goodall_m1

Lozi, Personally I suspect that there was a bit of an inconsistancy in the frame rate between the phone used to record the video and the rate at which the web-site played it back. i.e. Yes the boats came through fast, but on the web-site replay they appeared faster than they actually were.

Might be worth putting the web-site URL's in to make them a link... Otherwise anyone interested has to start a new window and search for them.

Welcome aboard.. A few simple points come to mind, before you do go delving through the wealth of information on this forum 1) Please remember that with only two of you someone will need to get off and tie the boat up, and usually the other one will be at the helm (driving)... So if your youthful mother is agile then by all means let her do the jumping off and tieing up (if the driver puts the boat in the correct position then mooring is easy)... The alternative is to get her to do the driving when coming in to moor and free you up for the jumping. (Make sure that she drives during the handover from the boat yard and that it is enough for her to be confident when mooring) It is a common sight on the Broads for the "skipper" to do the driving, and expect the other half to struggle with lines etc, when a simple bit of role reversal would make things a lot easier. I normally go sailing with a younger crew, but he has a hip problem, so when we are mooring he drives and I jump. The last time I took my parents out on the Broads I swore an oath that : "From now on I will always have at least two people under 70 on the boat", at 90 and 85 they weren't too good at the driving or the jumping! (Dad did comment that the last time anyone let him steer a boat was June 5th 1944!) You can do everything single-handed but it is not that easy, if in doubt you can always invite a friend to come with you (after all the hire price is for the whole boat) 2) Small boats tend to be cheaper, but space can be nice to have. With two of you, you could get by with a 2+1 or 2+2 (1 double or twin cabin and one or two convertible berths in the saloon) but I would say that you would be better to avoid having to use the saloon if possible (the bedding has to be stowed in the other cabin during the day and it is drag continually setting it up again) so you are probably going to be looking at a boat that has 4 - 6 berths in order to get each of you your own space. 3) If you are unsure of anything before you go ASK, and someone here will be glad to explain it. If you are unsure of anything when going through the handover, ASK, as it is too late once they have jumped off and waved you away. If you are unsure of anything after leaving the yard, ASK, the other boaters around you will all have been novices themselves once.

Your bird looks like some form of Falcon to me, if it was in the UK I would say a female Peregrine. The size of the ships able to pass through the canal has led to whole classes of ships described as Panamax, i.e. specifically built to JUST be able to get through the canal (or actually the canal locks which are the limiting factor) Wikipedia gives the following dimensions: Length: 950ft (289.56 m) (or 965 ft (294.13 m) for container ships and passenger vessels) Width: Over outer surface of the shell plating: 106 ft (32.31 m). General exception: 107 ft (32.61 m), when draft is less than 37 ft (11.3 m) in tropical fresh water. Draft: In tropical fresh water 39.5 ft (12.04 m). A Panamax cargo ship would typically have a DWT of 65,000–80,000 tonnes, but its maximum cargo would be about 52,500 tonnes during a transit due to draft limitations in the canal. For a container ship that would be one carrying about 5000 TEU (twenty foot equivalent). Big aren't they! But they are currently building new sets of locks which are even bigger! The plans to build bigger locks have led to the creation of "New Panamax" vessels, based on new lock dimensions of 1,400 ft (427 m), beam 180 ft (55 m) and depth 60 ft (18.3 m). After this expansion, the Panama Canal will be able to handle vessels of cargo capacity up to 13,000 TEU. Interestingly the new container ships that Rod has been talking about coming into the new facilities on the Thames and Felixtowe will be to big even for the new locks! I know some people take private boats through the canal but the though of mixing it with vessels that size at close quarters in restricted water gives me the colly-wobbles.

Pat As I usually have to take Tazman's five kids with me when I go to the Broads, and I prefer to know that their jackets fit (and have crutch straps) I have a full range of children's foam jackets (new-born to large child), (Baltic Bambi for the new-born - 12 months and Crewsaver with integral harness for the older ones) They were all bought with salty sailing in mind as well as Broads holidays. If you do and let me know the sizes required (Kids jackets are normally sized by weight and chest measurements) so if you can give me some idea of those I can sort out the best ones and post them up to you (it is just a bit late to get anyone going to the Beccles meet to carry them up for you!) (I also have some junior Seago auto-inflating ones, but as Mark said they are certainly too big for a 5 year old, but I did manage to adjust one (just) for a small 8/9 year old this year) Personally I prefer foam jackets for small kids anyway, the auto inflates also have a firing toggle which they can find tempting and new canisters are expensive... If you eventually want to get your own I recommend Ebay, that is where mine all came from and you can usually get some good savings. You do take a bit of a risk with auto-inflates but can check them on arrival, and their is no real risk with Foam) Let me know a.s.a.p. and pm your address if you do so I can get them in the post to you. Martin

With anchors and rope the RYA recommend a minimum of 6 x the expected maximum depth, (oops showing my rag and stick side again) and I always like to take the depth to mean the difference from the top of the bow to the bottom, not from the water-line. (considering how little a broads crusier normally draws that can sometimes almost double the distance!) And then there is always the concept that if you have a longer piece of rope then you can cleat it off shorter if you wish, but you can't make a short rope longer, unless you have a spare line to tie on to it. So I would say how deep are you expectig to drop the weight in , and work back from there. Of course on the Broads I always hire, so the weight comes with the length of line that company supplies (but I always do take a couple of spare lines with me as well which can be used for all sorts of uses if required)

If my memory serves me right Potter is 6' 6" at AHW to the CENTRE of the arch. I often wish that they would give the bridge heights at say 4' left and right of centre on arched bridges as that is usually the bit of the boat that is going to hit or miss... I don't think that there is actually much tidal movement at Potter anyway and I am sure that "expilot" commented on one post that they prefer to go through against the tide to give better handling at a slow SOG. I would say that, even with a private boat, use the pilot as they know how to shoot the bridge, and can tell you whether it will fit or not. Saying that the only time that I have managed to get a hire-boat through Potter the pilot still managed to scrape the bridge with the aft grab rails on the return trip. (is it time to change your avatar photo, I looked at it and thought no chance! I then remembered that you had got the V20)

Welcome to the forum Jim. Not being able to get through the lower bridges does stop you getting to the upper reaches of the rivers and I do like the quiet stretches, e.g. above Wroxham up to Coltishall, and above Wayford up to Dilham. (Take a look at my "holiday tales" blogs and you will find photos of those stretches) Getting through Potter bridge is less of a problem as most boats that "will pass through Potter Heigham bridge at suitable tides" usually find that the tides are never suitable! (I managed to do it on one trip about 15 years ago) I have never gone through Beccles bridge yet as you need to be there when the tide times are convenient, and anyway most of my cruises have been in the northern section. I would reckon that, with the amount of water falling from the sky this summer, the river levels must be high at the moment! A bow thruster is a little propeller in a tube that goes through the bow of your boat. It allows you to push the bow left or right when maneuvering and can be very useful especially when trying to handle larger craft. It can come in very handy when mooring up or when trying to get out of a tight mooring space. Used in conjunction with a bit of power to use the rudder to push the stern over it can actually let you make a boat go sideways! Some of the newer boats are now coming with stern thrusters as well but I reckon that that must take some of the skill out of boat handling. As to which boat to hire for four, I cant really say much as I am usually going out with five kids on board and hence look for the bigger ones!

I used the Limes at Catfield the last time I had to do a B&B stop-over (for one of the forum meets). http://www.thelimesatcatfield.com Single rooms from £45, which I would still regard as pricey but then I mauy be out of touch with hotel prices in Norfolk. It isn't right on a Broad or river but as he/she will have a car then that shouldn't be a problem.

Starting a new thread in Broads Related Chat would be as good a place as anywhere, but as most of us use "View Active Topics" so anywhere should get you an answer (even high-jacking on of Andy's threads!) What do you want to know?

Ok lets take things in order: a) Pilots Pilots are available at Wroxham and Potter Heigham bridges, hire-boats HAVE to use the Pottter pilot, and some yards insist on them using the Wroxham one. With both of them you can call ahead on the phone to check if they think that your boat can get through, or to find out when they think the water level might be OK, and to tell them when you expect to arrive at the bridge when you get closer. (there isn't that much tidal movement at the bridges but in some cases every little helps!) Pottter has a little hut just below the bridge on the starboard side as you approach upstream but as I have only managed to get through it on one trip many years ago I can't remember where you moor up to pick up the pilot when coming south. Wroxham has a pontoon just below the bridge on the starboard side and you moor there and wait for the pilot. Coming downstream moor up just above the bridge and ring the pilot telling him which set of moorings you are on. Water You can get water from most boat yards and from several other mooring areas. There are posts on here that give all the details of moorings with water available. c) Mud-weights Mud-weights are used instead of anchors on the Broads because there are all sorts of snags on the bottom that would foul an anchor. Swinging on a mud-eight is normally OK but I wouldn't do it in high-winds, (I watched two boats dragging their mud-weights across Malthouse Broad (Ranworth) back in April) but there was a force 7 blowing at the time. Personally I use my hand-held GPS and set the "anchor drag alarm" when I drop the weight, but then I am basically a sea-going yachtie and have such tools available, so I treat mud-weighting in the same way as I would anchoring. d) One thing that you didn't mention was "Pump-outs" Broads cruisers have "holding tanks" for toilet waste, and every few days you will need to go into a boat-yard and get it sucked out. How often you need to do it will depend on the number of people on board and how often you don't "use shore facilities". Most yards will do a pump-out but you do have to pay for them.

I think that the Bridge's electric points are on their "reserved" moorings, so it you will need to book one if you need electricity. The New Inn at Horning also has moorings that have electricity available, but again you have to book a mooring.

But at least on Loch Ness it is only coming from two directions... South West or North East, So usually it is on the nose or up your tail! Surprising amount of waves building up though, when you are that far above sea level! The easiest things to hit on the Caley are in the locks not on lochs! And they don't let the hire boats down Neptunes Staircase.

7 days from Stalham to Oulton, a nice relaxed cruise.. The kids are all 8 or over so they can officially do the driving (under supervision) whilst you relax and watch the world go by, or just keep a good lookout for potential hazards. What you do may well be dictated to by what the kids like to do, tenagers can be difficult out of their normal environment! If they are outdoors types then things will go better than if they are purely into computers and tv (if they fall into the latter category then make sure you bring enough stuff to keep then busy whilst you enjoy the Broads, and have a boat with 240V available for theire consoles, chargers etc!) I presume that you are coming in "high season" so please remember that you may have problems finding a mooring space in the popular spots and always have an alternate in mind. Actually I would think that seven days is too long to take the direct route, so you will have time to divert to look at some other parts of the area if you want to. (But don't try to cover the entire Broads in 7 days) As others have suggested Horning (New Inn) and Salhouse Broad (The Bell) aren't on your direct route but are well worth a look. and if you do divert up the Bure then Ranworth (Maltsters) has the wild-life centre which is worth a visit. A short diversion up the Thurne would let you visit Womack Staithe (kings Head at Ludham), or Thurne Dyke (The Lion) and let you possibly do a return trip under the infamous Pottr Hiegham bridge. Please remember though that your planned itinery wil probably be dictated by the tides as you will need to get the timing right at Yarmouth.

Wow twin engines driving a single prop... Would go even faster if the fenders weren't dragging in the water... Can you declutch one power source do they both need to operate at the same number of revolutions per minute? Must check up on the BA byelaws as to how they apply to collision avoidance and manually propelled vessels! Video is interesting, but where are the life-jackets!

Rod, What heath robinson device have they fitted her with (it is hard to see in the photo)? I have just found a better photo of Estuary Elan http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1554212 (and in time to edit this post) Is that contraption a sissor lift to get the pilot up to the entry port? That could be fun with any significant sea running...

Get out early enough and you could head down to Womack Water (Ludham Staithe) which is a nice spot and about 1/2 a mile out of Ludham village, but remember to have a way of contacting the latecomers to tell them where to find you... Mooring there is stern-to so the size of the cruiser doesn't really count. You can never be sure to get into any specific mooring on the Broads! And as Paul said, if all else fails you could always head back to the boatyard!

Jonzo, Remember that Loch Ness is bigger than Breydon, and you have to keep a lookout for more than otters and krakens when going across that!

As the others have commented, a very professional looking job! I am sure that you won't forget to tell the BA that your boat is now longer... Most of us hirers make the boats shorter by ramming into things, so I wonder how strong they are in case I bump into them

To quote from that site: ----- Each portable fire extinguisher must have an individual fire rating of 5A/34B or greater. The number of portable extinguishers and their combined fire ratings, must be as prescribed in the following table. The minimum number of extinguishers may be reduced by a maximum of one 5A/34B rated extinguisher where the vessel has either no internal combustion engine, or no fuel-burning appliances. Length of vessel Min. number Min. combined fire of each rating Under 7m (23ft) 2 10A/68B 7-11m (23-36ft) 2 13A/89B Over 11m (36ft) 3 21A/144B ----- That would imply that your extinguisher is too small even if you only need one to pass the BSS. No wiring doesn't seem to come into it, but yes their use of "either no... or no" (whatever happened to plain English) does indicate that as long as you don't have a stove aboard you should be OK with one. But I'm sure someone with more real experience will be along later to but us on the right track, until then treat my comments as something to get the discussion rolling. Martin

I'm no expert on BSS but it looks to me like you may need a minimum of two extinguishers... http://www.boatsafetyscheme.com/downloads/BSS_Guide_chap6web.pdf The site you linked to doesn't seem to give the actual rating of your extinguisher, so you may have to check it's labeling when you get your hands on it.

Last year I went into the port of Messalonghi in Greece. Just south of the marina there is a vehicle ferry (one car at a time) across a narrow channel to a long island west of the channel into the port. This ferry is user operated, but being a hand cranked chain ferry there isnt a lot that the users can get wrong. Now perhaps something like that might work at Horning... But then it is a far busier channel than the one in Greece, and there is a lot more current than there is tidal flow at Messalonghi. Hirers have enough problems passing the Redham ferry on the Yare, without putting a chain ferry across the busy Bure...

We went out at Easter with 5 kids on board (11, 10, 8, 5 & 2.5) (their third trip , A lot will depend on what your grandchildren like to get up to (and especially the 13 year old as that can be a difficult age) Places that ours always seem to like: North: Lion Inn at Thurne Dyke, larger family room with lots of toys etc for them to keep themselves entertained. There is an amusement arcade there (but we have always managed to hide it from the kids!) New Inn, Horning. Reserved Moorings available and an amusement arcade. Ferry Inn, Horning, Kids play area (slides etc) and an amusement arcade. Ranworth, they complained about missing the visitors centre this year, so they obviously liked that one. ( I took the eldest two up the church tower a couple of years back and they liked the adventure) Coltishall, plenty of room to run around on the common. Roys at Wroxham (ok really Hoveton) good value children's clothes in their Childrens World and a very good toy shop (tell them to save their pocket money) Bridge in at Acle, Reserved moorings available, amusement arcade plus little quad bikes and mini golf course. Stracey Arms, wind pump and shop. Stalham, Museum of the Broads seemed to go down quite well last year. Salhouse Broad, woods and grassland for them to explore, plus ring the Bell for a table and they will pick you all up from the car park and drop you back afterwards Kings Head at Ludham is worth a visit if only for novelty of the little train that runs around over the restaurant. South: Ship Inn at Reedham, play area in garden. Beauchamps Arms, pool tables plus play area in garden. Beccles, a chance to stretch the legs walking up to the town. I hope you have a good trip! Martin

Welcome aboard

One thing that should be noted from this incident: When the skipper realised that they were adrift he started the engines and got a prop-wrap on both props.... It is worth reminding everyone that you ALWAYS need to check for trailing lines BEFORE engaging gear. I know that this was a panic situation, but it is in exactly for that sort of situation that you need to get into a habit of ALWAYS checking for lines over the side otherwise you can further complicate your problems. OK most cruisers have bow lines that are cut short to prevent them reaching the prop, but the stern lines will reach it, and do so very easily when you engage astern! (And remember this is coming from someone who prop-wrapped his cruiser trying to turn it in Thurne Dyke a ccouple of years ago!)