Best show in the south (maybe Kent) to meet boat builders.

[JustAddWater]

I live in Kent, where there aren’t many canals, but I’m keen to visit a narrowboat show to connect with bespoke boat builders. I’ve come across the Crick Boat Show and something in Market Harborough. In your opinion, which are the biggest or best shows to attend?

[blackrose]

Crick

[Tonka]

3 minutes ago, blackrose said:

Crick

Can you meet boatbuilders or aren't the majority of them boat fitters

[Hudds Lad]

In the realm of canals the words bespoke & builder do a lot of heavy lifting.

 

I'd imagine Crick is your best shot, but be aware you'll more than likely have to book a slot to talk to a lot of them.

 

https://www.crickboatshow.com/exhibitors/exhibitors/

 

Select Boatbuilders and fitters in the drop-down menu to see what's on offer.

[Tonka]

The Market Harborough is being run by the Inland Waterways Association and is to commemorate so many years since the first National Rally held there.

It is actually going to be at Foxton Locks and they are not like the national rally's where they used to have boat builders and fitters there. So i would definately say Crick is your best bet.

But what is it you are particulary after ?

[Lady M]

Definitely Crick as Market Harborough is more of a rally/festival.

[David Mack]

Just be aware that some of the best boatbuilders out there get more than enough business by word of mouth, and see no point in paying to attend shows to exhibit their wares.

[ditchcrawler]

54 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Just be aware that some of the best boatbuilders out there get more than enough business by word of mouth, and see no point in paying to attend shows to exhibit their wares.

Very true

[Bee]

It gets a bit confusing. Many 'Boatbuilders' buy the steel shell in and then fit it out to your requirements. The people who did the steelwork might also fit out their own shells. They will both call themselves 'Boatbuilders'. Some shell builders make very nice shells indeed. Some make entirely satisfactory shells that are rather run of the mill, there are rather more of these and they tend to be a bit more competitive in price. Whatever you end up with will be quite a lot of money. Research pays off, walking towpaths, looking at boats for sale and so on. People on boats are usually happy to talk about boats even if some of them have got some odd ideas and have opinions that are just plain wrong. Also restrained good taste and quality rather than as many bells and whistles that you can cram into a boat will make a boat easier to sell when you decide to build another one. 

[JustAddWater]

22 hours ago, David Mack said:

Just be aware that some of the best boatbuilders out there get more than enough business by word of mouth, and see no point in paying to attend shows to exhibit their wares.

Who would you consider the best to be? 

20 hours ago, Bee said:

It gets a bit confusing. Many 'Boatbuilders' buy the steel shell in and then fit it out to your requirements. The people who did the steelwork might also fit out their own shells. They will both call themselves 'Boatbuilders'. Some shell builders make very nice shells indeed. Some make entirely satisfactory shells that are rather run of the mill, there are rather more of these and they tend to be a bit more competitive in price. Whatever you end up with will be quite a lot of money. Research pays off, walking towpaths, looking at boats for sale and so on. People on boats are usually happy to talk about boats even if some of them have got some odd ideas and have opinions that are just plain wrong. Also restrained good taste and quality rather than as many bells and whistles that you can cram into a boat will make a boat easier to sell when you decide to build another one. 

Thanks, not something I has considered.

[Tonka]

8 minutes ago, JustAddWater said:

Who would you consider the best to be? 

Thanks, not something I has considered.

Dave Harris his last boat built before he retires is for sale at Phill Jones at Hatherton

Edited January 29 by Tonka
Spelling

[IanD]

16 minutes ago, JustAddWater said:

Who would you consider the best to be? 

Thanks, not something I has considered.

It rather depends on how "traditional" you want to boat to be.

 

Tyler Wilson are well-regarded, and I was very pleased with the hull they (Tim Tyler) built for me a couple of years ago -- Tim was happy to make changes to meet my requirements.

 

I've had a lot of compliments on it, but as usual beauty is in the eye of the beholder... 😉 

 

 

[matty40s]

Also be aware that Crick last year had far fewer concessions than previous, and most definitely pre-Covid years.

The prices of just having an empty tent have gone up to ridiculous levels, with everything else on top( power, tables, stands, chairs, flooring et ). Businesses can't even cover their costs by attending, or don't feel that their core audience is there any more.

Also, when by Sunday lunchtime you have your 19th request for an interview by the assembled army of YouTube bloggers trying to fill their Vlog with 10 seconds of relevant people after 22 minutes of waffle.

 

[Mike Tee]

When you talk to 'bespoke' boat builders, some are more bespoke than others - some will try and convince you that they would rather build you the boat they want to build, rather than the one you want built.

On the other hand, most of them do know what works and what doesn't so it's all a bit of a balancing act. Do talk to as many owners as possible to find out their experiences on what worked, what didn't  and how was their relationship with their builder (are they still talking?!). Walk the towpath and talk to owners of newish boats.

[IanD]

4 minutes ago, Mike Tee said:

When you talk to 'bespoke' boat builders, some are more bespoke than others - some will try and convince you that they would rather build you the boat they want to build, rather than the one you want built.

On the other hand, most of them do know what works and what doesn't so it's all a bit of a balancing act. Do talk to as many owners as possible to find out their experiences on what worked, what didn't  and how was their relationship with their builder (are they still talking?!). Walk the towpath and talk to owners of newish boats.

I had numerous long discussions with Tim Tyler (and Ricky at Finesse who was the boatbuilder responsible) about what (desired by me) changes could be made, which ones were practical and which weren't -- I listened to their feedback, and made changes following this, some of the design changes made it (or were modified) and some didn't. After all, they've got far more experience of actually building boats (as opposed to a paper design) than I have... 😉 

 

Don't forget that anything non-standard will usually cost more, both for the time/effort needed to make the change and possibly additional material/cutting/welding, and possibly delay construction especially if new/untried components are needed. They were always open and upfront about this and I appreciated that.

 

The only negative point -- and I'm sure this is not unique! -- was that the overall build process took considerably longer than originally predicted, partly due to things out of their control (e.g. material supplies -- this was when the Ukraine war started), and the final cost was higher -- again, partly due to suppliers raising their prices, but also additional work that I asked to be done which wasn't in the original contract.

 

However this was made clear at build start -- that there was some allowance inbuilt for inflation, but any big unexpected cost increases would result in a bigger bill than predicted. For example, a week before delivery the generator supplier put their prices up by 15%... 😞 

[magnetman]

Some of the better yards don't want to make bespoke Boats because the customer may well not have any expertise and the result can be a bad Boat which could tarnish their reputation. 

 

If this is the 6ft10 internal headroom story then you need a yard which can produce various different products rather than always doing the same thing.  

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

3 hours ago, magnetman said:

Some of the better yards don't want to make bespoke Boats because the customer may well not have any expertise and the result can be a bad Boat which could tarnish their reputation. 

 

If this is the 6ft10 internal headroom story then you need a yard which can produce various different products rather than always doing the same thing.  

 

 

That is why I didn't have a hull from Steve Hudson. Went to see hime the conversation contained a lot of "This is the way I do it"