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andyg

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Posts posted by andyg

  1. Just a little nit bit from our trip. We arrived at Ranworth mid morning on the Saturday. I wasn't expecting to get in and as we approached the green it looked packed. No surprise there, as we got closer a couple sitting uptop of there boat waved at us indicating a space by the taxi rank and indeed there was. So I swung the boat around and went stern first down the little dyke. It was at this point a gentleman appeared from inside his boat, I believe it was David H syndicate boat.. he had an incredibly worried look on his face as i approached. I'm not one for tip toeing about. A few blast on the thrusters etc and job done. Not a boat or quay heading bumped. He said in a relived voice, so you done that before then. I replied...never driven a boat before mate...its easy this boating lark lol..he seemed a bit miffed..lol. he went back to drinking his can of carling...

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  2. Had the same call from Stephanie at Bridgecraft back in May, was out on the river by 12.45. Went past ferry's yard on Sunday had quite a few boats sitting in the yard. I didn't realise just how many boats they have in the fleet. Enjoy your holiday Simon. 

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  3. On 14/09/2022 at 16:12, Bikertov said:

    Just watched on TV the cortège make it's way from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall.

    Very moving, and another impeccable and dignified ceremony.

    Our military in particular showing perfectly how to honour our late Queen - their "Boss" as many of you ex-servicemen affectionately, yet respectfully, called her.

    I note from the BBC commentator how some of the Grenadier Guards have only in the last few days returned from active duty in Iraq. A reminder that they are not just ceremonial soldiers, but served Queen and country, and of course now serve King and country to keep us all safe and free.

    They were brought back Friday especially for ceremonial duty. No doubt Tues they will be heading back. 

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  4. 19 minutes ago, Meantime said:

    Not sure I like the sound of that. I can just imagine in that moment when you get caught out by a sudden cross wind and the mooring has the potential to go wrong, that in the panic to engage extra revs in neutral to provide extra power for the thruster, that you forget to disengage drive and are suddenly providing extra power to the prop as well as the 

    It takes some getting use to. Caught us out a couple of times. Luckily we never bumped into anything. 1st time it happened I thought the engine had died. That said much more powerful than an electric powered thruster. We played about with it on Ranworth broad till we got the hang of it. 

  5. 8 hours ago, FlyingFortress said:

    Tim.

    May I ask a question?

    How does a hydraulic bow thruster work from the point of view of the operator?

    Do you have a lever that you simply operate or do you have to disengage the drive?

    From an engineering point of view if the boat is hydraulic drive then a diverter valve would divert some of the hydraulic oil to the thruster so does this reduce the amount of propulsion (fwd and aft thrust) available?

    Or do you have to disengage fwd & aft propulsion to allow the thruster to operate?

    Genuine question as my boat has an electric bow thruster .

    Broadsman has hydraulic thrusters, they are operated from set of simple switches on the dash. The propulsion is affected Whilst thrusters are in use. Hope that helps. 

  6. 25 minutes ago, Captain said:

    That's interesting Andy, Waterside Marine had 2 Connoisseur 37ft 2 berths for sale recently. Since they only built 4 of that particular fit. Its strange both were for sale at the same time and place as both must be from private sources. I must admit when Woods added the 1st to  their fleet and picked up a number of bookings I thought they would interested in the 2nd particularly as it was an internal sale.

    On the subject of Richardsons they have added atleast 7 purchases since the boat build freeze in 2020 to 2022. I believe they were built between 2011 and 2019/20 including 3 Haines 31, 2 Heritage 286s a Sheerline 950 and a Viking based on the Alpha 31 mould 

    Neil 

    Cheers Neil I didn't realise it was that many, so more new additions to the fleet then they would of built. Its good to see them investing. It will be interesting to see if silverline build anymore for them. I'm pretty sure it was soring 2 as I'd seen number one earlier in the day. The booking calendar would definitely suggest 2 boats. Number one seems to have done well since it was added to the fleet. 

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  7. 5 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

    I didn’t raise it with them at the time, because it wasn’t bad, just not up to their usual high standards.  It appears that it wasn’t an isolated case, as I’ve read several posts on social media and review sites that seem to indicate that six months later, my experience wasn’t an isolated ‘off’ evening.  The sister pub at Neatishead appears to be generally being better reviewed of late, which does lead me to wonder if there has been a change of management.

    We do intend to visit The White Horse when we’re next on the northern rivers, as long as we can safely negotiate Ludham Bridge.  It will be interesting to see how it compares.

    Exactly, in my experience eating at the lion, what we had Friday night most definitely isn't the norm. The service was absolutely fine. I wouldn't complain over a bit of tasteless tartar sauce and over cooked ( to my liking) scampi. I know Rick sets high standards. Hence I will return. 

  8. 14 minutes ago, Andrewcook said:

    Why can Boat Yards share Boat Builder as one finishes a Boat and then move on to the next one I would call that freelance from one yard to another ? This would also bring in an apprenticeship at the same time.

    It's my understanding Andrew many are self employed and not actually directly employed. But if you are employing anyone Andrew it's because your business needs there skills. So sharing with other as you say, isn't a viable option. 

  9. We ate here Friday evening just gone, I'm a big fan of both the lion and white horse, but unfortunately our meal wasn't great tbh. 4 out of the 5 main meals weren't upto the standard I've come to expect. Both my sister and me had probably the worst tartar sauce I've ever tasted our scampi had been over cooked aswell my brothers pie was clearly over cooked. Such a shame as I had talked the food up so felt a bit guilty. We visited the white horse Sunday night and the girls decide not to eat once they found out it was part of the same company. Such a shame after so many positive experiences I'd enjoyed on previous visits. Il put it down to a bad day in the kitchen so to speak. It hasn't put me off and we will try again next time we are afloat. 

  10. They did say they had contractors finishing the boat, this is purely down to not having enough skilled staff. A bit bizzare really when you consider it's what they do. But hey that's none of my business. The good thing is they are adding new boats and have every intention to keep adding and investing in the fleet. Clive leaving the business was clearly a big blow and was always going to take time to replace his team. I believe they've added 4 or 5 brand new purchased boats since his departure. So all positive from a customer's prospective. I've no interest in the companies internal politics. 

  11. Returned home yesterday from a great weekend onboard broadsman 3. No complaints whatsoever about the service we received from Richardson's or there staff. Apart from Friday afternoon's rain we had fantastic weather, with the canopy down most of the time. The boat was great, but unfortunately is showing signs of being well used I'm guessing she's about 8 years old now..the windscreen is absolute pants in wet weather and suffers from really bad condensation. The screen demist system wasnt working and we only discovered this half way up the ant during a down pour. The boat handles like a dream and glides effortlessly through the water, the bow and stern thrusters make mooring in tight spots a breeze. The heating system is by far the best I've ever had onboard a boat. Rather disappointingly we didn't have an electric mudweight nor the led mood lighting that is fitted in the front cabin on these boats, for some reason, these are all the little things that justify the premium price tag in my opinion. Granted not having them didn't spoil our enjoyment. We used 45 ltr of fuel and covered quite a bit of distance visiting wroxham Horning Ranworth Neatishead thurne, so I was OK with that. The boat is fitted with 3 electric flush toilets and sleeps 8, there was 5 adults onboard and our waste tank was showing full when we arrived back this monday morning. The loos definitely used a great deal of water that's for sure. The fitted fuel gauge is about as much use as a chocolate tea pot and clearly doesn't work properly ( a common complaint with these boats ) take it out. Sleeping accommodation, both the rear and centre cabin are a bit cramped in our opinions with the centre cabin more suited for children. The front cabin is very comfy all cabins are on suite 👌. Like I said she is showing her age with lots of things that need attention, the rear screen on the canopy needs repairing as its is difficult to close. It's clearly been damaged at some point. The vinyl wood affect flooring in the galley is all bubbling up off the floor and needs relaying. The rear cabin shower head needs replacing. All little niggles I accept that. But at 450 pound a night to hire I'd expect better attention to detail. Dazzling light is roughly the same age and she was certainly presented in far better condition when we hired her last season. You can't get away from the fact that the RC45 is a fantastic looking boat and has been designed really well. Monaco being my favourite of the classes that have been built. Overall its a 7.5 out of ten for the boat and 10 out of 10 for customer service from Richardson's 👍

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  12. 16 minutes ago, garryn said:

    In hindsight it was probaly not a good idea to lay off all the good boatbuilders they had. They had been hoping to get that Broadway ready for this summer.

    That must be the one they were talking about, it's nearly finished apparently. I think Clive employed some of them on his new boat building venture. But it's up and running again and like I've said there are new boats in the pipeline. 

  13. Talking to the guys at richardsons this morning and they confirmed the building programme has re started, Broadway 7 is nearly finished and there will be more broadsmans, commodore type boats to follow. There are a ĺfew more boats being taken out of the fleet this winter and that should be about it. They are starting to fit new galleys in a lot of the old gem bath tubs, so all good by the sounds of it. They are incredibly busy which is good to see. August apparently was very quite apparently. They did say they are really struggling to recruit skilled boat builders, but I've seen most yards advertising this year for boat builders. 

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  14. Lol...how 😁 my sisters have informed me, once they'd stop laughing, that they will be helming the boat this weekend. You can't miss them, one has a beard and smokes a pipe, the over is covered in tattoos and will have a can of Stella in her hand. Good old Essex girls. But we're all sorted now. Currently absolutely pouring down here in Essex, hopefully the weather picks up a bit. Thank 😊 

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  15. Thank for the very kind offers I really appreciate them. My son thought it was funny to turn up this morning with a roll of gaffer tape lol. Guess my sarcasm came back to bite me. I spoke to A2B cabs last night so it's not a problem getting to the yard. The accident is completely my fault I miss judged a gap that clearly wasn't there. I'm of the opinion it's a bit of dented metal that will get fixed no one was hurt and my insurance covers all the damage. oh my children won't let me forget this in a hurry I banged on enough about being a professional driver. Again thanks, BTW il try not to bump into anyone whilst afloat this weekend lol...

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  16. Unfortunately I've had a rather big bang in my car today and with my wife on call all weekend I won't have use of a car to travel up Friday morning, my courtesy car isn't available till friday lunchtime. My brother and sister don't drive and my other sister drives a mini. So we will be travelling up by train. Daft question I guess but has anyone ever got a cab/cabs from Norwich to Stalham?? Is there cabs at the station willing to go that far out of town. Thanks 

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  17. Ferry marina is a lovely spot, unfortunately they have put a locked gate up on the footpath. Obviously the new owners doing so you now have to walk thro the marina. I personally like sitting outside the Ferry it's a fantastic location if you just want to sit have a beer and watch the world go by. The new Inn was my go to pub for food, never had a bad meal in there. I'm not a fan of the Swan. 

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  18. That's absolutely not on grif re the ferry inn. I understand your concerns with youngsters aboard, climbing across boats in poor light etc. I wouldn't want my grandchildren doing it. That said I do accept at popular riverside moorings double berthed mooring is the norm. I'm shocked the new Inn are charging so much as well,with no discounts offered if you eat in the pub. Horning is looking like somwhere to avoid, such a shame. 

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  19. 8 minutes ago, Andrewcook said:

    Will the Hookup Shore charge go up more in 2023 and when will they Increase it?

    I pretty sure it will Andrew, probably from the start of next season. So from March I'm guessing. 

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