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Personally I've always gone for centre cockpit types of boats with canopies that drop for the bridges, as I find them to be the best of both worlds but can be a handful in in high winds, but that's the fun part!
Thanks very much, I'm pleased you enjoyed it. If you haven't been on the Norfolk Broads before, this video provides a bit of an introduction: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GFfc10Hin-o.html Hope you have a great time and thanks for watching the vid and taking the time to comment - much appreciated! Best wishes, Rob
bow thrusters for cissys lol, when we had the kids with us we use to hire the bathtub type, access both ends and safe seating outside, now the kids are grown up, as a couple we go for aft cockpit types as the mrs will tie up the bow and i can jump off and tie the stern line with easy.
Hahaha - when it comes to mooring, I'm probably in the cissy category. 😀 Very good point about the ease of jumping off the back - I overlooked that in my comparison. We enjoyed both types of boat and would happily hire either of them again. Enjoy your next visit Andy!
This is a really good video. The only Broads holiday we had as a family was on Tidecrest II, a centre cockpit cruiser from Stalham back in the mid 1970's.
Tx Andrew, much appreciated. This is the first Broads vid that I made, which you might be interested in: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GFfc10Hin-o.html It's a great place for a holiday and I believe that they are open again now, since last week.
Good comparison of these boats. We’ve had a lot of holidays on the Broads as you would see from my channel. Never had an aft cockpit cruiser though and I think your video confirms that would be too cramped for us.
Thanks Jean. We are disappointed not to be able to go back to the Broads this year. I would have made another video or two of the holiday. Hopefully, my comparison of the smaller boats will help people with their choice of boat, especially anyone who hasn't been before. I have subscribed to your channel 😀 Best wishes, Rob
Love this shape of boat, we hired one from another boat yard,so roomy and fantastic boating experience, just need to be aware it will catch the wind especially when mooring
Yes, we had exactly the same experience - one mooring was particularly frenetic :) Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment, much appreciated. Best wishes, Rob
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Peter Gore Seer, I Have Never Had Trouble Going Under Bridges, Line Your Boat Up With Centre On The Bridge And A Little More Revs To Keep Boat Streight In forwarding Motion. Potter Higham Bridge As Centre Brickwork. The Mud Wight Was On The Front Centre Of Boat, That's How I Was Shown, Not To Be Attempted In Cross Wind, I Have Took 6 Different Types Threw Bridge., And Believe Me I Miss The Broads.
An illuminating talk on the subject about which boat to choose. Not really an issue for the place where I live, but your narrative was so interesting that I ended watching all and enjoying it:)
@@TheCountryTraveller We had snow down to 700 meters a week ago, but now it is melted away. So another 2-3 weeks before we get it in the lowlands hopefully:)
You didnt mention that lots of aft cockpit boats have drop down windows that do allow you to go under low bridges,you just happened to pick a boat with a hardtop therefore windows dont drop down .
Hi Michael. Thanks for that. In a subsequent video I have mentioned drop down windscreens to get under Ludham Bridge. I will put a note in the text about that too. Best wishes, Rob
I’ve been to the Norfolk broads before on the boat Summer Horizon. In two weeks we are going again I think on the same boat. If anyone is wondering whether to go to the Norfolk broads I say GO FOR IT it’s really relaxing and you get to be away from all the busy cities and towns for a while. It’s great
how did you find the onboarding process at BarnesBrinkcraft? Did you find the trial run explained everything and taught you well? I ask as we just returned from a holiday with Richardsons and our trial run was a bit of a disaster, the man running us through did most of it for us and didn't do a good job teaching us how to moor, he basically did the stern on, didn't touch the subject of side on mooring and was overall just a bit confusing about everything, led to some anxiety on the first few days until some seasoned broads people were able to give us info and advice at various spots?. Just wanted to know what you're experience was as we want to return but preferrably at a boatyard where the onboarding is slightly more than "so here's this thing, ok i've done it, have fun, bye!"
Hi Tom, I suspect that our onboarding at BB wasn't a great deal better. They showed us all of the controls quite comprehensively and explained how to moor and tie up, but we didn't actually go on to the main river and do a practice mooring. I suspect that all of the boatyards are much the same. BB were very efficient, though and we would certainly go back there. Now that you have been on the broads, when you return you should feel a lot more confident. In the vid I mentioned a Bow Thruster. We have found that very helpful when mooring. Next year we are booked with Richardsons, from Stalham, as we want to start in a different place. We'll see how they are with their onboarding with us! Tx for watching the vid Tom and taking the time to comment, much appreciated :) Best wishes, Rob
Must admit the high sided boats are fun in the wind.... I was on Brinks Ladymore last march when we had Storm Gareth, you definitely need to keep your wits about you As a solo hirer I prefer the aft cockpit/sedan style for stern mooring, although I had Brink of Peace in March 2018 and with the cut out on the stern you could stern Moor quite easily
Thanks Brian. Yes I agree for larger boats and I think I mentioned that in the text. The video concentrated on smaller boats, which we have experience of. Thanks for watching the vid and taking the time to comment, much appreciated. Best wishes, Rob
@@TheCountryTraveller will give it a go 🙂 new subscriber here please have a look at my little channel and be fantastic if you could subscribe also , look forward to viewing more 👍
Hi Mandy, yes, I quite agree, though the more more experienced boaters are a bit sniffy about thrusters. Anything that makes it easier, I say :) Thanks for watching and best wishes, Rob PS - apologies for the late reply, we've been away.
ive had all sorts of styles of boats , but i really hate the all one level boat , we hired spring horizon once , & found it difficult to moor backwards , my favourite ones are the sedan style boats with the patio doors on , lovely for seeing everywhere & reversing , but no good for bridges , & i like centre cockpit boats too , but they can be abit cold when you're driving if it's a chilly day , we were suppose to be having one if these boats this year , but we've been given san julian , twin drive one , which i hate because of the coffin bedroom at the back , & reversing's not good with this boat either , if you're driving from inside .
Tx for commenting Lori, much appreciated. We've never had a large boat so I can't comment but if we had a larger party (as we might one year), I think I'd try a dual steering position boat. I agree about the mooring backwards on the one level boats. Although ours was small it was about as wide as the larger boats, so just as difficult to reverse when you can't see a thing behind you! Fortunately, we usually found that some kind person would take pity on us and help us 😀
@@TheCountryTraveller , if you hire the dual steering , just watch that back bedroom , it's aweful , i lost count how many times i cracked my head in the ceiling when coming out if the bathroom , as it's very low , as it's where you stand when driving uptop .
Thanks for that. It is not something that I had considered. We will be back on the Broads next year (I hope) so I will try to add that into my next Broads vid. Tx again for taking the time to comment, much appreciated.
The Country Traveller No, thank you for the video. I've not been on the broads for forty years and your video helped me decide (now we're a bit older!) that the front steering model will be best for us. I mentioned the voltage because we have to consider charging points for my wife's medical equipment - as well as phones, iPads etc etc. Ps. It may be also worth mentioning that some boats allow pets.
@@annoyingbstard9407 Tx again AB. We take our schnauzer Edith with us when we go. I didn't realise that some boats didn't allow pets - I must check that more carefully next time! :)
Hahaha you're right. But it is, compared to most of the small hire boats on the Broads. All good fun whichever boat you choose. Tx for watching the vid and taking the time to comment, much appreciated :)
Contrary to the view of the poster of this video, I would strongly recommend NOT getting a boat with a bow thruster. Part of the enjoyment of boating is learning how to control the boat using traditional means. However, if you are a little lazy, or you have poor spatial awareness, then maybe it IS for you.
Hi Ken, Thanks for watching the video and taking the time to comment. I understand your point of view and I agree that, for regular and serious 'boaters', part of the enjoyment of boating is learning how to control the boat using traditional means. The video is really aimed at 'first timers' or inexperienced 'boaters', for whom a bow thruster is a very useful aid. That was our experience anyway. We still hire a boat with a bow thruster, even though we have been to the broads several times. It helps us when mooring - perhaps we are lazy :) Thanks again for commenting, much appreciated. best wishes, Rob
@@TheCountryTraveller Thank you for your reply. I do like your channel and presentation. I used to go with Barnes Brinkcraft, even back to when it was owned by a German called Mr Brinkhoff. They were great boats then. I should also say that the forward steering boats are much more sociable for a holiday situation.
@@kenthomson9562 Thanks Ken. Interesting, I didn't know that Barnes Brinkcraft was originally ownwd by a German. I agree about the forward steering boats being more sociable. I think we would always choose this design in future. Thanks also for your kind comments about my channel, much appreciated! Best wishes, Rob