Seeing boats you've hired

[Broads01]

Having been hiring for many years on a different boat every time, I've become used to seeing boats I've hired in the past very frequently. One night this year at St Benets I counted 4 ex hires of mine on the same mooring! Seeing a boat I've hired seems to have a noticeable effect on me. As you would expect I associate the boat in question with the memories of the particular holiday I spent on that boat. Immediately I'm transported back in time to the week in my life the boat will always represent. What you wouldn't necessarily expect is the sight of 'other' people on that boat feels strange, as if I own the boat and the presence of other people on it is intrusive. And yet there will have been many parties on there since the boat was 'mine'.

I wonder if this sense of 'ownership' I experience is just me? When I return a boat at the end of a trip, it's as if in my mind I'm not really returning it. In my mind it will always be my boat.

[Gracie]

No Simon you are not alone. Like you we hire a different boat every holiday, while they are all special and hold different memories Broadland Mars will always be mine. If I see her out and about on holidays or the web cams I can get quite jealous, how dare these people be aboard My boat Lol. We moored at How Hill last year and saw three boats we have hired in the past including Mars, my husband had to stop me marching up to them and demand they get off my boat Lol

Grace

[Timbo]

Definitely not alone Simon. I always think of Captain XII as being 'my boat' even though I only ever spent two weeks on board in the early 1970's. It's because I have experienced those feelings myself that I try to be as accommodating as I can when I meet people who had once hired Royal Tudor. At Womack one evening I had a lady of advancing years accost me saying 'I demand to know what you think you are doing' when I was changing the bulb in RT's rear well light.

 

Of course my reply of 'wallpapering an elephant' went down like Bobby Crush on an oil rig, although when her husband caught up with her it soon transpired that the couple had hired Royal Tudor on several occasions over the years and the lady had a bit of a soft spot for RT. Although I now own Royal Tudor I try to take into account that over the years many other people have become attached to her and a little bit of her belongs to everyone really.

[deebee29]

Hello Simon

I totally get it, over the years we have hired so many boats and every time i see one the memories come flooding back.

Just a couple of weeks ago i spotted Forth Bridge1 which we hired back in April on the Webcam at Wroxham Bridge and my first thought was I hope you are looking after her lol

I also saw Magic Gem 2 the week before we had her in September and was willing them not to damage her before we got there.

I've just watched Robin's latest boat review and Forth Bridge is there at How Hill and I had the same thought ... Take care of her......even though we have two different boats booked next year.

9/10s of the law and all that

David

[BroadScot]

Hi Simon,

 

One boat we hired several times was "Sharon" at Alan Johnson Boats, Acle. Three times a year! The Bounty bath tub was a very popular boat then as were the the FB Wilds fleet bath tubs.

 

I am typing this, and thinking back to those days when we hired a dinghy also. Now I would require to hire a crane to get me into a dinghy       That boat had many happy memories, and have in the past been moored next to it.

 

 

 

Iain.

[Maxwellian]

I am the same, always looking out for boats I have hired on previous trips. We usually hire different boats, but next year we are hiring Swallow for the second time as we loved her so much.

[ranworthbreeze]

Hi Simon,

 

We have not experienced this on the Broads but we have always felt a sad lost on leaving the narrow boats we have hired or time shared swapped over the years. Like yourselves we have seen boats we have hired when we have been back to that particular waterway.

 

If you are like our crew you end up handing the boat over in as good or even better condition from when you first stepped on the boat.

 

Regards

Alan

[Gracie]

It's nice to read these replies and realise there are others who actually fall in love with boats they have hired or owned.

Non boating freinds and family members just don't get it and say things like "It's just a boat" Other than the usual defending of my chosen holiday accomodation and destination like, being afloat, mud weighting etc etc, I don't know how to get the feelings across, I am the saddest of sad I have been told when I get the Rickos brochure out and pick out the boats we have hired and non boating friends make their excuses and leave the room Lol

Grace

[MauriceMynah]

In their later years my parents used to hire just one of three boats. Royall Sovereign Royall Ambassador or Royall Diamond.

All three boats were, in their eyes, "their boats", and frequently Alan Royall would be chastised by mother for having the audacity to charge them for holidays on their own boats!! 

 

Yes, I too have soft spots for the hire craft we hired in the past, but the oddest (ok, stupidest) thing is that when I pass a craft we had hired in the past, I normally wave like a frantic idiot to the hirers as if I know the people.

 

One thing this thread does make me ask is... How do people feel if they have hired a generically named boat? Connoisseur for example. Do they know which one they hired? Do they have the soft spot for all of them? or Are they missing out on this rather strange unexpected pleasure?

[NonTecky]

Have to admit when we see boats we have hired its not just me that 'reacts'! The kids do too..... "I wonder if my bedroom is still the same", "do you remember crossing Breydon on her".... I have sometimes thought Im a bit odd for feeling an attachment to the previous boats!.... Now I know Im in good company!

[Broads01]

It's not just me then phew!

Regarding the question of generic boats like Connoisseurs, I'm geeky enough to memorise the registration number. The same applies to boats that have changed hands or been renamed. Norfolk Gem 1 at Richardsons, reg M258, I know to be formerly Whispering Teal at Mistral Craft. That boat gave me one of my happiest ever Broads holidays as a teenager in 1986.

[Beano]

And here was I thinking I was odd!

[LondonRascal]

I do an awful lot of thinking before I choose a boat to hire – especially if there are several boats in a single class, which one might be the nicest of that class?

 

So when I am on the water and I see a boat I’ve hired so like others the memories come back and I note small changes – some might be the fenders have been replaced, others that an outside light might have vanished.  When you think of some boats being in the hire fleets since the 1970’s just how many people have been on them, how many small things have been changed – a small refit here, new curtains there and so on and yet we still have an ‘attachment’ to the boat.

 

What is also interesting as far as I am concerned is where I have been on a boat and shared with many where I went and how it was inside etc, now someone is on it themselves and I am wondering how they find the boat – did they enjoy it as much as me, or have they found a flaw here or there I missed. 

 

When you look at boats for sale you see even more how previous owners have placed their mark on the boat – sometimes you wonder what they were thinking like lining the outside area under the canopy with carpet but it might be a switch that has been added or a new rail here and so on and the next owner will look and think ‘what this really needs is...’

 

Moreover than this – what about the sandiness you feel when that boat you hired, you saw about on the waters since suddenly finds itself up for sale and that will be that – no more will you see her as the hire boat you knew, a new colour usually name as well but you will always know her by her hire fleet name, the boatyard she was from and the time that was spent onboard.

[loribear]

 i too feel the same way about the boats we,ve hired, especially if i see it again & it looks abit of a mess, i usually say to my sister , look what they've done my boat, & she'll say... it's not your boat but i know you wish it was , , & i sometimes look out for the next boat we're hiring & think, i hope it looks that nice when we get round to hiring it, but the boats never seem to look quite like they do in the brochure do they ? i just hope princess stands up to it's name , & i hope it looks  as good as it does in the brochure  . lori

[boatmadmike]

I can remember my family hiring two boats frm beaver fleet at st.olaves in the 80's they were sunset 3 & sundancer 2 then we hired two boats frm ferry boatyard at horning in late 80's ferry pioneer 2 & both off ferry commandeers.we was on the broads in october 87 when the hurricane hit horning

[Arthur]

Must admit to only just getting around to reading through this thread.

 

As someone who has hired for several decades It still brings back memories when I see a boat that I have previously hired,

 

Many of my hires over the years were from Aston Boats and it is very interesting to see how they have changed now they are with new owners.

 

My most interesting experience was in 2009 when I hired a boat from Richardsons for the first time.

 

Dan mentioned to me that there was one of the Ex F B Wilds Calypso class undergoing extensive refurbishment.

 

When I returned to the yard at the end of my break I went over to the boat shed to have a look at the boat that was being refurbished.

 

IT was the same Calypso that I had hired in 1976.    Like some others I still remembered the Reg No.

[BobScott]

No Simon you are not alone. Like you we hire a different boat every holiday, while they are all special and hold different memories Broadland Mars will always be mine. If I see her out and about on holidays or the web cams I can get quite jealous, how dare these people be aboard My boat Lol. We moored at How Hill last year and saw three boats we have hired in the past including Mars, my husband had to stop me marching up to them and demand they get off my boat Lol

 

Grace

Grace, we have just finished a weeks trip on your boat, can understand the attraction, loved it.

PS

gave it lots of cuddles.

[Gracie]

Hi Bobscott, "gave it lots of cuddles"......I should think so to, I hope you took good care of her and didn't crash into any bridges or get her stuck on the mud lol, seriously, glad you loved her, a very nice Boat indeed, hope you had a lovely time.

 

A very warm welcome aboard the Forum by the way

 

Grace

[BobScott]

Thanks Gracie,we had a brilliant time and only a couple of newbie nudges

[addicted]

back in 1995 we bought a Fairline Mirage AC that had been badly neglected,  we took her to the great Ouse and we spent every weekend for the next 6 months restoring her to her former glory. We threw everything out, uphholstery, cooker, w.c. , fridge -  we even took out the head- linings in an effort to lose the overpowering smell of rancid fat which was truly eye-watering. No effort or expense was spared and  at the end of it she  looked magnificent. And she gave us many wonderful seasons.  Fast forward 11 years I had an illness, the treatment for which left me very debilitated and struggling with the height of the freeboard. Getting on and off was a real problem and I was forced to face the possibility that I  may not improve so a change of boat was inevitable. A soon as word got round that we were prepared to  sell her she was gone within days of us making the decision to let  her go. I've never been so miserable in my life, It was as if the  family dog had died . I literally mourned her departure! It took 2 long years for me to get over it.  We had a narrow boat built meantime  which was so appalling that the  company took it back 10 months later and gave us a full refund. after which we acquired another cruiser. having recognised that narrow boating was not for us. I totally understand how some of you get proprietorial and  attached to boats you have spent happy holidays on. I never think of a boat as an inanimate object. I try not  to get too attached to our present boat. as I never want to go through that again

[MBA Marine]

This thread has me thinking, how many who post on here have never hired a boat?

In my adult life I have never hired a boat other than a dayboat once when I was approx 19yrs old, as a 7ish yr old I had my only hired broads holiday.  I am in a position of privilege with a number of customers having offered me the use of their boats but it's very rare that I get the chance to take them up on their generous offer. 

[Polly]

We hired before committing to buy, and you do retain part of each boat in memory, I think. 

The most influential hire for us was the Lady Harriet from Herbert Woods, she set me on the path of how I wanted Brilliant to be as a place to relax. Her dark wood and deep red upholstery wrapped you in warmth regardless of the rain and wind outside, and we had both in spades on that hire.

Visitors aboard almost always comment on how welcoming Brilliant is, so thanks, Lady Harriet!

I kept a look out for her after she went out of hire, but never saw her. I mentioned this to a Ranworth friend, who pointed across the moorings to where I had been passing her in the dinghy for years! She was moored sideways on, so whilst always admiring her lines, I never saw her name on her stern.

[addicted]

Although since becoming a  boater 27 years ago it has always been on the back of being a boat owner We did hire  boat on the canal du midi about 10 years ago. We had a great holiday, but I didn't retain any particular affection for the boat. A thing of beauty she wasn't! And the heads were a  bit on the squalid side if we are being honest. But would I go again? absolutely -   in a heartbeat! We hired from  company called Connoisseur who have now gone believe. We are always mindful of how very lucky we are to own our own boat and never more so than when we pass a hire boat with everyone huddled inside out of the pouring rain and remember that's  their holiday probably for the year whereas we have the luxury of saying to ourselves let's hope the weather picks up soon in the certain knowledge that we will be on board the boat  if and when it does.

regards,

Carole

 

[Vaughan]

I have only just come to this thread, but it is very interesting (and gratifying) to hear what you feel about the boats that you have hired.

You have loyalty to those boats and that is natural - they have been your cosy home for a week or two of happy memories.

But what about the boatyards? Did you feel loyal to them as well? I have almost all of Hearts Cruisers' old booking charts, going back to the 1930's, and we had a lot of regulars! In 1959, for example, the next season was already 60% booked up by the end of September, by people coming in at the end of the week, and leaving a deposit for next year. The rest filled up during the 2 weeks of the London Boat Show, so by the end of January, the yard had an average 27 week season, all booked up!

Hearts were building a boat each year, which would be finished around July. Its first customer was always Mr Green, who insisted on being the first one to hire the new boat, for 2 weeks. He was well known as , by that time of year, it was Barton Regatta, and he would moor on a mud weight for the weekend while everyone rowed over to have a drink with him, and have a peek at Hearts' brand new boat.

Another man, by then a widower, would hire a 4-berth, either the 5 or 6 of Hearts, for a week in high season, but would also come to spend 2 weeks in winter in a guest house in Thorpe, and he would spend the time with us, helping to paint and varnish the boat he would be hiring that year. I have fond memories of time spent with him in the boat sheds, sharing tea breaks and stories of his life.

For us, a regular customer was the ultimate accolade. If they wanted to come back again, then we had done it right! Not only the boat, but the service that went with it.

Did you feel the same way?

 

 

The brand-new Princess of Hearts, on trials in the Back Reach in Thorpe, in June 1957.

 

 

[BroadScot]

Hi Vaughan,

I started with Porter & Haylett, and remained there till Paul Clarke I think his name was, moved on to work for Powels International. So it was Dick Sabberton and Gwen at Summercraft for alternate holidays there and Alan Johnson at Acle. Summercraft, Easter, AJ in the summer to avoid the biz at Wroxham.

When both retired we moved down south with Astons at Loddon, remained there till they closed, and moved to New Horizon at your old yard at Thorpe St Andrew. Yes, yet again remained there till it closed. Honest! It was not my fault they kept retiring! 

In between, we fitted in the odd hire elsewhere like Stalham and Acle again.

Getting to know the different staff is good, I think, for many reasons. 

Iain