.png.5ff10cca1d0967e44a17e4a2edde2a80.png)
Oddfellow
-
Posts
1,987 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
29
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Articles
Posts posted by Oddfellow
-
-
Good mobile signal relies on a good antenna. Get a proper external antenna and hook it up to a good Mifi hub and you'll be surprised.
Something like this: https://amzn.to/3EapROb but do your own research.
I have seen good reviews of this router too: https://amzn.to/2XimVyj
I was looking to install a permanent system in my motorhome earlier in the year, so I researched this quite hard. In the end, we never went anywhere, so I never bought it.-
1
-
-
18 hours ago, Mouldy said:
I have two drones, one of which is the same as the one Andy uses. It is very quiet and in truth, unless you’re in an area where it is almost silent, you’d be hard pushed to hear it. My other drone falls into a category that requires the pilot to be licensed and I took the relevant course and test earlier in the year. Despite that, there are requirements for separation distances between it and uninvolved people, which does restrict where it can be used, despite producing slightly better quality images.
When you watch many TV programmes now, the use of drones rather than cameramen hanging perilously out of helicopters is commonplace.
I have three drones currently. A DJI Mini 2 which is under 249g and can be flown almost anywhere. Then there's a Phantom 3 4K (which I really must sell) and a Phantom 4 Pro. The 4 Pro has one of the best cameras available on a prosumer drone (despite being about 5 years old). The problem with the Phantoms now is their size and restrictions of area. I flew my P4 pro for the first time this week since I used it for TV filming back in April, as it's so large it needs it's own backpack which, when I also have one full of camera gear and the Mini 2, I can't easily carry.
-
4 hours ago, annv said:
I would hate to get on that in the dark is there no anti slip pads or is the photo not showing them, a accident waiting to happen. john
There will be anti-slip built into the moulding. It would not get a hire BSS if it didn't. Whilst I am no expert on the RCD, I would be gobsmacked if this didn't include non-slip decking as a requirement of compliance.
-
1 hour ago, SwanR said:
Interesting comments about where you can fly. The only times I’ve seen drones overhead they’ve been incredibly noisy and it felt intrusive. I’ve seen lots of great photos taken from drones but am not a fan of them buzzing around at a fairly low level.
There are still lots of people who fly in areas they are not allowed to with in appropriate drones. There's a class of drone under 250g though that can be flow legally almost anywhere except in approach and take-off zones around aerodromes and other No Fly Zones (NFZ). I have one and you'd barely even know it was there when in the air; very quiet.
-
1
-
-
2 hours ago, marshman said:
To be honest , whilst MAIB do make valid contributions, they are not always right - I recall spending a lot of time trying to do "stability" tests on a wherry to satisfy them!!
Yes, a certain amount of craziness is adopted by tie-wearing pen-pushers... Hey, prove that that huge wooden boat designed to carry many tonnes of cargo under sail around relatively shallow rivers is good to carry 10-15 passengers......
-
3
-
1
-
-
54 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:
Thanks, I geddit but over an unpopulated area? Really?
Griff
Sadly, the National Trust is incredibly backward and stayed in its thinking. Who would have thought this were possible for an organisation that's looking after our heritage in a modern society?
I am not sure where NT land starts and ends in this location to be honest. The car park at Horsey Gap used to be NT but now it's private, so things have changed. I have flown around Brograve and will do again, but on the edges of the mere, that's probably illegal.
Its worth noting that the NT can only deny take off and landing. It has no control of airspace and airspace exists as soon as a drone (or plane) is airborne. So, if you take off from land that has no restriction (and remain within aviation law), and fly over NT land, there is nowt the NT can do about it. Obviously, aviation laws are many and very complicated. Drone rules are simpler, but still quite complicated.That shot is the first draft of about two and a half hours of work involving quite a lot of equipment. I will refine the image over time and maybe offer it as a print in future, but I think there will be better opportunities later in September for better skies. I should have been there last night, to be honest.....
-
1
-
-
I got a great sunset around late September / Early October last year at Horsey, but I couldn't get quite high enough to capture much of the mere in the shot. As this is NT land, drones are not permitted, so I rigged up something to get the camera, under remote control, about 9 ft in the air, just to gain that little extra. The sky wasn't brilliant tonight, but the result is pleasing nonetheless.
-
7
-
1
-
-
50 minutes ago, YnysMon said:
and another lot jumping up and down on the top of another boat!
If you think that's bad show, two or three years ago, there was a huge picture of some young women without lifejackets on the fore roof of a cruiser. This was in Broadcaster.
-
I think Le Boat operated a one-way between Horning and Somerleyton in 2008/2009. At the time, as far as I remember, it rented part (maybe all) of the basin from Lord Somerleyton and workshops (was this Crown Blue Line at one time)? Anyway, there were various issues and the service lasted only one season I think.
-
1
-
-
St Olaves is not a bridge to be messed with. On a full flowing current, turning too late can have you slammed into it sideways as nature tells proves your puny engine is no match for the Mother.....
-
2
-
-
5 minutes ago, Meantime said:
All hire boats should have the clearance needed on a plaque near the helm or in the skippers manual.
It is a requirement of the Hire Boat Operators License that the air draft is clearly marked at all helms.
-
1 hour ago, YnysMon said:
Total lack of awareness yes, but not necessarily disregard of the safety of the crew. On our last trip on the Broads we were heading upstream the Ant on a busy Sunday morning, approaching Ludham Bridge behind a rather high dual steer cruiser that had several bicycles on the roof. It wasn't until they turned the corner and saw the bridge that they proceeded to move the bicycles, so I'm pretty sure they were completely unaware that they'd have to go under a bridge to get up the Ant.
Surely, that's a lack of preparation: not taking a look at maps or sat-nav which would have taken moments.
-
1
-
-
9 hours ago, floydraser said:
Is it just me but as this thread is about one particular incident and therefore one particular hirer, I don't think this is the place to talk about hirer stupidity, especially as we have no conclusion. Maybe another thread.
Nobody is suggesting that the poor lady who lost her life at Yarmouth last year was stupid.
This was a result of a set of circumstances by inexperienced people finding themselves in a challenging situation that they did not have the skills to properly deal with. It happens daily and most of the time, people get away with it.
The vast majority of motor boaters on our rivers have not received more than a few hours training (assuming they have been hiring for a few years). Many boat owners have never, ever, invested in an official boat-handling course (I am sure there will be people popping up saying "I have", but you will be in the minority and, anyway, bully for you). Most have learned whatever "skills" they have from experience and errors and I put "skills" in quotes because they might not be approved methods of dealing with things either.
The point being that this accident could have happened to most of us at some time in our past. As a child, I ended up in the water because the rope I was "jumping" off with was too short and I stopped just short of the quay and rammed my ribs down on the quay heading whilst my lower half got a dunking. That was about 38 years ago and it's one of the few memories my addled brain can recall. I have never done it again and I step, not jump.
In my view, you will never stop accidents like this unless you make people have proper training before working as crew on a cruiser. The moment you do that, there will be no cruisers left to hire. You could legislate that lifejackets must we worn and that would help for sure, but it wont stop someone being dragged if caught under in a rope around a prop.
If you force guard rails around the decks, existing cruisers become hard to walk around as the decks aren't wide enough and you also create other problems for access, likely promoting accidents in the process and, certainly, creating huge levels of damage also.
There may be issues of design in cruisers that make some harder to operate than others but at the heart of every problem is the person at the helm and if we are to change things for the better, we must start addressing that common denominator. I don't know how. I don't have the answers, but I do know that boat design is NOT the cause of accidents, it's human error and inexperience.
-
3
-
1
-
-
1 hour ago, DAVIDH said:
How does that happen please? What were the circumstances that caused Summercraft to no longer have the reciprocal arrangement? Is it that they need to be a member of the Broads Hire Boat Federation (if that's what it's called), and as they had stopped hiring, they weren't? I'm guessing the situation is different now, as they have started hiring again?
There is no requirement to be in the Broads Hire Boat Federation. Additionally, you can only be a member of the BHBF if you're a member of the British Marine Federation.
Freedom was only a member for a few years and Alphacraft was only members for a tiny percentage of its existence.
I would never have turned away a hire craft regardless: they may have been my next customer and it would have been silly for anyone else to do so on the same basis.-
4
-
2
-
-
1 minute ago, Vaughan said:
This could be explained by MAIB, being an inherantly sea-going organisation, taking the times at Yarmouth Bar rather than Yarmouth Yacht Station. A common discrepancy in these cases.
But there's only one hour difference between the Yacht Station and Yarmouth Bar. This is three hours adrift.
-
19 minutes ago, Meantime said:
Looking at the interim report on the last page it states the following;
External & internal environment Dry, light breeze, ebbing tide, predicted low water at 1418, high water at 2017
However a look at my copy of the Herbert Woods tide table for 19th August 2020 suggests that low water at the yacht station was predicted to be 17:15. This is also backed up with a check on www.norfolk-broads.org tides.
Well, someone's wrong..... If it's the MAIB, it begins to draw questions over their competency to investigate even a sunrise.
Being three hours out is a big error.
-
3
-
-
12 minutes ago, Meantime said:
I have raised this issue before and given that the times of the tide move on a daily basis, I think the BA's fixed period mooring policy at Yarmouth is a safety issue. Overnight till 10am and daily 10am till 6pm means that people will often rush to depart before 10am in any tide state. The same is often true for arriving to make the most of their mooring period.
I think that is a very valid point. The BA would probably argue that they have rangers on-hand to assist, but making departure hazardous must be the cause of a lot of "difficulties" amongst totally inexperienced navigators.
-
14 minutes ago, RS2021 said:
The powers that be may not, but good car designers do take pedestrian safety very seriously. The fancy creases you see on car bonnets are not just for looks, they are often designed to deflect pedestrians to minimise injury in a crash. Some cars have airbags just for pedestrians and I know at least Volvo have a full pedestrian and cyclist detection system which will automatically stop the car if a collision with a pedestrian is imminent.
I agree we should not pre-empt the outcome of a report, but as far as safety is concerned we should not have to wait for someone to be killed before acting on good design and practice. Any boat designer should build safety into new designs and not wait for the 'powers that be' to tell them.
Sure, but we also need to appreciate that, even for the most successful boats ever produced by Aquafibre, there were probably only ever a few hundred examples of each. The R&D ability of designers and builders is not even in the same continent as, say, Volvo, let alone ballpark. And, when all said and done, accidents and fatalities still happen on the roads in their thousand every year, despite the strides made by car manufacturers and this is because its the human element that fails in most cases. A boat impact that's unexpected will take anyone by surprise and even the smallest one has the ability to cause someone to stumble and lose their footing. You can't easily design that out of a boat, bus or train unless you literally lash people on.
If there is an obvious design issue that increases risk, it should be addressed before someone gets hurt. But there's also a danger of a design feature that's ultimately beneficial being accused of being the "cause" just because someone was hurt whilst on it/using it.
I don't know where this is going to end up but I do know that the common denominator in virtually all these accidents is human error and some have been errors by experiences boaters too. The solution to these problems is knowledge, training, awareness and a good dose of all these will help impact on many aspect of Boat Hire that cause many online "debates".
Last year, I produced this:It's had 8,500 views in under 14 months and much praise. This is the kind of thing that hirers should be made to watch before even getting their lifejackets.
-
2
-
1
-
-
This is going to cause more cost to hire companies with modifications to vessels that have been totally unnecessary for 100 years prior. We saw similar problems in the last BSS update with regard to grab rails and non-slip areas. All valid points but none taking any ques from river boats, just narrow boats, few of which will be historic like the Hunter fleet.
The powers that be don't insist that cars are mare of foam rubber to prevent injury to pedestrians in collisions. Is this because we all expect to break bones or worse if hit by a car but don't expect to be hurt if we fall into the water around propeller?
I always tried to focus attention on this in handovers using the phrase "the propeller is a blender for legs". It got winces, but I bet they remembered the phrase as the wording was intentional. Way too few people on a handover are interested in listening to what you have to say. Maybe the answer is to have an official Broads-wide video that everybody sits in front of and watches on rotation before boarding. No other distractions, just sit and watch.The report says nothing much but hints at changes. The joke is that the Hire Boat Code has taken as long to be defined, redefined and adopted as I had been in business. Our handover was based on the code which has never been officially adopted on the Broads, though why, I have no idea.
Safety is paramount and improving safety if clearly important. But many accidents don't happen because safety measures haven't been put in place. They happen because they are ignored by people. The most difficult thing to change in this is a a personal choice, decision or total indifference.
-
6
-
-
20 minutes ago, Karizma said:
Hi Andy - 3 x Cyrix Victron Energy 12 volt 100 amp - are they combiners or splitters?
They are combiners.
The terminology can be confusing.
A combiner senses the alternator charging and the closes a relay so that charge is sent to the battery(s) that's in the circuit after the relay.
A splitter is a heavy-duty diode that prevents the batteries from being combined and charging into oneanother but passes the charging current through - it's a one-way-gate.Ultimately, both do the same job and there are pros and cons of each system. A diode will introduce a voltage drop which means the batteries aren't charged at the full voltage. The combiner will not do this and is generally considered to be better. There is a very small risk that the relays could fail and combine the batteries when not charging which is bad. It is a VERY small risk though.
Some systems just use a large relay for the charging and this works too, but is less advantageous than what you have as it doesn't need to sense power from the alternator, just receive enough to close the relay. If the alternator is dodgy, this could combine the batteries in error and you end up with all your banks being flat.-
1
-
-
6 minutes ago, twowrights said:
We were on one of Richardson's older bathtubs in May, and of the £125 fuel deposit got just over £72 refunded. We travelled south to Cantley and to Oulton Broad, kept to the speed limits, and had the heating on a few times. We were very happy with our fuel refund.
Typically, it was the short break hirers that used more fuel because they just hammered the boats: had to get everywhere because their time was limited. Often a 3 day hire would use more fuel than a week hire on the same boat.
2 hours ago, Vaughan said:Sorry, can't agree with that. Peachments hydraulic drive hardly loses any power in the drive. The old Dowty or Dennison systems lost about 10% but that was over 50 years ago!
There are LOTS of those still in use...
-
A 200w slow cooker will pull about 22amps out of the battery per hour. A typical battery bank for the inverter will be 220amp hours. So, a 7 hour cook will take around 75% of the battery power. If you're running the engine during this, the drain will be less, but remember, your battery bank is not a limitless supply of power and the shorter days lead to longer nights when you will probably want power for the TV.
Things to seriously think about. A call-out to the boatyard for flat batteries is a drain on everyone's energy.-
1
-
-
No. It is mostly dependant on how you use the boat. There's not a great deal of fuel efficiency difference between a new Nanni 35hp engine and an old BMC 1.5. It's down to how its used. Against the tide all the time will not help. Hell for leather will guzzle fuel like no tomorrow. Strong headwind will help swallow it too.
Hydraulic drive boats usually use more fuel too as there's up to 30% efficiency loss in the drive train.-
1
-
-
Probably Battery Charge Splitters (Probably diodes) not combiners.
Common config for 3 banks:
2 banks of 2 will be 2 for the domestic 12v power - 2 for the inverter - 1 for the engine.
Two alternators. Each should go to to a charge splitter to charge the three banks.
Ring Any Bells?
in Broads Chat
Posted
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/people/self-declared-south-pennines-park-covering-swathes-of-west-yorkshire-including-haworth-keighley-and-ilkley-to-launch-after-area-was-rejected-for-national-park-status-in-1940s-3376079?fbclid=IwAR2Ln87ue1Dwrbfozl1eBbp2OdNT12DmKAqFkbMghL06pT6moxuBZ2wvYV4