Dan's 2004 holidays

Having always wanted to hire in France we booked 34ft 4/5 berth “Consul 20” from Crown Blue Line’s base at St Gilles. We were on a one way hire to Port Cassafieres which with a week gave us plenty of time. The sun was shining most days, and good facilities were available at mooring spots and marinas. The boat was about a year old and looked smart, and we enjoyed the external helm and the seating around. We enjoyed France, we would be returning for more Croissants soon!

July 2004: “Fen Enterprise II”, Fencraft of Brundall

We hired this 34ft 4 berth for a few days in July and too my then other half’s parents with us. The cracks were beginning to show and there were a few upsets but overall everyone enjoyed themselves.
The boat was worn and badly maintained, with incredibly uncomfy, knackered mattresses, curtains that didn’t cover the windows and engine that overheated after 2-3 hours if not re-filled with water! Other than that, perfect!

September 2004: “Camargue 973F”, Horning Pleasurecraft, Horning
Bad news on a Broads forum had flagged that one of my favourite hirebases was to close at the end of the season. Horning Pleasurecraft was always one of my favourites because of it’s size, and its place in history as the place where the legendary ‘Caribbean’ mould was first built/operated from. Read more on my website on them here. We decided to book one of the two “Camargue” class for a few days in September before they closed. With just two of us she was spacious, as a 4/6 berth 38 foot Westward 38 mould. Sadly a few weeks earlier my relatyionship had ended rather badly, so my Mum came with me and we had a nice time, a few giggles and started the slow process of moving on. The hirebase office was a timewarp to the early ‘70s, and was little unchanged. We took in the base as it was for the last time and headed home