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Another hire company goes under.


frangar

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3 minutes ago, WotEver said:

WotEver, surprisingly enough ;)

 

34’, moored on the opposite side from the slip, on the end of the 2nd pontoon from the canal. The French chap was moored behind us and the Sea Otter was on the other side of the pontoon from us. 

I think we were on the next pontoon. Now that you mention him, I remember the Frenchman - he seemed pleased to find someone with whom he could converse in French. As I recall, the first pontoon had two boats with Gardner engines - one was 'Guvnor'. I used to look at them and think "One day...."

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13 minutes ago, Athy said:

I remember the Frenchman - he seemed pleased to find someone with whom he could converse in French.

Yes, he was pleased to hear “Bonjour, ca va?” from me but as that then exhausted my French he found it somewhat limiting ;)

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Just now, Machpoint005 said:

 

Aren't all on-board bathrooms effectively en-suite?

 

Er, no.

These could (I was told, though I never saw one from the inside) be reached only from the main bedroom, not from any other part of the boat.

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The Coventry Telegraph details are worth reproduction.

 

After the company left the Stratford site, all 14 of the boats being operated by the company were moved to Coventry.

However, in recent weeks, many of the boats have departed, leaving just the three that Excellence Afloat themselves own, and a fourth, which is thought to be owned by a person residing in Australia - hence the reason it has not been moved.

Letter from liquidators

A group of people who said they worked for company told Coventry Live they had not been paid for four months.

They showed us letters from Rushtons Insolvency which offered them instructions on how to make a claim.

However, it is not known if they will be able to recoup any lost wages at this time.

 

Coventry Live has attempted to contact the owners of Excellence Afloat Limited.

The company's number is no longer in use and the website is currently offline, with attempts to visit being met with an error message.

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/valley-cruises-excellence-afloat-coventry-17139238

 

 

The loss of the Stratford site was one blow, but now it seems 9 boats have been disposed of and the remaining staff have not been paid for four months.

 

No mention has been made of the boat business also based at Coventry Basin Valley Boat Services Ltd- presumably the same fate.

 

Trip advisor has published bad reports including bed bugs and dirty linen.

 

 

 

0_JS196758311.jpg

Edited by Heartland
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12 minutes ago, Heartland said:

The Coventry Telegraph details are worth reproduction.

Trip advisor has published bad reports including bed bugs and dirty linen.

 

 

 

 

To be fair there are positive reports as well. Though I suppose this doesn't make news worthy reporting for The  Coventry Telegraph.

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The comments about standards was for recent months on Trip Advisor, not the Coventry Telegraph. Very good reports had been the standard comments before on that web site. I overheard one boater in Gas Street this this summer moaning about the noisy engine on one hire boat. Falling standards may well have contributed to the liquidation.

 

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4 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

 

Ah, I understand. I still don't see the point, though!

 

We have an en-suite as part of our rear-cabin.

There is a separate shower room that can only be accessed via the cabin, and a separate Toilet & Basin, which again, can only be accessed from our cabin.

 

We have another shower room and Toilet / basin adjacent to the bow cabin, but accessed from the Dinette / Saloon & Galley.

 

If we have visitors on board this means that we don't disturb them thru the night, and they don't disturb us.

 

Looking at the picture - in the fore-ground 'left hand side' is the Toilet and basin, whilst in the foreground, right hand side, is the shower room.

Versatility-35-28.jpg

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17 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

We have an en-suite as part of our rear-cabin.

There is a separate shower room that can only be accessed via the cabin, and a separate Toilet & Basin, which again, can only be accessed from our cabin.

 

We have another shower room and Toilet / basin adjacent to the bow cabin, but accessed from the Dinette / Saloon & Galley.

 

If we have visitors on board this means that we don't disturb them thru the night, and they don't disturb us.

 

Looking at the picture - in the fore-ground 'left hand side' is the Toilet and basin, whilst in the foreground, right hand side, is the shower room.

Versatility-35-28.jpg

Looks like you have a boat that is about 12ft wide, perhaps 45ft long. Much easier to have an en-suite arrangement and a second shower room in a wider boat with accommodation from bow to stern.

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4 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

14 foot beam (Queen size bed)

36 feet length

 

5 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

We have an en-suite as part of our rear-cabin.

There is a separate shower room that can only be accessed via the cabin, and a separate Toilet & Basin, which again, can only be accessed from our cabin.

 

We have another shower room and Toilet / basin adjacent to the bow cabin, but accessed from the Dinette / Saloon & Galley.

 

If we have visitors on board this means that we don't disturb them thru the night, and they don't disturb us.

 

Looking at the picture - in the fore-ground 'left hand side' is the Toilet and basin, whilst in the foreground, right hand side, is the shower room.

Versatility-35-28.jpg

Nice. What boat is this?

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8 minutes ago, rgreg said:

This is very similar to those I have been looking at for my future sea-going escapades. What engines?

Ford 2725E

Marinised version of the same engine as used in the Ford Cargo trucks.

 

6-Cylinder, 6.2 litre, Non-Turbo downrated to about 120hp each.

 

It is a Displacement Hull so maximum speed is about 8knts with a 'comfortable cruise' at 5-6knts.

Fuel consumption 10 litres per hour (5 litres per engine) at 5 knts.

2800 litre fuel tanks ( 1x 1000 litre, 2x 900 litre) give a "safe" range of over 2000 miles with enough left to get into harbour 'somewhere'

 

Did a very comfortable 7.2 knts for an hour down the Menai straits on Tuesday

 

Port Engine

Versatility-35-42.jpg

 

 

Starboard Engine :

 

 

image.png.54d0841b350ca7ffeb72fabe0c8a75f5.png

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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3 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Ford 2725E

The same as used in the Ford Cargo trucks.

 

6-Cylinder, 6.2 litre, Non-Turbo downrated to about 120hp each.

 

It is a Displacement Hull so maximum speed is about 8knts with a 'comfortable cruise' at 5-6knts.

Fuel consumption 10 litres per hour (5 litres per engine) at 5 knts.

Did a very comfortable 7.2 knts for an hour down the Menai straits on Tuesday

 

Port Engine

Versatility-35-42.jpg

Ideal

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On 25/10/2019 at 08:40, Sea Dog said:

It's a bit of a surprise that they weren't swallowed up by one of the bigger companies,

I notice that ABC boat sales have most of the Valley boats listed.  Seems that some of them are an Alvechurch build, so probably leased out to Valley...

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On 25/10/2019 at 18:15, Machpoint005 said:

 

Not on a narrowboat though, which was the situation in which I couldn't see the point.

We have one in the house, but that's irrelevant too. 

The standard layout Ownership boats all had an en suite toilet for the rear cabin.

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We went to Coventry in September and found no space to moor due to the number of Valley Cruises boats there. We moored on the water point the first night then moved in the morning when another boat left.

So for me, less hire boats would make it more likely I will return. The city has lots to offer.

Sorry for the people who have lost their jobs though.

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We hired from Valley Cruisers once many many years ago it was a two berth boat called Elan Valley - it was a strange and not very practicable layout. And the engine was governed such that it would only go about 2 1/2mph. Never went back. Having said that the boats were always well turned out and the livery was distinctive.

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