goodall_m1

Alan edited the earlier post to make the last bit clearer but it can still be confusing as the original Notice to Mariners refers to the port and starboard spans without adding "when looking at the bridge from downstream", i.e from the Yarmouth side. So let me put down what I think is to be going on on Breydon and, if I have got it wrong, provoke a discussion to make it crystal clear to anyone reading this thread. (especially for newbies and hire skippers, who usually see the Yarmouth / Breydon area as the most worrying section of the Broads!) They are going to do some dredging in the marked channel. This will be upstream of the bridge on the eastern side. Small vessels crossing Breydon are normally be expected to keep to the right-hand side of the channel (we drive on the right on the water) and go through the smaller span close to their right hand shore. There will be no change for boats heading up to Breydon bridge from Yarmouth. When they are doing the dredging boats coming down Breydon will, however, have to move left away from the shore to avoid the dredging equipment, and will have to use the main span, as the dredging operations will have closed the eastern small boat span. The main span is higher but is normally reserved for vessels that are too high for the side spans to keep pleasure craft out of the way of the bigger vessels that need to use the main span which was built to allow coasters etc in and up the Yare to Cantley and Norwich, (but these are very very rare these days). This diversion will be indicated by signage and by changes to the lights (for those who need to go through in the dark!) Does everybody agree with my translation?

Paul & Helen, Welcome aboard, and I second John;s comments, hearing about initial trips on the Broads brings back memories of all our own ventures into the unknown. I remember two main noticeable comments on my first trip on the Broads... One was from my Mum as we moored up at Coltishall, "Do we have to go back down the same river that we came up?" The second was from my Dad after I had let him (a retired Chief Petty Officer RN with about 10 years in the navy) take the helm going up the Ant and he had forgotten that the stern goes right when the bow goes left (resulting in side-swiping a boat moored on a bend!)... "Remember that I was a Stoker CPO, and that the last time anyone let me loose with a boat was June 5th 1944 off Yarmouth, Isle of White. And they only did that because all the Seamen CPO's were already in use and we had a lot to get ready that morning!" Memories!

My worst ever crossing of Breydon was on my first Broads trip, taking a hired 36ft bathtub, Trent Bridge, across with a force 6 crosswind. She needed about 30 degree angle into the wind just to keep her on track, and we were taking water over the bow at times without any problems of wakes! At the time I was a complete novice to inshore boating, (we were on the second week of the hire) but had done some time on the sea, albeit mainly in sailing dinghies. One of the problems that the popularity of the Broads as a novice area causes is that we do end up with a mix of experienced skippers, relatively inexperienced skippers, and complete novices. Those with a little experience will know to turn into the wake caused by a faster vessel to prevent it causing a rolling motion, but it isn't anything that I was told in any of my "hand-over" trips. It just isn't a problem that occurs within a mile of so of the hire-yards. The novices may not know what they are doing yet, but the experienced skippers do know and I think should approach any other vessel on the basis that it is a novice at the helm. Courtesy to other boaters is something that we should all show as a matter of course.

I have eventually found the link I wanted to attach to my previous post: http://www.maib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/SB2_13.pdf

Joking aside, make sure you use a generator in a well ventilated area.... Carbon Monoxide kills!

John, I don't think there was anything in the original post to suggest that it was a forum member that caused the problem. As for using the VHF unfortunately most of the boats that are effected by such behaviour won't be equipped with a VHF. and, anyway the culprits probably wouldn't be able to hear anything over the "lovely" sound of their engines.... I had one occasion in the New Cut where I had to call out for my crew to clear the forward well and prepare for a collision as some prat in a "salty" decided to overtake a line of boats when we were coming the other way and I had nowhere to go to avoid him. Luckily the boats being overtaken saw the situation an allowed the **** into their line. I didn't go for the handheld (yes I do take it with me when hiring on the Broads) but in my situation five short blasts might have convinced the prat that someone actually knew the "rules of the road". How effective would the BA be if called, and what is their number?

Also known as Jewel Weed, first seen in the UK in 1822 and now regarded as "established" in England. https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/nonnativespecies/factsheet/factsheet.cfm?speciesId=1809 "Invasion is Ornamental" so it looks like it excaped from some Victorian's garden!

St Mary's Church, Kirby Bedon?

Please let me know your original user name if you want to resurrect it.

If you are looking for a new one try http://www.elyboatchandlers.com/origo-hobs-and-burners/origo-1500-spirit-hob or http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ORIGO-1500-1-BURNER-SPIRIT-HOB-STOVE-COOKER-BOAT-COOKER-NEW-P240-/130793799484?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_BoatEquipment_Accessories_SM&hash=item1e73eaff3c

Is the traffic on the A11 worse than usual for the Bank Holiday? I was on the M3 northbound this evening and one of the matrix signs near Winchester was reporting "A11 closed north of A14".... I wonder what proportion of the drivers were heading for Norfolk and needed to be warned 150 miles before they got to the problem area?

Welcome aboard, we like people who admit they are still learning, because we all are!

With any cruiser the companies often say something like "will pass under Potter Heigham with a suitable water level" Unfortunately the river levels never seem to be suitable lately... I did get through one year, with a 36ft bathtub, and even then the pilot scraped the bridge with the roof rails....

I think you mean Broadlander, the new single level version. She does look impressive.

David / John, I will be off-line for the next week, so you may have to sort this out between you. Martin

If you look into the history of the Vulcan they were switched from high-level to low-level attacks (due to improvements in Russian high level anti-aircraft missiles) and it was not unknown for them to come back from training exercises with branches in their engine air in-takes..... Many, many years ago (1975) I was going north through the Yorkshire Dales on my little 90cc Yamaha motor-bike when I heard a strange noise as I approached the top of a pass. Seconds later I saw a Vulcan for the first time, It was coming UP the pass from the other side and went over me at about 100-200 feet.... What a sight! For me it ranks alongside the time I looked out of my car in a Austrian pass to see two Golden Eagles flying alongside me and only about 12 feet away (they were actually about 500ft up, due to the sheer drop off from the road into the valley).... Of course on both occasions there was no way I could get the camera out in time!

Now that I am semi-retired (the redundancy pay will cover me until I start taking my pension) I have less restrictions on how much holiday I can take, but must consider the costs a bit more... This year the split will be two trips sailing in Greece (two weeks in May and another four in September / October (as my redundancy present to myself) for me, and a one week trip to Bonnie Scotland, (instead of our normal week on the Broads) for the extended family. A stay-cation with a large family costs a lot less than taking them foreign, especially as with school age kids you are restricted to the school holidays when the air-fares etc push the prices to ridiculous levels If you don't go for the new builds, which are not aimed at large families anyway, the weekly hire charges on the Broads are actually similar to the cost of hiring a house (with eight of us I couldn't call it a cottage), and staying in Britain is a lot cheaper than taking the gang abroad. Unfortunately our Broads trip last year was basically a disaster, due to a problems with the hire-boat, (problems with the batteries / charging circuit and the heating, (we went at Easter instead of the summer)) so this year (after four years on the Broads) we are trying somewhere different... It basically came down to a choice between a different hire yard or going somewhere other than the Broads, and I decided it was time to expand the kids' knowledge of Britain (before they will all need passports to visit Scotland!). The house we are hiring in Scotland has been around for a while (Bonnie Prince Charlie reputedly stayed there in 1745), but it has has a lot spent on modernising it since then, unlike a lot of the older hire-boats still operated by some yards.

Path down to Salhouse Broad?

Cobblers! It will get under most bridges (except possibly Wroxham or Potter) if given enough power on approach, that problem that occurred last year with Challenger IV was caused because they just didn't give her enough umph... (of course the yard might not want to send her out again next week...) N.B. it is not recommended to be steering from the fly-bridge when attempting to pass through any bridge!

Stumbled across this site which might be useful to anyone looking into their anode situation: http://www.anodeoutlet.co.uk/knowledge-base/

err How do I do that on the new system? (I am sure that I am not the only one not to know how to see the mailbox level)

Jonzo, Just tried it again and this time it seemed to be sent OK. May have just been a glitch.... Hopefully Jonny will be able to confirm that he got the test message.

Jonzo I tried to send a PM to Jonny today (click on user, click on send message etc) but got an error saying that he couldnt get any new messages... He recons that his mailbox is empty so there could be something else wrong in the system somewhere. Martin

Jonny, I could look after the dog if you want someone to look after him whilst you are away. (Tried to send you a PM but it says you cant receive any new messages, so your mailbox could be full up..)

Jill I am logged in but I am getting the same message... Is there a special level that we need to reach to be allowed into Chat?