Broom on the thames

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funinthesun

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Good afternoon

Have been looking at a couple of broom 37 / 39s recently of 1992ish vintage. I am hoping to use mostly on the thames with a couple of trips to the coast each year, however Am a little concerned at the draught of these models at around 1.3 mtrs / 4'3", Would cruising the thames be a nightmare? Would like to be able to get up at least as far as goring/streatley without grounding. is bankside mooring a problem? If anyone has any advice as to the practicalities and limitations of this model it would be greatly appreciated .

Thanks
 
There are and have been quite a few 37/39 on theThames over the years, I would have thought that you could get as far as Wallingford ok. The exposed props at that draught are the real problem I believe.
 
They are probably the least suitable Brooms for the Thames, the deeper draft extends to the beam more than most and will severly restrict the number of moorings avaliable to you. I think forum member miket used to have one, I'm sure he will be along to comment.

If it was me I'd look at Broom 38's with a keel, but they do have woefully small cockpits for such big boats.
 
Before changing boats last year we owned a 40ft steel twin screw cruiser with 4ft 6in draft and props more suited to an over-sized agricultural digger :D. We had that boat for 19 years and could get all the way to Abingdon but I did have to pick my way a bit in places (mainly the narrow bits like Cookham lock cut for instance). In all that time I only had her out once for prop repairs.

Personally, depending on your finances, I'd go for a semi-D Broom. Added protection and easier handling due to the keel. In terms of speed when you get down into the salty stuff there's naff all in it really.
 
My boat has the Broom 37 hull with the keel and at just over a metre never had any problems during our our visits to the Thames.
However, previous boat a P33 with outdrives,which could float in a heavy dew was constantly finding the bottom vis the props,even had to do a prop swap at Henley.
 
Thank for your help people, it's been tough trying to find the right type of boat really. Everything seems to be a compromise , I mean after all, all I need it to be is: suited to family of 4, lowish air draught, shallow draught, dog friendly, preferably not sports type, capable at sea and sensibly priced!

Brooms seem to fit the bill, but blimey they're expensive. Are ongoing maintenance bills huge with a boat say of late 80's / early 90's build?

Should I be buying something slightly newer by sealine or jeaneau ?

Thanks again
 
funinthesun said:
Are ongoing maintenance bills huge with a boat say of late 80's / early 90's build?
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That rather depends on you?

Are you handy? Are you able to change the oil on an engine? Hold a Paint brush and antifoul?

Some folks like to do it themselves and that keeps the cost down, if you pay someone else to do it all - it will cost you big bucks..

Even a newer boat will need antifouling once in a while and that will still cost you.
 
funinthesun said:
Thank for your help people, it's been tough trying to find the right type of boat really. Everything seems to be a compromise , I mean after all, all I need it to be is: suited to family of 4, lowish air draught, shallow draught, dog friendly, preferably not sports type, capable at sea and sensibly priced!

Brooms seem to fit the bill, but blimey they're expensive. Are ongoing maintenance bills huge with a boat say of late 80's / early 90's build?

Should I be buying something slightly newer by sealine or jeaneau ?

Thanks again
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All boats are a compromise irrespective of how deep your pockets are. Brooms in many respects less so than other makes being equally at home on the Thames or at sea, and I can vouch first hand for the latter in some truly horrendous channel conditions. Brooms hold their value well due to their build quality and the fact that the majority of owners look after their boats extremely well. A well maintained Broom should not have huge maintenance costs although the unexpected can happen as with anything. But, just look at how many 1970s Brooms and Oceans are still around and looking good. If on-going costs were dreadful far less would have survived.

Regarding air draft, my Broom has a hydraulic arch and to be honest the Thames would be a pain without it. I couldn't imagine trying to haul that thing up and down manually. They can be retro-fitted but far better to buy one already done.

I bought my Broom last year. Personal opinion but it's the best purchase I've ever made. Just a pity it took me 33 years of boat ownership to get there :)
 
some boats more equal than others.

"I bought my Broom last year. Personal opinion but it's the best purchase I've ever made. Just a pity it took me 33 years of boat ownership to get there :)"



Suspect most Broom owners previously have worked their way through the poorly designed impractical old tat that lesser mortals have to put up with and by the the time they do get their Broom have the money to maintain it properly,hence the excellent residuals in older boats .

Suppose the nearest wannabees would be the Dutch tin stuff shame about the weedy engine and the rust :).
 
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boatone said:
You have yet to report on the new Chef. Me and mine waiting for a SUnday lunch invite if he's up to par....
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H,mm will keep you posted...er indoors is not happy at mo ...only got 50% of her usual heating allowance...due to me coming of age and rightfully claiming mine !
 
Broom 37

As ChrisD inferred, we did indeed own a 1991 Broom 37, which spent some time on the Thames.

A fabulous spacious boat for a family of 4 or 2 couples.
Absolutely stunning boat at sea. We had VP 306 hp engines and cruised all day at 18/20 kts in quite unpleasant seas.
We bought it for use at sea and returned to the Thames sooner than anticipated. We had some difficulty with bankside moorings but did cruise as far as Shillingford. The engines were really too powerful for 4.5 knot cruising, being in tickover forward at that speed. We did cruise on one engine but slow speed handling required both.
Nothing to do with the Thames, but the big VP's occupy a LOT of the engine room and any maintenance was a problem.

We sold ours shortly after returning to the Thames, but then I change boats quite frequently anyway, mainly because of lack of suitability for non-tidal use.

We now have a Broom Ocean 38 (2000) with twin Yanmar 250 hp that we used on the Thames very happily, have cruised across channel very comfortably and are now in Holland where it has worked brilliantly.
We have hydraulic manual rams fitted to the arch that makes lowering and raising easier (not as good as the press-button ones!!) but we did have the small s/s hoop, that carries the anchor light, hinged and that allows us to get under a lot of bridges without lowering the main arch.
In my opinion it is an excellent boat for non-tidal and coastal use with minimal compromise.

Prices are down to £160k- asking, so a little more than the 37/39's from 1990, but later generation engines are more economical and MUCH SMALLER physically, so far better for maintenance.
You may gather that we quite like our boat!!
 
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