The story behind a beautiful bespoke pedal boat being built in Norfolk and the craft’s remarkable creator.

A Super 8 cine film flickers into life; the soft colours, lighting and family saloon car instantly place it in the 1960s.

Two young men untie a craft on the roof of the car, which is parked close to the water’s edge on a beach in the early morning sunshine.

The sea is smooth and calm as the pair put the boat in the water, don lifejackets, climb in and, facing each other, turn and pedal swiftly and smoothly out to sea.

The next film shows the two returning as the sun lowers, happy at what they’ve achieved – a 12.5 hour, 60-mile circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight in a home-made pedal boat.

Great British Life: David Williams with his son in law Stephen PitkethlyDavid Williams with his son in law Stephen Pitkethly (Image: Steve Adams 2018 : 07398 238853)

The films were shot over 50 years ago and one of the two men in the boat was its builder and creator David Williams, who now lives in Horning.

He still remembers the trip in detail.

“We had a word with the coastguard and they said they’d keep an eye on us, just in case. So we worked our way out to The Solent and went all the way round the island. We did have the tide to help us, but we were quite fit then!”

They had other adventures on the south coast but had to abandon a Channel crossing attempt - there was no problem with the pedal boat but the escort vessel was not coping well with a slightly bumpy sea!

Great British Life: Pedal power - the Cyclone pedal craft made by David WilliamsPedal power - the Cyclone pedal craft made by David Williams (Image: Steve Adams 2018 : 07398 238853)

David, who retired to the Broads 40 years ago after a career in the textile business in the City of London, actually made his first pedal boat, nicknamed ‘The Sieve’ by his family, when he was 16 to allow him to follow his radio-controlled yachts while keeping his hands free.

It worked well enough, though David found it a little jerky to use solo.

National Service intervened but when he returned he decided to have another look at the pedal boat.

“The poor old Sieve was falling to bits,” he says. So it was turned into firewood and he had a new idea.

“With a two-man one you would have an even drive, a smooth ride.” He set to work and the Cyclone was born.

Great British Life: David Williams (facing camera) with his son in law Stephen Pitkethly aboard CycloneDavid Williams (facing camera) with his son in law Stephen Pitkethly aboard Cyclone (Image: Steve Adams 2018 : 07398 238853)

“It worked so well that I brought it up here with my wife on honeymoon and we spent fortnight on the Broads with a yacht and the pedal boat in 1961.” Norfolk had always had a hold on the family.

“We always holidayed here. My grandfather used to bring his children here in the 1890s, my father brought me and my brother, I brought my children and they brought their children!” Cyclone was an essential part of the family too.

“When we had small children on holiday we used to take Cyclone with us… though there was one mishap when it came off the roof of a car on the motorway!” It was repaired and gave many more years of service before it was donated to a toddlers’ school where it was adapted to become a see-saw boat.

David then made one which suited him and his late wife Jean.

Great British Life: The 'engine' of one of the Dad's Boats craft - bicycle pedals!The 'engine' of one of the Dad's Boats craft - bicycle pedals! (Image: Steve Adams 2018 : 07398 238853)

They’d pedal the craft every morning from Horning halfway to Wroxham and back while they were in their 70s.

But eventually Jean wanted a more stable boat and Lifecycle, the current design, came along.

It was that design which, eventually, led to the creation of the company Dad’s Boats to build and sell a luxury pedal craft to well-keeled (pun intended) customers.

It was started in 2012 by David’s son-in-law Stephen Pitkethly and his wife Anita.

“When we’re pedalling along we get so many people saying ‘where can you hire one of those from?’ I didn’t take any notice really, because I thought it was just a family thing that we amused ourselves with,” says David.

Great British Life: Building one of Dad's Boats at Colin Buttifant's yardBuilding one of Dad's Boats at Colin Buttifant's yard (Image: Steve Adams 2018 : 07398 238853)

“When Stephen decided to make a business out of it I thought that was great and I was happy to help.”

“We always said one day we ought to do something with dad’s pedal boats,” says Stephen.

“With the popularity of cycling, everyone being encouraged to exercise a bit more and the environmental issues around how we power things we thought ‘now would be a good time’.

“It was mid-recession and we were constantly hearing on the radio about how rubbish we are at making things in this country and we don’t invent anything any more and we thought; actually we have a really good idea here and we know loads of people who are fantastic craftsmen in Norfolk so we said; let’s start the company now and let’s make it in Norfolk wherever we can.” From his time working in design in the automotive industry, Stephen knew where to look.

Great British Life: Building one of Dad's Boats at Colin Buttifant's yardBuilding one of Dad's Boats at Colin Buttifant's yard (Image: Steve Adams 2018 : 07398 238853)

An expert automotive firm makes the 17ft long fibreglass hulls, a stainless steel fabrication company does all the hardware and Colin Buttifant’s yard in Ludham, famed for traditional wooden yachts, finishes it all.

It is not a quick process; it takes around six weeks to build a boat.

“Everywhere we go it is extremely well-received. People think it is a fantastic idea, that the guy who invented it was a genius, that they can’t believe the idea is that old because it is so current,” says Stephen.

“They like the fact that we’re making them in Norfolk.” At the moment Dad’s Boats is a low volume, high quality business, making a small quantity of boats each year. There are two models; the Elite, aimed at the private customer, and the Universal, aimed at the hire market.

You can hire one of Dad’s Boats from Hippersons. If you fall in love with it and decide to invest in one you’ll need to find £12,999 for the Elite and £8,999 for the Universal, depending on specification.

Great British Life: David Williams with one of his exquisite hand-crafted propellersDavid Williams with one of his exquisite hand-crafted propellers (Image: Steve Adams 2018 : 07398 238853)

Proper propellors

Less expensive than the boats, but as beautiful, are the hand-made wooden propellers that David, now 84, still crafts in his workshop.

They were born out of a need to find exactly the right gearing for his pedal boats.

“If I wanted to experiment with cadence rather than change gears, which I didn’t know how to do, I’d just make another propeller with a different pitch and that would do the job for me” he says.

Great British Life: An unfinished propeller and one that has been varnishedAn unfinished propeller and one that has been varnished (Image: Steve Adams 2018 : 07398 238853)

He makes them painstakingly, joining pieces of wood to create a rough shape and then using his craftsman’s eye to sculpt the propeller by hand using simple tools and sandpaper.

You can buy propellers from dadsboats.com and prices start at £149.