam made up for it though, as she first took me ‘abroad’ when I was 7 (this was 1967). We went to Holland to visit a couple of Aunties and their families - that was a legacy of the Dutch Navy having been stationed in Holyhead during the war. At the time none of my friends had been on holidays abroad. Looking back, I felt quite privileged. Mam worked for Sealink, then part of British Rail, so we had free travel. In the 1970s she took me to Switzerland, Italy and Norway (all by ferry/rail). Sorry, thread drift. It’s just that the thread prompted memories. Very happy ones. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouldy Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 29 minutes ago, YnysMon said: . . . . . . .Sorry, thread drift. . . . . . Thread drift?????? Helen, it’s probably more appropriate to apologise for not causing a thread to drift on here, to be fair!!😁😉 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 30 years for me for the same class of boat - Aston Nevada Oct 1985 to Song of Freedom Oct 2015. Or 14 years for exactly the same boat - Aston Broadsword Oct 2001 to Sweet Freedom June 2015. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broads01 Posted February 24, 2022 Author Share Posted February 24, 2022 18 minutes ago, Richie said: 30 years for me for the same class of boat - Aston Nevada Oct 1985 to Song of Freedom Oct 2015. Or 14 years for exactly the same boat - Aston Broadsword Oct 2001 to Sweet Freedom June 2015. I also hired Song of Freedom and it brought back childhood memories on Aston Goblin some 36 years earlier. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broads01 Posted February 24, 2022 Author Share Posted February 24, 2022 4 hours ago, webntweb said: Vaughan's boat? Ah yes and it looks like it was still in Stalham Yacht Services colours where presumably it started out as River something - River Hamble? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webntweb Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 Yes, Hamble I think. There were two of them and I think they both went to Aquamarine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaughan Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 7 hours ago, Broads01 said: Ah yes and it looks like it was still in Stalham Yacht Services colours where presumably it started out as River something - River Hamble? Yes, it was. That is Pat Simpson in the photo, with his sons, Ben and Shannon. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyg Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 Very nice boat Vaughan, I bet you miss being able to use her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaughan Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 12 minutes ago, andyg said: Very nice boat Vaughan, I bet you miss being able to use her. We've only ever used her once, so far! We bought her in June 2019 and spent several weeks on board, but have not been back to UK since. At least my daughter and her family get good use out of her, while Dad pays all the bills. Well, why not? 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annv Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 Hi Vaughan Why should you be different from the rest of us, i was told that is why we have you. On the good side at least its being used and kept aired while you are unable to use it. John 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wussername Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 Don't worry Vaughan. Its a very popular boat. Some Sundays there is a queue to get on it. Where is the spare gas bottle kept ? Old Wussername 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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