Julz

Far from being bored David, the ocean and its wildlife within have always facinated me since being a small child, probably started by a visit to the exibition hut that used to be on the promanade, close by what is now the yacht harbour and new pontoons at Scarborough The habour was a thriving industry back then, always busseling with the many trawlers landing their catch, and anything unusal that was caught was whisked around to the exibition hut, where the public paid sixpence to go and look at the display, and talk to the very knowledgeable old seadog who used to run the place during his retirement, to gain a bit of beer money for himself They often had the angler fish on display, a right ugly thing it was too, and not something that was used as a food fish as much back then as it is today, after its popularity soared thanks to the TV celebrity Chefs creating dishes with this fish renamed as Monk fish on their shows. They often had bizarre looking rock sucker fish, as well as a type of puffer fish that looked very spikey and always seemed to be one of the stars of the display A couple of years ago i was lucky enough to take a ride on a submarine, and was facinated by the underwater scenery and wildlife, although a little disapointed that the fish seemed to be rather panicked by the noise of its engines, and quickly swam into the ship wreck down there for cover, a brilliant experiance anyway, and something i wouldnt hesitate doing again given the chance Julz

Its amazing how the local fishmongers and restaurants get away with selling the fish wings clearly marked as 'Skate' if that is the case, without some sort of repremand from the local trading standards, especially as this is a commercial fishing area where they should know better We have lived on a diet of freshly caught thick fleshed juicy Plaice this week, cooked in a variety of ways with various sauces, or simply grilled, they have been some of the best i have seen and tasted since i used to come up to this part of the coast in the 1960s as a child, back in the days when they were sold to the public straight off the dock, without any kind of EU regulations to have to abide by Locally smoked kippers and mackerell for breakfast too, so much nicer than those pre packed boil-in-the-bag samples sold in supermarkets, and without all that artifical colour added, just super fresh and naturally delicous Julz

Anyone ever dangle a line out in the Estuaries along the Norfolk coast to try and catch something nice for tea? Apart from the pesky mackerell, and the occasional Dogfish, what else do you often catch? This week whilst up at Bempton we have been talking to a lot of the small fishing boat skippers, learning whats being caught and whats not, theres a real shortage of whitefish(cod, haddock, pollock, whiting ect) around this area at the moment, to a point that some boats have moved further down the coast to fish off the Thames mouth area, before landing their catches back at Grimsby where prices are also more in the fishermans favour at auction. Locally though they are catching some good big flatfish, Skate and Plaice are plentiful, although the Crabs are somewhat in poor condition when caught at this time of the year, with quite empty shells meat wise when dressed. Its taking two whole crabs to make one dressed shell full ready for sales on the stalls, and the spare claws that are often available by the pound are non existant as these are needed to make up the dressed supply orders for restaurants and the seafood stalls along the promanade So what do you all catch for tea? Julz

Last time we were down there we spotted a few rowing boats and small ribs trolling for Pike with lures being dragged from their stern. There was a bit of contoversy at the time on whether this was ethical and allowed in such a place, but we never spotted anyone catch any Pike by this meathod anyway, and we were moored up for quite some time along that stretch of the Waveney Julz

I watched them all departing at around 1.30pm today on the webcam, spotted someone in a red jacket who looked to be one of HJ's crew out on the walkway, followed by a few others, before ropes were finally cast off and away they went Julz

Thanks Jonny I did wonder if that was Happyjax, but was rather unsure being has she is not a true saltly bottom type, i was not sure if she was allowed to stray that far into the briney stuff lol or if she was staying on the Broadside Julz

I have been watching the RNSYC camra on and off for the past couple of days, but cannot spot anyone we know yet lol, maybe because the lense is either very dirty, or its view is distorted by the rain spots on it at present Which side of the Harbour are you on looking from the camras perspective? Julz

Time to get your swimming trunks on Jonny, and take a sharp pair of sissors down there to try and sort it out or maybe have her lifted out for a good bottom scrub and sort out any other problems at the same time Julz

I would still have a go at persuing a claim via trading standards on the grounds that this item failed prematurely, had a safety issue which ended in fire, and was therefore 'unfit for purpose'. I read on a caravan forum that someone had done this with a failed Motor Mover, which burned out just out of a 3yr warantee, and they managed to get their money back because the gadget was under 5 yrs old. Im sure that trading standards have template letters for this kind of claim, they cartainly have them for things like Mobile phone contract disputes Worth a try anyway Julz

Some good waterproof clothing to protect you and anything you may have in your pockets from wind, spray and unexpected waves over the bow, I lost a new mobile phone that was in my pocket due to a drenching i got coming back into Bridlington harbour last year, it killed it off dead and it was unrepairable, so went out and bought some overtrousers as well as the jacket Im quite a fan of Regatta branded stuff myself, but theres probably more better stuff out there if you do a search of the chandlers. Julz

Yipee I won! Bill can buy the drinks tonight lol, weve found a snow free patch here and are off out later! Julz

Im still baffled as to what those nose cone type things are that are starting to adorn the bows of some of the latest Faircraft, last time i spotted something similar it was on the bridge roof onboads P&O's Arcadia We got a bet going here, I say there Sat Tv gear, Bill says there a tracking device for security reasons Whos right? Julz

Not exactly the same as were caravanners, but if we leave our leisure battery to its own devices without any top up charge, its protection device will fuse the system as soon as the level of charge drops below around 11amps as a precaution to totally flattening the battery and causing damage to it. Some people use a solar panel charger to overcome this problem, others use EHU(Shore power) or remove the battery periodically for an overnight charge up at home The thing that sticks in my mind thats different for a boat is the need for power to keep the bilge pump running whilst its moored up for the winter. We also run a dawn till dusk 12v light to keep some power flow going through the battery to prevent any overcharging as ours is on EHU 24/7 throughout the winter lay up when no split charge power is available from cruising/towing. Julia

That one reminds me of a Baby alarm my daughter once bought, being a popular make, it was identical to one owned by a couple a few doors down the road, and used the same frequency to transmit to the recievers as my daughters alarm, resulting in some very amusing and somewhat embarrasing conversations being transmitted between the two houses Julz

Thanks for the invite Ian, much apprieciated We are hoping to be down a few times next year with our caravan, also doing a few trips down to Sandringham and Wells if anyone is based along the coast up there, or anyother east coast port for that matter, its always fairly easy to find a pitch nearby If anyone is intrested in the Tall Ships race this year, then were planing a trip up to Hartlepool the first weekend in August, to watch them in the Parade of Sail out along the North East coast Julz

I would love the chance to have a spin out to sea given the oputunity, and would offer to chip in with any costs as a Thankyou to the owner Ok, i have lived at Sea for quite a few weeks onboard ships, and have had the experiance of being crew on a small crab boat belonging to a friend up in Flambrough, as well as several types of tourist craft worldwide, including Yachts and Sea-cats, but it would be rather nice to add a blast up the Norfolk coast to my list of adventures, the highlight of which up till now has been to do a submarine dive off the coast of Barbados last year Thinking about it, im quite a saltside junkie, and have probaby spent more time during my life with a salty bottom than a fresh water one, although have rarely helmed at sea! Bill is not so good at it though, he tends to chuck up if things get bumpy, best leave him behind! Julz

I scored 46, mid range if you look at the averages table , but im quite pleased with that having had lazer eye surgery a few years back Julz

Well i have very little experiance of putting a boat to bed for winter Luke, but loads on doing the same for a caravan which is very similar on the domestic side of things I dont bother with a powered de-humidifyer, but use cat litter trays of common salt to soak up the mosture in the atmosphere inside, changing it every couple of months as it becomes rock soild and can no longer be stired up easily. this works very well for us and i have never suffered any inside winter condensation in the past. You can also buy the special cristals from most large chemists that work the same. I stand all upholstry on its side to allow air to circulate, and completely drain off watertank and toilet. We also avoid trying to heat up the inside of the van unless absoloutly necesary, as this can encourage mildew to form as it cools from any condensation on windows ect, which by the way, we always keep closed, but allow the normal airvents to do their job by not blocking them in any way. Im sure someone will add some more boatly bits to help you soon, but thought the above may help for now Julz

We use Fenwicks cleaners or Autoglym, but good old household Cif is brilliant at removing stubborn black rubber marks, but best not to scrub too hard with it and always rinse well afterwards Julz

Hi Jill, i think the good upholstry foam is called 'Reflex' foam, although the very best for that kind of use these days is made up of layers, firm base, reflex core, and 'memory' foam topper for comfort, the latter being the most expensive of all three, although its the one which moulds to the shape of the occupant and does take some time to spring back into shape after usage Most modern foam mattresses are made this way, and are very comfortable, but for a solid block of foam, its the Reflex type that is best The cheap softer foams do tend to go out of shape quite quickly, and can 'Ground' you in the middle when used as a mattress, leaving a very compacted layer between a persons hips and the bed base, which is not nice and can cause aches and pains from a bad nights sleep Julz

Yes, we have experianced a few chilly nights when the heater wouldnt work because of a gas freeze, and at one point in an old Caravan we had a few years ago, Bill made a lagging jacket for the bottles out of an old airing cuboard watertank Jacket, which worked well, but we havent bothered making one for our new van because we now run on the red calor gas 7kg bottles or a spare 3.5kg for the BBq Julz

Hi Dan, mine fell onto my doormat yesterday morning, quite bright and shiny, but i agree that it does rather feel like your looking through an 'Argos' type catalogue as you flick through the pages, and there are a few shots that have obviously been stretched in height so much that they are totally out of proportion with reality:) Someone has also managed to make a big boo-boo with the picture of the Coltishal pubs and moorings, labeling them as The Swan , Horning Julz

Thanks Clive, I actually prefare the manual type of loo, as the other kind do tend to use a lot of water, and can quickly empty a boats tank when there are quite a few people onboard using them Julz

I dont know about an inverter Jonny, but she does have 240v power, im also wondering if any of Clive's boats in this range have electric flush loos? Julz

Hi Jonny, sorry i havent got any of Diamond Gem, but i did find a very nice Richardsons boat by the name of Supreme which was newly refurbished last year with all mod cons Julz