Yesterday's lovely mooring above Day's lock does have one disadvantage; the wind fairly whistles across the river there. Admittedly it did push us securely against the river bank, but we were buffeted overnight. When we set off this morning we feared a blustery trip, but once we got round the corner we had no further trouble, apart that is from having forgotten how to work a Thames lock when it's on self service. We didn't realise that mere mortals like boaters are prevented from operating sluices and gates from the console at the opposite end, while superior beings like lock keepers have no such restriction.
We passed quite a few more ultra posh houses today. I don't now how people get all that dosh but it sure ain't through a regular wage or salary. Maybe it's by selling their one bedroom flat in Knightsbridge and moving up country.
Anyhow we got to Goring about lunch time and tied up on the moorings below the lock.
Soon after we were joined by a family on a hire cruiser from Kris Cruisers of Datchet. A nice boat if you like that sort of thing, nowhere near as huge as many you see on the Thames.
Now I have some sort of notion of the price of most narrowboats we see, but when it comes to these tupperware boats, I had no idea. Luckily this sort of boat tends not to be bespoke like a lot of narrowboats, so like a car it has a make and a model number for all to see. A quick call to Mr Google got me a price and I was fairly stunned. £215k for a new one, or you can pick up a ten year old one for around £100k. I mean it's not as if you would want to sell up your house and live aboard on of these things like narrowboaters do. That makes narrowboats look very good value don't you think? It also makes you realise how much spare cash some of these private owners must have to splash out on what is usually a weekend boat. And they still have enough left for Breton fisherman's smocks and yellow wellies. Not that I'm envious or anything.
I looked up the cost of hiring the boat, and the next available slot was 7 days in October for £1400. A bit dearer than a narrowboat hire, but compared with the cost of each boat, it looks like the canal hire companies get a better return on their outlay.
We passed quite a few more ultra posh houses today. I don't now how people get all that dosh but it sure ain't through a regular wage or salary. Maybe it's by selling their one bedroom flat in Knightsbridge and moving up country.
Anyhow we got to Goring about lunch time and tied up on the moorings below the lock.
Soon after we were joined by a family on a hire cruiser from Kris Cruisers of Datchet. A nice boat if you like that sort of thing, nowhere near as huge as many you see on the Thames.
Now I have some sort of notion of the price of most narrowboats we see, but when it comes to these tupperware boats, I had no idea. Luckily this sort of boat tends not to be bespoke like a lot of narrowboats, so like a car it has a make and a model number for all to see. A quick call to Mr Google got me a price and I was fairly stunned. £215k for a new one, or you can pick up a ten year old one for around £100k. I mean it's not as if you would want to sell up your house and live aboard on of these things like narrowboaters do. That makes narrowboats look very good value don't you think? It also makes you realise how much spare cash some of these private owners must have to splash out on what is usually a weekend boat. And they still have enough left for Breton fisherman's smocks and yellow wellies. Not that I'm envious or anything.
I looked up the cost of hiring the boat, and the next available slot was 7 days in October for £1400. A bit dearer than a narrowboat hire, but compared with the cost of each boat, it looks like the canal hire companies get a better return on their outlay.
4 comments:
I wonder what the lifespan of a cruiser is compared with a steel narrowboat. I can't imagine it is much longer. Perhaps it's easier to spruce up the outside of a cruiser, but the interior will surely deteriorate at the same rate as that of a narrowboat hire boat.
I met a chap this week with quite a smart looking Norman cruiser that he said was 1987. He had however spent a lot of time and money doing it up.
We are thinking of finding out about having friends hire one of these next summer - Gary is 6'7"and would not be able to stand up in our narrowboat. (Our 6'4"friend Neil had to keep his head down and when doing the dishes, he had to stand with his legs far apart, so he didn't scrape the ceiling ...).
Of course, the headroom might be fine in these multi-serve yoghurt pots, but what about the size of the beds???
Any info you can garner would be gratefully accepted, Neil - that is if such rich people will speak with you! Of course, Herbie looks so spiffing, you'll be persona grata without doubt!
Cheers, Marilyn
Marilyn, I looked up the manufacturer's spec for that particular boat, Haines 320, and they say 6 ft3 in headroom. I'm sure other cruisers will vary. Best enquire with a hire company although 6ft 7 might be interested in. I just measured Herbie. 6ft 4 in.
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