senator

Strowager, just wondered what anti foul you use. Sure you know but unless the antifoul is specifically safe for Aluminium, which most aren't, you should leave a 25mm gap around the leg.

they will all still stop if the filters are blocked so worth keeping an eye on

Gracie, one of the most likely causes of engine failure on boats at sea is fuel, this is even more the case when boats have been used on the river for a couple of years then are taken out to sea and the tanks given a good shaking. Even if the hire boat is sea worthy enough to be on Breydon being chased by Krakens hiding in 12' waves, the chances are the tanks will have last been given a shaking years ago on the last rough crossing of Breydon. This makes the likelihood of filters blocking far more likely. Having said that I am surprised we do not hear more about blocked filters as the reason for breakdown.

Yes but look how young you were then John, you could probably have swam the rest of the way if it sunk.

Tasteful

and me please Peter

Shiplap is the only way to go, If you want trendy then black ash shiplap.

JM the one you refer to now has no stripes on, no name, (still being cut and polished), and is moored on the river in Reedham at the end of the Reedham Marina quay nearest the bridge, but I should know that as she is mine. Canopy up Bit fuzzy but as she should look And No it doesn't fit under anything

There is a black canopy on a one off boat with windows all round but that is smaller, the photos of this one are taken in Croatia where the average size of boat is 50' so it looks smaller, it is actually 43' x 14'6 x 15' high

Take it this is the Canopy at Reedham JM, good reason though, In the Med there is constantly a Bimini attached to the flybridge so for a winter cover they just put a cover with sides on the same frame. One thing for certain you will never see it up when there are people on board as it is pig ugly, no matter how rose tinted the spectacles are. Bit of a difference though as this one is going as soon as funds allow, at least the fabric maker could sew and didn't just hang it all on a pole

the Lock is just about hanging on by its fingernails so they have decided to put just one through at a time as when it fails they can always get one boat out, apparently if there are two in there it is more difficult.

It was definitely under at 2.30pm on Sunday, looked like a fairly modern sports cruiser but a bit difficult to tell as there was only the front corner of the top of the canopy and the pulpit out of the water.

Paul do you honestly think that JP is dropping his quest to become a full national park just because he has been allowed to use the name? If you really want a conspiracy theory, what would happen if the Broads Authority were to loose the action and be forced, as they have already adopted the name, to take on full NP status including Sandford. Would this not be mission accomplished?

Yep 9.0.1 seems some people couldn't complete the set up and the phone just hung, don't suppose 9.0.1 is much use to them though as the phone is frozen!!!

The problem with the North sea (to be fair the only place we do open our engines) is that you can't get there and back if you don't fit through Haven Bridge. I don't see any point in burning shed loads of fuel running backwards and forwards across Breydon but if I wanted to prove my engines after a fault it would definitely be the place I would head for. Mutford, often doesn't work and costs £12 each way plus we usually need the Railway bridge swung and need to time the lift at Lowestoft's Bascule bridge so even if it is all working it is a good one and a half hours from Oulton Broad with a high risk of it not working on the way back From Yarmouth Haven lifts 3 times a day if you have booked in advance. Even if there are two lifts available so you can go out and back, what happens if you have a problem that delays your return? They definitely won't open if you are late as there will be no one at the bridge to lift it, it is not permanently manned with staff being brought in specially to open it. In reality the entrance and exit to/from the North Sea from the Broads is just too unreliable to consider going out for an hour or two, hence the need to maintain Breydon as a test ground for Sea going boats based on the Broads. I know clear runs are probably unlikely anyway but it only takes around 8 minutes to cross Breydon at 30 knots so even there and back is not a lot to test engines that in reality will be running for hours at a time for passage making. putting a police car in the middle which it may take 5 minutes to pass, with coming off the plane early enough to ensure wash does not hit them and then 5 mph until you are clear enough to push the throttles forward. By then the engines have cooled down.

Fuel wise won't be a lot when it is just pootling around, we have two 370's in a bigger heavier boat, and the rivers we will have between 600 and 700 rpm showing at 6mph, fuel burn is around 1 gallon an hour per engine. As SOB is commercial the BA will be paying around 65p per litre hence fuel will be around £6 per hour. hardly going to break the bank. Would agree a wheelhouse rib with wc compartment and a couple of big outboards, allowing one to be run when both are not needed, would have been the right craft for Breydon. Can understand the logic to a central mooring buoy but it would be tantamount to putting a speed limit on Breydon, BA or not, nobody should be planing past a moored boat so that would mean 5mph in the middle of Breydon and a spattering of other slow boats that require all boats slow to pass elsewhere. True many would see this as a positive but it would be enforcement without law.

Sounds very expensive, especially as Goodchilds are normally fairly competitive. Maybe there has been a price increase in the last 4 weeks on the Broads. How much were you taking? if a lot it may have been worth locking through and going to RNSYC, on 1000 litres that would be close to £200 difference to what I paid a few weeks ago.

was about 97p 60/40 at RNSYC 4 weeks ago, think Brooms and Goodchilds are around the £1 mark where did you find it at £1.13 was it at a hire yard?

A mudweight is never going to do anything on the faster moving stretches, it relies on suction to generate hold and to produce this it needs to gently sink into the mud, that is not going to happen at 3 or 4 knots. A suitable anchor on the other hand is likely to set providing there is sufficient chain available but on a broads boat where are you going to put 30m or 40m of chain? If the anchor is deployed by the inexperienced elsewhere then you are going to find a lot of boats tied to the bottom once the anchor has hooked under a tree root on a broad. You could try explaining tripping lines but if forwards and backwards is often too much I don't fancy your chances.

Forecourt diesel is now cheaper than petrol, so I heard on the radio due to Saudi introducing two new refinery's where before they were happy just to sell crude. Not sure but guessing they are not going all the way to petrol or surely it would have just reduced all the prices? Apparently there is now a world surplus of diesel so at least for the foreseeable prices should stay low, somewhere along the line someone is making lots of profit too as according to the experts the price should be at least 10% lower at the pumps.

All boats should be tolled by the owner for the owner. If you tolled for 12 months from the date you started with refunds of the balance of full months on declaration of sale. Your name is logged against the toll, making cloning more difficult, and EVERYONE would have to pay their fair share of the toll pot, instead of those that bring new boats onto the system subsidising those that don't. How anyone can argue that there should be a charge levied for when people do not own a boat is ridiculous.

Heaven forbid the average Broads boat user learns what 5 short blasts means. motor boat horns would need replacing regularly.

I would go the Ranger route, having said that we have been stopped a few times this year as our tolls are in the little side window rather than stuck on the boat due to still needing to cut and polish the bit they will go on. You are lucky that you will not want to launch again as 28 days toll is the most you can have in any toll year without paying your full annual toll. At least you get what you have already paid back against it.

I think the reason you are struggling here Dave is you are trying to apply logic to the BA's intentions. In reality any bit that can be added will be added, almost regardless of any other factors. A bigger Empire must be a better Empire. Current lines on a map are just the point at which the advance must start from

How true, The reality of displacement cruising at 5mph is it uses sod all fuel anyway. even if you double the consumption, which I would imagine almost impossible at displacement speeds, the amount of extra fuel used over a couple of years would still struggle to pay for the cost of antifouling.