pks1702

That's a great quick fix Clive, at least you can have her back out contributing to the repair costs

Interesting programme tracing the role and route of The Thames Barge. From the Walton Backwaters to London http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... mes_Barge/

I an sure she will soon look ship shape Clive thanks to your skilled guys. You have my sympathy's re the damage, I am sure with the turn around in keeping the fleet running this sort of thing is a nightmare. Thanks for keeping us all updated.

According to the technical specification twin Schottel and a pair of thrusters http://www.spiritofchartwell.com/settin ... tions.aspx http://www.schottel.de/marine-propulsion/ It does not need all that though they just needed a Broads AA to be 'steering' They can make a yacht move sideways from a lee shore without engines and with a gale blowing beam on to the shore..........

That's good news.

Nice to see some good customer marketing that is really useful.

There were a couple swimming around our Marina over the weekend, mind you they were probably drier than we were! They certainly love water.

That looks pretty bottom clenching but I guess the speed helps in 'squatting' the boat lower in the water. Presume the pilot is well insured

We watched some of this after coming in form our own up the Orwell on Sunday. It really was very poor and seemed aimed at BBC's yoof audience. There was no heavyweight anchor and so much history and interest was missed with the time filled by banal rubbish more akin to the One Show. There was a whole raft of stuff they could have done for instance around The Dunkirk Little Ship, it was the BBC at its very worst. In contrast the coverage of the concert in the evening was back to 'normal' standards. In days gone by the person responsible for the boat pageant direction would have paid for it with his head!

Have a good break Jim, the weather is the weather just make the best of it, there is always the pub If you let the weather put you off no one would do anything. It is a shame though that given the weather last week this would have been the 'normal' bank holiday. Still beats working

Just got back to Shotley after taking part in the Shotley Yacht Club QDJ Pagent up the Orwell. Blowing a Hooley and chucking it down but it did not dampen our spirits. Boats dressed and patriotic music playing. Radio Suffolk were on board one of the Yachts.

Sorry to hear that Bruce, shows how much I know about visitor profiling I had (wrongly) assumed that decent weather might have brought numbers for a day out and there would be some that would want to head inland rather than be on the crowded beaches. Hope this weekend is better.

I hope the clement weather brought you good visitor numbers Bruce. The Durban portfolio looks very impressive.

Thanks for posting those Trevor, looks like a good weekend. Beer selection looked pretty good too

Arrived at the boat 2045 on Friday night to find the wind gusting 30 knots.... decided to wait until Saturday AM to see what it did. Saturday was much better at 15-18knots or so but NE so a bit cool. With David needing to survey a job we decided for a dash up to Ipswich so he could do his survey and we would get a more sheltered weekend We had a most enjoyable evening in Ipswich and headed back down the river just before lunch. It really warmed the heart to see the Orwell alive with boats, it would be great if we could have a summer which allowed more of this. Saw Merlyn & Lorraine as we exited Ipswich. On getting back to our berth much as I did not feel like it I had to fit some new batteries. The 150ah triple set on Kiki have done well over the years and at 8 years old were towards the end of their life. David through his business East Coast Heating & Electronics had brought to my attention Victron Gel Batteries which are top end kit. Having known ours were coming to the end of their life I asked if when he ordered some he could get me three. I fitted these this afternoon with David watching over my shoulder and all went to plan. The beauty of these is that they are maintenance free VRLA GEL: design life 12 years Kiki's Lead Acid batteries weighed a tonne and while the Victron are no lightweights they are slightly more compact. The thought of not having to crawl in the Lazerette to do my battery maintenance with distilled water is quite a pleasant thought Fingers crossed the weather is kind where we are taking part in a Flotilla for QDJ up the Orwell.

As we had managed to 'blag' an extra night at Useppa it meant we had a 9 hour or so transit back up to the Sarasota area and our destination Longboat Key. We passed the famous Boca Grande Lighthouse on the end of Gasparilla Island http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=369 On the way back up the Coastguard came by for a nose, I admit I dare not take a photo while they were alongside We then came through an inlet and found the equivalent of the Reedham Ferry.... well two actually, one each way. Bungalows at Potter Heigham Folks in the US like to make themselves comfortable in the heat Dry Stack is very popular in Florida we saw a number of these facilities on out travels. But you can have your own dock, and not just for small craft either After a long day we eventually made it to Longboat Key which was quite a swish place http://www.longboatkeymarina.com We had the most amazing mooring up escapade, having almost moored a 'mooring attendant' started shouting instructions which were at odds to our quite tired brains after a day of steaming. Florida has short pontoons with 'Dolphins' to tie the bow to (half a telegraph pole) it is a long tale but suffice to say this guy made a huge fuss of something so simple. We later saw similar with another incoming boat and twigged this was all part of his act to gain a decent tip. How much of a tip would he get if you came in and moored straight up - as we virtually were. I found he was cleaning the pool the next day so maybe mooring was not his forte Still it was a very nice place with swimming pools and decent restaurants and we enjoyed our stay. In action on another boat creating spaghetti on the Dolphin.

I guess it is horses for courses Ian. Clearly the Broads is turn up and go boating with little or no experience. The US trip would mean a level of experience beyond a large proportion of normal Broads boaters. I am not in anyway knocking Broads holidays it just a different market the US is catering for given the navigation challenges etc. Having said that chartering the vessel was not a lot different to Le Boat in Ireland last year

Ah the Claret We did quite a bit of fishing out there and decided to do some one evening after it got dark. Unfortunately it seemed the Catfish came out to play at night In the pitch dark after landing a few I heard David yelp in pain. I could not see properly but it appeared he was bleeding quite nicely from one of his fingers (I assumed he had a hook go in) We wandered back round to the boat and saw there was rather a lot of Claret around. A spine from a Catfish had entered his index finger just above the first joint hit the bone of the second joint and exited there. Catfish bites back for sure. On my early morning wander where I caught the Dolphins I also found this Good job he was only in that position for a minute or so it might have made a real mes of the dock!

I woke up early one morning to some scrabbling on the side deck. When I looked out of the portal I saw a whiskered face looking in. The Otters had clearly decided to 'case' our ship looking for grub. In the afternoon we were sat inside in the Air Con cooling down when we heard a thump in the rear cockpit, looking out an Otter had decided to come for another look. Sadly by the time I grabbed my camera he was already making his escape as can be seen from the small clip below. Click the picture for the Video.

We saw a large number of Dolphins while out in this area but none as close as these. Early in the morning I was wandering around the dock when I heard a 'blow' there were Dolphins in very shallow water. They proceeded to come right alongside the dock seeming curious, the second clip shows this best. It was a great start to the day. Click the picture for the Video

I will have to post the Dolphin clip from Cabbage Key later as I have yet to upload it but it was amazing. I mentioned wildlife and personally have only ever seen Ospreys in North Wales; in Florida they are a fairly common sight. Although lots of wind noise and zoomed in more than my little P&S should have been asked to do! But you can see this Osprey hunting. Click the picture for the Video From Cabbage Key it was 6 miles or so to Useppa Island. This is a private Island but the Charter company owner who I had got to know had promised to get us a stay here. True to his word he booked us in for night. Location Map - http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Useppa+ ... d&t=h&z=14 History - http://www.useppa.com/history.html Useppa is only around 100 acres and can be walked around in 20 minutes. It oozes old world colonialism and is a real throw back, how long it will remain as it is who knows, I just know I am glad we saw it as it is now. We liked it so much we blagged an extra day. This would mean an 8-9 hour steam back up to Long Boat Key Sarasota but we were all agreed it would be worth it to spend another day in this idyllic location. Croquet anyone! Hurricane Charley hit the area hard in 2004 and this was washed up on Useppsa’s Beach; where from they have no idea, but it has been restored and now resides in the Tarpon Bar A Shotley Burgee will also reside in the Tarpon Bar shortly they were delighted a yacht club with Shotley’s tradition had brought a Burgee. We selected a spot next to the international Hemingway Club it seemed a good place to put it! More Island Some mooring

Thanks Bruce that is very kind. I do apologise for the poor video clips but I only took a p&s with a bit of video capability but I clearly have not mastered moving pictures (do you think they will catch on!) I will update again shortly.

Sorry to hear of the 'accidents' Paul. Poor old Brigid-Mary she is a lady of a certain age and does not deserve that. Hope you get her repaired OK.

From Boca Grande we headed across Charlotte Harbour with the pass between Gasparilla Island and Caya Costa to starboard and on to Cabbage Key, kindly the Captain of the Lady Chadwick kindly allowed us down the narrow dredged channel before he came down. http://marinas.com/map/index.php?infowi ... dowid=3894 Aerial Shot Cabbage Key is an idyllic spot with so much wildlife it is quite a shock. The sea Otters are amazing, they have learnt to live alongside humans enough to learn where the Cool Boxes of bait holds are be able to lift the lid and help themselves. A few clips attached apologies for the slightly jumpy quality. This looks like a female and two kits, in the last clip you can hear the mother chastising her offspring. Click the pictures Cabbage Key moorings Busy Ospreys Nest Turtles Saving Water! View from the Bar The Bar & Restaurant is quite a surprise, Dollar Bills adorn the walls and ceilings. The story goes that this started in the 1940s, when a fisherman pinned a dollar to the bar to ensure he'd have drinking money for his next visit. Since then, almost every visitor has signed a dollar bill and added it. It is quite a sight. The Dollar Bills are defaced and therefore not legal tender. Cabbage Key makes ‘more room’ about twice a year and has an agreement with a bank which converts into legal currency and donates to Charity. They estimate approx $25,000 per annum is raised for Charity. Needless to say we had a Dollars worth each, just so we would have drinking money the next day! JFK Jr Our Dollars worth

I will update a bit further tonight.