Our First Time on the Broads 22nd – 29th October 2011

[Kugababe]

As this was our first ever time on the Broads, I kept notes throughout the week and the following is how we felt about our week... Have to say that the opinions stated are just our personal opinions and observations.....

Sat 22nd – After a 3 hour drive we arrived at Norfolk Broads Direct in Wroxham at 11am (NBD had phoned me yesterday – Fri 21st – to let me know that our Fair President 3 would be ready for us at 11am) and we got straight on the FP3 and were very impressed. All very clean with front & rear beds made up and bedding for the centre sofa bed folded on top of the rear bed. We unpacked, had our initial tuition session, took the boat out onto the river with the NBD man, and then after 5 mins brought him back into the boatyard, dropped him off and then we were away ! We had no idea where we were making for so we just kept going on the river. We had a look at Malthouse Broad at Ranworth, but there were no moorings available, so we just kept going and eventually we ended up mooring at the Mill House overnight (the last moorings before Gt Yarmouth it said on the sign) There were no electric hook-ups, but it was very quiet so it suited us.

Sun 23rd – left the Mill House and sailed to Great Yarmouth, managed to get a mooring at the Yacht Station, but again no hook-up available. Walked into the town and then up the beach, had some lunch and then left Gt Yarmouth at 3pm, then sailed back up river ... (NB – the boat seems to have developed either a fuel starvation or misfire problem as it is really struggling to do even 3 mph this morning. Also there is only cold air blowing out of the blowers in both the front & rear cabins, can’t get them warm...) to moor at Acle outside the pub. This was not so quiet ! We were on the end of the row and the water kept ‘banging ‘ up against the boat all night, so not much sleep that night unfortunately...

Mon 24th – left Acle and sailed up the river and went to have a look at Potter Heigham (we knew we couldn’t get under the Bridge, we just went to have a look!) We stopped for lunch at St Benets Abbey, and called NBD about the poor performance of the boat and the cold air in the bedrooms, they sent out Simon to see us who said that if we take it back to their yard they will have a look at it but we could be there a while as its a ‘process of elimination as to what the problem might be’ so as he said it was safe to drive as long as we kept it around 1800 revs, we decided to stick with it and carry on, Simon also said that the heating problem in the bedrooms was because the pipes had so far to travel from the centre of the boat ??? The blower in the centre cabin blew out lovely warm air and there was a radiator in there to so at least it was nice and warm in there....... We then went to Ludham Bridge and moored overnight, again we didn’t manage to get a hook-up. It did strike us that there wasn’t enough hook up points available on the Broads !

Tues 25th – left Ludham and sailed up and onto Barton Broad, moored at Gay’s Staithe for lunch (we didn’t get off the boat here as it was pouring down with rain). After lunch we went across Barton Broad and onto Swan Quay and moored up for the night (Free mooring, Hook-up & water!) Walked into the town and found a Tesco!!! Re-stocked up and spent a very quiet night moored here.....

Weds 26th – left Swan Quay and sailed back down to Ludham Bridge to meet up with some friends who were on a Fair Emperor (also first timers!) and swapped boating stories. We then sailed back to Ranworth to moor overnight and we managed to get a hook-up again ! Lovely place, think this was our favourite place to moor. We went to the Nature Centre & our 15yr old Son and Niece loved it here and spent ages upstairs watching the wildlife through the telescopes and binoculars.

Thurs 27th – left Ranworth and went to Horning and moored a little way up from the Swan Inn – again managed to get a hook-up – enjoyed a lovely walk and look around Horning including a look around the hire boats at Ferry Marina ...

Fri 28th – left Horning and went back up to NBD for a pump-out ! We had decided that we would moor overnight back at NBD tonight, so as not to risk being late back tomorrow morning. After pump-out completed we set off again to have a look around Wroxham Broad and then onto Salhouse Broad where we stopped for lunch, then on to Hoveton Broad before cruising back up to NBD for our overnight mooring spot. We had a lovely walk around Wroxham and had a good look around (including all the ‘Roys’ shops !!!) We also went to have a look around the Brinks hire boats too... Picked up great fish & chips from ‘Ken’ in Wroxham, all cooked fresh to order too!

Sat 29th – Sad to leave the FP3 in lots of ways although I did put down some constructive critique on the feedback form as following:-

Likes: Found the FP3 was very easy to manoeuvre – we all had a go at driving her, but the kids did most of the driving and our Son did all the mooring manoeuvring!

Dislikes: Couldn’t get either the front or rear cabins warm, only cold air blowing out of the vents.

The sofa in the centre cabin was very uncomfortable to sit on.

The sofa bed in the centre cabin was extremely uncomfortable to sleep on, we had to sleep on it after the first night as our Son couldn’t even sleep on it – usually he sleeps anywhere !

We were very disappointed with the poor performance of this FP3 and especially did not like being passed by little Dayboats!!!

Couple of other small niggles were the DVD players in both front & rear cabins didn’t work and the can opener didn’t work...

Overall we loved our first time on the Norfolk Broads and we shall definitely be going back, hopefully to do the Southern Broads next time...

[Antares_9]

Pleased you enjoyed it, not half bad really is it, well you obviously think so despite the minor glitches.

[NorfolkNog]

Good holiday tale, many thanks for sharing with us.

Sorry you had some little niggles, may be that later on in the season Faircraft Loynes have some maintenance to catch up with! I don’t think I’ve hired a boat yet with a decent can opener – good tip is to bring your own!

Glad to hear that you will be back – the Southern Rivers are a bit quieter and it’s generally easier to get moored but plenty to see and do!

Don’t know if you’ve seen this but does give info on electricity points if you need this for another time.

http://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/boat ... oints.html

[VetChugger]

I'm going to be a bit argumentative! What a surprise! Just had a look on the Faircraft site and this is a direct quote!

"New in 2010, this dual steering cruiser sets a new standard in space and quality. The largest craft in the fleet," which suggests its also their flagship! I'm, therefore, very much less than impressed with both the propulsion performance and heating problems! Bearing in mind the time of year any hirer would be expecting reasonable heating to combat Octobers lower temperatures. We all know how the damp chill on the water can invade our comfort zone nevermind that of a first time hirer! Consider a boat of this size that struggles to achieve 3mph and I suspect there would be some pretty hairy times in any but totally ideal tide conditions especially around Yarmouth and Breydon. This is a brand new crusier to all intents and purposes with modern engine and ancilliary equipment. Add the charging problems and non working radios/CD's and this is nothing short of crap maintainence! I can't believe that previous hirers did not mention any of these faults and they are not of the type that emerge overnight!

The response from the yard leaves a lot to be desired as well. That was clearly an effort to dodge having to fix it and "persuade" Kugababe to carry on and put up with it. For just short of £1200 I think this is unacceptable!

The other interesting thing to note is if you do a search for any NBD boats you now end up on the Hoseasons website. Does this mean no Blakes brochure for 2012???

Just relieved that Kugababe may well return and hope they will find a yard with much better service.

Trevor

www.normanboats.co.uk

[Antares_9]

Don't sit on the fence Trevor, say what you mean.

Actually I wholey agree with you, but it's really good that it hadn't put them off coming back.

[Kugababe]

I'm going to be a bit argumentative! What a surprise! Just had a look on the Faircraft site and this is a direct quote!

"New in 2010, this dual steering cruiser sets a new standard in space and quality. The largest craft in the fleet," which suggests its also their flagship! I'm, therefore, very much less than impressed with both the propulsion performance and heating problems! Bearing in mind the time of year any hirer would be expecting reasonable heating to combat Octobers lower temperatures. We all know how the damp chill on the water can invade our comfort zone nevermind that of a first time hirer! Consider a boat of this size that struggles to achieve 3mph and I suspect there would be some pretty hairy times in any but totally ideal tide conditions especially around Yarmouth and Breydon. This is a brand new crusier to all intents and purposes with modern engine and ancilliary equipment. Add the charging problems and non working radios/CD's and this is nothing short of crap maintainence! I can't believe that previous hirers did not mention any of these faults and they are not of the type that emerge overnight!

The response from the yard leaves a lot to be desired as well. That was clearly an effort to dodge having to fix it and "persuade" Kugababe to carry on and put up with it. For just short of £1200 I think this is unacceptable!

The other interesting thing to note is if you do a search for any NBD boats you now end up on the Hoseasons website. Does this mean no Blakes brochure for 2012???

Just relieved that Kugababe may well return and hope they will find a yard with much better service.

Trevor

http://www.normanboats.co.uk

Thank you for your comments Trevor ! Just to clarify - we had the Fair President 3 which was brand new in early summer and we paid £1415 for it for the week, including the £100 fuel deposit... When we booked it in June we were told it was the Newest, Biggest & Best boat that NBD had on their fleet, so yes we were disappointed with its performance, we were however more concerned about the lack of heating in the bedrooms, good job we took hot water bottles, extra blankets and thick PJ's ! (we are ex caravanners so we understand about the cold this time of year!)

When we handed over the keys on Sat morning we were told by a couple of the NBD guys that they had a problem with this particular boat in the Summer and found that it was some bits of copper wire in the fuel tank which they sorted, and they thought that this had solved the problem, apparently no-one else has complained about this boat since then... But because of our complaint they are now going to de-commission it for the winter, strip it down and really find out what is causing the problem. When we asked about the heating issue, they just said that because it is a big boat, the warm air in the pipes has to travel a long way to reach both front and rear bedrooms from the centre of the boat and there is nothing they can do about that. We suggested maybe a bigger heater motor or a re-design, they didn't comment on that... As I reported earlier, our friends were on a Fair Emperor and they loved it and said it was always hot on their boat, however there were 7 of them and the Emporor has a lot more smaller rooms than our President 3. Their only gripe is that they couldn't all sit together 'up top outside' as there were no seats except the outside driving position... So I suppose that there are positives & negatives to all the hire boats - next time we just have to find one which is more suitable for us...

We really didn't let these niggles spoil our enjoyment of last week, and we shall definitely be coming back to the Broads again next year, however we shall be more picky about the boat that we hire and we shall do a lot more research next time.

[Kugababe]

Good holiday tale, many thanks for sharing with us.

Sorry you had some little niggles, may be that later on in the season Faircraft Loynes have some maintenance to catch up with! I don’t think I’ve hired a boat yet with a decent can opener – good tip is to bring your own!

Glad to hear that you will be back – the Southern Rivers are a bit quieter and it’s generally easier to get moored but plenty to see and do!

Don’t know if you’ve seen this but does give info on electricity points if you need this for another time.

http://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/boat ... oints.html

Thank you for your comments Howard and yes next time I shall pack my own opener, as we had to buy one in Gt Yarmouth on the second day !!!

Thank you for the info about the electricity points, we did take this list with us, we just couldn't find any that weren't taken already, and we noticed that at some of the moorings, the electricity points had got 'reserved ' signs on them, so that's another tip for next time !!!

Think we are going to look at hiring a boat in the Southern Broads next time, seems like the sensible thing to do...

[Kugababe]

Pleased you enjoyed it, not half bad really is it, well you obviously think so despite the minor glitches.

Really enjoyed it Antares_9 and we were not put off at all....

[Antares_9]

"When we asked about the heating issue, they just said that because it is a big boat, the warm air in the pipes has to travel a long way to reach both front and rear bedrooms from the centre of the boat and there is nothing they can do about that. "

Oh, there's plenty they could do about that, like installing the correct system in the first place, I guess they could use some duct lagging now to improve it but they should have done that during the build. Far and away the best thing would have been to specify it properly in the first place, no boat at all, none, not any, is too big for a correctly specified & installed system to work properly."

[Guest]

"When we asked about the heating issue, they just said that because it is a big boat, the warm air in the pipes has to travel a long way to reach both front and rear bedrooms from the centre of the boat and there is nothing they can do about that. "

Oh, there's plenty they could do about that, like installing the correct system in the first place, I guess they could use some duct lagging now to improve it but they should have done that during the build. Far and away the best thing would have been to specify it properly in the first place, no boat at all, none, not any, is too big for a correctly specified & installed system to work properly."

Good post

[wombat nee blownup]

Am i to understand that BA moorings had reserved signs on the electric posts? If so, is this allowable? perhaps i'll have a couple of dozen made up, jump in the car and attach to all our favourite moorings. I thought it was as simple as "first come first served". Unless of course they were in private marinas (sorry diesel Falcon, Marineers)

[diesel falcon]

[quote="s (sorry diesel Falcon, Marineers) thankyou for the translation mate!.....

[MY littleboat]

I'm gonna get a long lead which I can leave plugged in and spool out when I go anywhere! Have you seen how suddenly the cost of BA electricity has risen - Reedham Quay 1 night, = £3 = three cards - WRC 1 night = 68p!!!!

Good write up, just one thing bothers me;

We unpacked, had our initial tuition session, took the boat out onto the river with the NBD man, and then after 5 mins brought him back into the boatyard, dropped him off and then we were away

This is a recurring theme on here.. can you tell us exactly what your tuition consisted of as we have really been trying to get to the bottom of this of late? Also were you sent a copy of the Broads Authority's Better Boating DVD?

As a first time hirer, it is fantastic that you have joined us on the forum, especially as you have put your thoughts down so constructively! Also it's fantastic that you want to come back - the Southern Broads are well worth a visit, but don't feel obliged to hire from a Southern Broads company as crossing Breydon can be a high point of a holiday too!

Welcome to the forum and welcome to the Broads!

[Dan]

It does sound, from this side of the report anyway, that the heating system was a bit poor and that undoubtedly this could have been better... perhaps two heating systems to cope with the different areas of the boat rather than one could also have been better. However I also wonder if the vast size of the cabins that need to be heated up is also a contributary factor. I doubt there are many boats with bigger cabin spaces than a Fair President, and the centre cabin should be automatically warmer by being raised anyway, so having additional heat/focus on the warmest location as that seems a pity and possibly a bit of an oversight?

Finally, this confirms something that has sat uneasily in my mind since NBD/Faircraft' first printed it.... "Setting the hire Standard"... unfortuntely with such a slogan/strapline you really do almost lead someone to legitimately be able to expect perfection, and as perfection is often impossible, and expectation ridiculously high in modern mindsets I really do think this advertising line borders on the ridiculous.

All the best

Dan

[NorfolkNog]

If you do decide to hire down South, IMHO its worth having a look at Swancraft in Brundall – superb boats and the maintenance is top notch – I know from personal experience!!

[NorfolkNog]

I think what is needed to fix the problem is known as 'Broadsman' ?

Properly designed craft

[Kugababe]

"When we asked about the heating issue, they just said that because it is a big boat, the warm air in the pipes has to travel a long way to reach both front and rear bedrooms from the centre of the boat and there is nothing they can do about that. "

Oh, there's plenty they could do about that, like installing the correct system in the first place, I guess they could use some duct lagging now to improve it but they should have done that during the build. Far and away the best thing would have been to specify it properly in the first place, no boat at all, none, not any, is too big for a correctly specified & installed system to work properly."

Although we are first timers, those were our thoughts too Antares_9 !!! I wonder if NBD actually read my comments on their Feedback Form, and I wonder if they will act upon them - probably not I suppose..... Whilst we were looking at the boats at the Brinks yard and picking up a brochure, a lovely family of 7 came back in to the yard in a Melody (I think that is what it was called) and when they overheard us talking to the Brinks man about how cold we had been all week, they interrupted and asked if we would like to have a look on their boat, we did and it was like a furnace on it !!! They told us that they had hired from NBD last year and were also cold because none of the NBD boats had thermostats on them, so they did research other yards and found that Brinks does - they were very pleased with their Brinks boat and said that they would definitely be going back to them..... but not to NBD....

[Kugababe]

Am i to understand that BA moorings had reserved signs on the electric posts? If so, is this allowable? perhaps i'll have a couple of dozen made up, jump in the car and attach to all our favourite moorings. I thought it was as simple as "first come first served". Unless of course they were in private marinas (sorry diesel Falcon, Marineers)

I seem to remember that most of the 'reserved signs' were on posts at Acle, Horning & Great Yarmouth, however in quite a few places, we did find that boats were moored by hook-ups, but they weren't actually using the hook-ups..... Hmmmmmm... is that part of the Broads Etiquette ?

[Kugababe]

I'm gonna get a long lead which I can leave plugged in and spool out when I go anywhere! Have you seen how suddenly the cost of BA electricity has risen - Reedham Quay 1 night, = £3 = three cards - WRC 1 night = 68p!!!!

Good write up, just one thing bothers me;

This is a recurring theme on here.. can you tell us exactly what your tuition consisted of as we have really been trying to get to the bottom of this of late? Also were you sent a copy of the Broads Authority's Better Boating DVD?

As a first time hirer, it is fantastic that you have joined us on the forum, especially as you have put your thoughts down so constructively! Also it's fantastic that you want to come back - the Southern Broads are well worth a visit, but don't feel obliged to hire from a Southern Broads company as crossing Breydon can be a high point of a holiday too!

Welcome to the forum and welcome to the Broads!

Thank you for your comments and your kind welcome MY littleboat, the answer to your first question is "not a lot!" When we arrived at the NBD yard we were told to park by our FP3 and unload and let the guy know when we had finished, this we did and we were then told where to park our car. The guy then came onboard and gave us our life jackets, and told us what all the knobs & switches do. He then showed us the engine and told us that every day we had to dip the oil, check the filters (and clean if necc) and then he told my Hub to start the boat and drive out of the yard an onto the river which he did, after a few minutes (certainly no longer that 4-5) he made my Hub turn the boat around and go back into the yard to let him off, as he jumped off he told us if we needed anything that the number was in the blue skippers file... And that was the sum total of our instruction......

We did all discuss as we were leaving Wroxham, that the 'instruction' was a bit lightweight, but we took it as a compliment that he obviously thought we were sensible enough to cope with the boat - even though it was our first time !!!

The answer to your second question is "No"... No one mentioned the DVD to us. We actually drove over to the NBD yard in June for the day, to physically look at the boats, because it's quite difficult to gauge the actual sizes of the different boats from the website, and the amount of useable space that is on them. No-one mentioned the DVD to us then either, and that is when we paid the deposit in the office....

So Breydon can be a high point of a holiday ??? Sounds as though it could also be quite challenging too

Note to Self: More Research definitely needed......

[Kugababe]

If you do decide to hire down South, IMHO its worth having a look at Swancraft in Brundall – superb boats and the maintenance is top notch – I know from personal experience!!

Thank you for this tip NorfoldNog - I shall definitely have a look at Swancraft !!!

[Kugababe]

I think what is needed to fix the problem is known as 'Broadsman' ?

Erm.... What's a 'Broadsman' jonzo ???

[Kugababe]

Oh and I nearly forgot to mention, we did think it was a bit strange not to have any guages or meters or any way of knowing what the levels are like for the water, or the waste tanks - is this normal ?

[NorfolkNog]

Hi KB

A few boats do have water gauges and toilet holding tank gauges but are probably the exception rather than the rule. They are handy though! Avoids the guesswork. Swancraft have been trialling a very nifty water gauge which works on tank pressure rather than having a sensor in the tank itself, so they can be fitted retrospectively. If you are hiring on the Southern Broads, Swancraft are well worth considering. Family run yard, very personal attention, and above all well maintained! I have no connection BTW, just a very satisfied customer.

If I can jump in for Jonzo – Broadlander is the new boat from Richardsons – beautiful boat and another one you might well consider. Richardsons have an excellent well deserved reputation. There is a thread about it being built.

[goodall_m1]

Hi KB

There is a thread about it being built.

Broadsman is currently Richos premier class, all mod cons including bow and stern thrusters for easier handling.

Two "Broadsmen" built so far and more on the way, both in that class and with diffferent fit-outs.

The building thread makes very interesting reading (but it is probably the longest thread on the forum)

Find out what goes into designing and building a new class of cruisers from the very beginning...

http://www.thenorfolkbroads.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=6722&hilit=RC45#p77226

[MY littleboat]

Ref the training - Sadly alot of yards defend their 'training' when things go wrong or refer to the old 'it's in the manual' nugget - it isn't your fault, but is damning of this yard as the rivers are barely tidal in wroxham, yet elsewhere on the Broads it is important that things like mooring and departing against the current are vitally important. 5 mins of training is appaling and I bet that if asked directly they would deny this happened vehmently - Also I was under the impression that the yards were now generally sending out the 'Better Boating' DVD as it is available free of charge and can be found here: http://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/boating/safety/better-boating-guide.htmlas well as on YouTube.

Breydon isn't a challenge if you have a clear idea of what to expect - once again there are some excellent videos on YouTube and is specifically covered in the Better Boating DVD. Well worth a look.

Having seen Clive's (Richardsons) Broadsman class I would say they are a definite class leader for the Broads although they do seem to be heavily booked up, by contrast Richardsons, like many other yards, have a number of older boats, which are often available at a slightly cheaper cost.

Hope you make it back soon!