“Lovely boat, had everything required for a pleasant holiday. The only things that let the trip down were the lack of information provided by the young lad who showed us the boat, he seemed in a hurry to get home, and didn’t even explain the knots required so we had to make do with the examples in the manual. Not ideal.
The second issue we had was that the hybrid battery wouldn’t charge over 55% for two days and the generator didn’t kick in when battery got below 50%, so we had to run the generator constantly over those two days travelling down to Norwich and back.
The engineer could remotely view the boat data and he altered some settings which meant the battery started charging fully again, but this wasn’t a good situation to be in, crossing Breydon Water on 50% battery life
Overall a great holiday and will definitely go with Brinks again.”
Thanks so much for your lovely comments – and those retrievers look like they thoroughly approved of the holiday too 🐾
I’m really sorry the handover felt a bit rushed. That’s not the standard we aim for, and we’ll be having a quiet word to make sure everyone gets a proper, unhurried introduction (knots included!).
On the battery issue, thank you for flagging it so clearly. I’m glad our engineer could get things sorted remotely, but I completely understand it wasn’t ideal at the time. Just to reassure you (and anyone reading), even at 50% battery, crossing Breydon Water is perfectly safe – and all our hybrids have a diesel auxiliary system that will automatically support things if needed.
Delighted to hear you still had a great holiday overall, and we’d love to welcome you back on board again soon.
“Fab holiday again! Prelude 2 lived up to prelude 4 which we went on earlier this year. Already booked again for next year!
Barnes brinkcraft is highly recommended!”
“A wonderful relaxing holiday on a fantastic craft!
We wanted for nothing. Thankyou Barnes Brinkcraft, to a tee you were all wonderful.
Thank you again”
“Our holiday on Prelude was so much fun. We hired Prelude from the 19th September until the 26th and can't wait to come back next year. It was so easy to drive and the bow and stern thrusters really made mooring a breeze. The staff at Barnes Brinkcraft were super helpful. Bring on 2026!!!!”
“A beautiful boat - Slightly more complicated to operate so would advise to listen to the safety brief thoroughly! Good quality, comfortable and premium.”
Thank you
For anyone else reading this review, its worth noting that you can give our engineers a call and they will be pleased to go over any queries on the boat with you
All the best,
The Team at Barnes Brinkcraft
“Found the week great and found the boat handling was good, however I feel that the handover was lacking I.e it took us 2 days to figure out the hot water, (feel it could have been explained better) the mud securing
rings were in the boat, but no
hammer/mallet. The layout of the boat was adequate but found that we needed cushions in the main saloon, which would have made seating a lot more comfortable, only one hairdryer was available( thought there would have been 2) in the FWD cabin it would have been a win if there was blackout blinds were available as it was very early starts each morning, again it took a couple of days to work out how to use it, we will be coming back in the near future and now know what questions to ask. Thank you looking forward to returning soon.”
Dear Ian
Thank you so much for your thoughtful feedback — we’re really pleased to hear that you enjoyed your week on board and found the boat easy to handle.
We’re sorry to hear that parts of the handover left you unsure about some of the boat’s features. We’ll make sure your comments are passed on to the team and used as part of our ongoing training, so we can make the handover clearer and more helpful in future.
For next time, please note that a mallet can be provided if needed — we simply take a small refundable deposit for it. We also appreciate your suggestions regarding extra cushions, blackout blinds, and additional hairdryers, and will keep these in mind when reviewing future updates to the boats.
We’re delighted that you’re planning to return and look forward to welcoming you back soon.
Kind regards,
The Team at Barnes Brinkcraft
