Celebrating 40 years in the Boat Hire industry

Chris, Pam and Paul Clark

In terms of quality, our customers appreciate that not only do we have a modern fleet of boats, we also give a friendly personal service that is the hallmark of a family-run business. It also explains why so many of our customers keep coming back to us year after year!

Len and Lou Clark launched the Clark Family into boating when they bought John Hicks Boatyard back in February 1966. The original intention was to slow down and take semi-retirement. They started off hiring out punts with the boatyard mainly being filled with private moorings. Within a couple of years Len started his hire fleet Castle Line, with his first wooden cabin cruisers, and In 1971 he built his first new wooden cruiser, Castle Two.

Our current proprietor, Chris Clark, started helping his Dad out part-time in 1974 and went full-time in 1978 with his first two cruisers, both Elysian 27's, Lady Lynne and Lady Karen sleeping 2 to 4 people.

By 1982 the Kris Cruisers fleet had increased to 5 boats accomodating 2 more 2 to 4 berth boats and a 6 berth boat called Lady Mary, which at the time would cost as little as £188 for a whole weeks holiday. In 1983 the fleets of Castle Line and Kris Cruisers increased to 19 boats which included the running of 3 boats for Consort Cruisers. Later that year the 3rd generation arrived straight from school in June 1983 namely Paul, but come September he was already off to Kingston College to study Marine Engineering through the old YTS scheme. In 1985 the fleet increased further to 20 boats accomodating Lady Alice, a 42' boat sleeping 9 to 11 people.

Lots of changes arrived in 1986 as Len & Lou Clark took a well deserved retirement. In the same year Chris's sister Brenda bought 4 boats, including 2 from her parents creating King Craft and ran them alongside her brother. Kris Cruisers bought the majority of Castle Lines boats along with Consort Cruisers and just for fun purchased an extra 5 boats. The 2 fleets then stood at 27 boats in total, the largest size fleet to be run to this very day.

1990 saw even bigger changes with the decision to reduce the fleet size but increase quality. The reduction in fleet size to 24 was to allow space for the introduction of 2 Brand New Luxury Cruisers, Lady Alexandra and Lady Kristina. Costing £60,000 each and still in the fleet today, they were designed with a low wash hull and were the first brand new hire boats on the River Thames in nearly 10 years.

The fleet size continually changing up and down in size, saw another change in 1995, for the first time, Kris Cruisers was the only boat hire company operating out of Datchet. The fleet was reduced to 21 boats with Brenda and King Craft leaving Datchet and moving up to Abingdon Boat Centre with their fleet, where they still operate from today, albeit no cabin cruisers.

If you would like to receive any information, or cannot find what you are looking for, please call 01753 543930 (or from outside the UK, +44 1753 543930) or e-mail