Oddfellow

Nothing stands still, Vaughan. If it weren't for the internet, this greek conversation couldn't happen and we'd still be using landlines to call people who would have to be at another landline to speak to you, but not just any phone either but the one that's wired to the wallbox that you've dialled. We can't blame progress for progress and, as much as you think it's perhaps a degree of regress, it's no different from any other technological advancement when you dig a bit deeper. Humans invent things to simplify tasks and have always done so. The only thing that will stop us is extinction.

Oh, I agree. For me, it was to be a system that was programmed to look at the availability and prices of key date ranges across the board and make adjustments to my prices according to availability (from a base price). I couldn't see it working in an "Agency" situation at all.

I have never seen a good caravan compare favourably with a good boat on price.

A few years ago, I began writing a system that would scrape data from Hoseasons in order to operate a more "fluid" pricing system. In the end, I simply didn't have the time to dedicate to it and make it financially viable for the business, but writing a web site scraper isn't hard, but it does need to be clever and avoid detection and be modifiable to cope with changes in data presentation. As Freedom never published a brochure AND had a flexible any-day to any-day booking system, price fluctuations were relatively easy to implement in our pricing calculations anyway and the pricing database was structured in such a way to make subtle changes incredibly easy. In reality, we rarely put prices up (though it did happen) and far more often adjusted them down. The effect would never have been noticed on the web site though as we rarely discounted, we just adjusted prices as the market dictated. Discounts were seen as bad news in our eyes.

You won't find a cheaper boating holiday in the UK though and Europe isn't exactly low-cost either. Try finding a caravan! Cottage holidays tend to remain decent value (I have a few around the coast - nudge-nudge) ;-)

I don't have experience of using these. I can imagine they are a pain in the rear for cleaning, but I would also imagine that an inline pre-filter would help enormously. The idea is sound and, if used just on showers on a private boat where there's much less use than a hire boat, I would think the case for installation stacks up better.

Officially, Broom has closed its building shops. Unofficially, it still builds boats, just not as many. It was working on a couple of Explorers earlier in the year. Silverline has mould tools for smaller boats itself, but larger cruisers (28 ft plus) it had been buying mouldings from Alpha (now Barnes).

When Vaughan says "Diaphragm pump", don't confuse that with a diaphragm water delivery pump. These use multiple small diaphragms that will not like debris (like sand) which will get through even with a filter. A Whale Gulper is a good option if you can stand the sound. An alternative would be a fully automatic drain such as those produced by Whale. These have a bilge pump installed in a watertight box with and inlet, outlet and a float switch. When the water in the box from the shower gets high enough, the switch triggers the pump and there's nothing else to do. Quiet too. To be honest. most hire boats I have encountered have water puppies which will perform fine in most cases. Just ensure that you have a spare impeller on board and it's essential to have an inline filter and keep it clean.

Barnes is probably the most prolific currently. HW have built a lot of smaller craft over the last few years too. Richardsons has closed it's new-build programme. Horning Pleasure Craft is starting building and we can't ignore Len Funnel for his long-term building programme of various new designs across three boatyard outfits over the last decade. In terms of sheer design choice, I suspect Len has the most styles in most recent years.

A loss of Visitor moorings there will be bad news for river users. Given the facilities at the site and it's riverside location (rather than down a dyke) I would hope that the new owners see the usefulness of it to the boating holiday and private owners trade.

Insulating a GRP broads cruiser is virtually impossible. There's rarely any more than an inch between any head lining and the GRP and you would want that as an air-gap before you put another 2 inches of insulation on that and then finished it off with a new headlining. Basically, you're cutting your head height the moment you begin. Building it in from the start might be an option, but only if you don't want to get under Ludham Bridge.

I couldn't disagree more. So little has changed despite our apparent wide-spread "knowledge" of what we're doing to the planet. We don't have time for "softly softly catchy monkey". Those days are long gone. There absolutely needs to be pressure on the government, on supermarkets, on building developers, on landowners, on everyone to do their bit because very few of us are doing enough. It's too easy to lurch back into our old norms. Complacency will kill us. We all need reminding until we don't need reminding any more.

I wish to point out that my comments about Packham were not in relation to the Broads but the wider problem of the planet and our wanton destruction of things we don't like or that provide a bit of fun for the wealthy. Eco management is one thing and I am broadly in favour of this. Blind ignorance and arrogance for self gratification or life-style preservation is quite something else and Packham does a good job of bringing these issues to the pubic. I offer no comparision between him and anybody else, alive or dead.

You can cull people via the back door by unleashing a potentially deadly virus that spreads around the world and having governments implement "herd immunity" also via the back door. That's got rid of a good few. You can have wars, they're ethical when you're on the winning side. But, I don't think we're over populated. I think we're over arrogant and selfish to our immediate needs whist ignoring the needs of the planet that sustains us. We have been biting the hand that feeds us for far too long.

Absolutely not. But, there's one overriding thing linked to politics that prevents trust in policy announcements and that's past lies. The current government has the ability to drive home virtually any policy as it has a massive majority. The only policies it's really perusing though are ones that benefit it and it's kind. We keep hearing words that are intended to prick the ears, but we see no substance. If it wants people to trust what it says, it needs to give reason for people to trust what it says. No, I didn't mention past generations. The key reason for that is that those generations are dead already and their mess was left for us to clear up. We didn't. We made it worse. Though ignorance and arrogance.

And hence the need for "eco warriors" like Chris Packham to keep the heat up. All this loss has been driven by our short term gain that we're absolutely addicted to. We hear it daily: there must be growth in the economy. Why? because we have to keep up with other economies. But why? Growth over the last 250 years has been at the cost of the environment and now it's payback time but the interest rate is small right now but ramping up. The improvements made in the name of our comfort will result in certain death for many. We will die of having no water to drink or so much water we need gills. Some will die in wild fires, ravaging the lansdcape and killing the biodiversity in a heartbeat. It's time the human race said that enough is enough. Balance is what I keep reading. Is this about working out an acceptable loss? Perhaps, but let's be clear, few people that use the word "balance" will use it with the intention of accepting personal loss of their lifestyle to obtain that balance. Most of us are on this planet for a no more than 75 years and a good few here are well into that. Much of this dosen't matter to us personally. It matters to our children and our children's children and our children's children's children, but not so much to US. But it's US that have helped to cause this and it's a mess that is for THEM to clear up. BUT, in the main, it is THEM who are the "Eco Warriors" who are having to sort things out and because thy threaten the comfort of the scant few years WE have left, THEY are the problem Is that a decent enough analysis of BALANCE?

Like humans?

Those with true knowledge know when to listen, know when to shut up, know when to pipe up and know when to adapt. Too many of us think we know more than enough and walk the earth with closed ears, closed minds but open mouths.

The Wind in the Reeds https://eafa.org.uk/work/?id=1048930

With respect. a 60 year old film may have historic value, but it's 60 years old and what we know now is very different from what we knew then. Things have changed from a time when we though the climate was cooling. I will seek out the film all the same.

And your response tells the rest of us all we need to know too.

The term "Eco-Warrior" is no doubt used in a emotive way. The world is being quickly destroyed in the name of profit by people who would consider themselves "intelligent", but clearly not intelligent enough to prevent the effects of climate change. "So called 'conservationists". Another ridiculous term. What is "so called" supposed to mean here if it's not derisory? Who else out there is looking out for bio-diversity and being very vocal about it? And how can he do more harm than good? He's no blinder to reality that you; I daresay he's vision of reality is a great deal clearer. This man has spent his life studying nature and presenting it to the public through the media. He is a hugely respected advocate for conservation. What are your credentials?

I get it. It's that age-old misconception that human life is more important on this planet than animal or plant life. A recent report showed that the UK has only 52% of its bio-diversity remaining putting the country in an almost "world beating" position where the average remaining is around 75%. Frankly, we aren't more important. We think we're more intelligent than animals but dumb animals don't go screwing with the eco system by burning coal and other fossil fuels. It's time this species began to think holistically and future-proofed the planet rather that remaining hell-bent on destroying it for very short-term gain. The bat bridges had been proven not to work before they were installed on the NDR and are (probably) another example of giving public money to "friends" by a corrupt council.

Maybe someone can explain what the problem is with Chris Packham.

I agree entirely. Not the worst though: I heard a story from a yard last year that one boat called up at about 8pm on take over day to report no domestic power. The call-out engineer attended with batteries etc and proceeded to go to the battery bank to discover that one (maybe both) of the domestics had exploded. That was one of the more unusual call outs; the most common was that the domestic batteries were pancake flat: it was clear that at least one of the turn-around engineers were not checking at all.