Silverline Announcement

[CambridgeCabby]

during the mad summer months whilst attempting to get moored up at Ranworth in the side dyke our passage is often blocked by a dingy which is tethered to the bow of an already moored boat hopefully somebody is aboard the “offending” cruiser and they move it for us .

When we are moored I have been known to suggest to the crew that it would be helpful and considerate if they would contemplate rowing the dingy round to the dingy dyke which they often do .

[LizG]

Three Rivers Race 2021 I could see at least one dinghy floating into the river off one of the longest boats moored up at the New Inn in Horning. I went round and suggested the mooring assistant ask the hirers to move them. In the middle of the night no helm would have seen them - as it happened only a handful of boats finished in the dark......

[Vaughan]

It's strange to think that Richardsons no longer hire dinghies.

When  I worked there in the 70s they had 300 boats and I reckon at least half went out with a dinghy, either rowing or sailing.  They had 60 boats hired on a Thursday and all the rest went out on Saturday.  The shed with a curved iron roof, on the main river nearest to the staithe was known as "Billy's hangar", where Billy Webster and "Old Ernie" looked after all the dinghies.  They varnished and rigged them in the winter and sorted them all out every week in the summer.

Every morning they set out with a day launch and towed them round to the hangar and after lunch, towed them back to whichever cruisers had also hired a dinghy.

Do you remember in the big London railway stations, where they would have an electric tractor, towing a long string of luggage trolleys around the platforms?  Each one was hitched up so that wherever the tractor went, even through a ticket barrier, they all followed behind on the same course, as though they themselves, were on rails.

The same thing happened with Billy's dinghies!  The trick was to lower the centre plate about 1/4 down, so that they all kept straight.  With a string of at least 20 dinghies, wherever the launch went, in and out of the basins, the dinghies all followed exactly and never hit any moored boats.

In the afternoon when we came to do trial runs, if the clients had also hired a dinghy, lo and behold, there it was, moored on the bows, either sailing or rowing according to the booking.  It was a great operation and I never knew it to go wrong!

[webntweb]

We hired Crusader 1 from Richardsons in 1963 and while the engineer was doing the handover he picked up the rowing dinghy from a row of them moored along some trees/bushes on the far bank near the exit to the boatyard.

[Wussername]

Richardsons would also hire you an outboard with your dinghy. 

An evil thing, aptly named a Seagull. Try explaining to a holiday maker how to start it! Then wanting a demo.

My heart used to give a terrible thump. It would never start. Then the holiday maker had to make sure that it was not nicked by removing it from the back of the dinghy and storing on the cruiser at night.  Many must have been dropped into the river (a blessing for some)

I suspect Ranworth is full of them.

[Bikertov]

Back in the day, when my family hired on the Broads, it was almost always from Richardson's, and every time we took a dinghy - usually a sailing one. 

Many a fun time had sailing or rowing around Barton and other broads - sometime a bit scary when you are a kid and on what seems like a large expanse of water.

And not just the once was there a capsizing - a particular one I remember on Hickling, having got under PH Bridge and up river more easily in those days.

We have old cine film of us, with a lot of the footage being in the dinghys !

I also seem to remember a lot of wild mooring in those days - and can picture in particular at Barton Broad. But then I guess you did wild moor a lot then, as you weren't looking out for electric posts as you so now.

[grendel]

Oh, I know seagulls, once you get them to start, you are off, usually at a great rate of knots as you had the throttle wide open to get it running, or like me you had pushed the tiller away from you as you pulled the cord and the dinghy corkscrews to the bottom of the river as the transom tips under.

[stumpy]

1 hour ago, grendel said:

Oh, I know seagulls, once you get them to start, you are off, usually at a great rate of knots as you had the throttle wide open to get it running, or like me you had pushed the tiller away from you as you pulled the cord and the dinghy corkscrews to the bottom of the river as the transom tips under.

And the pull cord comes off the flywheel, whips over your shoulder and smacks the young lady you were trying to impress in the chops!

[Vaughan]

 

 

[Broads01]

Having kept my Silverline booking I received a new Hoseasons invoice unexpectedly last week with a reduced balance outstanding. One of the drawbacks of Silverline was they restricted hirers to a single dog (we have two) and charged you more for it than anyone else (£90) - this is the one policy of their's I wont miss. The new invoice was to remove the £90 for the dog booking and also for some reason remove the £35 I'd agreed to a while back for a change of dates. I was then able to add back 2 dogs at £35 each which seems much more reasonable. 

[NorfolkNog]

The ex Silverline fleet has been getting the Richardsons makeover 

(photo courtesy Sally Ann Bennett) 

[MargeandParge]

There is nothing wrong with Richardsons but there was just so much right about Silverline, including their character,  service and location. 

Just our view. 

Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 

[Andrewcook]

Hi, all I hope those Silver Line Boats will be keep in good condition as Richardsons have got a mix of Boats there already as this is a full-time job for someone that won't let Richardson down on Customer service and Boats at the same time. 

[ScrumpyCheddar]

Sad 😢 in my eyes .. Those boats will never be in Silverline condition again.. I know Richardsons are a good company but the high standard what Silverline hired out won’t be there.. it be interesting how many of Original hirers have stuck with them.. I for one cancelled ours and tell you the truth absolutely gutted, this year is going to be hard not coming to the Southern broads.And meeting up with great friends...

Been looking at the last 3 boat yards left on the southern side.. Pacific, Brooms, NYA very limited options and the prices at Brooms and NYA are silly money. When you look at the prices you’re looking realistically at traveling abroad or Cruise ship holidays. 

[Broads01]

Mmm, thanks for the photo, Howard but I'm thinking "makeover" might be too strong a word. Yes, the "R" is there on the hull and I know from your previous photo the silver (not very readable) lettering is now on the stern but in terms of the blue stripes it's as you were. I stuck with my booking for the summer because it made financial sense and I've been happy with Richardsons in the past but it's going to feel very strange.

[SwanR]

Like a number of other members we were sad when Swancraft stopped hiring. But we continued to hire Swan Reflection from Richardson’s because we love the boat. They might not have kept it as shiny and clean but it’s been very reasonably priced compared to other craft. 

However it’s been a shame to lose the character of the way the name was signed on the side. We’re not in favour of having to turn one’s head so obviously to look behind to see which Richardson’s boat has just passed you. 

[NorfolkNog]

Must agree, Swancraft really did set the bar for hire craft quality. Not only in external appearance but also what you didn't see. For example they used double battery banks with top quality batteries. I doubt if that's the case today. I am reliably informed that at least one major yard uses the cheapest batteries, which may account for hirers running engines at all hours 

And yes, the names on the Richardsons boats are on the back only and look to be a bit faint so quite hard to spot. 

[Mouldy]

2 hours ago, NorfolkNog said:

And yes, the names on the Richardsons boats are on the back only and look to be a bit faint so quite hard to spot. 

Being just a tad cynical, I do wonder if the move to only have the name in hard to read lettering on the stern of their boats, is a ruse to make it harder to identify the culprit after a ‘hit and scarper’ incident.

[NorfolkNog]

12 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

Being just a tad cynical, I do wonder if the move to only have the name in hard to read lettering on the stern of their boats, is a ruse to make it harder to identify the culprit after a ‘hit and scarper’ incident.

... or running the engine at 11.30pm....

[grendel]

1 hour ago, Mouldy said:

Being just a tad cynical, I do wonder if the move to only have the name in hard to read lettering on the stern of their boats, is a ruse to make it harder to identify the culprit after a ‘hit and scarper’ incident.

it certainly makes it easier not to break the name or shame tos on the forum (unless we can read the reg number)

[PaulN]

On 26/02/2023 at 07:02, NorfolkNog said:

Must agree, Swancraft really did set the bar for hire craft quality. Not only in external appearance but also what you didn't see. For example they used double battery banks with top quality batteries. I doubt if that's the case today. I am reliably informed that at least one major yard uses the cheapest batteries, which may account for hirers running engines at all hours 

And yes, the names on the Richardsons boats are on the back only and look to be a bit faint so quite hard to spot. 

I agree. Our boat was built by Swancraft and the 'behind the scenes' engineering is the highest quality and so neat and immaculately installed. Those that know Paul, are aware of his high standards.

Before we had our own boat, we hired from Richardson's from 2008 to 2018, we had fabulous holidays and were always impressed with their service.

 

[trambo]

On 24/02/2023 at 21:16, ScrumpyCheddar said:

Sad 😢 in my eyes .. Those boats will never be in Silverline condition again.

Nice atmospheric shot by Peter Juerges on Flickr.

 

[Chelsea14Ian]

We had two weeks on her many years ago. Always liked Silverline.

[Broads01]

I always liked the look of Melody, especially as aft cockpit hire boats are an endangered species. I've looked aboard and it's compact to say the least but would be very comfy.

[nightwingvyse]

I used to work on the Silverline fleet in various capacities for well over a decade since I was literally a kid. I only just found out that this happened. 

It's sad to see the fleet come to an end after such a long run, and it's even sadder to know what delapidated condition all of those boats are surely in now they're Richardson's...