broadland mercury

[andyhesford]

has anybody hired it since it has hade its new engine fitted. on the other forum somebody hired a couple of years ago said it was agood boat for the price he did have some isues with starting it should be ok now, also most other type of boats there is more than one is there only one mercury if so we will have to book it early to avoid disappointment. any info would be good thanks.

[Gracie]

Hi Andy

 

Sorry you have had no reply to your question, we haven't hired the Mercury but the engineers at Richardsons kindly let us look around her in view to hiring, she is a lovely boat and as usual with Rickos great value for money, we opted for Major Gem in the end which I believe also had a new engine fitted shortly before our holiday, I cannot praise that boat enough, one of the best boats I have hired in that price range I believe Broadland Mercury is similar

 

We had Major Gem 2 so more than one in that range, not sure about Mercury though.

 

I know not a direct answer to your question but hope this helps 

 

Grace

[Gracie]

jonzo, if I had a few more pennies I would buy one just like her we loved her that much, I don't think you can beat the older boats that have been refurbished, for me it's like being on a new boat but with loads more character.

 

Grace

[andyhesford]

thanks for reply just what I was hoping to hear, I think we will be booking mercury as soon as we come back in august mainly because of the bedrooms layout , major gem does sound good though.

[Broads01]

Dan sent me pics of Major Gem 2 which backed up what I could see when I peered through the back window at Stalham last year. Its the new wooden floor which does it for me pics- it makes a huge difference. Clive please can we have the same floor in every older boat in the fleet! (Major Gem 1 and Broadland Mercury included).

[Hockham Admiral]

Dan sent me pics of Major Gem 2 which backed up what I could see when I peered through the back window at Stalham last year. Its the new wooden floor which does it for me pics-

Simon, Hi. Do you have those pics, please? Particularly the wooden floor.

[C.Ricko]

Hi Simon,

We managed to do the flooring in 36 boats, The plan will be to

attack a few more but there are plenty of other jobs we need to deal with too! although

we wont be doing complete refits any more as the labour is tied up on one boat instead of

30.

[BroadScot]

How good it is to read that real people and not robots are building something new these days, wonderful.

 

Iain.

[Broads01]

Hi Hockham Admiral. I'm having some computer issues at the moment but hopefully I'll get pics uploaded soon.

[Dan]

Here you go John - Major Gem 2 from last week...

[Gracie]

Fantastic pics Dan, brings back some lovely memories of last years holiday, good to see that Jonzo left it nice and clean Lol

 

Grace

[Broads01]

Thanks for posting the photos Dan, you beat me to it. They are very good pictures indeed. I wanted to ask about the cabin layout. From the plan it looks as if the door to the double cabin (pictured) is within the confines of the twin cabin in the bows with no corridor to separate it - is this right?

[Dan]

Fantastic pics Dan, brings back some lovely memories of last years holiday, good to see that Jonzo left it nice and clean Lol

 

Grace

 

In fairness Gracie, knowing him fairly well I took these at the beginning of the trip before he brought all his parafanalia aboard and made a right old mess!

 

Dan 

[SGWilko]

Hello Andy

 

That was me that hired Mercury and posted on the other forum.

 

We saw Mercury out and about (in fact, we saw all the previous boats we'd hired!) during the week of 12-19 April.

 

The engine was fine, just clearly old, and needed plenty of time on the glow plugs when cold.  It was a cold week we hired her, being Easter 2013.  The only really issue we had, and again most likely a combination of engine and the cold, was that the water never really got hot!

 

Was a really nice boat, and we had her booked again this year, but we ended up helping out Richardson's with some filming, so we had to endure Broadsman 6 for the week!  It's a dirty job.....

 

For the hire fee, Mercury really is - in my opinion - cracking value.  She handles well too - we will hire her again no doubt.

 

Any questions as to layout - fire away.

 

I cannot find any internal shots, just pics of the wife and kids sitting on deck, which is not very helpful.

 

On Richardsons web site, under first timers you can see my holiday tale whilst aboard Mercury if you wish to have a gander - I describe the layout a bit on there......

 

.

 

Stuart.

[ranworthbreeze]

Hello Stuart,

Welcome to the forum from Tan & myself.

Regards

Alan

[SGWilko]

Thanks guys.

 

Now I can get an extra 'Broads Fix' with another forum!

 

[Gracie]

Hi Stuart

A warm welcome from me

Grace

[andyhesford]

thanks stuart , hopefully we will try and book it next year like you said cracking value for a nice looking boat.

[kadensa]

Had Major Gem last year  - a lovely boat, but would be improved by having a winch to open the roof!  Maybe it was because we had her early in the season, but I found it quite difficult at first.  Luckily, I was on a low-fat diet at the time and had some one-cal oil  with me.  A couple of sprays on the runners worked like magic! 

[BroadScot]

Thats a very good point regarding early season hire, whilst the boats are checked out over the winter, it appears often that the sliding roofs are not oiled or what oil that has been put on has dried up. We had to get Herbert Woods engineer oil Gleaming Lights runners before we set off on holi. The roof was very stiff at first, but once the good old WD40 had been applied it slid open easily. Just check before you leave the yard.

 

Iain.

[C.Ricko]

All the canopies on the boats are operated and checked on every turnround, they usually have massive counter weights if there is no winch, we are trying to convert them away from the winches.

Glad you got it sorted, are you sure you were just not getting fitter as the week went on?!

[Gordon]

On the subject of lubrication. I keep a spray can of caravan cassette toilet seal spray on the boat. It is magic on keeping sliding windows free and easy it also seems fairly good at keeping the toilet seals in order. I. Would like to think it puts off the evil day when they need changing. If you are a caravanner I. Was told it's the exact same stuff as awning rail lube but cheaper. Been using it for that for years

[BroadScot]

Mr Richo sir, I had as the 11 days progressed, a very swollen foot, but the ladies managed to open n close the roof nae bother at awe.   I am all for getting rid of winches, I remember many years ago on a craft similar to Tobago where it took ages to winch up the roof, a very cold shower was highly possible if said roof had to come down for a bridge! 

 

Iain.

[Broads01]

Very pleased to read you're moving away from the winches Clive. See my holiday tale re San Francisco 1 - nuff said!

[MauriceMynah]

Come on Clive, now tell 'em there's a button on San Francisco, just under the mop