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Frobishers


FadeToScarlet

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You may know of the Frobisher class of boats- steel with a GRP top, with a broads-cruiser type sliding roof over the wheel steering and saloon at the bow.

 

There's one locally- known as Davros- which has just lost the unique GRP top, and now has a clonecraft (pace Carlt) steel cabin.

 

THe thing is, I'm just wondering if people care? I mean, everyone's getting up in arms about Spitfire- is this an equally bad mutilation, destruction of heritage, etc.? Or does this seem more justified, as the boat is old but not too old?

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These have just been mentioned in another thread - after this writer erroneously called them "Sentinels". I believe that one member said that the sliding roof was prone to leaking, so a watertight steel top would be a practical improvement.

There's what appears to be a Frobisher for sale on eBay at the moment if anyone cares to test their waterproof qualities.

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Here they are ....

 

Sunroof

 

 

Frobisher

 

For me, the other sad thing I've noticed is that many no longer have a functional sliding roof, they're often sealed up, one I saw on e-bay recently had the chimney flue passing through the sunroof section, but I guess as time passes the boats get modified to suit the owners needs.

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I think it is a shame to hack about a boats unique features. However from our early season broads hires can say that the sliding roofs where a little drafty to say the least.

 

SEH1.jpg

 

hi folks! We have one of these and we were/are determined to retain most of it's original features.

 

The forward steering and related gizmos had been removed before i bought her, but I have retained the sliding roof

(damaged when bought but repaired/reinforced by me). This roof has not been a source of leaks or significant draughts, though I intend to fit better 'draught brushes' at the edges.

 

The main bugbears for me are the rainwater leaks from the sliding windows. Again I intend some minor mods to stop this and fit some small 'J' section ally gutter above each window (within the red stripe at roof level) in order to divert some of the water away from the windows.

 

At the moment she is out on the hard, having just been rebottomed. Steelwise just needs new rudder tube through the counter, new coaming around the stern deck area and some new anodes.

 

The mahogany handrails are also suspect and I shall be making new ones over the coming weeks so that I can then totally refit inside without fear of the dreaded H2O spoiling my work.

 

The photo shows Sir Edmund Hillary at Factory Locks on the BCN in 1994. I don't have any other decent full length photos, only pics of work before and after, more of a reference photo from which to rebuild after removal of some item or another.

 

This is our first boat and overall, the only gripe I have in the design is the same as any other cruiser decked boat......one gets too bl**dy wet when our great British weather decides to be mean.

 

There are three of these boats at Tamworth Cruising Club on the Coventry Canal. Ours is the only ex-hire craft, the other two being commissioned for private use from new. They are DelmarIII and El-EmoII both 44ft where SEH is 47ft.

 

One of the owners is toying with forming a Frobisher Owners Club or Register in the near future.

 

These have just been mentioned in another thread - after this writer erroneously called them "Sentinels". I believe that one member said that the sliding roof was prone to leaking, so a watertight steel top would be a practical improvement.

There's what appears to be a Frobisher for sale on eBay at the moment if anyone cares to test their waterproof qualities.

 

Item 140346655111 sold on Sunday for £8000. I don't think the other (similar) boat currently for sale on eBay is an ex-SUC Frobisher.

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Interesting comments. It will surely only be a matter of time when the early canal hire boat and private boat become as 'in demand' as some ex-working boats. Clearly with river launches and Broads cruisers this has been an active area for many years. Caravans from the fifties and sixties are sought after by period vehicle enthusiasts to add to their entourage. Their reason for being desirable will undoubtedly be that they evoke a period in time when certain generations were young, and feel a desire to recreate that era. It's just a matter of time, assuming enough survive intact.

 

Should they be in 'History and Heritage'? Inevitably they will be. I don't find them attractive, but then neither am I (beauty in the eye and all that). They do look a little like a Broads cruiser mutant. But then the human race is a mutation of species so nothing new there.

 

Derek

 

Speaking of which . . .

 

Different0018Medium.jpg

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For a lot of people the history and heritage that they wish to own and enjoy in later life is often what they remember from their early years. ("classic" cars are a cracking example). I guess its similar-ish with boats. There are those old enough to remember working boats .. erm .. working, likewise there are those whose earliest memories of boats will be from holidays on hireboats. The ex-Shroppie hireboats are all in their 30's now, so for my money it'd be good if these more recent, quirky-on the-eye, chapter in canal usage has a few fans to maintain one or two of them.

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There are still some excellent examples of the Frobisher class boats on the cut.

 

The name Sir Edmund Hillary rings a bell. Did it used to be in the SU fleet at Norbury? She looks a good example in Dave's photo.

 

Yes, she's ex-SUC/Dartline, so no doubt has been seen in both Norbury and Bunbury. Certainly, when we cruised past Bunbury a good few years back, I asked if they had any history on the boat, but no, they hadn't, although they thought that it had been their 'experimental' craft.

 

Looking at the air cooling exhaust, it may have once had an SR2 rather than the SR3 currently fitted as the outlet grille has been extended. The diesel tanks are built into the swims rather than into the stern.

 

Built 1974, hull by Seasteel Ltd at Nassington, Cambs and topped/fitted out by SUC at Norbury or Bunbury. The hull has many different characteristics to the others in our club, so more than one hull builder (It could be that SUC couldn't build them quickly enough and contracted the hulls out elsewhere....who knows?)

 

I'll post some other pics when I can. There were some real horrors to be seen when I bought her (1992, Maidenhead, R.Thames) where they had for instance fibreglassed the cabin to the gunwhales and the fibreglass had cracked and allowed rainwater, by capillary action, to enter and rise up over the coaming to which the cabin is affixed and rotted the hardwood backing. Pitting?? Himalayas...geddit? Previous owner had started to line it out with pine cladding and used ordinary steel screws!!!! Imagine the rust stains. I think we're the third owners after she retired from hire service.

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Interesting comments. It will surely only be a matter of time when the early canal hire boat and private boat become as 'in demand' as some ex-working boats. <snip>

Derek

 

Thank you Derek. I knew there was a reason why I haven't repainted Tawny Owl from her Alvechurch livery yet. I'm preserving our heritage for the future...

 

Richard

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For all Frobisher fans, a very neat example called Tranquil Liza has just appeared on Apollo Duck's sales list. Another new posting offers a 40' Hancock & Lane at £35,000: is this not unduly optimistic for a boat described as an "ongoing project"?

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You may know of the Frobisher class of boats- steel with a GRP top, with a broads-cruiser type sliding roof over the wheel steering and saloon at the bow.

 

There's one locally- known as Davros- which has just lost the unique GRP top, and now has a clonecraft (pace Carlt) steel cabin.

 

THe thing is, I'm just wondering if people care? I mean, everyone's getting up in arms about Spitfire- is this an equally bad mutilation, destruction of heritage, etc.? Or does this seem more justified, as the boat is old but not too old?

 

My parents hired Martin Frobisher from SUC Norbury Junction Spring Bank Holiday week 1975. It had an opening roof, although no forward steering and was not draughty. It had a Lister SR3, not a SR2. A very nice boat it was too, although a little primitive by today's standards.

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I like them but I remember when one sank near our marina one freezing December. It was a liveaboard, he'd tied in really tight, gone away for the weekend and the water level in our pound changed by about 18 inches over the course of two days. The boat sank via the skin fittings.

I remember really feeling for him as he jammed all his socks and t shirts in the gaps of the sliding roof (to stop the water coming in when it was being pumped out) and his friends showed up on a daily basis with an even bigger pump than the previous day, in an attempt to pump out and refloat. On the third day, the vessel was refloated, (by means of a huge trailer based pump), socks and all.

 

 

Different0018Medium.jpg

 

An awful crash occured during a charity raft race. But thankfully the helmsman of the work flat, the family in the cabin cruiser and the crew of the raft all escaped unscathed.

 

Which is more than we could say about the vessels.

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I like them but I remember when one sank near our marina one freezing December. It was a liveaboard, he'd tied in really tight, gone away for the weekend and the water level in our pound changed by about 18 inches over the course of two days. The boat sank via the skin fittings.

I remember really feeling for him as he jammed all his socks and t shirts in the gaps of the sliding roof (to stop the water coming in when it was being pumped out) and his friends showed up on a daily basis with an even bigger pump than the previous day, in an attempt to pump out and refloat. On the third day, the vessel was refloated, (by means of a huge trailer based pump), socks and all.

For future reference, if anyone's boat sinks, wrap rolls of builder's plastic around the whole of the cabin, to stop any leaks.

 

A bilge pump would then lift it.

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Personally I love the Frobishers as some of our holidays pre Vulcan were taken in one of these from SUC at Norbury, also as our holidays invariably involved the shroppie in the late 70's early 80's there were many of these boats passing so they bring back so many good memories for me.

 

If anyone has fleet details for SUC or any ther of the early fleets I will happily create a section on my site for them as I believe they played an integral part in keeping the system as we know it today alive.

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My parents hired Martin Frobisher from SUC Norbury Junction Spring Bank Holiday week 1975. It had an opening roof, although no forward steering and was not draughty. It had a Lister SR3, not a SR2. A very nice boat it was too, although a little primitive by today's standards.

 

And its still about, but now named SHELIA-ANNE (index 68050).

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  • 6 months later...

Hi All

I will try this again. I have just typed this out once and then lost it. So...

 

My parents had a frobisher 44 foot dartline grp roof, steel bottom. It had a sliding roof which opened and did not leak but was a bit draughty. It stopped sliding just before they sold it. It had an SR 3 lister aircooled engine. It was called Vitus Bering and we were told that we had to rename it (thankfully) as they were replacing the boat in the hire fleet with (as far as I can remember) one with a steel top. We renamed her The Painted Lady by putting our chosen names in a hat. We found out later that we had all wanted to call her The Runcorn Express! They bought it for about £8,500 from Bunbury in 1986. We had some fabulous holidays aboard her the first of which was a trip to London, down the river Thames and back via the IWA London Ring campaign cruise (the tidal bit) which was great. It wasn't planned and we ran out of time as Dad needed to get back to go to work. I remember we came from the top of Heartbreak Hill on the last day all the way to Runcorn in hurricaine Charlie.

We did plenty of cruising aboard her. We did many rivers and went all over the country. Don't ask me about the River Trent (Tidal again!!) because it still gives me nightmares.

They used to lend me and my girlfriends the boat so that we could go clubbing in Manchester. It was fun.

Painted Lady was fairly famous on our canal.

They sold her in 1999 as they were having a Gary Gorton built when Dad retired. That is a lovely boat. They are still cruising and me and my family are now on our second boat. We are having a great time. I wonder if I will lend our boat to my girls to go clubbing? I doubt it!

I would love to hear about the whereabouts of her and to hear from who own her now would be amazing.

I have tried to add two pics.

Sue

 

I don't know how to load a picture. I tried using flickr but it won't let me. Help!

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we hired "Amerigo Vespucci" from Norbury in 1979 and had a great fortnight on her, eventful trip to say the least!! navigating the morris Lift bridge (damaged and balance beam missing) the base was lifted out for us to go through on Friday and again on Tuesday for the return. all went well until the engine (SR3) died at Trevor. the engineer came out, decided it had had enough and arranged a replacement unit which was fitted on Saturday afternoon!! 3 blokes lifting the old one out and the new one in!! just the sort of thing a 14 year old boy(yes i was that once LOL) loved to see!

Edited by hamsterfan
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It will surely only be a matter of time when the early canal hire boat and private boat become as 'in demand' as some ex-working boats.

 

I reckon that early 70s boats are as much part of our canal history as the pre-war carrying fleets. An interesting restoration is the Cowpar and Cowburn “Snipe”. The present owners have chosen to restore this boat not back to its working trim, but as an early hotel boat.

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