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Oddfellow
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Posts posted by Oddfellow
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1 hour ago, OldBerkshireBoy said:
Cracking shot Andy, well framed with the coloured boat in the foreground and the others hiding in the mist with the red glow of clouds and moon above.
Thank you. I got a few banging shots during this walk. More to follow.
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7 minutes ago, Bikertov said:
LOL - I thought it was new boat you were posting about, called "Misty Horizon" ...
Nope, its a misty horizon with a horizon in the mist.
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I think Hoseasons is playing a dodgy game in the extreme here. The damage waiver is NOT an extra as there's no mechanism for not paying it.
The last Broads hire company I was aware of that actively offered an option of deposit or waiver was Le Boat and they left the area almost a decade ago now.-
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17 hours ago, DAVIDH said:
It clearly isn't a universal insurance policy for anyone booking through Hoseasons, as it varies depending on which boatyard you book through. It also irks me that a "non refundable damage waiver" is not included in the overall hire cost, as you are unable to avoid paying it.
Operators of overseas holiday were compelled by law to include all non-discretionary items in the overall cost many years ago, which stopped adverts for £xxx plus taxes etc. I know fuel is different, as it's dependent on how much you use, but not adding the Damage Waiver is just wrong. It confuses the customer, which I think is what NBD are actually trying to avoid, with their All Inclusive rates.This is exactly why Freedom never showed such costs. The damage waiver (and fuel deposit) was built into the cost calculation of the boat when any prices were calculated. The process of costing a COMPULSORY charge out and then adding it later after you've been attracted by a HEADLINE price is, in my view, utterly dishonest.
We did it the other way: here's the total price and your fuel deposit is payable on arrival and a refund given (if appropriate) before you return home. This made the cost of the holiday on the web site cheaper in that the figure you were presented with at booking had the fuel deposit taken off the initial charges as it was payable on arrival.17 hours ago, Coryton said:Either in the case of my booking it's not as simple as that, or Hoseasons are being downright deceitful in referring to the damage waiver as insurance underwritten by a real insurance company (Allianz).
I would be VERY surprised at this. I think you may be confusing this with cancellation insurance.
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1 hour ago, Coryton said:
I don't understand.
It looks as if part of my booking is a payment to an insurance company to cover any damage I cause to the boat I've hired or to other boats.
Is that not the case?
You are not making any payment to an insurance company. You are paying for the privilege of not being pursued for any damage caused whilst the boat is signed over to your care. The majority of such terms will also specify that damage caused by malicious or irresponsible / negligent behaviour is not covered.
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10 hours ago, Coryton said:
Interesting. We had one on an Aquafibre diamond 43 and I think they go back a way. But as I said it didn't work very well. (Nor did the steering at one point, but that's another story).
There were only 7 or 8 Diamond 43s built. The one I had I am pretty sure didn't have a fuel gauge. Only one boat in my fleet had one and that failed (and was not repaired). When it worked, it caused constant problems with people ringing up saying that hadn't moved, was there a problem with it? No, there was about 220 litres of diesel on board and you needed to suck a lot out to make the needle respond. You can't please everybody.
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The mists came in slowly at first but thickened and engulfed St Benets, but not before I could capture this and a few others.
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2 hours ago, Cal said:
Surely the addition of fuel gauges on most hire boats has negated the need for dip sticks?
We hired the same boat from Barnes a few times. The first time it had a dip stick but for subsequent hires a fuel gauge had been fitted.
A dip stick wouldn't have worked in our boat. The fuel filler was at the back of the boat and the tank buried midships in the engine bay. Access to the tank was tight to say the least.
Most?
The majority of hire boats do not have guages. New builds might but very unusual on an older vessel.-
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3 hours ago, LizG said:
WRs was or is still an aluminium stick with notches and a handle that stops it falling into the tank. Only snag with the aluminium is that it is almost impossible to read in sunlight!
Paint it matt black.
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So this is a acquisition by virtue of buying Enterprise Inns (latterly EI group). The group has been buying pub chains like they're going out of fashion (which, to many, they are).
EI was an awful operator. Let's hope the new owners are better to work with.
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11 hours ago, Meantime said:
I'm not so sure about that, our toll money seems to pay for a fair few at Yare House
And are they not frowned upon?
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10 hours ago, OldBerkshireBoy said:
Correct me if I`m wrong but I think Andy of Freedom said of slivers of wood entering the fuel pump.
About 10 years ago, we has a private boat in for some work that was surging and cutting out. It would run well for a while and then fail. Leave it for a while, rinse and repeat.
The fault was eventually tracked to a fuel tap (of the rise and fall gate variety) that was clogged with shavings of mahogany that had been taken off the dip stick over successive dips and made its way into the fuel system. The dip stick was a bad fit for the tank filler and need to go in "just so" else it would snag and more wood came off.
That fault took a bit of finding.-
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18 hours ago, andyg said:
I think the upper front windows are just cosmetic. It's definitely a re work of the original boat. I don't really like much of what len has had designed, but I've absolutely no doubt it will be fitted out to a very high standard. Which is typically what he does, don't think you could fault him on that. These boats do seem to be very popular both at NBD and ferry..
It's not rework of anything. This is a Vogue 45/46 (not sure of the length). It's brand new. It was initially thought that Broads Boating Company would operate these (given that it's the same business owner), but that operator has long since gone now. This design has taken quite some time to appear and the initial "artists impressions" were very "strange" but quite reminiscent of the Funnel designs and come from the same designer.
I will be keen to see just what this offers in the final fit out which is sure to be quite something knowing James' and Len's eyes for detail.
It's good to see new development continuing on the Broads.-
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22 hours ago, rightsaidfred said:
Sorry but I would have thought that was obvious, dont understand why so many hire boats want a pump out unless you are out for 2 weeks, we manage 14 days at a time and only then pump out to keep it sweet.
Fred
Firstly, there's no standard size of tank and the design of some vessels made smaller tanks necessary as there was just no space. Tranquil Freedom had a particularly small tank which would rarely last a week and much less if the boat was stacked out.
Secondly, most tanks have no level meter.Thirdly, many yards advise a mid-week pump out which will vastly reduce the likelihood of a call out for "potti training" issues.
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The cancer within the BA is well past the radiotherapy stage. It's hard to see how this can conclude without a scalpel if the malignancy does not wither and die of its own accord.
Sadly, the cancer lingers in a couple of areas and all instances of it need removing for the public good.-
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Still so much disinformation being touted by people about Brexit.
The figures of just how well we're doing are easily available. No other country has seen fuel queues. No other country is seeing supermarket shelves empty. The cost, per houeshold, for leaving is staggering.
Be under no illusion that leaving is a disaster for this country. The only ones who benefited were the ones that told you we could spend £350m a week on our NHS.
We haven't taken back control. We've merely handed it to the wealthy right-wing government who will use it against us for their own benefit.-
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51 minutes ago, Vaughan said:
I was always taught that one of the main principles of science is that nothing is for free.
If you want energy, you will always have to pay for it, somewhere along the line. This is why there can be no such thing as a perpetual motion engine.
In fact Langford Jillings built a diesel/electric cruiser about 20 years ago, based on the principle of a mobile crane that he had been following to work in his car! He was that kind of innovator. In fact it did not succeed, as the power for the electric motor had to be provided by a Perkins 4108 diesel generator.
Nanni produces hybrid drive trains and has for a few years. At least one BA launch uses it. In the early days, it was beset with faults. I don't know what the situation is now.
But, talking of trains, diesel passenger locomotives don't have a diesel drive train, They have a honking great big diesel generator powering electric motors. I don't pretend to understand the reasoning, just putting it out there.
The Barnes hybrids and I think Whisper Emblem use electric motors with diesel generators.
As I say, I am not knowledgeable enough to know whether it's more efficient to charge batteries and provide on-demand power with diesel or just have a diesel drive train but both these systems exist already.-
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The obvious (to my thinking) mid-way point for going Green is hybrid systems with electric propulsion with power derived from a generator or a diesel/electric hybrid power train. This allows complete autonomy.
BUT, I don't know nearly enough about the efficiency of these systems. Do you burn more diesel charging the batteries than you would to push the boat along? If it's significantly less, then the there has to be an environmental benefit. if the difference is marginal, there's probably little point.-
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1 minute ago, Mouldy said:
That’s as maybe, but the issues arising from providing sufficient charging points for electric vehicles have yet to be answered. Hypothetically, I live in a block of flats with limited parking spaces. Where do I charge my car? I live in a terraced house with no front garden and no off road parking. Current legislation prevents me from having a trailing cable across the pavement. How do I charge my car? How do I even guarantee a parking space in the same road?
There are too many flaws in an I’ll thought out system to make it viable, unless they can recharge you car as it drives along the road with no attached cables. It may happen, but not in the next 8 years when the sale of cars fuelled with fossil fuels are banned.
Come to think of it, are we still using gas to fire power stations? That must be counter productive!
I keep hearing this argument as to why electric vehicles won't work for people in flats, etc. The issue of charging on the road will be one of the easiest challenges to overcome. Councils will have to install (or allow the installation) of charging points at the kerbside of all residential streets which are controlled by bluetooth or similar identifying technology to charge you to charge your vehicle.
There are many other barriers to electric cars that aren't being discussed. Cost being one. They're hardly cheap and we're a generation away from a vibrant used market for these machines too. A subscription to a new Volvo leccy car will set you back £749 a month. That's just under a third of what I paid for my last two cars. Or, I could buy it for about a third of the value of a typical terrace house.
These figures are madness themselves. There are plenty of people who are paying £300 or more a month for their cars, I know. I am not now and never will be one of them. How old will an electric car have to be before I can buy it for £2k and get maybe 3 years of motoring out of it?
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5 minutes ago, Mouldy said:
Certainly not. The ability to moor in quieter locations is one of the attractions of a holiday afloat. I don’t want to moor up every night stern on rubbing gunwales with the boat next door. The truth is that most Broads cruisers carry sufficient fuel to not require topping up for several days at the very least. Current technology would surely require charging a boat overnight, fairly much every night, unless you restrict your. cruising range.
The cost of batteries and moreover how they need to be disposed of at the end of their useful life are questions that need to be resolved before this crazy idea is realised. Technology has come a long way, but needs to go a lot further yet before this can become viable.
Heck yes. Electric is an answer, not THE answer with the current tech. It's not just the financial cost of the batteries, its the environmental cost too and, as you point out, the end of life costs.
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1 hour ago, Bikertov said:
I guess it depends on battery capacity, motor power and hence cruising time, comparing like-for-like.
Once you remove a large heavy engine, starter battery and fuel tank, you could have the space for a decent set of propulsion power batteries. Weight and space is also not quite the same issue as with cars.
Could you combine the propulsion batteries with the domestic batteries, or at least allow an emergency bypass function if you run low.
The boat systems already allow for charging, so it would just need modifications rather than a whole new system.
How many electric hook up points are there currently for shore power away from marinas ? Is it widespread ? (my ignorance on these things is now showing).
No doubt someone far more knowledgeable than me, like Vaughan, will shortly drop in and completely demolish my points - but I genuinely welcome the discussion.
Lithium Ion Batteries are VERY different from the Wet Cell batteries used in the vast majority of river boats on the Broads.
You point about charging is null because currently, the charging circuits are supplied by the very things electrification will remove: the engine.
Charging currently, is one wire from an alternator to a diode or other non-return system which is already connected to the battery bank.
Lithuim Ion batteries require a proper battery management system to be installed that can monitor each bank of cells (which must be balanced before installation) and deliver the correct amount of charge. Furthermore, storing a such batteries fully charged will damage them The BMS (Battery Management System) will control the battery levels to around 70% charge when the batteries are not in use to prolong their life. Therefore, if you're on a non-powered mooring and use the boat once a month, you'll arrive to batteries that are partially discharged.
Also, marinas will have to seriously upgrade their power networks too. It's not just river moorings that this will directly affect; it's boatyards, bank moorings, everywhere.
I do not know quite enough to see whether you'd still have propulsion and domestic banks. I suspect you would and the size of these would be hugely different. You'd get away with 300-500 amps for domestic but many times this for propulsion.
Solar is barely an option. It would benefiit the domestic systems, but there simply isn't enough surface area to make a dent in propulsion bank charging.
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The principal issues with electrifying a hire boat has got to be the charging network which would need charging posts being installed at every mooring. This would be a huge cost at many moorings. Consider Brundall Church Fen. How could you run a large power infrastructure to this location without massive cost both financial and environmental? Massive costs would be felt at almost every mooring location anyway and, it's also fair to ask whether the leases that the BA has for most of these would permit such works and how the BA would have to reinstate the moorings at the end of the leases.
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1 hour ago, Meantime said:
Here's the link to the article on the EDP website. It says nothing about where, or even if the boat was moored. Probably best to keep referring back to the EDP website and see if any further facts get updated. I sense the mods fingers on the button. I have lots of questions in my own mind, but lets wait until more facts are revealed. At this moment I don't think we even know what type of boat it was. Day, picnic, hire private etc.
I am not sure you should suggest that the EDP deals in facts..... :-)
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How Much Diesel Use
in Broads Chat
Posted
I am pretty certain that Hoseasons will be charging a commission on the damage waiver if it's taking the money for it.