Hudson or Hudson?

[PaddingtonBear]

That is a bit more than good, it is SENSATIONAL! - all the half wit Hudson owners should be chained to it for 24 hours just to teach them how misguided they are - PJ excluded

[Proper Job]

Hi PJ

My Hudson is fab as is yours and having read some of the threads so far I must inform many people that my Hudson is not and never pretends to be a Josher, it is a modern narrowboat like 99.9 percent of everyone elses. It has a proper engine ( Beta ) under the floor at the back and NO Josher pack so it pretends to be nothing other than what it is. A very well built hull and interior modern day boat. Oh and some of the cosiest best boats I have been on have been springers and no I do definately not have a fat wallet..........what is wrong with some people

Bloody deep pockets though

 

That is a bit more than good, it is SENSATIONAL! - all the half wit Hudson owners should be chained to it for 24 hours just to teach them how misguided they are - PJ excluded

I like it (the boat that is)! You can chain me to it any time you like (preferably above the waterline please)

[PaddingtonBear]

OK sweetie

[Proper Job]

OK sweetie

have you got lolly pops?

 

I don't want MP to get jealous

[The Anonymous Bard]

Erm... maybe a bit of a contentious topic to post a first (ok second) posting on but I have been intrigued reading this thread and...

 

HELLO TO EVERYONE... & thanks for having us here!

 

We have been planning to live aboard for over three years now and have been visiting shows, builders and reading everything we can lay our hands on, not to mention the miles of walking and talking to boat owners along the cut to try and gain an informed decision on what to finally settle on and...

 

Yes we have planned around an SM Hudson.

 

The only dismay I have about that decision is the image that SM Hudson boats seem to hold in some people's eyes, not to say that those people are wrong but for the record we are stuck here for the time being in a two up/two down and struggling like many others under the current circumstances to keep our heads above water (pardon the pun!), all of which has no relevance except for the fact that when we do finally get afloat it will be on the basis that we worked our butts off to get there and will most likely have sunk every last penny into it to get what we want and not because we have fat wallets or some sort of superiority complex or fixation about a certain type of bow.

 

We just like their style of boats, we feel their build quality will look after us well for the next thirty years and we found the guy himself to be the most personable and helpful guy we could wish to meet, even if he does call a spade a spade and there's nothing wrong with that.

 

Currently we spend time with my sister and her partner on a 45ft Liverpool Boats boat and in all honesty there is nothing that could make it more enjoyable... no big shiny new boat, no replica rivets or double swept josher bows.

 

We find the surroundings and the people are what make it, we just like SM Hudson boats and would hate to be type cast as some of the afore mentioned.

 

Ok, now that I've taken the new member popularity ratings to new heights I've decided not to name the boat-to-be in case you tell all the fishermen to throw groundbait at us...

Edited September 18, 2009 by The Anonymous Bard

[wrigglefingers]

Hello and welcome Anon Bard - bet you're really Christopher Marlowe back to haunt us.

Don't worry about choosing a Hudson boat, they're well built boats and hold their value. I'm afraid you've stepped into a bit a of a minefield here as there is some contention over what a Josher-shaped bow should look like. It's clear that the Hudson shell has changed shape over the years and many of us prefer the older shape.

For information, Dave used the templates he took from President. He checked Cobbett's measurements against Swan as Ian Kemp is restoring her and reckons that she's very close - within an inch. The reason why she's close is because the bow is planted not fashioned out of sheet steel.

Good luck with your boat, if you'd an old shape Hudson shell there's one on the market for 55k at moment.

Jill

[The Anonymous Bard]

Hello and welcome Anon Bard - bet you're really Christopher Marlowe back to haunt us.

Don't worry about choosing a Hudson boat, they're well built boats and hold their value. I'm afraid you've stepped into a bit a of a minefield here as there is some contention over what a Josher-shaped bow should look like. It's clear that the Hudson shell has changed shape over the years and many of us prefer the older shape.

For information, Dave used the templates he took from President. He checked Cobbett's measurements against Swan as Ian Kemp is restoring her and reckons that she's very close - within an inch. The reason why she's close is because the bow is planted not fashioned out of sheet steel.

Good luck with your boat, if you'd an old shape Hudson shell there's one on the market for 55k at moment.

Jill

 

Hey thanks...

 

Not sure who Christopher Marlowe is but suffice to say not a pleasant experience?

 

We've seen a couple of "pre-curvey" Hudsons boats and really liked them too, probabley more so than the current ones and also stumbled across NB. Destiny II on their way back from the 2008 IWA and was interested to learn that Paul Barber was the guy originally responsible for the Hudson shape along with this boat.

 

We did look at Mel Davis' boats very closely (smashing bloke!) and are still open minded to a point but really wanted a builder who could build from start to completion including fit-out in a house style that we liked without pushing them too far away from what they are used to and good at but we'll never say never to suggestion until the build slot has been deposited.

[Athy]

Christopher Marlowe was a bard, but not an anonymous one.

Mel Davis does indeed build handsome boats and is indeed an easy fellow to get on with (he built ours). He did have an associated, and very good, boat fitter but they have parted company as the fitter took a very long time to finish each boat.

Boatbuilders who do the whole package, from baseplate to the completed interior, are very much in the minority - Steve Hudson's do, I think Colecraft do, but most are either shellbuilders or boat fitters, so insisting on someone who can offer the whole package will restrict your choice. New Boat Co. and Aqualine do also if memory serves.

[mrsmelly]

Erm... maybe a bit of a contentious topic to post a first (ok second) posting on but I have been intrigued reading this thread and...

 

HELLO TO EVERYONE... & thanks for having us here!

 

We have been planning to live aboard for over three years now and have been visiting shows, builders and reading everything we can lay our hands on, not to mention the miles of walking and talking to boat owners along the cut to try and gain an informed decision on what to finally settle on and...

 

Yes we have planned around an SM Hudson.

 

The only dismay I have about that decision is the image that SM Hudson boats seem to hold in some people's eyes, not to say that those people are wrong but for the record we are stuck here for the time being in a two up/two down and struggling like many others under the current circumstances to keep our heads above water (pardon the pun!), all of which has no relevance except for the fact that when we do finally get afloat it will be on the basis that we worked our butts off to get there and will most likely have sunk every last penny into it to get what we want and not because we have fat wallets or some sort of superiority complex or fixation about a certain type of bow.

 

We just like their style of boats, we feel their build quality will look after us well for the next thirty years and we found the guy himself to be the most personable and helpful guy we could wish to meet, even if he does call a spade a spade and there's nothing wrong with that.

 

Currently we spend time with my sister and her partner on a 45ft Liverpool Boats boat and in all honesty there is nothing that could make it more enjoyable... no big shiny new boat, no replica rivets or double swept josher bows.

 

We find the surroundings and the people are what make it, we just like SM Hudson boats and would hate to be type cast as some of the afore mentioned.

 

Ok, now that I've taken the new member popularity ratings to new heights I've decided not to name the boat-to-be in case you tell all the fishermen to throw groundbait at us...

 

Hi

 

Nice to meet you. You have hit the nail on the head, the problem with Hudson boats is not the owners but rather non owners who for some silly reason perceive us Hudson owners to be snobby types, check my postings I am far from a snob. The reason people buy Steve Hudson boats is simply the build quality. Go round a few hull builders and look inside their shells during build and then go and look at a Hudson, after all the Hull IS the boat anything else is superficial........solid steel stem posts 15mil bottom and a keelson with heavy bearers makes for a low centre of gravity and solid as a rock. Hope you enjoy yours when you buy it.

 

Regards

 

Tim

[Athy]

I have just thought of another boatbuilder who does the whole job from start to finish - and since they are only eight miles from my home, I don't know why I didn't think of them before. Fox Narrowboats at Fox Marina in March do, and they know their stuff. Their boats are not well known on the main canal system but we see a lot of them round here - very distinctive and solid, with a prow which reminds me of a Viking longboat, though I admit I have never seen one of the latter.

See photos of them on the Fox Narrowboats web site.

[Chertsey]

We just like their style of boats, we feel their build quality will look after us well for the next thirty years and we found the guy himself to be the most personable and helpful guy we could wish to meet, even if he does call a spade a spade and there's nothing wrong with that.

That is fantastic, I don't think anyone has any problem with that at all. Yes, Hudson boats are great quality well built boats, I don't think I have ever seen any arguments to the contrary. The only issue some of us have is that they claim (or can be seen to claim) to be something they're not - i.e. an authentic representation of a josher. This is not anything to do with whether anything is superior to anything else, it is just a matter of accurate description.

 

I have to say that though Foxes do I'm sure build very sturdy boats, their lines do make Hudsons look positively beautiful. Viking prows must be a Middle Level thing - look at most Shotbolt boats (though not ours). They're sort of like a Hudson ad absurdum.

[Athy]

Maybe in a way Fox is the new Springer - not in terms of plating thickness I should add! They have their own appeal. I think a Fox's prow would be my second least favourite thing, behind a Town Class prow, to see coming at me round a blind bend.

[PaddingtonBear]

Fore end surely

[Proper Job]

Welcome Anon' Bard

 

I can only mirror what Mrsmelly say's. I have a Hudson (second hand). At the end of the day, some like the shape, others don't.

 

Hudson say that there shape is a Josher (they are not the only builder to claim this). I think its a Hudson. Some like rivets (mine has them) , others don't (Mrsmelly's doesn't). Its all about personal taste.

 

The hulls are well built and I haven't seen a 'duff' fit out.

 

I've never experienced the so called inverted snobbery that is held against Hudson owners. Personally, I think its a load of bol#ocks.

 

Buy the boat of your choice and get out there and enjoy yourselves

[Athy]

Fore end surely

Yes, that's where the prow of a boat usually is unless it's a Canaltime and is going sideways. What do you mean?

[PeterG]

At the end of the day, some like the shape, others don't.

 

Hudson say that there shape is a Josher (they are not the only builder to claim this). I think its a Hudson. Some like rivets (mine has them) , others don't (Mrsmelly's doesn't). Its all about personal taste.

 

The hulls are well built and I haven't seen a 'duff' fit out.

 

I've never experienced the so called inverted snobbery that is held against Hudson owners. Personally, I think its a load of bol#ocks.

 

Buy the boat of your choice and get out there and enjoy yourselves

 

We bought a new curvy Hudson because we have wanted one for some time and saved our pennies up until we could afford one.

 

A lot of pennies but a lot of boat.

 

Hopefully we wont get the inverted snobbery, although recently I got fleeced by an expensive pumpout at Teddesley boats. Will not go back there again in a hurry.

[Chertsey]

Yes, that's where the prow of a boat usually is unless it's a Canaltime and is going sideways. What do you mean?

Fox and Shotbolt boats may have prows (as a way of describing their shape) but big Woolwiches and Northwiches most definitely just have fore ends.

 

Hopefully we wont get the inverted snobbery, although recently I got fleeced by an expensive pumpout at Teddesley boats. Will not go back there again in a hurry.

Why is everyone referring to it as inverterted snobbery? Surely (if it exists) is is just plain ordinary snobbery?

[churchward]

Fox and Shotbolt boats may have prows (as a way of describing their shape) but big Woolwiches and Northwiches most definitely just have fore ends.

 

 

Why is everyone referring to it as inverterted snobbery? Surely (if it exists) is is just plain ordinary snobbery?

Personally I don't think inverted snobbery ever exists snobbery is snobbery in whatever context. It is possible to experience situations where someone puts down something because of jealousy of course.

[The Anonymous Bard]

Thanks for the comments and the helpful advice on our post within the thread... me and the Mrs were discussing it Saturday night on the way to The Swan at Fradley and I mentioned that I was still keeping an open mind even though we have already decided on a Hudson and then we came across Newson moored just on the approach and the open mind suddenly closed again once I had insisted on driving around to the visitor centre side to get a better view and some grainy pics of her in the fading light.

 

I saw this on brokerage recently and I umme'd and arrrr'd and seeing her in the steel so to speak I wish I had gone for it, looked a lovely boat and a bargain from what I can remember.

Edited September 21, 2009 by The Anonymous Bard

[wrigglefingers]

Thanks for the comments on our post and the helpful advice... me and the Mrs were discussing it Saturday night on the way to The Swan at Fradley and I mentioned that I was still keeping an open mind even though we have already decided on a Hudson and then we came across Newson moored just on the approach and the open mind suddenly closed again.

 

I saw this on brokerage recently and I umme'd and arrrr'd and seeing her in the steel so to speak I wish I had gone for it, looked a lovely boat and a bargain from what I can remember.

 

Hello Bard,

 

ABNB have a lovely looking Hudson on brokerage at the moment here if you're in the market for a secondhand one.

 

Jill

 

PS Christopher Marlowe, it was argued in a near discredited and arid debate some years ago, was the likeliest author of some of Shakespeare's plays, but as the academics couldn't agree on this (as you'd expect) we were encouraged at university to describe plays whose attribution was questioned, to credit them as being by the 'Anonymous Bard'. I believe a similar argument has been advanced in favour of Francis Bacon and Ben Jonson too ...... Utter bilge really but I thought you were making reference to outdated but rather vitriolic academic controversy - apologies and I should've got out more when I was at college!

[alan_fincher]

ABNB have a lovely looking Hudson on brokerage at the moment here if you're in the market for a secondhand one.

Well I actually rather like that one.

 

Bow shape, in my view, very much more pleasing than more recent ones, and it looks remarkably free of welded on washers.

 

I suppose the fact that you can apparently still charge close on £1000 per foot for a 15 year old boat does say quite a bit about their reputation.

 

Equally, though, I suppose some would squirm at the use of any MDF in a boat at this kind of price point.

 

I love the long front well, and the clean lines of not having the cratch and cover that seem to be fairly standard on these.

 

I'd certainly consider this one, if I were looking.

[Athy]

Well I actually rather like that one.

 

Bow shape, in my view, very much more pleasing than more recent ones, and it looks remarkably free of welded on washers.

 

I suppose the fact that you can apparently still charge close on £1000 per foot for a 15 year old boat does say quite a bit about their reputation.

 

Equally, though, I suppose some would squirm at the use of any MDF in a boat at this kind of price point.

 

I love the long front well, and the clean lines of not having the cratch and cover that seem to be fairly standard on these.

 

I'd certainly consider this one, if I were looking.

Handsome indeed - and I like the visual joke of using red wine-coloured paint on a boat called Bacchus. Totally agree about cratch (lack of); I am sure that for liveaboards they are a space-creating godsend, but they rarely if ever enhance a boat's appearance. I'll except original working boats from that statement, though.

[wrigglefingers]

Handsome indeed - and I like the visual joke of using red wine-coloured paint on a boat called Bacchus. Totally agree about cratch (lack of); I am sure that for liveaboards they are a space-creating godsend, but they rarely if ever enhance a boat's appearance. I'll except original working boats from that statement, though.

 

I must admit that the cratch on the front of Surprise has been of incomparable value in it's function of general storage space and dripping area but Cobbett won't have one for aesthetic reasons, plus I want somewhere to enjoy the setting sun!

 

The ABNB Hudson is very nice hull-wise, my cousin was debating whether to go for a looksee but managed to divert himself by finding something dutch, wide and barge-like which isn't on the market but might be if the price is right and apparently he's always wanted one in preference to a narrowboat. I have no further comment to make ...... (folds arms and stares into the distance considering the oddness of some men)

 

Well I actually rather like that one.

 

Bow shape, in my view, very much more pleasing than more recent ones, and it looks remarkably free of welded on washers .....

 

Welded washers are v nasty in my opinion, although most people who own boats with washers are v nice.

 

(Ducks to avoid incoming)

[The Anonymous Bard]

Hello Bard,

 

ABNB have a lovely looking Hudson on brokerage at the moment here if you're in the market for a secondhand one.

 

Jill

 

PS Christopher Marlowe, it was argued in a near discredited and arid debate some years ago, was the likeliest author of some of Shakespeare's plays, but as the academics couldn't agree on this (as you'd expect) we were encouraged at university to describe plays whose attribution was questioned, to credit them as being by the 'Anonymous Bard'. I believe a similar argument has been advanced in favour of Francis Bacon and Ben Jonson too ...... Utter bilge really but I thought you were making reference to outdated but rather vitriolic academic controversy - apologies and I should've got out more when I was at college!

 

Thanks on the Christopher Marlowe thing Jill, I have to "fess" that I was completely ignorant of that fact.

 

Unfortunately for me (and incredibly humbling... I still have six sessions of counselling to go) my name is nothing more than a tag I gained way back at school after being caught red-handed scrawling my usual, daily journal of rythmic literature about certain teachers on the toilet walls and the ever stern voice and delight of my captor sighing "Arrrh... The Anonymous Bard" quickly followed by a very unpleasent stinging sensation on the palms of my hands!

 

For the record I am a reformed character... aherm!

[RLWP]

Thanks on the Christopher Marlowe thing Jill, I have to "fess" that I was completely ignorant of that fact.

 

Unfortunately for me (and incredibly humbling... I still have six sessions of counselling to go) my name is nothing more than a tag I gained way back at school after being caught red-handed scrawling my usual, daily journal of rythmic literature about certain teachers on the toilet walls and the ever stern voice and delight of my captor sighing "Arrrh... The Anonymous Bard" quickly followed by a very unpleasent stinging sensation on the palms of my hands!

 

For the record I am a reformed character... aherm!

 

Oooh! Are you the man who scrawls balls on the walls?

 

Richard