From March 2016, we will be introducing our newest addition to the Faircraft Loynes hire fleet: Fair Commissioner. Our job over the next few months is to build Fair Commissioner to the exemplary standard that our customers expect from all of our Norfolk Broads hire boats.

Each of our new boats is a blank canvass when it arrives, and you’d be forgiven for not seeing at this stage, the luxury cruiser that will emerge from the boat shed once all our work is complete. During the build process, we’ll be posting regular updates so that you can see the transformation from empty shell, to luxury cruiser.

Let’s start at the beginning. We like to keep things local here, and East Anglia boasts some of the best boat builders in the country, so naturally our Fair Commissioner started life just a little hop down the river. Some boats are transported by land, via lorries, but since Alphacraft (the builders of most of our hulls) are based on the river Yare, it makes sense for the shells of these boats to be transported in the old fashioned way; being towed along the river. From Alphacraft, across Breydon Water and up the river Bure to the capital of the Broads, here in Wroxham. You may have even seen the ghostly shape of Fair Commissioner arriving earlier this year.

Once the shell arrives in the Faircraft Loynes boatyard, it is lifted out and put on hard standing in the boat shed. It is a bit too early yet to be referring to it as a ‘she’ as this blank canvas has very little character at this stage. This is where the hard work starts and our boat builders really get stuck in, turning the white fibreglass GRP shell into one of the luxury hire boats that we have in our fleet.

At the moment, our boat builders are putting in supports, piping and wiring. These jobs may not seem the most exciting, and you won’t necessarily ever see this work, but they are really important!

You may have noticed that all of the boats in the Faircraft Loynes fleet start with ‘Fair’. Different yards have different ways of going about things; Faircraft Loynes boatyard has changed quite a bit over the years, indeed, you may only know it as Norfolk Broads Direct. It was first established in 1878 by John Loynes and we continue in his tradition of naming our boats after positions of authority, royalty or other similar titles. For more information about how boats have been named here at Faircraft Loynes over the years, keep an eye out on our history page over the winter.

Check back soon for the next update on the Fair Commissioner build progress.