stumpy

I was out last night (drinking Adnams) with a mate who's a long way up the food chain at Muntons Malt - they've had orders cancelled -one of 3000 tonnes!

There used to be a black Toyota Celica Supra with very tinted windows round our way, driven by a large Afro-Carribean gentleman reg.mark. SPL1F -oh how we laughed!

If she does make it to the Deben I'll make sure to be on the ferry jetty with a camera - should be interesting.

Welcome Barry - where will Amberley be based?

Tim,re Beccles bridge- I reckon you'll be pushing it with HW ±1 HR. What we do is slip into the yacht station on a falling tide and keep popping to the end of the moorings to check the height gauge through binoculars or a telephoto camera. There's often a fair few folk doing the same so be prepared for a Le Mans start when it drops enough. Usually a quick explanation to the harbour master results in a free stopover. Can't help with bookable moorings I'm afraid.

Should there not be a team-working and diversity seminar somewhere central for all delegates first? Monte Carlo is nice at this time of year.

Now that's what you call a breakfast! Corsican looked good slipping up through Acle on Saturday btw - we were in the throng at the Bridge.

David - that's a rum owd boy in the cap there! We stuck it out until fourish and left just before the heavens opened. Spectators were very thin on the ground compared with previous years.

Scrumpy - ours are real cheapies, Silvercrest Twintalker 4810. I think they came from Lidl for about £20 with a mains charging dock 3 or 4 years ago. Range has been proved from Irstead Staithe to the Sutton turn. As I have previous for dropping things in the 'oggin I didn't want to pay a fortune.

Q - It'll be Acle, we used to moor for the weekend at the 'lecky point until we got comprehensively thrutched by a 42' hire boat trying to get into a 30' space in front of us. Decided discretion was the better part.

We'll be watching on wheels this year from the Bridge beer garden on Saturday - look out for the lady with the crazy blue hair!

We moored just behind her last year at the common - I can certify the holding tank overflow was working. It hully stunk - we moved up to the lock!

Timbo, many years ago I was told "Better to ask forgiveness than permission" - stood me in good stead through 30-odd years of dealing with shiny arsed managers.(And wives)

We've often got a PMR on, also very handy for bar to mothership Comms "Doom Bars off, will Little Sharpie do? Over" Channel 4 seems to be the Chan.16 equivalent.

Ian - try a bit further up the road, Stonham Magpie is well worth a visit.

Congratulations - welcome to the empty pockets and big smug grin club!

Q - any news on the Acle guardship situation?

There was a Safari in Broadsedge that had a 4 hp outboard mounted on a lifting bracket facing sideways that was fired up to spin round for mooring. Worked a treat as long as you only wanted to go clockwise.

I'll never mind-bleach away the video Royalls put up a few years ago of one of their boats covered with human excrement after a hire! It was up the walls and trodden into the carpet fgs!

I think they're immigrants from Suffolk - they practice going up the A140, by the time they get to Tasburgh they've got it down pat!

I'm with Siddy and Ricardo , we use an old Garmin Nuvi. It gives speed to 0.1 mph , has moorings and positions of bridge height boards. At the end of the day you can pull up time moving, distance traveled and average speed - very useful. ETA- with 'remember track' on its a lifesaver when Barton and the upper Ant is fogbound.

To misquote Marlon Brando "They'll take my mighty throbbing BMC when they prise it from my cold,dead hand "

40s, Rascal and Gregg have it spot on - our shopping list was "25-30 feet, aft cockpit, diesel on shaft and pumpout bog for under £15k" We spent the thick end of 6 months driving between the Thames and the Ouse before we found our Bounty 27 AC at Potter. We looked at some absolute sheds - the worst was at Ely, advertised as ' well-maintained, ready to go with full history' she was on the hard and you could smell her from 20 paces and see through the rot-holes in the woodwork! Didn't even brave the ladder. No Worries has done us proud for 7 years and is ideal for the two of us and the dog. Keep searching, your boat IS out there.

Yet another vote for Danish oil, the teak mast on No Worries has been done with it for the last 6 years. After the first multiple coat year, a flat down with 0000 wire wool and coat put on by cloth has kept it looking fine.

Landmark,even!