Thames cruising 2023.

[Outinthedinghy]

Don't know much about them but the Piper river cruiser looks rather good.

 

[Parabordi]

Don't know much about them but the Piper river cruiser looks rather good.

Thatsa barge

 

[Outinthedinghy]

Unusual looking barge !

Piper 12C

 

[Outinthedinghy]

 

[Scapegoat]

Hobbs of Henley are adding one or two of the Piper 12c to their hire fleet next year.
A chap at Shepperton Marina took delivery of one this summer and was really pleased with it - chatted with him at Lady Lindsay’s when he was moored up there.
Boat Showrooms are also selling this Piper model

 

[nicho]

We have 5 Fairline Sedan 36 on our moorings, those with a hinged arch have been under Windsor with a few inches to sapre
Last time we counted 7 Turbo 36 as well , most with hinged arches.
Just out of interest , despite the naysayers warnings of doom, many of the above have also been on club cruises ending with drying mud berths.

The radar arch on the Sealines(s) appears to bit fiddly to get up and down, being set well aft on the fly and difficult to manhandle down and backup.
One skipper with a F 33 did say that he was reluctant to go back up on a repeat Thames visit simply due to the faffing involved .
Cannot recall any motorised arches either , all were raised and lowered by the Armstrong method.
Cost of motorising an arch properly appears to be around £2-3K.

We had two flybridge boats on the Thames, a 310 Sealine Statesman and an F33. We had the radar arch hinged on the latter to help with the lower bridges such as the Cookham footbridge. I also cut a piece of wood to the appropriate size, and as we approached the bridge, slowly crept forward. If the bit of wood went under then I knew the rest of the boat would have no problem. Also had sports boats too, but concur the view is much better on a fly bridge. We moved to the south coast many years ago - the F33 was built for sea use, not 4 knots!

 

[nicho]

Our marina neighbours just recently bought a new to them 34ft boat, previously a 27ft. The new boat looks enormous in comparison. The side decks are very tall which must make the interior very roomy. (I have yet to see inside but believe its high quality). No good for stepping off the side decks oto a pontoon but then our boat is not great in that respect . My chief officer uses the bathing platform instead.
To be honest I fell off my present boat soon after buying it as I misjudged the height off a pontoon, which had been much less on my previous boat . It was a shock but no bones broken

My chief officer is gradually becoming less nimble so I hope to complete some of my ambitions for boat travel before we or one of us decides a motorhome might be safer than a boat.

Sorry for the thread drift .

Nooooo! Tried the motorhome route- beautiful 8 metre machine. Lasted 3 months, hated it, (and the Peugeot 107 tow car we dragged behind it)