Mike1951

I am no tax expert but I dont think they should be charging VAT on it?

The cushions were a bargain compared with the "owners manual" for £500! This is just a series of photographs showing where everything is - useful but not £500 useful. We didnt get the itemised bill until the boat was nearly ready. We were just given a price for the whole boat. Otherwise we might have deleted more things. We did delete what was an ordinary basic car stereo for £1000 and my wife made the curtains herself. To be fair the rest of the prices look reasonable.

He didnt say, but he was more than surprised at how much we had been charged

Completed the delivery trip 108 miles, 4½ furlongs and 75 locks from Calcutt Marina to our home mooring, without any problems. We love the boat and it is very well built and works wonderfully. However, the issue with the upholstery has escalated somewhat. We had withheld the payment for it, as it was not ready when we took over the boat and we refused to pay for it until it was rectified, the upholstery contractor came to the boat and did a "quick fix" by trimming the foam with an implement resembling an electric carving knife. He took too much off and had to go to Screwfix and buy some spray adhesive, to stick some of it back on! He informed us that there had been a 30mm discrepency in the original measurements, so he had decided to make it larger by 30mm as it would be easier to correct afterwards, than making it smaller (presumably rather than re-measuring). This of course meant that the covers no longer fitted properly. It did look just about OK when he had finished and smoothed it out, but once it had been used, the ill-fitting covers became more apparent. As we wanted to use the boat, we decided to pay anyway, but I thought I should just call Colecraft and warn them that the job was not up to their usual quality standards (mainly to save future customers suffering the same problems). The person we spoke to originally said "no" she wanted us to be completely happy with it and and she would get the upholsterer to sort it out. He then phoned me shortly afterwards and accused us of "messing him about" and that we were "happy with it when he left". I then phoned Colecraft and spoke to the MD, who took the contractors side, got angry and accused us of "never intending to pay for it". and that we should return the cushions for a credit. We were happy to do this, but the contractor phoned us the next day and admitted that the job wasn't good enough and he would take it back and remake it. He then called Colecraft's MD who refused to cooperate and said that he still wanted a credit note and he also wanted the faulty cushions back. So the upholstery will be collected this week by the contractor and we will have to get someone else to make it properly. Hopefully at less than the £3K that Colecraft were charging us for 6 cushions!

Just an update on the boat. A few little snags. The dinette upholstery didn't fit well, so they sent the upholstery contractor to look at that. Also they had received a notice from the manufacturer of the water pump about one of the plumbing fittings, so Colecraft attended to change that first thing in the morning before we started cruising. They also found a small diesel leak dripping into the bilge, from the fuel filter and fixed that at the same time. Very satisfied at the level of service from Colecraft.

Yes you are correct. Why the boater chose to go for a pumpout when he could see our boat hanging from the crane - only he knows!

Well there are only 2 of us and one was taking the photo! The other was walking up to the lock Sorry the cat was aboard

Jean was still a bit sleepy

Yes it was. We were there less than 13 minutes to fix a small problem. Couldn't fill up with water because they didn't give us the key to loosen the filler cap. They suggested I use a 50 pence piece but I didnt have any change on me, so I tried tapping it with my contactless card - no joy.

Thanks to everyone for the good wishes. We are moving it down to the K&A in stages over the next couple of weeks as time and family commitments allow

Well she is finally complete and launched. We are very pleased with the boat. Even in the recent cold nights, it has been very cosy with the diesel heating and we have had to turn the radiators down, so we are not sure whether we will go for the stove. Here is a short video of the the launch day. I will do a walk through of the interior once we have finished tidying up!

Colecraft are buidling one at the moment. They called it "a residential trip boat"

Thanks. We can hardly wait!

Final visit to Colecraft before handover and launch at Calcutt next week. Just the rear steps, cupboard doors to be fitted and the windows and oak surrounds for the duck hatch doors and the bow doors. There is a short uncommented and unedited walk through the boat here :

Spent 3 hours at Colecraft on Thursday. Lots of details to sort out. Paintwork is coming on nicely, just the final topcoat and the coachlines etc. to do. Engine went in on Friday. Engines is now changed to a Vetus M4.45 42HP due to delivery issues with Beta. Looking like mid- to late-March for completion. All the parts seem to be there now. All the woodwork is done. Just being varnished before installation.

Latest photos from Colecraft. A good start to paintwork and plumbing. Visiting agin on Thursday.

Lights installed, lined out and floor down. Good progress in one week.

Popped into Colecraft just before Christmas to inspect the sprayfoam - all satisfactory. In the few working days since then, they have managed to get the wiring in and make a good start on the lining.

Thanks. I have a carpenters' depth gauge I will take that along

Primed and battened ready for spray foam tomorrow. We are going to inspect the foam on Tuesday and to meet the painter. What should I be looking for on the sprayfoam? foam

We have looked at diesel stoves, but my wife likes a cosy real fire and anyway we have Erbspracher diesel central heating

i have a cat to do that. Good exfoliation as well.

We are going to go in and check the sprayfoam coverage, although this is subcontracted and I am sure Gary would not tolerate any substandard work. The inside and outside of the steelwork is blasted and coated with Interseal 670S. Blacking and paintwork is International Perfection Pro epoxy. So we are not skimping on protecting the steelwork.

I'm a soap man myself. Shampoo is necessary though. I'll have to check what's in all these conditioners and other concoctions my daughter uses gallons of

Yes we did look at Aqualine but there was no flexibility of layout and one marina owner told us that a woodworker based at his marina, made most of his living correcting the woodwork on Aqualines, that is pre-cut on CNC machinery and not made to fit the individual boat, so after they are launched, the woodwork doesnt fit anymore. Another told us that he had 2 Aqualine widebeams launched there and both had leaks in the same place and had to be craned out and welded up. He didn't get paid for this work and when a 3rd boat Aqualine leaked in the same place he refused to do the work. Both these stories from people with no axe to grind, as we were just looking for moorings. So these stories (true or not) and the lack of layout fliexibility combined with Poland being a long way away. Both of these guys were complimentary about Aintree and Colecraft.