Paladin

This is Impatiens capensis, or Orange Balsam. An annual, native to N.America, it's not as invasive as it's Himalayan cousin, but you might like to notify the Broads Authority anyway.

Not everyone is clued up about 'breakers', either domestic or on the charging posts. I must confess that I only learnt about them when I bought my current house about 12 years ago. Prior to that I was a dab hand at putting new fuse wire into the old-type fuses, by candle light. If someone has got some dodgy wiring on their boat, or tries to take off too much power, it's not inconceiveable that they could trip a breaker, then try all the other sockets with the same result. I found the same situation at Coltishall - all breakers tripped - and simply reset the breakers. Sometime later, a ranger arrived (by road) and told me that a boater had reported that the post didn't work! I recently 'rescued' a first-time hirer who couldn't work out why he wasn't getting any feed from a post. No-one had told him he had to insert a card first! Scam? Probably not. Ignorance, more likely.

Fish Finder, have you actually ASKED any of 'these guys' why they make themselves scarce? A bit of market research, you might say. I will use the staithe during the day, for reasons I have already explained, but I do not stay there all night, or at any other stern-on moorings, because I happen to like a bit of peace and quiet, and privacy. Sorry if you think that shows a total disregard for the place. Such a pity you have such a mind-set against anyone who doesn't do what YOU want them to do.

Fish Finder, I am not an angler, so I wouldn't support your business anyway, but it rather seems to me that you didn't do your homework properly before opening your shop. If you sold something that the majority of boaters would usually buy (like food and drink) you might make more money. You seem to forget that you are up against more established anglers' shops, such as Lathams (which isn't far away, even by boat), and the shops in Hoveton and Ludham Bridge (which have more mooring spaces). I use the parish staithe at Womack on occasion, to replenish my water tank and, perhaps, buy an icecream. I am also a local and sometimes visit by car. I find your expectation that the staithe owes you a living to be extraordinary, to put it mildly. I certainly wouldn't consider surrendering my space on the staithe on the off-chance that the boat that took my place wanted to visit your shop. By your own admission, you only expect to make money out of angling boaters. So, as has already been said, the majority of boaters (who do not fish) aren't going to spend their money with you, and you will have little or no income anyway between 15 March and 16 June. Perhaps you could rent all the moorings from the parish council, then put up notices, prohibiting their use by anyone who wasn't one of your customers (I'm not sure how you could clamp a boat, though).

JTF, hire boats are licensed and the licence specifies the number of passengers that can be carried. The licence can be suspended or revoked, but the sanction is, therefore, against the licensee, not the hirer. Creating an offence under these circumstances is problematic. A day boat, in hire, may be swamp-tested and a licence restriction of, say, eight passengers imposed. That boat is then sold into the private market and the owner can take as many passengers as he likes. Hardly fair to impose a penalty on a hirer for exceeding the licensed limit, when the same number in an identical private boat would be lawful

Thanks for that, Boaters. I don't know exactly how the rangers deal with overloaded boats, but, bearing in mind the tragedy that can easily occur, I hardly think they would allow a boat to return from, say, Ranworth to Wroxham in a potentially dangerous state. Also, the rangers can't be everywhere at once, so it might be a good idea to give Broads Control and ring, and report such a situation. Heaven forbid that anyone should just shake their heads and give a tut tut, only to read later of a sinking/drowning that they may have been able to prevent.

Boaters, is your comment based on your opinion of how many passengers should have been allowed on the boat, or the number following the registration number of that boat, which gives the maximum number of passengers for which the day boat has been licensed? I only ask because the licensed number is finite and the number you suggest, 'eight to ten', is rather less definite.

Thanks for the answers. Yes, that's the sort of thing I get concerned about, perhaps overly, but I prefer safety to unnecessary risk-taking.

A question for the electrical experts - is that coil of wire sufficiently loose to avoid any danger of overheating? I realise it is subject to the load being placed on it, but, as a total amateur, I have always followed the usual advice to uncoil lengths of wire before use.

Why? These photos have been published in two UK newspapers, The Sun and The Leicester Mercury, attributed to Mick Freakley. It is nothing new for photos that are published on the Internet to be 'harvested' and used in breach of copyright, which appears to have happened to Mr Freakley's images. As someone who has had to resort to Court action to protect copyright, I was merely posting a caveat.

If you click on the link in my last post, you'll see the url of the grebe images in your browser's address bar. That part of the url '20110114' seems to indicate that this is the date of the image. I haven't been able to get into the site hosting the pictures, but daumcdn.net is registered in Seoul, according to this whois result

Interesting photos, but one, in fact the main, reason, I rarely put photos on the Internet, especially without a copyright overlay, is that they can turn up in the most unexpected places, with no payment or credit. These grebe photos are also on this Korean website, but they'll never be paid for.

That was a good sighting then. I was able to take some photos of the bird I saw.

I've only seen a bittern on two occasions, both times on Sutton Broad. I was fortunate enough to get some photos on the first occasion. On the more general bird aspect, though, where have all the coots disappeared to? There used to be large flocks around Wroxham Broad and Horning Staithe. Last week, from Coltishall to Horning I saw nary a one (several moorhens, though, which I prefer).

I think you'll find that the white storks are little egrets . They are becoming fairly common. I've seen them near the location given, on Breydon Water and along the Ant.

Quite by coincidence, I met someone this weekend who built quite a few of the older Bountys who told me that the Bounty 30 mould was chopped when the firm finally went under.

I would guess it was a choice between a stock photo of SoB or a stock photo of the bridge heading the article. I would imagine the folks on the scene were too busy saving lives to bother about taking photos. All credit to the crew of the hire boat, though. We could, so easily, have been reading about another tragedy instead of a rescue. Good work by the Coastguard and SoB as well.

Thank you for the explanation, jonzo. As you say, the owner forums weren't very active, so I doubt whether the situation would change if provision was made on here. (But, at least, now I can stop searching my pc for malware/hijack programs.)

A number of boat-owner forums were hosted on http://www.inlandwaterways.org . The web address now brings up this site. Can anyone tell me what has happened and where all the owner forums have gone, please?

The argument was over whether 30% of the cost should come from navigation income - i.e. £13,500, not the full £45,000. Still a substantial amount to my bank manager!

Hylander, I would think that the name will live on for as long as the Stracey Arms Windpump remains standing. The pub pre-dates the windpump, but I doubt very much if the name of the windpump will ever be changed.

The responsibilities of the Broads Authority towards the navigation are set out in the Norfolk & Suffolk Broads Act 1988. Section 10 Functions of Authority and others in relation to the navigation area. (1)The Authority shall— (a)maintain the navigation area for the purposes of navigation to such standard as appears to it to be reasonably required; and (b)take such steps to improve and develop it as it thinks fit. Section 1(1) of Part 1 of Schedule 5 For the purpose of enabling the Authority to carry out its functions in relation to the navigation area, the Authority may provide such facilities, and construct, alter or renew such works, as it thinks fit, but shall not do so on any land which does not belong to it except where it has the consent in writing of the owner and (where the owner is not the occupier) that of the occupier. Section 2(1) of that Schedule The Authority may—(a)deepen, dredge, scour or excavate any part of the navigation area; I can’t find anywhere where it is said that it is the Authority’s “legal duty to ensure the rivers are maintained to a navigational standard at ALL STATES OF TIDE.”

Haven't you answered your own question? For decades, the banks have been kept in place by piling. For a number of reasons, that now-decaying hard piling is not being replaced (those reasons are available in BA reports). Soft profiling is the cost-effective, eco-friendly, flavour of the month, but, before that can be done, serious stabilisation DOES need to be carried out (the reasons are to be found in the BA report, dated April 2013 - which is on their web site).

There is a BA report on this from April 2013. There have been substantial problems, with the danger of banks collapsing if dredging work was carried out as the campaigners would like. It is essential that the banks are stabilised first. This is not just a BA problem, though. The EA and BSEL are also involved. To dredge now would mean closing the river. Is that such a good idea?

Internet sources are not always accurate, as we know. The actual source of the information to which Strowager refers is the published Broads Authority accounts, which are so detailed that not only is the account from which the specified amount paid for each vehicle recorded, but also the registration number of the individual vehicle on which the money was spent. Now if someone would like to start a rumour that those accounts are fraudulent and the money came from elsewhere...