WINTER CRUISING

[NorfolkNog]

I’ve received a very helpful PM from a Forum member which has given me food for thought, much appreciated

Very interesting thread this. I can certainly echo Keith’s comments that it is often surprisingly mild. The winter sun can be very pleasant and I have often enjoyed a pint outside a pub in winter. I was also pleased to hear from Keith that there are still a few hire boats around which underscores my feeling that there is demand for winter hire and folk can appreciate just how magical the rivers are out of season.

I was also very interested to read Andy’s post which gives a very informative insight into how a yard operates particularly in the winter months. This does suggest, I think, that the larger yards are probably in a better position to offer a winter service with a bigger pool of staff available for call outs if needed. I’m very tempted to have word with Herbert Woods as they hire for all but about 8 or nine weeks of the year so you never know. I wouldn’t be particularly interested in hiring over the Christmas holiday and again take Andy’s point about call outs there.  Having said that we hired from Swancraft for many years and scarcely troubled them apart from a couple of very minor issues – one which was resolved by calling back in the yard. In all the years I have hired in the winter I have never had a problem with batteries. Many boats now have LED lighting which also helps in this respect. It’s just a case of being sensible and bearing in mind you are running off a battery and not connected to the mains! I think supporting the local hostelries also helps in this regard.   Very few hire boats have shorepower but again this is something I have never missed – Swancraft boats especially had such good heating systems that it really didn’t seem necessary.

 

[JawsOrca]

(Andy if you are looking for staff  Just need a mooring lol (and pay obviously lol)  )

[Oddfellow]

I suspect that the larger the operation, the more winter jobs they have going consequtively and so the same problems present themselves. 

 

[BryanW]

This is a picture from 1996 of one of Royall's boats at Ludham Bridge between Christmas and New Year, not us on board.  Told by Sara that that's why they don't hire in the winter any more.

[Baitrunner]

There will be posts of Polar Bears on the North and Penguins on the South next!!

 

Brrrrr

[JawsOrca]

6 minutes ago, Baitrunner said:

There will be posts of Polar Bears on the North and Penguins on the South next!!

 

Brrrrr

No Mark, it's better down south.. it doesn't freeze up.. closer to the equator see.. 

(Can't believe we are moving north for next season ) 

[riyadhcrew]

We're going on Aril 2nd next year for a week and my girls would love to see snow falling. They have played in snow on the mountains of Lebanon, but they have never exerienced falling snow. Wouldn't be nice to build a snowman at Ranworh in early April (whilst I'm in the pub) lol.

[Baitrunner]

Ah, but Alan what about the Galapagos penguin? Lives in the warm climes down there?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galapagos_penguin

I guess it does say it lives North of the Equator so maybe you will see them up North instead

I have actually seen these in the wild and and when my wife pointed them out I thought she had gone mad - Penguins in the Galapagos Islands - until we got the binoculars out that is!! Still not as impressive as the Boobies though

[JawsOrca]

5 minutes ago, riyadhcrew said:

We're going on Aril 2nd next year for a week and my girls would love to see snow falling. They have played in snow on the mountains of Lebanon, but they have never exerienced falling snow. Wouldn't be nice to build a snowman at Ranworh in early April (whilst I'm in the pub) lol.

No sorry Eric we do not want snow in April.. it's going to be at least 15dc by April please . This is the UK.. a single snowflake and the country goes into meltdown.. (plus your plane won't be able to land here.. wrong type of snow and all)...take the girls to the ski slope in Dubai    

[Oddfellow]

Another problem with winter is that the boats need to be protected from freezing when not in use. Having to winterise a boat and then dewinterise it for a low-value hire and then winterise it again after is a significant waste of money. Heaters can prevent some of this, but then you're shelling out for power anyway. There's also the additional cleaning aspect - mould can grow very quickly over the colder days and a boat might take a whole day to clean at this time of year. 

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

11 hours ago, Matt said:

We have a list that they work through which includes all of the above items. Costs us £40 per clean.

We certainly could not clean Thunder in an hour, but that's probably the joy of having children........

i was thinking about the vacuuming and polishing Matt. As for the outside, i spent sevral hours, sore knees, and a lot of cleaner cleaning the outside of Lightning back in June.  It`s at those times you realise just how much hard work 43 x 12 ft can be.

[Matt]

15 minutes ago, SPEEDTRIPLE said:

i was thinking about the vacuuming and polishing Matt. As for the outside, i spent sevral hours, sore knees, and a lot of cleaner cleaning the outside of Lightning back in June.  It`s at those times you realise just how much hard work 43 x 12 ft can be.

We take a dingy in the summer and spend an afternoon somewhere on the mudweight cleaning down to the waterline- it's the only time I can get the boys to clean!

I am always amazed at how many windows there are in 43 foot of boat!

[BroadScot]

4 hours ago, riyadhcrew said:

We're going on Aril 2nd next year for a week and my girls would love to see snow falling. They have played in snow on the mountains of Lebanon, but they have never exerienced falling snow. Wouldn't be nice to build a snowman at Ranworh in early April (whilst I'm in the pub) lol.

May your wish be granted, Eric!  I woke up one Easter with a Snowman on top of a FB Wilds  Bermuda at Horning Ferry Inn! Just be very careful on the deck when you return from the pub, remember Commadore is a side entry boat!

Iain.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Some pictures of last week. This one showing we`re the only boat on the river

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Apart from the pigture of the boat above, we WERE the only boat on the rivers untill we got to Loddon

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Karen at the helm

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Moored at Loddon on Tuesday night.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Peace and quiet at Loddon

[NorfolkNog]

Just to reinforce Neil's point here's 2 more at Ranworth and Horning. These were taken in December last year. Can you imagine it being like this in summer? That's why the Broads in winter is so magical. It was quite warm too, I didn't notice any flotillas of pack ice. Oh, and I moored side on at Ranworth as there were no other boats on the river but would have moved of course if there had been a rush on.

I'm gonna miss Swancraft

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

I can honestly say Howard, i`ve NEVER seen Ranworth staithe like that. I did see Neatishead like it though, but we were staying in Angler cottage just up the lane in Irstead. We did get in there in June this year, but there were 2 other boats there.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

The church at Burgh St Peter. we had a walk up and a look inside.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

It`s quite a plain building without any luxuries like ornate stained glass windows.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Sundown behind Eddie.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Thursday morning. Note the colour of the sky.