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Best boat at Crick Show?


Athy

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Mr. House, your comments are illuminating, perhaps I was overwhelmed by the effect and did not study the detail enough. I thought the retractable steps were a good idea though.

Martin, 2 hours' drive away is about right - after all, if you were buying a holiday cottage you wouldn't buy it next door to your home, would you?

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:lol:

Mr. House, your comments are illuminating, perhaps I was overwhelmed by the effect and did not study the detail enough. I thought the retractable steps were a good idea though.

Martin, 2 hours' drive away is about right - after all, if you were buying a holiday cottage you wouldn't buy it next door to your home, would you?

Thanks for being objective, but the whole thing seemed and I need to be careful here, a little wide of the mark and resting on someone elses laurels. I was in fact gobsmacked.

Edited by soldthehouse
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Martin, 2 hours' drive away is about right - after all, if you were buying a holiday cottage you wouldn't buy it next door to your home, would you?

 

Cheers Mike,

 

Jan said the same thing along the lines of 'well it's 2 hours to the Lake District' isn't it....which is where we first envisaged having a boat.

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Back on topic, Braidbar build great boats. Charley and Delores were there with Felonious Mongoose sitting in the cut, which was Braidbar's showboat last year. Hybrid drive, but beautifully fitted. I went out for a day on their boat last year. Great boat, nice people and a good builder, so my vote would be Braidbar.

 

k

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Back on topic, Braidbar build great boats. Charley and Delores were there with Felonious Mongoose sitting in the cut, which was Braidbar's showboat last year. Hybrid drive, but beautifully fitted. I went out for a day on their boat last year. Great boat, nice people and a good builder, so my vote would be Braidbar.

 

k

 

Agree nice boats but as regards affordibility??

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We actually ended up not looking at many of the show boats as most were clearly out of our price league. The ones that we stood a chance of affording, were superficially very nice but that seemed about it - durability and standard of workmanship was doubtful.
at my budget which is around £70K, don't think so....

 

Don't you think you're maybe answering your own initial point here - well built, durable new boats from builders with a solid reputation and with a £70k price tag probably are a rare thing these days. At Crick or anywhere else.

I don't say that at all unkindly - I think it's a bloody shame that new boats are becoming so expensive. I certainly couldn't afford any decent quality new boat which is why we have and love a well-used older boat and are about to start restoring another as its replacement.

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Don't you think you're maybe answering your own initial point here - well built, durable new boats from builders with a solid reputation and with a £70k price tag probably are a rare thing these days. At Crick or anywhere else.

I don't say that at all unkindly - I think it's a bloody shame that new boats are becoming so expensive. I certainly couldn't afford any decent quality new boat which is why we have and love a well-used older boat and are about to start restoring another as its replacement.

 

You are merely repeating and amplifying the point I'm trying to make, I'm afraid, hence I'm defaulting to looking for boats a few years old.

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We shall be sailing away in what we feel is better than any of the boats on display at Crick - a scruffy, deep-draughted, R W Davis prototype - it may not be everybody's choice but, for us, it is so much better than the floating caravans . . .

 

We thought that Alnwick looked really good chugging through Braunston.

 

N

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Don't you think you're maybe answering your own initial point here - well built, durable new boats from builders with a solid reputation and with a £70k price tag probably are a rare thing these days. At Crick or anywhere else.

I don't say that at all unkindly - I think it's a bloody shame that new boats are becoming so expensive. I certainly couldn't afford any decent quality new boat which is why we have and love a well-used older boat and are about to start restoring another as its replacement.

 

 

You are merely repeating and amplifying the point I'm trying to make, I'm afraid, hence I'm defaulting to looking for boats a few years old.

We shared locks yesterday with a very nice looking boat, who's build was commissioned originally by one forum member, but has subsequently been sold to another.

 

I'm talking of Marmaduke that forum member "Pav" was having built when his builders went into bankruptcy, and a nightmare ensued.

 

I can only guess at what it should have cost, had he not got stitched, (£95K possibly), and what it probably did cost him after a lot of money was lost, and he had to recover the situation, (let's guess £125K).

 

The boat got resold in a very new condition at £75K.

 

£75K will only buy a fairly basic bespoke new boat of that kind of length.

 

You have got to want your own bespoke boat very, very badly, in my view, before it makes more sense than compromising on a good second hand one, (and that's if you actually get your bespoke new boat at the agreed price - when things go wrong the argument for second-hand is even more compelling).

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We went on Saturday, Our fav boat was Nirvana from Nantwich boats.

 

The Heartwood one was OTT.With its auto TVs etc.By the way did any get the price of Nivarna?

 

 

I think people forget that builders like Heartwood are bespoke builders and fit items in boats at the customers request, the auto TV systems was supplied by the customer and they only fitted them in the agreed layout.

 

If anybody turned up at their workshop requesting a very basic build I am sure they would treat them just like any other customer.

So do do not dismiss these builders because of what you see at Crick.

 

Regards

 

Andy

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Don't you think you're maybe answering your own initial point here - well built, durable new boats from builders with a solid reputation and with a £70k price tag probably are a rare thing these days. At Crick or anywhere else.

I don't say that at all unkindly - I think it's a bloody shame that new boats are becoming so expensive. I certainly couldn't afford any decent quality new boat which is why we have and love a well-used older boat and are about to start restoring another as its replacement.

 

Hi.

 

Just back from a three day sojourn at Crick, and to be honest a little dissapointed at what was on offer across the board this year. Not saying that i did not enjoy, but i suppose it reflected the general economic situation.

 

As ever, the Great and Good were present. The Braidbars/Fernwoods are i suppose top end builders whom for some are aspirational. But there were a smattering of builders offering a more affordable option. I agree that the sensible line is to buy pre owned, i wish i had taken my own advice upon occasion. But we have chosen a very good builder and fitter(in my humble opinion) and cannot wait for our build to start later this year.

 

What Crick did for me was give me the opportunity to view a variety of products at close quarter, drawing upon wisdom garnered from this forum. We had a fair idea of the lay-out that suited us, and this has been tweaked somewhat by viewings.

 

For general lay-out, my vote goes to Kingsground Narrowboats. Why oh why they chose chocolate brown as a display boat though, must be down to that customers prefarance!

 

John.

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'The Anonymous Bard' date='May 31 2010, 11:54 AM' post='536578']

]The Stoke boat was very nice but a bit warm at £134K for 62' and yes... I went for the 67' SM Hudson tug as favourite boat in show (listens out for hisses and ready to dodge the rotten fruit soon to be making its way in his direction) closely followed by the William Piper, the better halfs first choice and then the Stokie.[/color[/color]]

 

Hi its bards other half here and as its half 2 in the morning i figure im safe to give my opinion of the show without fear of bard running off with my laptop in disgust lol :lol:

 

We did have a great time at the show and it made a change to pick the day when it wasn't raining cats and dogs or blowing hard enough to lift the tents!

 

As he has said William piper was definately favourite for me. We had the pleasure of martin's girlfriend showing us round and her passion for the boat was infectious. The boat had so much character and it may be a girlie thing but i fell in love with the bathroom ( much to Bard's disgust) and the galley with the belfast sink and Heritage.

The Stoke on Trent was ok but i have to admit to not remebering what it was like inside..oops and dont tell him indoors but i didn't think the Huddy ( Stanley) was too shabby either,

The number of exhibitor boats was definatley less than in previous years but it was lovely to see President and Kildare in the marina

Well thats my piece said so i'll scoot before the Bard wakes and if he asks..... i was never here xmelx

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Hi its bards other half here and as its half 2 in the morning i figure im safe to give my opinion of the show without fear of bard running off with my laptop in disgust lol :lol:

 

We did have a great time at the show and it made a change to pick the day when it wasn't raining cats and dogs or blowing hard enough to lift the tents!

 

As he has said William piper was definately favourite for me. We had the pleasure of martin's girlfriend showing us round and her passion for the boat was infectious. The boat had so much character and it may be a girlie thing but i fell in love with the bathroom ( much to Bard's disgust) and the galley with the belfast sink and Heritage.

The Stoke on Trent was ok but i have to admit to not remebering what it was like inside..oops and dont tell him indoors but i didn't think the Huddy ( Stanley) was too shabby either,

The number of exhibitor boats was definatley less than in previous years but it was lovely to see President and Kildare in the marina

Well thats my piece said so i'll scoot before the Bard wakes and if he asks..... i was never here xmelx

 

Oi!

 

Mods... ban these slanderous remarks along with the highly suspect poster without hesitation!

 

Is nowhere safe anymore even whilst we sleep? :lol:

 

(She doesn't know that I used her voting slip for the Hudson boat though, as opposed to the William Piper that it was intended for), oops... ouch...

Edited by The Anonymous Bard
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The only boat I had chance to nose around was the 30ft Drayton - mainly because my 2 year old was well past it and specifically because many guests after a holiday on Strumble ask 'where can I buy a nice small boat?' - to which recently I had to be honest and say 'I don't know'

 

I was very impressed with the boat and the only notable exception was a wardrobe which the chaps readily acknowledged.

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Agree entirely about the Drayton - a great little boat, really well finished and a super package for under £40k.

But you should have looked in the widebeam hotel boat: it was extremely well built with many ingenious solutions to complex problems. Wet room showers, underfloor heating, a forward saloon with slide-back windows and roof, three double cabins plus a crew cabin -- we might not want this stuff in our boats but it all works well and I say good luck to them in a bold floating hotel venture which they've staked their own cash and careers on. (The looks, btw, are loosely based on an L&L short boat since they are cruising the L&L).

My favourite boat remains Star .... at least until Harry is up and running!

 

I didn't look inside the hotel boat - the queue was too long and the bow was far too ugly! :lol:

 

I was quite impressed with the prices they were quoting on the Polish widebeams (Viking Boats). It made me wonder why I had bothered to fit out my own. There was one widebeam there (can't remember the builder) with protruding steel rails around the bow and gunwhales. I'm all for innovation but I expect the bow rails would be bent in no time at all and I thought the rails over the gunwhale were dangerous as there was just enough space to get your foot stuck under the rail and trip over. Doesn't bear thinking about.

 

Were visitor numbers down this year? I arrived on a motorbike at about 10.30 yesterday expecting to ride past lines of cars as in previous years, but the entrance was clear and the show seemed remarkably quiet. Or is that how it usually is on the last day?

 

Edit: When I go to these events I'm always a bit shocked at how stereotypically boaty everyone is. I guess they must express their individuality in other ways...

Edited by blackrose
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Edit: When I go to these events I'm always a bit shocked at how stereotypically boaty everyone is. I guess they must express their individuality in othe ways...

Well unless you have changed since we last met, Mike, then you don't have a beard at least!

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I can't decide between President,Kildare or Laplander I would of spent all day just looking at these three if swmbo would of allowed it. I'm glad we chose to go on the Sunday though instead of the intended Saturday,as the weather was much better on Sunday.

Edited by ukrizla
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