JawsOrca

We had a similar incident last summer which did make me see red .. Coming across breydon from yarmouth.. tide behind us (extra Browne points please!) as we turned through the big white bridge (1 browne point gone!).. we saw a hireboat coming towards us on the wrong side of the river but even worst on the "dry side" of the markers... then suddenly seeing why.. there was a huge regatta of sailing boats waiting for the bridge to open.. but they were taking the full width of the channel, right up to the markers.. all under engine.. sails neatly wrapped away... Bizarrely several gave me the direction to pass them the dry side of the marker.. therefore as mentioned i had the tide behind me and (I guess) being a reasonably deep drafted vessel requiring to manueovre in the deep channel (and helming my parents pride a joy (With my mum sitting next to me)) .. I held my course and my finger firmly on the air horn button... (whilst indicating quite clearly that the sailing boats need to re-position themselves (...quickly) to our port side (With a smug grin and saying "Lovely day"..) Bizarrely they all quickly mastered the rules of the river and got out the way! .. Under engine a sailing boat is just like us motor boats (Just slower ).. This is one reason why Orca has been fitted with twin 180db airhorns (we actually have a nice "Excuse me" horn for general day to day use and these which I refer to as "I asked you nicely.. Now....").

Are you sure that's a hire boat? very pretty boat and certainly that's what you call progress... well done again all at richardsons for making that... (oh you may want to stop posting these pictures because I'm copying bits for our boat... )...

Iain, We will hopefully be up there with Orca.. (I'm going to book the lorry for easter so we have to be done!).. hopefully catch you one weekend

Paul.. can you stick on my folks boat in Eastwoods brundall? £25 to the site if so (Is that OK mods?)...

Sorry to hear this Andy.. I hope you have recovered her, the damage is a quick fix and all goes well

Geez! credit where credits due there must be some "skill" in working out if it will fit between the bank and under the boom!! When being taught to sail by an experienced sailor I was told "never swear, just say Lovely Day and grin"..

Good tips from all.. thanks all.. But (with all respect Robin) please don't use electric dehumidifiers.. far too many boats have suffered from faulty dehumidifiers.. I know friends of friends whom lost a brand new boat from one soo sad . We have found leaving the boat with condensation traps, storing the cushions somewhere safe (Parents spare room... ) plus leaving some windows open is good enough for the winter.. Plus what my mum has failed to mention is there's a issue / hole in the boat at the moment which is allowing water ingress (wasn't me!) I'm confident that's causing damp issues at the moment and this certainly needs addressing before worrying further.. although mum, as others have kindly pointed out there are cheaper alternatives.. (you don't need to always buy expensive things - Save expensive things for me for end of december time lol!) all...

Fix the leak first mum and then see what its like... x

No of course, it's just a tad sad that the old skills would go.. I think the yards like marthams who keep woodern boats on hire should be given a whole lot of support and respect as they really do keep the past alive.. I completely agree it would interesting to see new fibreglass replicates (with wooden tops at least as you say) Unfortunately I'm not one to comment too much as we no longer hire from them but still the best memories we have of the broads is aboard "Janet".

Hopefully that means that they have made the mistake already then and will stick with timber from now on

I think it will be a sad day if Marthams move towards plastic boats.. I love the business model (and hastern to add that we did hire with them several times before being stupid and getting our own boat) and it's always nice to see their wooden boats on the river.. As others have mentioned I think the bridge needs to stay though.. mainly as a tourist attraction, although I think we need to start a campaign to fund the hiring of a JCB and digging around the bridge.. which side do we go though? hmm probably the chip shop side...

Geez that does look thick.. did the BA chaps there tell you you can't cross Breydon as it's closed? Sorry to hear about the boat have they managed to fix it for you?

Hi Lori, I'm curious.. how did you find out about this? can you see how they are the "policing" this? I wouldn't want to get half way across to be told it's closed and I have to turn back (although in all fairness I'm never normally up early enough to see fog in norfolk!).. Hope it clears quickly for you as to not affect your trip too much .. (Bet it's even more pretty up there with fog).

Neil! This weekend has been one where its quickly transformed because its big boards! Yes we will put a door in the cupboard above the fridge, it will match the kitchen doors. Unfortunately the fridge itself will stay open though.. i was hoping to integrate that behind a door but we just don't have the space to frame in and I don't want to build the fridge in really... although the fridge itself looks better with its new matching door!

and welcome from me.. we have always found salhouse broad to be very good for fishing but we've not fished for a bit now..

So today, I had a lay in and wondered over a bit late.. Dave was working from 9am (theres not many sundays I'll start that early).. he managed to get the epoxy to dry on most of the panels cut yesterday and a few more coats of vanish. We also cut the last board for the wardrobe face.. I wasn't 100% sure what I was going to do where the fridge is.. I was thinking of keeping it open and just panel it in but we had a full sheet of oak faced ply which needed using so we was really left to use so we quickly decided to use it there. We quickly batterned it out largely with oak batterns as we are bit limited with space and the fridge will need to left exposed (with a cupboard above it).. Our fridge if you remember was out of a skip (it works) so it may only last a couple of seasons (It was owned by a neighbour here and wasn't too well looked after).. We then spent the rest of the day cutting the panel out for this cupboard.. (I managed to quickly use some scrap oak board and replace the fridge door face so it matches .. it was a quick easy job and now looks much better). Other good bits today.. we showed a few fellow members around.. all of which impressed which is good! The chap who told me how to do the tick sticking has volunteered to do cut the oat mouldings for us which is good.. we can do it ourselves but time is time! So we need to get some timber and beer (mum can you grab me so wherrys when you are next up) and pass over and magically they will come back all cut! (I dont like getting others to do stuff as it weakens the satisfaction feeling down but it will save a bit of time so the odd little bit is ok!).. Our canopy friend came over and I've asked him to measure up to put covers on the front windows and hatch which he has promised to do before the winter...

Looking really good Barry

Neil.. It was nice to meet you guys too.. Dave too was surprised we had visitors from the forum and said too it was nice of you both to make the time to come and take a look Thanks for your kind comments too.. we are trying to do a decent job as we will likely keep this boat for many years to come so want it to look modern and fresh (and hopefully stay that for some time!).. we also a bit of a perfectionnist so its got to look good We are certainly up for a celebration when we bring her up as you say its been a long few months so will certainly enjoy and look forward to relaxing on her!

Oh No Neil.. have you catch the restoration bug from us from yesterday To be honest she doesn't look too bad (I was gonna say offer £4k but it looks ok .. I'd say £6k looks good.. timber looks ok in the pics but you will probably have work to do.. if superstructure is bad go in at £4k... Ton's of character! Do it.. I mean don't do it.. do it...

Hi Janice, NBS is really a front for Barnes Brinkcraft's to sell their own boats off.. (plus the big brands associated with them). So I wouldn't expect they would push your boat hard. I worked closely with a broker here and it's shocking how little they (This broker anyway) put into selling a boat... I think its down to the location of the broker and a bit of luck that sells your boat. Plus you need to ensure they have good pictures and the boat is clean and tidey throughout.. (and please leave the curtains open so people can look in.. not everyone can be bothered to go and ask for the keys!) Personally I would suggest a move to NYA at least the experiences we've had with them has all been good and the facilities in horning for smaller boats seems positive same for waterside at potter.. although certainly look at the smaller ones.. jon at wayford seems to be really well as does broadland boat sales. Naturally I suggest you market her privately too; apollo duck, boats and outboards, gumtree, ebay (although ebay is sometime more hassle than its worth).. etc As others have mentioned this is the time when everyone tries selling so its even more of a buyers market Good luck

and welcome from me

Thats it the front edge will have a L shape and the tops will have a custom made moulding probably a P section.. all trims will be solid oak (probably not too chunky though as we want to keep the weight down.

Early morning run to the timber yard! thankfully they kept the two oak faced ply boards I ordered a couple of weeks ago nice and safe for us! Today has been a busy day with the good olde tick stick.. most panels came out ok,, couple of small gaps but its good enough! We firstly put a thick board for the chainlocker bulkhead and then the oak finishing board.. then we went onto the wardrobe.. I want to get these finished this week as so I can get some carpet on the sides and then do the headlining in there... Also it was nice to finally meet some fellow NBN forum members! Neil and Karen (aka speedtriple) stopped in and it was nice to have a long chat! I think Neil said it looks better than my pictures Dave is still over now just throwing a coat of varnish over the ply boards.. tomorrow he will throw (literally!) a nice strong coat of epoxy on the backs to preserve them.. but it's nice to see new nice looking finishing bits on.. feeling good again Couple of pics attached.. these aren't positioned too well so ignore the gaps lol they arent that bad.. (ish!)...

Hi Janice, I know that feeling.. even though I'm 30 something we had to deliver our last boat to her new owners and that last moment with her was very very hard . As you say they become part of your life and you do feel like given up on them.. thankfully for us though we always are stupid enough to get the next boat before selling the last! Just try and stay away from her for now... let her move onto her next life and get about looking for a better boat!!

I think as Mr JennyMorgan said earlier, the broads are dependent on the hire fleet and hoseasons marketing is far outreaching than a smaller yards marketing attempts (although Richardsons seem to do a better job than hoseasons at the moment!). I also understand that Hoseasons still know how to flex its muscle, apparently when the "Starboard range" was introduced certain yards where "told" to present at least one boat (and take the hit of higher commission for these boats). I do fear a broads without the hirefleet would be very different.. the upper medway which doesn't have a hirefleet is very sad.. very few public moorings, very shallow in places and at times a hazard to navigate.. the broads needs a hire fleet accessible to all (plus they add to the fun of the broads!)...