Hello again i'm rob the country traveller. We were looking forward to our third
visit to the Norfolk Broads this month. The coronavirus beat us to it though, but
we'll be back next year. When we've been to the Norfolk Broads
before we've hired two different boats. I thought it might be helpful, for anyone
who is unsure which boat to hire, to do a comparison of the two designs.
Both of the boats had a BOW THRUSTER and I would strongly recommend
that you hire a boat with this feature - it makes mooring a lot easier!
Both of these boats were suitable for a couple, or a group of up to four people.
We hired our boats from Barnes Brinkcraft in Wroxam.
We could have gone to Richardson's or Herbert Woods or one of the others.
Each company has its own followers and i'm sure they're all equally
professional. The first boat that we hired was an aft
cockpit cruiser - the Royale. We chose this on our first
visit to the Norfolk Broads mainly because we wanted a high driving
position as we thought that this would be easier to manage the boat
and also give us a better view of the countryside.
The design of this boat is much like you see in marinas around the world.
They're what the yachty crowd call a gin palace - sounds good to me!
We had a lovely time on the River Bure in the River Ant.
We even saw an otter!
So, what were the plus points of the Royale, the aft cockpit cruiser design?
Well, the high driving position does give a very good view of the countryside. The
prow of the boat is big enough for sunbathing,
as well as providing a very good view of the countryside.
The high driving position also allows the person steering the boat
to have a very good view of the stern of the boat. This is important when tying up
in stern-on moorings which certain locations in the Norfolk
Broads require.
The rear of the boat is open which has a nice
table with surrounding seating. Below deck there's a reasonable sized
double bed and a galley and also a circular table
and seating which turns into a very large double bed.
So, what are the negative points about the aft cruiser
Royale design? Because of the high steering position the boat's on two
levels which means that you need to walk down
a short step ladder to get down to the lower deck with the cabin, which is not
ideal for everybody. Also there's not a lot of natural light
in the cabin, although it is well illuminated.
A big negative for some people is that the boat's too high to go under low
bridges such as Wroxham and Potter Heigham, so you can't
go upstream in this boat.
One other consideration of this design is that the boat is higher,
which means it's more affected by cross winds.
So when the wind's blowing, if it is a cross wind,
that can make mooring more exciting! The next time that we visited the
Norfolk Broads we wanted to go upstream so we hired a boat that would go under
the bridges at Wroxham and Potter Heigham. As there was just the two
of us plus Edith the dog, we hired a forward
drive cruiser - the Sonnet. This is a traditional design with
everything on one level. You have to get a pilot to take you
under the low bridges, which is easy to arrange. We travelled up
to Coltishall, a lovely village with two pubs on the
moorings. The river is quieter here of course
because the larger boats can't get under the bridge but it can still be busy.
Let's look at the positives then of the forward drive cruiser style.
As i mentioned earlier everything's on one level,
so it's very easy to get about - there's no steps to worry about.
You can go under the low bridges. This is us
going under Wroxham bridge.
The boat has a very easy and comfortable driving position.
All areas of the boat are light and airy which is great for watching the world go
by.
The front canopy opens up which is great on a fine sunny day.
What are the negatives of this design?
Because of the lower driving position the person steering the boat
finds it more difficult to see the stern of the boat.
There's usually somebody around though to help out at stern on moorings.
The lower driving position also means that the view of the general countryside
is not quite as good as it is in the higher designs - you'll
still see plenty though. Because everything's on one level it's
easier for people to look in the windows and see what you're doing. Some people
might find that a problem but most won't. So there we have a
comparison between the Royale, the aft cockpit cruiser style and the
Sonnet, the forward drive cruiser
There are other designs of course and many larger boats
but hopefully this comparison will give you a starting point
for your choice of boat. Whichever you choose,
I'm sure you'll have a fantastic boating holiday on the Norfolk Broads