BroadAmbition

The simple reason I cannot attend is that on 17th May all day I will be at Lambton on a team clay shooting event which Griffs Growlers are attending, I'm team captain and all four of us must be in attendance. This was booked (And paid for) ages ago now On the upside however the following weekend I will be onboard for a long weekend afloat Griff

Sunday morning 21st April Up fresh, heating and morning tv on - No issues and new batteries held up to full expectations. Did some more bank clearance, I can report that I am now well past that tree and reckon I have cleared another good ten feet - Until the next time then I then produced a FCE for the pair of us, then after clearing up we sailed for the wetshed. No need for a pump out as the heads had hardly been used What was it with the blasted wind? not only was there too much of it, it was just far too cold. I wanted to give the topsides a proper wipe down as apparently it had rained overnight but had to give it up as my hands were going numb Into Wetshed - Quick clean through and we departed for home. I left at 1250 and got home for 1600 so only just made a family dinner in a local pub at 1615 - that was a close call So, a good if short weekend afloat. For those of you that have not yet met 'Aboattime' - He is a thoroughly nice chap (For a southerner), good company an experienced helm, and a former boat owner. It was a pleasure to have made his acquaintance Griff

Saturday 20th April Up and at em early on. Batteries changed over, the old ones were collected and away. Forumite 'Aboattime' arrived as planned, off we went to the Rainbow cafe on Stalham high street, then to Tesco's for victuals to see us through to Sunday forenoon so didn't need much. Filled 'B.A's water tanks, completed our pre sailing preps then set sail around lunchtime with aboattime on t helm. It was windy and the wind was proper cold so the heating was firmly on. Ludham bridge was showing 7ft8" at best which should have meant just 1" clearance there was of course more like 3" clearance so we could thankfully leave the canopy up We arrived with no dramas at Thurne Dyke. However by now I had consumed far more vodka and orange than I really should have. No reason other than it was there and I didn't want it going out of date and I was taking advantage of having an experienced helm onboard too. Add in the fact that I don't really consume much alcohol at home either so not used to it. Two pints in the Lion and I was done for. So I left my helm with some fellow pub customers and staggered back to 'B.A' with Purdey dog in tow. Then it happened. I fell over a blade of grass, it was a particular tough blade of grass to actually leg me up. I was about twenty yards from 'B.A's well deck at the time. I thought to mysen, you know what? I'll just lie her for a while. Trouble with that was Purdey thought this was some kind of new game and proceeded to charge round at breakneck speed puppy like woofing her head off. All that succeeded in doing was drawing attention the the pair of us. Goodness knows how many attempts it took me to find mysen in the well deck but I can assure you it was way more than one. I do hope some bystander was videoing this sequence of events as it must have been hilarious Once inboard I had to snib the galley / well deck doors shut as the wind kept blowing them open, made my way to the wheelhouse which was nice and warm and collapsed into a slumber I was woken sometime later by receiving blows around the dish from one of our draft excluder sausages wielded by the helm. He claimed I had locked him out in the rain/wind, and could only raise me by leaning in under the canopy to reach said draft excluder sausage. You couldn't make any of this up could you? The daft thing was the doors on the sash sides were unlocked and all he had to do was give them a proper firm push and he would have been in! The next issue I faced was getting 'B.A' astern out of the dyke, I couldn't really ask the brand new hem to attempt this as it was his first time onboard and he had not got the feel of her, well not going astern anyhow. Somehow we made it and off we went to Griffs Corner with our new helm doing his thing. By the time we got there I was near back to normal operating capability and we moored up safe and secure on the rhond anchors it was by now 1820. A huge thanks to Aboattme for all his helming skills, mind you if he had not been onboard I would have never got mysen into that kind of mess in the first place I took mysen to task and got stuck into some bank clearance until dusk. We got the goggle box on the go, the heating was on, along with upper deck lights and plenty of inboard lighting I needed to give the 12 and 240v systems a proper long test. Helm produced evening dinner whilst I was bank clearing, Well past midnight both systems were just fine and dandy Lights out for around 0030 Griff

Yes I saw that too. Maybe we ought to alter them to the perfectly balanced connection method rather than the way they are now Griff

Out wi t'old 110 amph 'Travelbatt' batteries and and in wi t new 'Snappy' 130amph jobbies Couldn't test out the new small window vac as - sodding typical there was no condensation Saturday or Sunday morning, but the good news is that the blade is small enough (just) to fit between the canopy ribs, so best guess paid off for once Griff

Ditto wot the last three forumites said Griff

That’s me n Purdey onboard as of 2115. 3 x Hrs door to door which was a good run. Crack on with battery change in t morning Griff

Have you asked Paul? He might ok it Griff

Erm - I didn’t other than Lake Lothing (which is a fair size) It was common knowledge where his boat was moored at OBYS Griff

I know Daniel Austrin's work from other boat owners and they speak very highly of him Griff

Talking of pot holes, in this country we used to drive on the left, now we drive on what's left of the road Griff

Now then, I'm due to arrive onboard this Friday evening I could do with a hand this Saturday morning. I have a portable thicknessing planer to move out of our wetshed locker into my van, its heavy, a two man lift into our trolley than a two man lift into my van. Anyone likely to be around? Then I have six heavy leisure batteries to change over. Then on completion I will be sailing to Thurne dyke (Or maybe another location?)- It'd be easier with a crew member onboard to assist me with lowering the canopy down for Ludham bridge if there is less than 7ft7" headroom Then a hand to consume a few libations in the Lion followed by a return cruise to Griffs Corner on t Ant again through Ludham bridge Then overnight where I'll be doing some bank clearance prior to sunset (Wx permitting) followed by libations and a film of some description on t goggle box prior to lights out Sunday morning, a fairly early start, cruise back to wetshed and home. I need to be back at home nlt 1600 so must depart Stalham nlt 1200 I'll provide the scran onboard and do the cooking Saturday teatime (Unless you wanna do it) So if anyone fancies a river trip with an overnighter - Let me know (Able bodied only please) I can of course do the whole lot on my todd but will struggle moving the planer and thought some one might like a trip out, there is room for up to four crew - You'll need bedding / sleeping bag Cheers, Griff

Had a good day yesterday, Got out in t GriffTile van, visited three clients as requested for my advice / estimates. Got a stack of office work done Afternoon - Visited Daughter and family - Yet more garden clearance / tree pruning, I was only about 90 odd mins from finishing cutting up the big stuff for drying out (Multi burner arriving in t future) when another family member appeared which resulted in four lads and three dogs going next door but one into the local village pup for an impromptu pint or three. Good stuff but meant I didn't complete my logging task Then back to their place to watch the Grand National, I had placed bets on three nags as I do every year - They all came nowhere as they do nearly every year - Mission accomplished Daughter won £90:00 ! so MrsG was invited round and it was a Chinese takeaway dinner for the seven of us on her Son-in-law - He won thousands first time he has a major big win, he's been close a couple of times over the years (He doesn't try that often). He promptly transferred nearly all of it over to daughter - That'll pay for their upcoming full family bathroom revamp that I'm now involved with whether I like it or not - No surprise there then Got home about 2030 for a night in with MrsG n Purdey - Tally puppy now back at her place much to Purdey's relief Today - Been clay shooting this forenoon, now it is tasks in our own garden for a change set by MrsG, then I'll get mysen off to finish the logging. Then a major tidy out in t GriffTile van required. Life is sure busy - Wouldn't have it any other way Griff

Griff, in your previous post you asked in what way could we help these people. Sadly you then proffered a number of shall we say, rather flippant suggestions. I'm afraid it was that flippancy that I over reacted to. I apologise unreservedly for the annoyance that this has caused you. You are well known for your charitable deeds and attitude, and for me to imply otherwise is totally unacceptable. MM - Just to clear up any misunderstandings, your apology well intended as it was - from my point of view was not needed mate. I feel we are both pulling on the same end of the rope furthermore I have nothing but respect for you and your views. The difference is that you have direct close direct contact with some of the liveaboards and therefore much closer personal information which I understand. That though does not excuse any of them from playing fair or by the rules imho Griff

Knowing as we do the Blessed Authorities fixation with peddling the lie that our Broads are a 'National Park' Well, they have missed a trick here - Nice to see no mention of it Griff

@BroadAmbitionyou ask what help you can give. I remember giving a member here a doggy life jacket I no longer needed. I left it in the aft well of B Ambition. Perhaps when you are renewing your ropes you might find a home for the old ones. That's the sort of help I was thinking of. We have always done that where practicable. Our last set of ropes were donated to a fellow boat owner he is still using them. Our first solar panel was donated to Mike on Chameleon - it's still onboard. Our first mast was donated to another boat owner - Its still being used. The recently removed horns if they can be repaired will also be donated. The 'Current' complement of batteries are being sold to a fellow forumite at less value than we could get at a scrappers. Years ago a young lad on the forum (May have been the nbf) that was trying to do up a small boat on a budget - I paid for, spliced and provided foc a full set of mooring ropes for him When the forum got together to help out our past chairman, I couldn't make it so instead along with Robin we filled the diesel tank I try to give my time and advice freely as and when I can do so The list goes on and on I'll be stuffed if I'm giving gear away to those that have no respect for our environment or other river users when I can help my mates out - Guilty as charged your honour That's just my nature, one I'm quite at ease with Griff

MM:- But has anyone tried to offer any help? Just what help would you suggest we offer? Turn up with a floating skip to tidy up their bank rubbish? Tow them about the system to allow other toll payers to share wild moorings? Pay their river Toll? Get their boats through the BSS? Pay for their insurance? Pay for regular visits to a pump out station? (Have they ever been?) Tow them about the system to avoid over staying on 24 Hr moorings during the 'High' season? Rent them a land based dwelling? Give them a Job? Where does it all end? Griff

WOW..... Born in the 60s Never thought of it this way. They call us "The Elders" We were born in the 60s We grew up in the 70s. We studied in the 80s. We dated in the 80s-90s. We got married (or not ) and discovered the world in the 80s-90s. We ventured into the 80s-90s. We stabilized in the 2000s. We became wiser in 2010. And we are firmly moving beyond 2020. It seems like we live in seven different decades... TWO different centuries... TWO separate millennials... We have gone from a rotary dial telephone with party lines and a long distance operator to video calls anywhere in the world. We've gone from slides to YouTube, vinyl records to streaming music, handwritten letters to email and WhatsApp. From live game radio, to black and white television, to color television and then to 3D HD television. To the video store and now it’s Netflix. We met the first computers, punched cards, floppy disks and now we have gigabytes and megabytes on our smartphones. We dodged infantile paralysis, meningitis, polio, tuberculosis, swine flu and now COVID-19. We used to ride roller skates, tricycles, bicycles, mopeds, gasoline or diesel cars and now we drive hybrids or electric cars. Yes, we've been through a lot, but what a life we've had!!! They could describe us as "exemplars", people born in that world of the sixties who had an analog childhood and a digital adulthood. Our generation has literally lived and witnessed more than anyone else in all dimensions of life. It is our generation that has literally adapted to more change than any before or since. A big round of applause to all the members of a very adaptable, very unique generation! The Best is Yet to Come! Griff

Aha - then it could be that the air pressure in the tank is low, (Or the diaphragm is split) needs some wind in it matey. As a rough rule of thumb the air pressure in the expansion tank should be around half that of what the pump is rated at. Hope this helps Griff

Do we start calling Griff Enid Sharples then ? Point of order 'Enid' indeed - Get it right man, she was called 'Ena' a boat with its fenders down at sea is tantamount to a lady going out with her rollers in her hair!!!! It's also akin to setting off in you car with the boot / tailgate wide open On a more serious /safety point, they are raised for safety to stop them getting caught / tangled when underway, same reason the rowlocks should always be stowed away in a dinghy if being towed or under sail Plus - It just looks 'Proper' Griff

What do you mean by 'Sticking On'? - Running constantly? Has the expansion tank got the correct air pressure in it? Griff

I'm quite happy with Liveaboards around the system as long as they are paying their way like the rest of us do. I'm tolerant (But only just) of those liveaboards that are not paying their way as goodness knows how they have ended up struggling along just to live. If they choose that lifestyle - Then no sympathy from me What I am most definitely not tolerant of is when they hog wild moorings and make such a damned mess and eyesores for all to see without seemingly a care in the world for their surroundings. Those wild moorings should be available to all river users to share, especially those that are contributing into the system. When liveaboards hog maintained moorings, especially those with electric, then I have no tolerance for them at all. However when out of season and the moorings are quiet then I don't get as incensed Griff

I did on the Nürburgring track, hit 145mph would have gone quicker but the main straight was coned off to bring everyone back into the pit / parking area. That is the fastest me and my Tiger have travelled together, no intention of topping it either Griff

I've 'Done' Breydon in the dark only twice, no real enthusiasm to to it again anytime soon either. What was worse for me was going over in the fog, now that really is challenging and to be avoided at all costs. Been over a few times when it has been shut to hire craft, never experienced any issues, yes there was a bit of a chop but nowt to be concerned about Griff

That's six new leisure 130amph batteries ordered, slightly larger dimensions (We think they'll fit the boxes) £468:18 / £78:03 with a four year guarantee, free delivery, (Ebay) they should be with me tomorrow ready for transporting down next weekend Griff