Alphacraft 31 river cruiser for sale with BoatshedNorfolk.com

I was Surveying this Alphacraft 31 again today at Bells Marina in Brundall. Ive now inspected her three times since she was first built in 2008. She is a rare boat, an Alpha hull fitted out by Rod Russel Marine in South Walsham. Since 1967, Alphacraft has been designing and building river boats. In this time, almost every hirer across the Norfolk Broads has an Alpha model in their fleet- and this is still true today.

The company was founded by Langford Jillings, and remains a family run business with Langford and two sons Langford Junior and Paul.

A long established family boatyard which designs and builds all its own boats which means that the range on offer has been developed to match the needs of today’s Broads holidaymakers.   

Surveyors comments: This Alpha 31 is a great cruiser for the Norfolk Broads / inland waterways with a lot of space and well design for extended cruising.

Thinking of Buying a Boat on the Norfolk Broads and Need Help? I specialise in Boats of all types, and I will assist you to make an informed decision. Contact me for a detailed and comprehensive report at:  steventruss1@aol.com

Broads National Park makes debut at London show

The Broads National Park name will make its debut at the UK’s largest outdoor show in London this week.

Stunning new images of the Broads together with brochures on all that the area has to offer will be exhibited at the Telegraph Outdoor Adventure and Travel Show at Excel from Thursday February 12th to Sunday February 15th.

Hot off the press is this year’s Eating Out in the Broads guide, featuring some of the best eateries in the park, which has been sponsored by Richardson’s Boating Holidays and the Eastern Daily Press. The new Enjoy the Broads brochure will promote the range of activities on offer from boating, cycling and canoeing to fishing, walking, wildlife watching as well as places to stay.
 

The stand, sponsored by Richardson’s, will also be promoting the two-week Broads Outdoors Festival which takes place from Saturday May 2nd to Sunday May 17th.

Bruce Hanson, Tourism Officer for the Broads Authority, said: “With the coming season already showing an increase in bookings, we hope to make a promising season in Britain’s magical waterland even better. We will be in the right place at the right time to target outdoor loving people who are planning their holidays right now and to show them what fantastic experiences the Broads can offer.” 

Glastron GS279 US Sports Cruiser at Norfolk Yacht Agency

Strong sales have been reported in and around the boatyards throughout the whole duration of the winter. Ive noticed people are definitely buying more boats now, no question about it. In 2015,  Im hoping things will be back at record levels!

I had the morning at Norfolk Yacht Agency in Brundall today surveying this Glastron American built sport cruiser. This was a 2002 GS279 model.

Surveyors’ comments: Good value cruiser. Glastron is a middle of the road brand, not bad, good sound company that has been in business quite a while. Check out their site and build your own boat!

Powles 38 TSMY

I was carrying out an Insurance Survey at Brundall Bay Marina this morning on this Powles 38 TCMY. The 33 & 36 were designed by Bernard Olesinski, the 41 was John Bennett. Im not sure who designed the 38. Maybe someone reading this BLOG can help. This I guess was one of the original 38’s of which most were aft cabin which later developed into the aft cockpit Super 38. I think one of the boat mags ran an article on Powles and included details of most models. I think they ranged from the 33 upto 53.

2 x Ford Mermaid diesel engines on shafts. (185HP).

I once heard that the 37 which was based upon the Broom/Ocean 37 Hull was not the boat it was intended to be. Apparently the Ocean 37 was meant to be a Powles but the management felt it too avant-gardes so was further developed by Aquafibre and marketed by Broom. The more conventional but nice Powles 37 was then born.


Surveyors comments: The hulls on these 'old girls' are very thick, so expect to see some osmosis blistering below the waterline. (its normal!). In most instances of osmosis, the structural laminate will be barely moist, and any reduction in mechanical strength will be negligible.


Thinking of Buying a Boat on the Norfolk Broads and Need Help? I specialise in Boats of all types, and I will assist you to make an informed decision. Contact me for a detailed and comprehensive report at:  steventruss1@aol.com. 

Moonraker 36

I was back at Brooms this morning to Survey this Moonraker 36 Fast Cruiser for Insurance. The Moonraker 36 was one of the most popular medium sized fast cruisers of the 1970s. The boat was launched in 1970 by Moonraker Marine of Brundall, Norfolk, where later became JCL Marine, and nearly 400 boats were built before JCL went into liquidation in 1980.

The reason for the boats popularity were its competitive price (the early examples cost under £10,000 with the smallest engine option of twin 100hp GM diesels) and good accommodation, with a total of six berths. Most were fitted with Perkins 145HP giving a top speed of 18 to 20 knots. This one had the Ford 180HP turbo diesels.

Moonraker 36 History:

When the Moonraker 36 was introduced in January 70, orders in hand were completed, but no further orders were taken. All in all 52 Moonrakers on the Ocean 30 hull were produced.

The Moonraker 36 Softrider was introduced as the market demanded it, requiring a bigger boat and Royal Navy Architect Robert Tucker was the original designer of the hull. Bell Buxton Boat Builders was then formed to produce the Moonraker 36 under the name Moonraker Marine. Bell Buxton produced all in all 122 vessels.

On July 12th.1971 the yard was taken over by Anthony Colin Bruce (known for his Lotus Sports cars), under the name Moonraker International. Chapmans arrival in boat manufacturing was no accident. For months he had been considering designs of a new boat in the 30-45-ft. range.

He redesigned the superstructure and thereby gave the boat the elegant look, which today more than 40 years later, still makes the boat impressive. From 1973 Moonraker was produced under the name JCL marine/Moonraker Motor Yachts, and with minor adjustments the manufacturing continued until October 1980, where the builders folded, a victim of the recession that gripped the industry at the time.

Found this on Google!!

In 1987 the manufacturing was taken up again by Aqua Bell / East Anglian Marine in Brundall, Norwich. The boats were then called Moonraker Super 36, and traded through Monitor Marine / D.C.Developments. The last boat was built in 1991 to the manager of Aqua Bell, Vic Bell. (Where my office is situated). In the period as a hole, just fewer than 400 Moonrakers were built, the first 300 of which were built before end of 1974. Moonrakers were sold to more than 30 countries including Bahrain and the USA.

The Sedan and the Cruiser were powered by twin Perkins 6.354 115hp six-cylinder diesels, the Sports Yacht by turbocharged T6.354s developing 175hp. The 175s were also available on the Sedan and the Cruiser in a higher-spec version called the Express ­ most buyers opted for the extra power.

Surveyors comments

Some of the hulls were renowned to have some osmosis blistering, although many have now been peeled and treated with epoxy. Fuel and water tanks are constructed from fibreglass and are bonded deep into the hull. Fuel filler and vent pipes are an unusual design ( more like seen in the automotive industry!) and many had to be changed to pass the current Boat Safety Scheme Regulations.