Sunday, 1 March 2015

Caribbean Cruiser

Well maybe not the first boat you would think of for cruising the Windward and Leeward Islands, nor indeed even the sheltered waters of Chichester harbour as seen here.

The "Caribbean" class defined luxury and modernity in the river boat hire fleets of the Thames and Norfolk Broads during the late 1960's and 1970's.



Designed by Frank Wilds and launched in 1966 the Caribbean class became an instant success, quickly replacing the fleet of wooden hire cruisers which had provided family boating holidays during the post war years.


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4 comments:

  1. Chris Partridge1 March 2015 at 08:25

    I saw it a few weeks ago on blocks in Nick Gates's yard having the original BMC engine stripped out and replaced by diesel/electric. See those solar panels on top? Apparently she needs practically no charging at all.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bursledon Blogger1 March 2015 at 14:26

    The old BMC didn't do too badly then.

    I guess electric power is OK depending on how far they go. But as a floating weekend pad on a mooring in Chichester harbour you could do a lot worse, especially if the batteries can get you down to east head or up to dell quay.

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  3. Graham Neil2 March 2015 at 11:51

    Oh my Giddy Aunt!
    I had the misfortune of piloting one for an hour a number of years ago on the Thames near Tewkesbury. They should use them for bulk carrier training. Should be good for drying out on the sand though.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous30 April 2017 at 22:36

    Are you sure its a Caribbean? It looks more like a Bounty 37.

    ReplyDelete

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