Polly

So do I!

We will be there late is with all the gear, could maybe meet up Thursday evening?

We are down from Thursday for a bit of work and play, weather looks awful though!

We have lots of frog tadpoles in the pond, no toad spawn that I noticed although the odd toad is in residence. My main sadness is no hedgehogs lately. I used to feed them but no sign last year or the year before.

You sat in it? Blimey the safety elf must have been off sick that day Where do you plan to base her?

But only in winter....... Actually, when it comes to Shakespeare...words fail me. What a genius mirror of the human spirit.

My hearing is pretty poor so I tend not to listen to radio, it's too much like hard work. TV on the Broads just ain't happening with the stars outside. Now pubs.....

'Always look on the bright side of life.' Dee do de do de do de do There's still the wind and the water...

To be fair, it would be hard to identify people on most of the pictures as the scale is small. I know I saw Craig take the latest picture of Brilliant, but I can't see me on it.

Not Big Brother, it's Craig's labour of love, and very useful too.

Oh that is disappointing Mal it would have been good to see you guys.

Hello and welcome. Happy sailing.

I agree Troutman and have a 4am sunrise shot of White Moth and another Broads Cruiser (not sure which) at anchor in the early morning mist. It has pride of place on the dining room wall. I took it after glancing out of Rondonay which we kept at Ranworth.

We arrived in Norfolk on Wednesday afternoon, being booked in overnight at the Swan. Delivering the main cabin mattresses and a few essentials to LBBY, we found Brilliant dry and afloat and happily fresh as a daisy after the winter lay up, no sign of mildew or anything of the sort (I wiped everywhere with antibacterial at lay up-it worked a treat). The evening was social with two friends from our local church meeting up for dinner at the Swan; they were at their place at Winterton as it happens. The couple at the next table then and at breakfast turned out to be Forum readers, though not members, which led to a lovely breakfast chat. We had a day of itineraries next, beginning with South Walsham, we collected the outboard which was in for service and storage, then headed via Roy's for fresh petrol in the fuel tank-the old stuff went to our neighbour for his mower. Back at LBBY, Phill attached the outboard, and we removed the winter cover, installed the lead counterweights and raised the mast. We had a great chat with Mike AKA Curly from NBF who was out driving Nancy Oldfield passengers, and were greeted by Lord Paul. Nice to be back on the river! George was going our way so we were able to drop the car and hitch a ride back, leaving the car at the right end of our journey with Brilliant and then we were all set. We had a really pleasant trip down river, sun shining all the way, herons flying over more than fishing, ducks chasing the ladies and great crested grebe looking smart in spring trim. There were no marsh harriers or coots to be seen as yet, but a few moorhen were pottering about, and of course there were swans. There were a fair few boats out enjoying the conditions but nobody we knew, unless Moonlight Shadow was on a week with members? Brilliant settled back at her base, so now it was a trip by car to collect the summer covers which were in at Jeckells for a clean and re-proof, back and fitted they looked good. We reluctantly headed for home. A high spot of the journey was that we passed Huntingdon just as they lit the beacon for the Queen's 90th birthday. I had never seen this done other than on TV so that was one for the scrap book. Home by 9, tired but satisfied; we will be back towards the end of the month with all the stuff that comes aboard, a bit like moving house!!!! And a big tin of varnish for the mast....working holiday? Well we will makes sure we mix business with pleasure!

Oh dear what a shame! It was too soon.

Screws underneath Vaughan? Argh!! I do wish that had been picked up at the very first .... I had a quick look yesterday and it wasn't obvious. Griff, I know where you live.... Would I buy the same again? Possibly, it's the nicest looking one out there, I think; easy to clean, and hob and grill have been fine. I don't like the grill heat shield that pulls out, it's tinny and doesn't keep the controls cool as intended,also the oven racks have poor support, you can't pull them part way out to check the cooking, without the risk of everything falling down into the back of the oven. Very few give trouble apparently and the spares are cheap. Now that ours is working properly, I am quite happy. I would look at Norfolk Marine as supplier, price was very competitive and they have been very helpful.

Yes thanks for that. Sevylor make a skeg for the cheap and cheerful model I would like; according to the reviews the skeg improves performance a lot. The kayak is likely to be used for pottering around in the evenings when the wind has dropped, so sailys are at a loose end.

Converting is fine for us, we have only the cooker to worry about, so new gas bottle and new regulator, is easy. LBBY is also replacing the short run of gas pipe to the cooker as a 'belt and braces' move to avoid any lingering butane grot left behind. They had another customer who just needed a swap to propane, but ours was more affected.

Lord Paul on NBF could be your best bet, Stuart he posts as NCSL top bloke.

Absolutely! If anyone is thinking of buying one of these...I think on reflection that using Propane from the outset would have avoided all the issues. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

To save time and costs, he took it away to do it for a fixed price in his own workshop, a great offer from a lovely bloke. Unfortunately a family issue meant that this fell through so it came back to LBBY. Heads were scratched, four engineers at one time or another, and even Griff pondered over it. Norfolk Marine advised. Air was jetted through repeatedly fuel was changed and a brand new burner fitted. The air mix is a sealed unit....grrrr. Same flame pattern......argh. So. Having had its fun, the cooker gave up being a £400 heap of trouble (before repair costs) and has started co-operating, probably the last air jetting finally cured it?? LBBY have gone the extra mile here. Now they are making sure the reinstallation, on propane this time, will be squeaky clean to avoid any more misbehaviour. Why oh why did the flipping manufacturers pot rivet it in the first place? None of this would have been half the trouble with a screw secured build. These things aren't cheap. When it works, it's lovely btw and most of these cookers are absolutely trouble free. Saudde's Law in operation.

We got a welcome call today from George at LBBY. The long saga of our SMEV Moonlight 3 looks to be heading to a happy ending. Briefly, the burner in the oven was burning yellow at one end. This means CO emissions and a BSSC fail come April 2017. Gas fitter 1 couldn't get access to the burner and associated breather thingies, the whole lot is pot rivetted to save the makers time and money.

Yes Sevylor looks to be the best make. The U.K. Version of that model + a skeg is a good option.

Oh why did I read this thread? I now want a kayak for my birthday....it will have to be an inflatable on account of storage etc......

We will be around, don't know about boating in, I have plans involving varnish and brushes. We most likely will drive there. Yes, a cuppa at the sailing club sounds very attractive Q