Gordon

That sounds very dissapointing Dave, I wonder what makes you think that. They say that many of our rivers are getting cleaner. I recall sadly watching a river die in the 60's, the Little Ouse at Brandon, I recall excellent fishing, the large chubb that no-one could catch under the bridge that almost taunted us. That river was crystal clear and we used to swim in its fresh clear water. Father used to tell us it was one of the best dace rivers. Then almost overnight industry came to Thetford and down river everything died, no-one dared swim in it any more Gordon

Hi Thanks for the info chaps. Interesting article there Perry with one or two alarming bits with regards the long lining and the trawling. There seems to be a lot of concern about large fish being caught for the pot, didn't know they were being exported as well. Never been happy about the freshwater fish being sold as bait. I can relate to the eel comments Col regards Gordon :santawave:

I have fond memories of fantastic fishing on the broads,as a kid, great catches of bream, tench on Hickling, decent pike and plentiful roach, then it all seemed to die in the 70s, talk of dsease, primnesium, salt influx etc. Recently I have become a "born again coarse angler" and once again seen good catches of bream and decent pike. Is it my imagination, are the good old days back, or did they never go away and are they as good. Only thing that seems to be missing are the eels, only caught one in the last few years, not that I don,t mind not catching them but it is sad if they are not there Gordon

Sorry about the delay, I have been away, unfortunately not to the boat Yes Brian is based in Herbert Woods yard but I don't think there is any other connection. I was looking for his web site, and will post it later when I get a few mins. He does a great job at a fair price regards Gordon

One at Ludham bridge near the chandlers

I have been really pleased with Brian Taylor who is based at Potter, he has done a canopy for me and some bespoke non boat related stuff, very quick, friendly and reasonably priced 01603738304

I think most of ours comes through the hatch cover, mainly due to, as Jonny said, the tiny drain holes round the rim blocking, we did have a problem with the cover itself being porous but since I have fixed that we get less water, As for the i ssue of no bilge pump in there I cannot see that as a major issue as once the water got to the top of the engine bilge wall it will go over the top and then the main bilge pump will shift it, never had more than three or four inches in the bit under the engine but even if it was full I cannot see it affecting the boat at all, certainly not enough to come within feet of sinking. Think about it if the bit under the engine that was dammed off to prevent polution held 40 gallons that is only 400lbs, or three 10 stone people, or as my mate once said when stopped by the law for having his car overloaded, "no mate I don't think its overloaded, just the same as having three big women on the back seat " " I see sir, and do you ofter have three big women in the back of your car" Gordon

Hi Jonny I totally agree with the above, and cannot think of any advantage of a gel battery on a boat, they are sensitive beasts and require a constant voltage charge, not even sure if they are suitable for charging off an alternator. As we have seen above leisure batteries are getting cheaper year on year and are the accepted tool for the job. Something to bear in mind with a leisure/dual purpose battery is contrary to popular belief they don't like deep discharges, taking em too low too often will expedite their demise in the same way as a cranking battery. Whatever you do don't store them in anything other than a full charged state it will kill em

Obviously could vary with make and model, but I have had this discussion and am told it should, and when it leaks away it's time to change the seals, not had the courage to tackle the job yet ( on a Mansfield dump thro) but am told it will ease the pong in the summer

Is that the sister ship to Norfolk n Goode

Hi Keith, Well I thought they were long finished, I remember the excitement of seeing them as a kid. Interesting thing is there are still warning signs up along the Yare. No doubt someone will come up with the answer Gordon

Ours have been named after our dogs, no not shep or rover!! Our spaniel Ben has a posh kennel club name of Black Oaks Blue stratos. So after the usual long family debate we called the boat Blue Stratos. When we changed the boat once again we struggled for a name so I suggested following the canine theme and named her after a dog I had as a kid that had the fancy name of Jay's Green Woodland Dawn, hence the boat is called Woodland Dawn. I am quite convinced if we change the boat again, and unless it already has an acceptable name it will be Woodland Lass Gordon

Hi Sorry cannot help on either count, those quoted on an earlier reply looked the answer and the price did not seem bad, I imagine you are looking for a permanent fixture like the one in the picture, I believe you have a BMC captain, I have no idea whether you can fit one but there will be a lot of folks on this and the other forum who will know the answer. If so it's a ring round to the older yards with well stocked junk pilesWe have a Perky on our calypso and that has a pump.. pure magic. Sorry cannot help you with the grease thing, are they on the prop shaft? never hurt to put a squirt of grease in a grease nipple though, although I did know a guy who bought an old Austin dutifully went round with a grease gun to all the grease nipples as you had to in those days and tried to grease the brake bleed nips as well, fortunately you cannot get much in em

Hi Jonny Yea a pump is a good plan. but you know I am one of those guys who spends four times as long trying to be lazy and take a short cut, that back panel on the Calypso is a point in question. I have tried to do a number of things that would have been much easier with the panel removed, trying to lie on the engine and reach through the hatch etc, I am slowly learning that its quicker and easier to mover the bed and take the confounded panel out. Any one else got any ideas where the continue to take the lazy way out and it turns out harder? Gordon