A NEW dining experience is about to be floated on Hull Marina.
The owner of the former oil barge Baysdale – now renamed the Wyke Princess – is seeking permission to moor her in Hull Marina.
The 137ft barge – which has been shortened to 100ft to get her through the lock gates at Hull Marina – is being converte
d at Beverley to create a 60-seater restaurant, with a cafe-bar below. Most of the upstairs floor will be glass on a steel frame, giving wonderful views.
The idea was dreamt up by Tony Bedford and is aimed at office-workers at lunchtimes as well as people coming into the city centre for dinner in the evening.
Mr Bedford, an entrepreneur who does boat conversions as well as run bars, has been working on the £250,000 project for the past year.
He said: "Originally it was going to be for me as a houseboat but then we started thinking about its possibilities as a restaurant.
"I know the yacht club at the Marina are interested in using it as a venue and I think there will be an awful lot of functions and even business meetings, it being slightly unusual."
Mr Bedford said the boat – which will be accessed using the same jetty that leads to the Lightship – would not be rigged out with nautical-looking decorations, although it would have two masts and sails for show. "Upstairs decor-wise it's going to be stylish and modern, as it's all glass with only 12 inches of steel between the panels. It will be light and airy and have a wooden floor. Downstairs it's going to be darker, lots of leather and red and gold."
The boat, which is having a lift for the disabled installed, should open to customers in the New Year.
Planners recommend councillors at tomorrow's planning meeting at Hull's Guildhall approve an application allowing the boat to be moored in the Marina.
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