BryanW

Having just returned from a week in the North I thought I would give an update on the rubbish bin and phone signal situation. Rubbish Bins: Ranworth - Good, some few large bins plus a Solar Power Rubbish Compactor actually on the Staithe that was absolutely overflowing, somebody having tried to stuff a large bag of rubbish in it that was too large for the slot. Gayes Staithe - Just a small domestic metal bin with a multitude of rubbish bags piled around it. Womack Staithe - As has always been, but I was told by the 'money collector' that this is going to be reviewed at the end of the year. Sutton Staithe - Good, as was but only one bin now. Neatishead Staithe - As was. Phone Signal (Vodafone) Ranworth - 4G Gayes Staithe - 3G/Edge (varied), seemed better on the stern on side. Womack Staithe - 3G/GPRS (varied) Sutton Staithe - 4G, this was towards the end near the Broad. Neatishead Staithe - 3G/Edge/GPRS (varied) Salhouse Broad (mud weight) - 3G

This is an absolute shame. We have just returned from a week on Royall Satin and have another week booked in June and then 2 booked next year on Velvet II, after that, who knows where we will hire from. I feel sorry for the staff as well but wish Sara & Nigel all the best. I will be doing a writeup & video later but this may not be for a week or two.

I've been having similar problems on my iPad and iMac, both using Safari. Just tried Chrome on the iMac and can get the cameras no problem so it appears to be a safari problem, certainly for Apple users.

Just used the full (first) link on my iMac and no problems or warnings.

This last summer I had a Vodafone signal good enough for phone and limited internet access (only really used for weather forecasts) over all the Northern Broads but my wife on BT (which I believe uses the EE network) couldn't even get a phone signal most places. Things may now have changed on EE but I hope Richardson's customers do not get disappointed. Peronally as long as I have a phone signal (for emergencies) then I am more than happy.

Just received my calendar and have to say that I am very pleased.

This is a picture from 1996 of one of Royall's boats at Ludham Bridge between Christmas and New Year, not us on board. Told by Sara that that's why they don't hire in the winter any more.

Absolutely superb idea Laura, although we are hirers I love getting my fix when we are not on a boat.

Yes, I had forgotten the Olympus 12-50mm even though I have one, I don't use the powered zoom much which is why I forgot it. As far as chargers are concerned all of my camera/camcorder ones use a 'figure of eight' mains lead so I only carry one of those, it's surprising how much space a mains lead takes up.

Hi Jean Managed to get the video to run last night. As far as camcorders vs DSLRs are concerned I would recommend a dedicated video camera because if you feel you need to zoom in/out whilst filming a camcorder has a powered zoom whilst a DSLR doesn't so it is much smoother. Just bear in mind that unless you are using a tripod any zoom over about 10X is pretty useless due to camera shake being magnified and no image stabilisation system will steady it.

Hi Jean Great write up but, the first video (action cam) loads and plays fine but the second one just sits there loading and never goes to play, any ideas? By the way this is on a computer not a tablet. What action cam are you using? We have thought about it for next year but I was afraid that it would be too wide angle.

The Hoseasons app is indeed available for IOS (iPhone) and works well, speed is only in round mph, no decimals, but is perfectly adequate and gives accurate positioning.

Exactly Andy, glad to hear that you show hirers how to do this.

I've even seen, and heard, people steering down the Ant using the thruster, totally un-necessary.

Just a few points: Once moored and engine stopped select neutral and put the throttle about half way then there should be no danger of starting the engine in gear also centralise the rudder. On an unknown boat check at the earliest opportunity that the rudder does not centralise on its own when forward throttle is given a small burst to swing the stern round, I got caught out with this on Royall Satin in April, it was the first boat that we had ever hired where you couldn't put the wheel hard over and just leave it, you had to hold it in position all the time. Could the boatyards show people how to get of a bank in reverse, the number of people you see drag the stern along the quay heading when trying to leave a mooring, I was watching the Wherry Hotel webcam yesterday and even saw a private boat do it.

I will now probably stir up a hornets nest by saying that private boats are just as likely to speed as hirers and it also seems particularly bad on the Ant with private boats probably because it is more noticeable being narrow. I do find that mooring at How Hill, Instead and Sutton Staithe it is usually necessary to put extra mooring ropes on to prevent being moved around too much. However having said that, we did find that in April this year pretty much everybody was very considerate but during our week in June it was totally different matter. Now I will confess that if I am passing behind a tacking yacht I will open the throttle up in order to get well clear of their next tack. I'm definitely not in favour of loud-hailers, I can imagine one being used on me when I'm pootling up The Ant at tick-over holding everybody up and all wondering why a hire boat is going so slow. One thing that has been obvious to me for some time is that tick-over speed varies a lot from boat to boat, in fact with one boat that we regularly hire tick-over is about 4mph and others it can be less than 2mph. I use a GPS app on my phone and invariably find that the marked revs for 4mph are usually high. As somebody else has said hull profile has a lot to do with wash, the worst offenders seem to be some bath-tubs. I did notice in April that Royall's had a sticker near the rev counter with "Economical Speed XXXXrpm" but I thought that the speed this gave was too high for a river like the Ant. Something else, hirers just do not realise how much fuel is used when running at high revs and then they complain that they have got little of their fuel deposit back or even had to pay more. The Broads are for taking it slow and easy rather than using the rivers like a motorway (excluding the M25 of course).

Hi John/Alan I've managed to upload 3 pictures but the fourth one I tried failed as before, all these were processed in "Lightroom" but I have noticed that those processed in "Affinity Photo" are much larger in terms of file size (MB). If Alan can help when he returns it would be appreciated since I prefer the ones processed in "Affinity Photo"

Hi John/Alan I've just done the conversion in "Lightroom" (slightly smaller crop 4MB, 2782 x 2150), exported to a JPEG and uploaded successfully so it could be that "Affinity Photo" is doing something non-standard to the JPEG. I will upload my others from a "Lightroom" conversion for now.

Hi John Just sent an e-mail with photo attached.

Hi Alan/Jonzo I am using a Mac running OS X 10.10.4 and the browser is "Safari" 8.0.7, I have also just tried with "Chrome" but still the same result. One of the files I am trying to upload is a JPEG 15.8MB 3934 x 2781, this was originally an ".ORF" (RAW) file which has been processed and cropped in "Affinity Photo". My upload speed is about 9Mbps so I don't think it can be a "time out" issue. I have tried with other files about the same size but all give the same result.

Hi Alan I am having trouble uploading pictures, I have tried a few times with different files but am getting the following error message: ERROR: You haven't entered your NBN Member Name. Please enter Your NBN Member Name name and try again. ERROR: You haven't uploaded a picture or we are having problems reading that picture, Please upload a picture try again. I have double checked my username, used JPEGs and the width is 3934 pixels. Just a thought, is it because I do not have enough posts?

Hi Alan (JawsOrca) Do you have any idea what style the calendar will be? I am thinking what format ratio do you require and can the photographs be horizontal and vertical or just horizontal?

Hi Richard That is the route I would use, I used to travel to Wiltshire (from Cambridge) a bit some years ago and always went via Milton Keynes, M40 (a short distance) and then across to Swindon). You will find that the A421 is dualed all the way from where it crosses the M1 to the A1 near St Neots (so you by-pass Bedford), after coming off the short section of A1 onto the A428 you have single carriageway to Caxton Gibbet and then dual carriageway onto the A14 and all the way to Norwich now. Definitely avoid the M25 at all costs. Check traffic reports for any accidents on the A14, there have been a spate of them on the Cambridge section over the last week or so, also there are average speed cameras on the Cambridge section both in the roadworks (these shouldn't hold you up but closures at night) and after them.

We've been on BT Infinity for a few years now and get a pretty consistent 37 Mbps down and 9 Mbps up. Originally we had the separate modem with the Hub 3 but then upgraded to a Hub 5 which had problems after an automatic firmware update (this was quite common) with the wi-fi dropping out when more than about three devices were connected. Finally solved the problem by buying an Apple AirPort Extreme and using the original modem, now we have as many as 8 devices (it is specified up to 50) on wi-fi with no problems.

Good to hear this but I do wonder, "are Richardsons buying up the Broads", because I have heard other rumours that I am not prepared to air at the moment?