seaboater

Hi Mark, many thanks for the offer, but I think as you say that it will be too big. The nine year old is a very slight girl. Hi Martin, many thanks also, sounds like you may have something suitable. I'll PM you asap with some sizes. Regards, Pat

My two nieces, aged 5 and 9, are coming to stay with us for a week, commencing Sunday 5th August. We'd like to take them out on the boat but have no childrens life jackets. I'm loathe to fork out £100 or so for what may be one trip out, but equally I won't take them without lifejackets. So by now you've got my drift.......is anyone living near the Broads, not needing it themselves that week, willing to lend me a couple of jackets? Needless to say (but I will), I would pick up and return.

HI All, Seeking your expertise on the optimum length of rope to have on your mudweight to cover all eventualities. I've equipped my previous boats with copious amounts of chain; this new one has come with a short length of rope attached to the weight. I also have a spare mudweight which I may take with me for chucking out of the stern. This currently has no rope attached so I need to get one of the right length. From my seaboating days, more chain/warp scope was always better, but does this apply with mudweights where the principle is perhaps slightly different? I can see that many people have very short ropes, is this just economy, or is there a good reason? Your views appreciated.

My rudder on my Freeman does extend beyond the transom. I was quite surprised by that. It's protected by the bathing platformso it's ok but otherwise there would be a risk of clobbering it on a quay if mooring stern on. This is my first post from 'phone so apologies if it hasn't formatted correctly.

I must say I'm pleasantly surprised so far by how quiet the upper Ant is during the week. We've avoided Saturdays as clearly there's hire boat mayhem for a few hours, but the other times have been good. What it will be like as we get into July and August remains to be seen, but so far it's better than we expected. I haven't quite made up my mind about Broadsedge yet. It's indisputably well kept and offers pleasing surroundings but one thing I don't like at all is not being able to use tap water for cleaning the boat. I've never been keen on using dirty river water as I'm sure it encourages growth of the green stuff you so often see on boats. I've not yet cleaned it (shame I hear you cry!) so it remains to be seen. I'm also not keen on the rule that you can't bring in outside contractors, although I appreciate this is not uncommon. I don't know how good or otherwise the Broadsedge engineering services are. They don't seem to have a well known reputation such as Boulters or Goodchilds, which doesn't necessarily mean they're not good, but I've never heard or read anyone saying "go to Broadsedge". I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has experience of their maintenance and repair type services. In answer to MBA Marine's query - it's a Vetus m4.17 42hp diesel.

Thanks Mark for the sizing info.

Thanks to all for your suggestions, and thanks Mark for the info on Barton Broad. Very useful that you've done a bit of surveying, so presumably the "channel" between the posts is an artificial one to protect the edges from pollution, wash etc.? Will post a picture once I remember what I need to downsize it to. If anyone happens to know the max dimensions, please post on here and save me the guesswork. Thanks, Pat

Hi All, Finally got the new boat and berthed at Broadsedge. Mark, your point about toiling up and down the Ant to get anywhere is very pertinent, but for this season at least it was expedient for several reasons. We'll try some down south boating as well to see whether we prefer it that way; many on this forum seem to sing its praises. In the meantime though, being new to the Ant in particular, there seem to be some mooring possibilities on which I hope the experts here can advise. I see boats mudweighted outside of the channel on Barton Broad, sometimes quite a long way beyond the posts towards the shore. Are there specific areas where there's enough depth to do this, or is it feasible throughout? Our draft is 2ft 6ins. There also seem to be a lot of bankside "nooks" on the Ant, where you can squeeze in and perhaps tie up to trees, or use mooring stakes of some kind. The question here is about rhond anchors or stakes. Before I buy something, views on the merits of both types would be useful. Pat

Given the various comments, the South looks appealing......but.......Broadsedge looks good too. Which is better? Only one way to find out - FIGHT!!!!! (with apologies to Harry Hill). Thank you all for your suggestions so far, please keep 'em coming. There must be some other good marinas out there.

It's a Freeman 27 river cruiser, air draft stated at 2.5m (8ft 2")

Hi All, Having made an offer on a boat, we are faced suddenly with the impending issue of where to keep it. We were previously at South Quays in Horning; a nice marina but limited in space and probably not a runner without some time on the waiting list. There are also days in midsummer in Horning when it's so busy on the river that it's like being in a procession. On the other hand, I get the feeling (maybe wrongly) that there are more nice spots to moor up or mudweight in the North than the South. It's a few years since we've been South on the boat, so my memory is hazy. So..............first of all, North broads or South? Then, which marina has nice, secure pontoons with lighting and electricity and neighbours who aren't likely to be too rowdy? We like to do a lot of sitting on board in the sun, drinking gin of course, so we like our home marina environment to be conducive to lazing around as well as friendly and helpful. Having just described this paragon of marinas, it probably doesn't exist, or if it does, it will be full already. Anyway.......any experiences and suggestions welcomed.

It's not difficult to remain "unbanned", it just requires a modicum of thought about how your words might come across to a wide spectrum of people. I gather from those who have met him that he is a nice chap, but I was always intrigued that Daytona_Bill had a forum strapline which was somewhat at odds with sometimes intemperate postings.

It also cost me a lot of money when I bought my Seaward twin diesel to the Broads. All the fuel lines had to be replaced because they weren't marked "correctly". This was expense that was unnecessary in my view and that of Seaward Marine, who are internationally renowned for building exceptionally seaworthy boats. Bl***y irritating jobsworth stuff from the BSS regs.

Hi All Forum members, Anyone on here own/has owned/knows about the Freeman 27? I'm looking for good and bad points, common problems and the like. They seem to come fitted with either BMC 1.8 or Perkins 4.108 engines so any experience of these would also be of interest. Thanks in anticipation,

I guess a key question is "what size?". I use an old Canon G9 as my P&S - it was once my main camera so I just kept it when I bought the Olympus E-P2 for more serious (still very amateurish) work. Both are very good, and no doubt the G10/11/12 are better than the G9........but none are exactly compact or easy to fit in a normal pocket.

Hi Mark, Depends on what you want to spend, but going by the web forums, the frontrunners for quality and versatility seem to be Olympus XZ-1, Panasonic LX5 and Canon S95. The prices seem to vary wildly between different online suppliers.

I can't help but agree with MBAMarine's view of Norfolk Marine. It's very easy to just be ignored in there. When they're busy with another customer, there's no acknowledgement of your presence giving any signal that they'll get round to you shortly. Additionally, the prices are high. I only go in there when I have to, rather than out of choice.

I've participated in some of the earlier threads, and the fact that this keeps coming up, suggests that there is indeed a (growing?) problem. I know from friends' recent hires that nothing has been said to them about behaviour. Now it may be that the yards (no names, no pack drill) have made a judgement about these people, or it may be that it's just not part of their handover. Judging by what I'm told, the handovers generally have been pretty lax on all matters. I agree with Strowager that it's a difficult one, but I do find the posts saying "it's not our responsibility" veer a little too far that way, whilst others are veering a little too vehemently towards the flogging end of the spectrum. There must be a way for the yards to put more emphasis on behaviours and the possible consequences than appears to be the case at present. Please, apologists for hire companies, don't jump down my throat. I have no doubt that some yards are very good in all respects, but I'm pretty certain that some are not.

B******, what made my fingers type Mary-Ann, apologies to Mary-Jane.

This was the first such event we've attended, but we'll certainly attend in future where possible. A very enjoyable evening, and thanks to John for organising it, and also making room at his table for us. As late(ish) arrivals, it was looking like the children's table for us until John and Mary-Ann bumped up a bit! It was good to make some connections of faces to names/avatars/boats, although there was not enough time to actually chat to more than a few people. Judging by the 'photos, much fun was had before and after the pub part of the event, so we hope to be able to come by boat next time, and make a more leisurely day and night of it.

Now done by email.

Just got back from holiday. Will do order tomorrow -

Perhaps if Neil had heeded his own signature strapline, this thread would not be necessary!

Surging through Hurst Gap (Solent) in a big chop, in bright sparkly sunshine - a bit of power on, and that lovely reassuring soft ride from the semi-displacement hull. Oh, and several pints in The Wheatsheaf once arrived in Yarmouth, IOW. Water taxi from mooring to pub, riding round Yarmouth harbour in the dinghy late at night, looking at boats and taking in the nautical atmosphere. Could it be recaptured? Maybe, but it was years ago and probably best left as memories.

An interesting thread, and one which is arousing some passion. From my own experience on the northern broads, I can say that I see examples of this thoughtless behaviour EVERY time I venture out. I do see it from all types of people and boats, but it has to be said that large parties on hire boats are the chief offenders. I have no solution to offer, but political correctness in saying you can't generalise about large parties, is to ignore the facts which can be experienced day in, day out.