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May has blessed us with some better weather, setting the stage for an exciting summer season filled with unforgettable boating adventures.
The sun greeted us at our first public event of the year; the bi-annual Horning Boat Show during the early May bank holiday weekend.
Predictably the Friday traffic was awful and it took us all of 7 hours towing our little Scoop to get to the slipway! However the warm Norfolk welcome soon helped us forget the drab journey of the previous day, and we had a fabulous stay at The Moorhen with dinner at the Bure River Cottage Restaurant where the seafood was epic!
Many people came by our stand at the boat show to say ‘hello’, including some loyal newsletter readers, which was much appreciated.
Our Scoop II, crammed with optional extras, was met with admiration but sadly failed to find a home in Norfolk and is now back at Beale awaiting a new owner.
One of our collaborators who works in Norfolk and was involved in the build of our Mayfly 21 'Ellie' is going into the production of an exciting new concept: ‘Sauna in a Horsebox’. Andy is a true craftsman and a former Caribbean charter captain extraordinaire. We wish him well with his new landlubber venture.
You can commission Andy to build one of his mobile saunas which would make a fantastic addition to a holiday rental such as a glamping site or even your backyard, or you can rent it for a retreat, party or a wedding, and he will tow it to your chosen location.
For more information, contact Andy via email at [email protected].
Outside entertaining feels very much of the moment as the indifferent summer of 2023 recedes in our memories and thoughts of a sunshine-filled summer 2024 take their place.
I love the new lobster bar at The Swan at Streatley, and judging by the crowds sipping rose there over the past two weekends, so do many other people.
With The Boat House at Wallingford closed for Pure Boating activities (until June 8th), we are feeling well supported in Streatley by fans of our self-drive offering and luxury charter alike.
After the third working weekend on the trot, Steve and I snatched a couple of precious hours on Sunday evening to enjoy Pure Boating's 'Ellie', followed by half a lobster and a glass of rose. If this is a busman's holiday, I was a very happy busman that evening.
The week following the Norfolk show was especially hectic at the boatyard as it was a case of all hands on deck to prepare for our Open Weekend.
Once again the sun shone, but unfortunately, despite widespread advertising at considerable cost, the support was negligible and by Sunday evening I was somewhat downcast. The only consolation is that the situation at all boat sales outlets is apparently somewhat bleak, with customers playing a waiting game.
Personally I think it is a great time to buy (but then I would say that, wouldn't I).
Looking across the shiny mahogany decks displayed on the lake during our Open Weekend, I couldn't understand why everyone who enjoys boating would not want to own a classic boat. Prices are lower than for a conventional GRP equivalent, skills are maintained, wood is sustainable, and each vessel is unique - what's not to like?
Greeting visitors to the yard during our open weekend were two contemporary classics built in the last couple of years by very talented UK boat builders who choose to work with traditional materials.
One was the Baycraft 19 built by Katherine Stott and available with trailer and outboard ready to launch tomorrow. The other one was 'Blue Duck', one of two Windermere launches on our books built by Hamish Patterson in Hawkshead, both very sociable, comfortable and electric to boot.
Another PBW build we have on the lake is 'Matilda' which was designed as a very smart fishing vessel for a private owner on Windermere. I could see it turning heads on the Helston or the Deben with its open cockpit and cosy cuddy.
Another head-turner is the popular weekender built by our friends Statement Marine in Schagen (Netherlands). If you are lusting after a PTS 26, but don't want to join the waiting list, we have just listed 'Cormoran' on the website - a top-spec preloved PTS 26.
The weekend before last, HSC partnered the TTBF (Thames Traditional Boat Festival) at Lady McAlpine's final Fawley Hill Steam Fair, and once again the sun shone.
We were represented by a 1938 Chris Craft named 'How's That', and some enthusiastic fawley hill steamTTBF committee members extolled the joys of classic boating to anyone who would listen. The stand looked great, and the weekend was a huge success.
The fair's star of the show was without doubt the hostess her-very-self, who was out and about in a variety of vehicles from dawn to midnight. She is indefatigable at 80, and we wish her a very happy birthday. Not all of us have a full-sized steam train on which to celebrate a significant birthday, and how generous it is of her to open her 'garden' to friends and other people who share her eccentric passions.
After some intense activity in the merry month of May, it is time for a break, so I am looking forward to a week by the shores of Lake Windermere with my grandchildren.
One of our outings is bound to involve the Windermere Jetty where I shall be offering up Thames Traditional Boat Festival posters for the museum to display.
By the time I return to the office, June will be in full swing, and we will be planning for July's events.
There is still time to plan an outing at Henley Royal Regatta, whether on your own boat or as a charter guest.
'Verity' is up for sale at a much reduced price with a reserved mooring close to the regatta finish line on Fawley Meadows, giving a lucky purchaser a ringside seat for this splendid event. Age is catching up with the boat's long-term owner, and he is now very keen to sell as soon as possible.
Please give us a call if 'Verity' or any of the other saloon launches we have for sale would be of interest to you. What better way to entertain your guests?
'Kalbarri', which we sold to David and Suzie Morris a few years ago, has a thriving charter operation with a good mooring in Henley for the big event.
They still have some availability if you fancy afternoon tea on board with friends or colleagues. You can call our office or go directly to their website to book.
Henley Festival box office has informed us that they can still accommodate a couple of boats on the festival site moorings for the Sunday evening extravaganza which features the violinist Nigel Kennedy.
We usually go on Sunday when there is more room to wander around without the Saturday night crowds. It would seem that they still have some limited ticket availability, so why not head to the website and see what takes your fancy?
My love for theatre recently saw us in Stratford upon Avon at The Royal Shakespeare.
Prior to taking our seats we ate a delicious early supper at The Boat House riverside restaurant, where we had a table with a view of the River Avon and Avon Boating's large fleet of electric launches, both old and new moored along the river. I found out that, in addition to their larger passenger boats, several of which were originally on Windermere and have now been electrified in-house, the proprietors of the business have also purchased a few Frolic models over the years which make excellent hire boats for a maximum of 6 people.
We currently have two for sale, both of which are very reasonably priced and in need of updating.
Their pride and joy is without doubt the ‘Swan of Avon’ which was originally built in 1898 locally for a doctor. It disappeared for many years until Avon Boating came across it in a neglected state where upon they decided to restore and electrify this historic gem.
Sometimes a day away just up the road feels like a holiday, and certainly going to Stratford was a delight without the hassle of airports, luggage etc.
I have very fond memories of taking my father to see Macbeth at the RSC the year before he died. We ate at The Boat House, and then Nick, proprietor of Avon Boating, took us across the river to the theatre, not in 'Swan of Avon' but in his very own Gondola with an aria from the opera Lucia di Lammermoor playing on his vintage gramophone. The diva hit top C as we arrived at the theatre. It was an amazing evening and one that I will never forget.
Nick is not the first person to have owned a Gondola in Stratford, nor is Shakespeare the only author to be celebrated there. The famous Victorian novelist Marie Corelli ordered a gondola from Venice in 1903 for which she paid 1400 lira.
Marie Corelli is best remembered for a book she wrote in 1895 'The sorrow of Satan'. Despite being born with a very English name (Marie Mackay) Corelli realised that her readership would be more impressed by an Italian pseudonym. Her late Victorian novels were devoured by the reading public, and at the height of her success, she was the best-selling and most highly-paid writer in England.
There is a captivating article on the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust website entitled 'Marie Corelli: What she did for Stratford-upon-Avon'.
If you are interested in learning how to row a gondola or a sandolo, you could join the City Barge Boat Club whose headquarters are in Oxford.
Which brings me to a serious adventure undertaken by the Edwardian saloon launch 'Snipe', which we waved off somewhat anxiously a few weeks ago from a local Thames boatyard bound for Immingham to board a freighter heading south to Cape Town. Happily 'Snipe' arrived safely and is now in Botswana.
I look forward to sharing a photo or two of her new life on safari. Read more about where she is going in our December 2023 newsletter.
At the yard we are trying to get all our winter project work back to customers now that the Thames has calmed down.
'Mouse', a Norwegian Snekke, was skippered back to Henley by Rod and his niece Alex, who has been working on 'Mouse' over the past few months as part of our yard team.
The Snekke is a double-ended open motor launch ubiquitous in southern Norway.
There is an informative article about the Snekke in WoodenBoat magazine, from which I quote: "Snekker (the Norwegian plural adds an "r" to the end of the word) were once workboats, but today are pleasure boats that can be found across Norway as well as on the west coast of Sweden and in the Baltic.
The modern Snekke was developed from the slightly smaller oar-and-sail-driven traditional workboats of the same name. With the addition of engines in the 1910s, the tiller-steered open double-enders became "Motorsnekker," which are a little longer and fuller (particularly in the stern) than their forebears and have higher freeboard to accommodate the extra power and weight. Still, they bear a close resemblance to their ancestors.
With a hull speed of 6 knots they don't travel much faster under power today than they once did under oar, and that's a point of pride among owners. It is a trait that speaks to the relaxed Norwegian attitude toward pleasure boating today. It also serves as a refreshing counterpoint to contemporary motorboat culture elsewhere that is far more focused on power and speed.
Snekker embody Norwegian self-sufficiency and versatility. Historically, they were often built one at a time at home, over a winter, or a few at a time in small shops and were subsequently used as much for subsistence as for commercial purposes."
In a future newsletter I plan to write more about Scandinavian designs, as it is rumoured that we have a glorious Pettersson coming to the market shortly.
