Lucky

Adam - the chaps that David mentioned above did have some second hand 6 man liferafts for £200 This includes a full service and certificated - and I thought they were good value - well good enough for me to buy one !!! I would offer you mine to borrow for the trip, but depending on what time / knackered state I get back from Portugal, I might pop down to Southwold on the Wednesday for an overnighter if you guys are still there... Edited to say that they might be 4 man - can't remember and its dark out so I can't go and check....

I've been reading my RC435i instruction manual properly - yes, I know I'm male and this is against the rules, but I thought it might be a good idea.... Anyway, my chartplotter links to my DSC radio via NMEA, so if in the event of a problem and I have to press the "red button" all relevent information would be transmitted.. all good. However, and my question is, on reading the manual, if I press the Man Overboard button on the chartplotter, the route is stopped and a new screen comes up saying exactly where the MOB button was pressed along with info like course to steer, speed etc. BUT, it also says that it will:- "Send an MOB message, including bearing and range, to other units in the system, via NMEA" Personally I think MOB practice is good, and Claire and I often practice this on the Broads to make sure that in the event one of us fell in, the other can manover the boat to the correct position to retrieve the other. But, I am a bit worried about using the MOB button in practice. Will this, via the DSC send out an emergency notification ? I don't want to press it to find out obviously !!!!! Any ideas ?

We were meant to be in Derby overnight on the Friday, but due to some major luck we got back late so decided to join Wayne and Tracy for a quick blast offshore. It turned out to be more than a quick blast and we didn't get back home till Sunday evening ! Here's a coupe of pics of Sea Gem who as Wayne said, performed flawlessly - she looked excellent ! Bridgid Mary (hello Paul !) was out as well, and its always lovely to see her ! We then doubled back up to Yarmouth to see Sea Hunter, and in the distance Notorious coming out of Yarmouth. 102 was coming out as we where coming in. She has a film crew on board, so you may see Relentless and Sea Gem on TV soon !! lol !!

Some time ago I put a link up to Prior Diesel, the Volvo Penta dealers in Great Yarmouth. They have now upped their discount for forum members to 12% which puts them very much in the market now. Prior Diesel - 01493 441383 I hope this can be of use to forum members. Luke

Thats the number I have in my phone Mark - I think you sometimes have to leave a message and the Harbour Master calls you back..

The period between the opening of the intake valve and the closing of the exhaust valve according to Google..

LOL - One of my brothers worked there too !! Wasn't it a mental hospital from memory ? (best place for him !!)

A quick story... In all my years and all the countrys I have visited, I always seem to bump into someone I know, but never, never have I bumped into anyone that went to my old school in Bexley. How we got onto the conversation I have no idea, but it turns out that Adam went to Parkwood Primary School !! He is two years older than me, and obviously got a lot better memory as he sparked so many great memories of the place for me. We came to the conclusion that we probably didn't actually meet, or knew each other, but it was lovely to reminise ! What a small world we live in !! Adam, great weekend mate ! Luke

Have you upped your limit Adam ?

Very, very jealous !! What lovely weather !

If it suits everybody, that would be great, and we could come. If Wednesday isn't suitable, then we could drive down during the day on Wednesday and meet up for a 'cup of tea' !

I'd really of liked to do this, but I fly back from Portugal on the 1st June, get back to OB around 10pm

Is Whitsun 23rd May Ian ?

Cameras are like engines to me - turn the key/push the button and hope everything works as it should... But, one point (that has already been covered here by Adam in particular) is that with our first point and shoot camera I was always missing photos of that 'special' moment because the camera didn't react quick enough. I did a little research and bought the fastest one I could find. I'm sure the modern ones these days are quick - but worth pointing out..

As you have probably worked out by now, I am probably the most useless person when it comes to engines (and pretty much anything that moves actually) but I must concur with Adam. After my lesson from the Volvo guy, I would be reasonably confident doing most of the service myself now with the exception of the belts. For some reason my brain stopped working and it wouldn't take anything in about belts !! lol !! Oil filters, fuel filters etc, now I have been shown on a first hand basis are all easy, but as Adam says, get hold of a vacuum oil extractor thingy - very handy !! The only thing I would be worried about is if I came up against a problem, but there are so many helpful knowledgable and nice people on here I think I will attempt it next year ! Wayne, you're really a hands on person - so have a go. If you're a little sceptical then get someone who knows what they are doing to watch over you - like I did ! I can recommend a superb mechanic who will show you how everything is done as he goes along if you want.

However, the fact that Col was, I assume close by, and could hear the lock keeper calling you, would indicate that the channel was clear. This leads me to think that you had the 'squelch threshold' set too high, and as such the squelch on your receiver wasn't opening, hence you not hearing the call. I always set the squelch just above the interferance noice level (I used to be a cb'r in my younger days) The squelch should be set to a level that just quietens the receiver, or just enough to prevent very weak signals (if you don't want to hear them) from opening the squelch. Albeit, probably not a good idea if monitoring Ch16, as a distress call might be missed. There is no way I could have all that noise going on, it'll drive me mad !! Bear in mind that marinas, and I assume locks and bridges will be the same, are only allowed to transmit on low power (1watt). So, if you were calling them from distance on "high power" (25 Watts), they would likely hear you, but you wouldn't hear their reply. As for your 'beeping' noise, I don't know of the 'top of my head', and you can demonstrate the next time I see you. This is what we will do Dave !!! Then I can show you exactly what I mean ! Its a microwave Jim ! lol !

Reading Andy's thread about 1 way VHF reminded me about asking the following:- While at Oulton Broad last week, waiting for my call to enter the lock one of the other boats (I think it was Col) shouted over to me that they were calling us. I have a brand new fixed VHF and a portable - we didn't hear a thing. When in the lock I appoligised to Keith (lockkeeper) saying that we didn't hear anything. He said not to worry and also said that sometimes when you are near other higher powered radios your signal would get knocked out. He was talking about the receiving signal. I don't see how this is possible - surely you would be able to 'receive' regardless of what anyone else had on board... I can understand the 'transmit' signal getting lost, but not receiving ? Now I know we have some very very clever radio guys on here and I was wondering if they had ever heard of this before, or do you think it was a case of me getting confused with what he was saying ? But then, why didn't we hear the call on either of our radios ? Squelch was turned down, and volume was up, INT setting etc.. I didn't want to hi-jack Andy's thread, but perhaps there is a common problem ? One last question too:- While using my handheld on high power, when I try to transmit the radio double beeps - which means the channel is busy, if I turn it onto low power its fine. This is on a lot of channels including 16 which obviously you would need to transmit on full power if there was an emergency .. This happens all the time, not just every now and again. I've read the manual a couple of times and there is no explanation for it. My I-phone works perfectly !! lol !!!

Where are you cruising to/from Jonathon ? Thats a good idea Ian if RN&SYC is too busy. Do they have electric down there ?

Obviously there is lots of meets being organised at the moment what with Summer coming, but just a quick note to say that the Lowestoft Airshow is on on the 12th and 13th August. Its an excellent time to take the boat out ! We will be doing it this year and probably mooring up at RN&SYC if there is space, otherwise through the lock each day. The official website is here:- http://www.lowestoftairfestival.co.uk/

Fantastic pictures !! Its amazing the picture quality - one of the many differences of being a pro I guess - they are so sharp !! Might want to delete the 10th picture on the website though !!

Just found these pictures on my I-Phone - Claire sneakily must of been snapping at the life-jacket demonstration:- The chap in the blue jacket is Paul who gave the talk. (Note that Mark isn't wearing a life-jacket !!!! He drowned first !!!!)

Hi Mark There is a good article in this months All At Sea Newsletter - worth a look:- http://www.allatsea.co.uk/static.php?page=aas_ezine - chart plotters and radios.

Hi Paul ! When we came through Mutford Lock, we were one of the first so moored up to wait for the others on the pontoon in front of you. I didn't know how long we were going to be there so didn't walk round (its a long walk ! lol !) but we did wave franticly at you several times but it looked like you were doing some work on your chart table (?) as you had your head down. You should of come and said hello when you were on the rib - we saw it, but didn't know it was you on there ! Claire and I would love to have a walk round the LB station at Lowestoft, and it would be good to meet you guys too !

Brill photos Col !! Special !