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Hire boat with boatmans cabin and vintage engine


Jacq

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Hire boat with boatmans cabin and vintage engine, will it work ?

 

We are thinking about buying a very traditional boat with boatmans cabin and vintage engine, to hire out. It will be a fairly new boat and in top condition.

Made by a sought after builder. We will aim the boat at experienced hirers and be priced very competitively.

 

Do you think it will work ? This will be our new business venture , and the obvious aim will be to make a living.

We have experience in the leisure hire business, and made a sucess of our last business by giving top customer service.

 

Any constructive comments are welcome.

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If there is a boatmans cabin as part of other more luxurious accommodation, there should be a demand, but it would be dependent on what premium you plan to charge over and above normal hire boat rates - presumerably, if you only have one boat and the boat is built by a good builder, its not going to come cheap.

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Hire boat with boatmans cabin and vintage engine, will it work ?

 

We are thinking about buying a very traditional boat with boatmans cabin and vintage engine, to hire out. It will be a fairly new boat and in top condition.

Made by a sought after builder. We will aim the boat at experienced hirers and be priced very competitively.

 

Do you think it will work ? This will be our new business venture , and the obvious aim will be to make a living.

We have experience in the leisure hire business, and made a sucess of our last business by giving top customer service.

 

Any constructive comments are welcome.

 

Hi Jacq

Nb Holly, a Middlewich boat which recently disappeared and, thankfully, was recovered, is just what you describe, as is her sister boat, Willow. We have hired them both in the past and were given to understand

that they were in great demand.

Best of luck with you're venture, I hope it comes off and is successful but we won't be hiring from you I'm afraid because we've just bought a boat.

Best wishes

SteveE

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Where you choose to be based would also affect demand. We plan to go from Alvechurch for the next few years as there are several rings/routes we can take from there and as we are a large group, it heps with planning if we all know where we are meeting etc.

 

It would help you to get repeat business if there was a choice of destinations from the hire base. Secure car parking is another issue that folks fret over.

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Thanks for these and any other replies.

All usefull info and comments.

 

As for routes it would be based on the Staffs Worcester , so a good choice is available.

For car parking , i thought about guests meeting at my home and taking them to the boat in our people carrier ,There car would be in my locked garage.

We would be priced under what similar boats command.

I will let you know how we get on. Cheers.

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You would have to be careful about the type of people who you hire the boat out to, you wouldn't want a top spec boat to get knocked around. If the boat is built by a top builder and totally trad then this is your unique selling point and you could keep prices higher than the competition and ensure that you reach your target market.

 

I think that the type of people you will get hiring the boats are those who are looking to buy a trad boat or a top end boat and want to try before they buy. If you do decide to go through with it, it may be worth talking to the builder, they may be able to send their potential customers to you, to try out one of their boats for a week or so.

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Tradcraft at Market Drayton if they are still going???? Had two Boats with Back Cabin and engine rooms on was called Thomas they are owned by Gary and Graham

Scragg did a lot of work to them when they were new

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Braidbar Boats used to offer a 62' fully trad boat with back cabin and vintage engine (Gardner 3LW) in their Giffnock although I think they sold her on a few years ago. We hired her in 2003 for a very enjoyable trip up the Caldon. All hirers had to declare brief details of their experience before being "approved" to take her out. We must have passed!

They presently only offer their newer boat Skye but I'm not sure what her internal layout is. Giffnock certainly was/is a beautiful boat and we came away from the trip with lots of ideas and photos to help with our own fit out now just beginning. Won't be able to get up to the Braidbar standard though I imagine! For a start our shell is not quite as pretty but was more affordable!!

 

Good luck with your plan!

 

Richard

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Apart from protecting the investment, I suspect there is a bit of elitism in only letting experienced crews take the boat out - always good for business.

There is also another trend now in the hire business to offer unmarked boats so that they dont stand out as just another in a fleet of hire boats.

Edited by NB Willawaw
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I would seriously doubt if a one boat hire business would be in any way viable as many of the costs will not be proportional, one example, publicity material would cost as much for one boat as for twenty, with a bit of thought I am sure we could think of another two dozen, suitable premises would fall into the same category.

 

As for the boat (and I would wish you every success). Fiddle the traditional engine bit, few would ever notice. A modern engine could be made to feel close to what you are after. Vintage engines worked great with vintage people in vintage days. The kind of people that would be capable of looking after such a unit are very thin on the ground in the 21st centuary.

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Thanks for these and any other replies.

All usefull info and comments.

 

As for routes it would be based on the Staffs Worcester , so a good choice is available.

For car parking , i thought about guests meeting at my home and taking them to the boat in our people carrier ,There car would be in my locked garage.

We would be priced under what similar boats command.

I will let you know how we get on. Cheers.

 

A belated word of warning. Using a vehicle to carry people who have paid you for a holiday would almost certainly constitute using it for "hire and reward". To do this legally you would need either a Private Hire Vehicle Operators Licence from your local council (and the vehicle may then have to meet any standards laid down by them) or a Public Service Vehicle Operators Licence, which involves a rather more onerous procedure. I suggest you check with your Council's Taxi Licensing Section in the first instance.

Don't forget also that, depending on the number of berths available, you may be dealing with groups who will expect to arrive seperately involving several vehicles.

 

On the other hand, your suggested "product" is exactly the sort of thing I would have been looking for - before I bought my own boat.

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c.1990 there was a steam powered hire boat available for 'self drive' hire (called Firefly IIRC)........The venture soon folded....and the boat was converted to conventional diesel power.

 

In more recent times c.2000 there was a cut down Little Woolwich Butty 'Cetus' (stern end going backwards, built Keith Ball) renamed 'Blue Nun' operating as a hire boat with the trad engine and controls and sheeted hold working boat appearance.......Google found nothing quickly so I guess this venture is also no more.

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Apart from protecting the investment, I suspect there is a bit of elitism in only letting experienced crews take the boat out - always good for business.

There is also another trend now in the hire business to offer unmarked boats so that they dont stand out as just another in a fleet of hire boats.

 

 

Following the 'T.O.C' of NB Holly, I guess you may wish to fit a tracking device of some sort. I thought the idea of welding writing the name of the boat onto the hull under the blacking as NB Cragdale had seemed a good idea.

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c.1990 there was a steam powered hire boat available for 'self drive' hire (called Firefly IIRC)........The venture soon folded....and the boat was converted to conventional diesel power.

 

In more recent times c.2000 there was a cut down Little Woolwich Butty 'Cetus' (stern end going backwards, built Keith Ball) renamed 'Blue Nun' operating as a hire boat with the trad engine and controls and sheeted hold working boat appearance.......Google found nothing quickly so I guess this venture is also no more.

Just catching up on missed threads and thought 'Oh no we havn't'

We (Saisons) operated Blue Nun for several years, but sold it to one of our hirers as it didn't attract enough people who wanted a 'real' old boat. We are still in business!!

Now we are doing something similar with 'Minervois', which has a fairly recent hull and fit-out (tug style) but with a 45 year old Petter engine in it. Most of what I have read here I would agree with, especially the comments about the viability of running just one boat. We can only justify running only 3 boats by operating them alongside our chandlery business.

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There is also one here...

 

http://www.challengershare.com/hire/66supertug.htm

 

John

 

We hired 'Spririt of Georgia' a couple of times - super boat and there is an interesting side benefit in that you won't get treated as inexperienced 'hire boaters' by the boat owning fraternity.

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  • 3 months later...
Well we have taken the plunge. Check outTraditional boat hire

 

 

 

Hi - good luck with your business -

 

We have also just bought a Northwich Trader - (from barry hawkins yard orginally) but looked at several of RW davies boats and loved the finnish and quality of work.. just couldnt find the exact interior layout to suit us..

 

One small pointer - bed sizes.. i would gently remind people that they both on the modest sizes generally and perhaps consider changing the settee to one that converts to a double bed, might allow more flexibility on the sleeping arrangement or more people to share the costs. one other small issue -

wardrobe/drawers space for people clothes and bag storage.. whilst on board..

 

cheers

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I would seriously doubt if a one boat hire business would be in any way viable as many of the costs will not be proportional, one example, publicity material would cost as much for one boat as for twenty, with a bit of thought I am sure we could think of another two dozen, suitable premises would fall into the same category.

 

As for the boat (and I would wish you every success). Fiddle the traditional engine bit, few would ever notice. A modern engine could be made to feel close to what you are after. Vintage engines worked great with vintage people in vintage days. The kind of people that would be capable of looking after such a unit are very thin on the ground in the 21st centuary.

 

 

The Beta Marine version of the JD3 is a very beautiful engine. Lots of brass and copper and a lovely sound enhanced by a resonator in the exhaust!

 

N

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