C.Ricko

Hi Jonny, I did get an answer out od Dad, he said he likes the centre cockpit Alphas. i asked about wooden boats and he said he does not like any of them, he is not interested in boats or cars in the way most people like them, a car gets him to work and a boat goes out on hire. In his opinion all wooden boats are trouble and also pointless as fiberglass has been invented!

I took this picture of 'Bigfoot' today, the boat is lifted high so it is easier to steam clean, the machine is driven by hydraulics from a BMC 2.5,

Hi Mark, There is no table in the aft seating area, , Clive..

Hi Mark, sorry for the late reply, Not been at work today, I dont think there is but will check tomorrow, regards

good pics Colin, in the second picture all the boats on the left have been moved except the bermuda which will be turned to face the sheds, the basin looks massive now with virtually no boats, the roadways are going down this week and the electric / water points are being chosen ready for installation. the wet shed picture is a good one too, there should be a 'new' boat joining you this weekend, although she will go to the other side as she is a bit longer. I will post some pictures of the outside moorings on a new thread when they are nearly finished

Hi Blackpool11, did you not get a brochure? or have you nor read it cover to cover you should have one if you came last year. If you booked via us then San Luis would count. bookings are looking good and we are not doing any discounts over and above the norm, if you ask the booking staff they will tell you what the deals are at the moment.

Go right ahead Terry

Well done Howard. you win S.F.A! Jimbo, perhaps they may miss something, the reassuring rattle of a trusty BMC The new Nanni diesel will be quieter, either that or we will install a double helm seat with pedals

not an overly exciting post but out with the old BMC 2.2 engine and nasty TMP gearbox and the replacement BMC 2.5 and PRM gearbox waiting to be cleaned up, sprayed and a chrome rocker cover put on before being re fitted. the old TMP gearbox output is directly in line with the old engine whereas the PRM outpt is lower. this is an easy problem to sort as the new engine isolators will raise the engine up enough, added bonus is that there is space under the wheelhouse floor. the other difference is that the old engine was keel cooled and the 2.5 has a heat exchanger, the disused keel cooler will be removed and hull planking replaced where the holes are. No prizes for guessing where the 2.5 came from

Sue, better make the hunt at low tide The wherry Lord Roberts used to belong to the Thane family, Paul Thane is a piling/ dredgeing contractor. ps Happy birthday Sue

Marshman said.. " as time goes on they sink lower and rot away even more!!!" Surely the lower they get the longer they will be preserved? Wood rots where it is damp and the Oxygen gets to it, like quay headding, I have never seen a piece of piling rotten below the water line, look what is being pulled out of the Ant and being left at Ludham bridge. perhaps the main preaditor is worm? With Albion and Maud, surely we need just one more so there will be 1st 2nd and 3rd when the wherry racing resumes

you can see a wherry on google earth on the Ranworth broad side of the spit between that and Malthouse broad I think it is the Belle but I am sure someone will correct me. coulld be the Elle but she was small (I think) The picture has been updated since I last looked, the water was lower and a wherry was sailing towards the Bure on the other side, pity that image has gone now....

I will try and take a better pic of the wet shed but they always seem to come out a bit dark . A freelance journalist from Classic Boat magasine rang me before Christmas wanting to do a feature on the wet shed, he recons it is the biggest in the UK. I dont know if he is right, I suppose a shipyard or the MOD must have bigger. The boat next to the Powles is Radiant Gem a Bounty and there is a Horizon 35 there too.

Dan, there is only 1 Safari left now and a few less Elysians, the Seamaster in the wetshed photo is the 'roughest of the rough'! I imagine she may hang about for a little while waiting for the right owner. We are well set up, we even have our own propellers cast and balance and bore them out ourselves. we also make our own prop shafts, when a long shaft in a boat wears out we make it into two short shafts for different boats, when they wear out they become rudder shafts, that is one of the many ways we amuse ourselves

Barry, I dont have the knowledge, but I do have it at my fingertips and yes having the resourses saves time, money and injury. I sometimes hear of how much has been spent on DIY jobs and wonder why they did not just give the job to us to do quicker cheaper and better, but there is the enjoyment factor and satisfaction in doing it yourself also as in your case as far as I can see there is nothing wrong with the quality. this page on Craigs database is my favorite http://www.horning.org.uk/stylegallery. ... ichardsons The original finish was shiney varnish as it will be again, the previous owner used 'sikkens'? it worked well for him as she lived outside and it seemed to be lower maintenance. I agree, there is nothing like cold fingers to slow progress down, I suppose you have already polished all the shiney bits ready to go back on. roll on summer, apparently this year is to be one of the hottest 5 since records began, but they did say something similar last year.

Barry, you have to look behind where I am taking the first pic from

Jonny, I think the warm glow is from my cheapo work camera This pic is also not too good it is the new bit of Quay headding in the Wet shed, it is 'work in progress' but looking good, the shed is the same construction as the black hanger, a T2 aircraft hanger, it has a 120ft clear span giving about 100ft of water, the shed is 300ft long. the new bit is 170 ft. all the sheds were put up with ropes and pulleys, Dad used an old wherry 'Lorna Doone' with a pulley on the mast to hoist it up. Lorna Doone was the pleasure wherry belonig to the Coleman family, she is burried between Heron and Merlin Quays...

I must admit I have spent time in the past looking for boats only during the winter, there were more of them then and the 3 back basins were used for the fleet so there were more places to 'loose' them but it's not too bad. Here are some pics of the Ponderosa... our fiberglass shop is in this shed and joinery/ wood machinery

Hi Ian, we move the boats around with 'Bigfoot' a hoist which we drive down the slip and pick the boats up, we can then set the boats down where we want. Bigfoot came from Powles in Wroxham when they shut, I dont have a photo, if there is not one posted by monday I will take a photo. We used to use bomb trolleys, gantry and Jacks, we would pack 45 boats in the black hanger and 48 in the Ponderosa. The Ponderosa is the shed in the background of this picture......

this pic just shows the water tank removed, not that interesting really, the removed engine and removed diesel tank look basically the same as the original but with the bits missing!! everything has now been steam cleaned and scrubbed including the bilges in the aft ready for painting out but will probably wait now until spring when there should be a bit more time... I may try and squeeze little jobs in here and there unnoticed, please dont tell the boss

Ok, I thought this may be of interest to a few of you boaty folk, most people can wander onto a boatyard and have a look about but when the weather is cold and the doors are shut what goes on in those sheds? these first three pictures are taken in the 'Black Hangar' (the one along the road) Mick brings his boats from Acle to get them off the rough windswept riverbanks during the winter he takes over this shed and gives it back about Easter time. this shed also houses our vehicle mainenance, Machine shop, engineering workshop, electricians workshop, window workshop, wood machinary and stores. I may put photos of some of these areas up some other time....

Hi Sue, there is not much to do on the Elysians but they will only need new upholstery, canopies, gas check and a damn good clean. problem is getting the other boats at Stalham ready first, we hava a mountain to get through and cant commit to starting them until we can see 'the light' The Barbados is looking fantastic, she will now be good for 30 years more hire work.

jimbo, they are next to each other, you can see the bows but it looks like another boat The advantage is I can see the backs of them as I type (and another calypso has appeared next to the other two which has been sold) we seem to have drifted off topic a bit

Hi, Ok not everybodys idea of a restoration because. A) they are Fiberglass. There is not much original left.. but I thought some may find them interesting although my photos are not great. also the floor coverings are covered with plywood and there are dust sheets for painting but they are very nice

Geoff it is familiar and Jimbo here are 2 more!...