NeilB

Back on board as of Wednesday, kids are here from next Thursday so need to get all my rubbish back into the nooks and crannies and clean ship. Couldn’t resist a little cruise though so last night was at St Benets and just as the rain stopped I snagged a spot at Horning Staithe, 1st and probably last time this season! Only me and a single hire boat at present. Better crack on with the packing and cleaning I suppose, trying to resist popping into the Swan for a swift one!

I'm not keen on overnight mooring while packed in like sardines, I'll continue to mudweight and pop over to the pub in the dinghy for a pint and grab a pizza - after 5pm! The pizza shack in the pub garden is really quite good.

Last year there was a c-in-c from Ranworth to Salhouse on the Saturday morning, is this still planned? I've booked the Friday off work so if you need to transport the tent etc I can help.

Mine's a 42 and does have the lip, there are 2 x 35's in the same section at Sutton Staithe - last week I noticed one has the lip and the other doesn't!! The Alphas are based on the old Wild's hull, pretty sure no one else used the Bounty hulls for anything.

My new thruster is some distance from the battery bank and due to the cable size and length required it was cheaper to add a battery near the thruster. In addition it supplies the mud weight winch and is charged via a voltage sensitive relay shared with the engine start battery. First job is to replace the battery and then check if it's charging. It's probably a faulty cell but I'd also check there's nothing else attached to it and draining the power.

Nearly there! Down to a flexi gas pipe for the BSS and a small modification to the new stern cut out, to be followed by a full internal and exterior valet by the yard. I couldn't resist taking her for a spin down Sutton Broad and back between the showers. The new engine is so much quieter and I haven't even put the bed cushions back yet which should make it even better. She was in a really tight spot and I did think twice about taking her out but the new thruster really helped, without it I would have had to pull her out of the berth. The new prop has more of a kick to starboard than the old one so I'll have to try and remember that! My kids are staying for a week over Easter so the the clock is ticking!

No more Portuguese Tarts for you!! When I moved to Norfolk I'd heard about the lack of NHS dentists, as I visit the office in Warwick every month or so I kept my dentist there!

Pretty sure the 1.5 was 35hp at 3,000rpm when new. If it's done several thousand hours since being rebuilt then some horses will have escaped, hard to say how many - up to 5hp maybe. Just give the prop maker the boat and engines full details and they should be able to work it out for you. Although 22" diameter does sound a lot, 15 sounds much closer to what I would expect.

Smallborough Crown is very nice, within staggering distance of the moorings at Dilham. Garlic mushroom starter was enough for 3 people!!

Did you get a good look at exactly how he was adjusting the rate? - asking for a friend..... Joking aside Paul at Richos did tell me a while ago the electricity rate for their cards was fairly low as he hadn't bothered to adjust them.

Got 2 of my kids booked on board for the 2nd week, will have to purchase half of Tesco's for them to munch their way through.... May try and head south for a few days.

This is where it gets complicated... I work for Volvo Penta which is a subsidiary of the Volvo Group, they sold Volvo Cars in the late 90's to Ford who then sold to Geely. Until 2017 the only link was the Volvo Ironmark brand which was shared and we used the 2.4, 5 cylinder diesel as the D3 engine. However, in 2017 Geely purchased an 8.25% stake in the Volvo Group for €3.5 billion. One of the Volvo Groups subsidiaries is Renault Trucks so the default company cars are Renault or Volvo, as I'm customer facing I have to choose a Volvo. Lovely cars but a tad expensive when you have to pay BIK on them which is why I want my new hybrid V60 so I can reduce my BIK by about 75%. Although the rates are being reviewed for 2025 so it'll probably go up again! I think I can get a deal on new Volvos but it's very small, Renaults have good staff discounts but for some reason there's very few in the car park.

Had a voicemail from my car dealer asking me to call back, got all excited thinking my new car was ready at last after waiting over a year. Nope! I'll be having the first of the 2024 model year cars, ETA is now end of June and I needed to choose a new colour as the "free" black was no longer free. Only free option is "vapour grey" which means it will be hard to find if we get any fog! As it's a company car I refuse to pay for any extras due to BIK tax so grey it is then, current car is black so I spose it will be a change.

It's quite a basic gearbox really, the oil can be changed from inside the boat on drives less than 10 years old or so. You need to keep an eye on the prop seal to prevent water ingress but they seem quite robust. They can burn through anodes though depending on location. Very few reports of them being damaged by grounding, if you reverse onto something the rudder will be crunched first and there's a huge great keel in front of it ! The hull seal is supposed to changed every 7 years but I've heard regular stories of 20 year old ones looking like new.

Designed for sailboats who want less drag, normally used with a folding prop. Also reduced installation time for boat builders as package comes with it's own engine beds ready to be glassed in with no shaft alignment required. Not much use on the Broads.

My 12V freezer went pop back in the summer, I already had an inverter and decent sized battery bank so made sense to purchase a £150 240v replacement as opposed to over £600 or so for a 12V version. Apart from the 240v / 12v stickers they look identical ! No idea why hire yards are not doing the same, they do take up a lot more room and a 12v fridge plus not all hire boats have 240V yet.

Malanka has been sharing the shed with Rambling Rosie for a few months, coming along nicely!

I wouldn't worry about putting some money into an old boat. You won't recoup every penny but come re-sale time all these extras will help retain some value. Plus think how much it would cost to hire a boat for the amount of time you spend on board. I shudder to think what my final bill will be but I've seen people spend a lot more on older boats, whatever makes you happy.

Thought I'd report back on my Eberspacher duct lagging, I was expecting an increase but nothing like this! The heater is installed in the aft saloon with 3 outlets and and an approx. run of 30ft to the front cabin. The ambient temp at this outlet was hovering around 6 degrees, after 10 mins it had risen to around 14 degrees. So far I've fitted slightly over 2 metre's of insulation at the heater end and replaced an unused Y piece, (sealed with a rag!) with a straight connector. After 10 mins of running I'm now seeing 30 degrees and climbing, far beyond my expectations!! This was with all 3 vents open. Sutton Staithe are still working on board but I should be able to add at least another 3 metres when I can get access. I used this - https://www.butlertechnik.com/webasto-thermoduct-for-75-90mm-ducting-insulation-also-for-eberspacher-41s70015a-p1526 but others are available which don't require removal of the ducting. Even 2 or 3 lengths will make a difference, increase heating power or reduce fuel consumption as you'll be able to run the heater at a lower setting.

Nah - just go straight to this!

400 tons in a short time! Someone give them a job in the BA dredging team!

Yup, just had some fitted on mine. Plus they keep the light out as I need my beauty sleep! My Alpha is a 42 and until recently had 38hp Perkins which had seen better days so probably around 30hp now. Managed 7.5 mph when I tried a brief burst and has plenty of stopping power. Unless you have a boat built from scratch your unlikely to find a 100% perfect one. I’d just go and take a look, poke around, take a trip out and if it feels right get a survey. Whatever you buy make sure you have a slush fund for repairs and improvements!

The EDP article states "The total length of mooring provision has increased". I must have missed this, what new moorings have been added to the system? Or have the EDP got the wrong end of the stick again?

It sat in a shed half built for a long time but it's been shipped to Silverline for completing, was a few months ago so probably finished by now. The half built sedan is still there gathering dust...

AS I'll be going though Wroxham around 5am I'll take a chance, not supposed to start until 8am. Can always drive round the back of Faircraft via Staitheway road, it's not advertised but you can make it onto the Avenue from there.