JawsOrca

Dave, What device are you using? Why can't you change the filters? is it disabled? Members are missing at present. We are looking into what happened to them and bring them back but be accessed here for the time being: http://www.thenorfolkbroads.net/forum/search/?type=core_members (John, sorry it doesn't include post count).

http://www.halfords.com/motoring-travel/camping-caravanning/caravanning/halfords-leisure-battery-115-ah they are made by Yuasa and are decent quality.. if you can manage to get a trade account with them it's significantly cheaper..

HI Peter, I'm no expert in this.. but I guess your outboard would overcharge that and blow it great yarmouth. Although that should power your nav lights (if they are LED) I don't quite think it would keep your fishfinder going for too long but you could take it out and charge at home with a suitable charger. You should be able to get a small car battery from Euro car parts (theres one in lowestoft or there's a motor factors behind halfords at oulton broad) for a about the same price (but it wont last for ever), You certainly don't need a leisure battery. http://www.eurocarparts.com/063-car-batteries

Iphone? there's the problem... get a proper phone lol.. Can you see a filter on the new content? it's probably set as "New since last visit" by default.. you need to change it to "Daily View".

Lol... Who are you? this isn't a boating forum it's a knitting forum?! You may need to change the filter view from "New since last visit" to "Daily view".. That one caught me out.

You too then Iain.. lol Don't forget our photography competition lol http://calendarcompetition.thenorfolkbroads.net/

Looks lovely Dave..! Stick it as your profile image

Picture gloating Dave.. Come on Dave let's see your pictures

Iain.. - Click the drop down arrow on the right corner - Select profile - Click the "Profile Picture" button beside your picture - Click upload image and upload. Can you screenshot and attach to here please Dave? cheers

Any questions on how to use the new look software or strange occurrences (bugs).. Please post here KNOWN ISSUES: (Being addressed asap) - Some old images are missing. - New Content defaults to "Since my last visit".. Please change to "Daily View" - Members menu is missing. - Signatures missing - Purchase of Stickers / Flags not working correctly

Lol yes Mark the Staithe should be the port as that's at the end of navigation.. (But is the broads and anythings possible!) I guess that's why the BA just say "Keep between the markers" lol (The medway estuary is a bit like this.. cardinal buoys everywhere so without a plotter you would be stuck.. literately.. I'm so good I never good stuck )

John is this in the wrong section??

I must admit I noticed that after I posted it. That bit then uses the diamonds to indicate starboard and cones to indicate port so yes certainly not the best charlet example I agree! and I believe that's from the RYA as part of the day skipper course !. But typically the buoyage isn't as well defined as it is on Breydon so I think the RYA are trying and remind you that it's not always text book (Certainly when colour gives way to sticks!).. but it should be red to port all the way to source. So for Breydon it should be red to port even on the other converging rivers because breydon could be seen as estuary and as you say all rivers converge on it therefore it should be red to left all the way up these rivers.. So If you are approaching Breydon from Oulton broad then you are going down stream as Oulton Broad is accessed via a dyke (Oulton Dyke) and (as far as I believe) therefore is not part of the River waverney.. The waverney flows towards Breydon water and exits via the sea at Great Yarmouth as part of the Yare. (Ps as others have mentioned Ignore IALA-B which is the other way.. poxy americans ) Couple more pics (stolen via google images) attached to hopefully explain why that first chartlet was wrong and another to show how confusing it really can get when you put it all together!! (and why you really need charts and a chart plotter!!)

aboard Mr AshbyCut. Ignore the weirdo comment from Mark.. trust me there is nobody sane or normal on this forum.. To name a couple; we have a talking boat that likes chocolate () A female fisherwomen who has a serious obsession with shoes.. any boat she hires needs to big enough to have a walk in shoe wardrobe.. () (if you wish to file a grievance against Mr Baitrunner.. just let me know.. we could do with testing the warning system on the upgraded forum lol!). Sorry I know nothing about fishing and fishing rods (In the past I have brought fishing rods by the one's which look the shiniest!)..

P.s.. In terms of markers it will red on the left all the way to very source of the river.. So even right upstream were you are paddling in your wellies.. it would still be red to port (left). (There could be a harbour/dock at the end). (The famous yellow marker is a simplified cardinal.. Simplified for the broads.. (Geez imaging trying to explain to pass after the south cardinal) ). See: http://www.rya.org.uk/cruising/navigation/Pages/tips.aspx (I stole the attached image from google images).

Branden owning a boat when you are young is hard work.. it's not the cheapest hobby as I'm sure you know. We had our first boat on the coast. Sadly the river system is always more expensive that coastal areas.. as the coast you don't pay river tolls, Boat safety is "Optional" and there's lots of things like Boating clubs where for something like £100 a year you can get moorings.. But you won't find such things like on broads and certainly not near to Norwich.. I think there probably is cheap moorings but you will have to search for them and any are going to be in the rural areas but if you are lucky there maybe a train station nearby. Sadly as Kfurbank said the BA's job is not to provide cheap moorings for us.. I think we are bloody lucky they even provide 24 hour moorings as there's many of other agencies which don't even do this. Good luck with things though.. I suspect any appeals process will be slow so you probably have time to sort things out although it wont do any harm to get looking.. (Maybe looking at the local sailing clubs.. many need and welcome young members if you are willing to give them a hand with things.. a corner spot on their land and use of a tractor to put the boat in every now and again is no cost to them if you catch me..) Well said Lampini, although the liveaboard phobia is country wide and not just the BA.. It is a bit strange considering if there a few liveaboards in a marina they would be very safe Marinas (The amount of times I've yelled a shadows in the nearby marina) and considering people still visit Amsterdam even though it's full of liveaboards!

Happy Anniversary from me too Iain! Hope you had a good one

It's a massive shame Steve.. You know we are both really gutted for you both.. All because at some point in the boats life someone didn't winterise it correctly/in time.. Stay positive mate.. It will go back together and will be a new engine then.

We've seen alot of swimming,i.e Beccles YS there were kids swimming for hours and Salhouse (even Oulton I think).. We did see some lads swimming at how hill and he dived under just in front of us (I was a distance back he was just being stupid)... I air horned them and put it in neutral and they when he appeared he put thumbs up.. I shock my head.. it's not fair on me to do such things certainly through there (Yup we really saw it all on that trip!). But I doubt too much would happen if they was paddling at salhouse (and didn't consume too much water as there could be high levels or algae and possibly duck waste and had a shower after) (and make sure they stay way away from where boats will be as clearly inexperianced crews etc and people not expecting it) I remember a few years back the front cover was kids paddling on "The beach" there.. Obviously the advise now is not to though.. There are swimming pools at Horning, Beccles (open air lido), Waverney river centre.

Thanks guys "Maintenance trip" Saturday 8th August We arrived at the yard at about 11.30am it was already a really lovely sunny day. This weekend was just a maintenance weekend though so nothing special. We got quickly to work, ripping out the old steering cable which came out without too much of a struggle and then put in the new cable.. The old one was seriously dead with iron filings clearly visible but it thankfully shows how well constructed it is as it lasted. I got out the way and left Dave to it. Steve and debs where down so I went over and annoyed them for a bit, we had a little spin out of the river (why not!). Once back I wondered over and Dave had finished and just tiding up.. all good, thankfully the steering wheel fitted so we didn't need a new steering wheel (Although maybe oneday I'll get another one lol). Thankfully everything was all good, the cable was long enough and everything fitted perfectly (Although the plastic bezel didn't but that's easy to get a replacement) .. yay!).. I tried the steering and it felt very different.. like a new boat (not what I know what that feels like). I naturally wanted to go and play. I invited Steve out and Debs to join us, (once debs woke up from a quick afternoon nap) we jumped on the boat.. Geez the steering feels very very different.. it's so light and I was worried it wasn't working but no it's working it's just nice and new On the main River Debs likes the way Orca leans over when we turn, as it really does lean over like a powerboat lol.. so we did some turns to "test it".. We are still getting some feedback at tight turns but it's all ok and still feels really nice.. Steve and debs steered in turns down to st olaves before we turned around and made it back into the yard.. There was a wind and yeah it was hard work to get back into the marina but eventually (I gave up) we moored up (sideways - Don't worry Spider I missed you ) We both popped over to Lady P and gave them both a hand with a couple of things before all of us running off for a chinese buffet! Back to the boat for drinks aboard Orca and a good chat Oh forgot to mention, we had the pleasure of meeting one of JanetAnnes humans lol.. Great chatting to you though and looking forward to more chatting next week! Sunday 9th August Up early as it was already getting hot, We promised Steve and debs we would help them with a few a bits, which we did. Before packing up for the Drive home just after lunch.

It really is easy... Keep within the markers... (forget what colour they are painted.. (considering most of the are brown with dirt).. Just keep within the markers ) Just like we have to keep within the banks of the river.. go outside of the banks and you aren't a boat anymore...

Thanks Iain, It's been a hard write considering I'm always one for positive thinking and I guess I represent the forum but this blog needs to be honest and explain it as it happened and not polish anything .. otherwise there's not point in doing it... Thankfully too my camera has been serviced and I brought a replacement charger for it as I lost the last one (2 3 and four!) so I can get back out and start taking decent pictures again instead of using the mobile!!

Sunday 26th July. (Last day ) So last day of an epic holiday! I woke up to a headache!! and yup for some unknown reason I don't remember much of today!! I know a few people had already left or was leaving. I saw Steve and blamed him for my headache! LadyP then left and we left about 45mins later. Just outside of Beccles we noticed Duet 2 was up the bank and a private was tried to help. I yelled over "They are firmly stuck mate you won't get them off, get them to call the yard".. We caught up with LadyP just after the WRC and AIR HORNED to say hello lol (Yup the tablets where kicking in!). Somerleyton bridge soon appeared although the water level looked high. Before I could slow down our last rocketship approached at warp speed 10.. I told them to slow down with hand movement and indicating I may need to turn around thankfully they appeared to understand and ease back.. I noticed we had enough space so accelerated back to 5mph at which point they accelerated to warp speed 10 and tried to undertake us through the bridge.. I said to dave "What the do you think they are doing".. Dave advised them to ease off and overtake the other side and we entered the yard just as the rain started again! Slowly the car was packed, Orca was put to sleep and we waved good bye to Steve and debs. (50 hours in the two weeks and about 50 litres of fuel - so just over £60 ) Last thoughts So looking back now, we did have a good trip! It was our first 2 week holiday for many years (probably 10 actually!) and the first time up north during the school holidays for a long time too! I guess we have forgotten what the broads experience was like so we was a bit shocked. As I've hopefully portrayed although we had a couple of unusual experiences the majority (as you will see from earlier logs) was amazing and we spoke to lots of decent people really enjoying the broads experience so although it may read a bit negative it's obviously far too easy to focus on (even when being read) the negatives. I was trying to be 100% honest and frank about the trip and not gloss it over because this log should contain the highs and lows of which there will be both. But I honestly don't want people to misunderstand although e did a rough trip, in all the years we have been up here we have never experienced this and this was echo'd by the ranger..it honestly isn't the norm and doesn't happen.. the weather was a bit rocky so let's just put this down to the weather The broads are bloody amazing and truly unique. I think two weeks was too much and we should have spent more time down south to break it up (Although I did want to spend more time up there as it's unlikely we would return back this year). The boat was brilliant though and very comfortable and at no time felt too small, thankfully we didn't ever feel she was too small. Although we had the odd problem I was surprised we didn't have anymore. Sorry to rush through this a bit towards the end but we are erm back up there very very shortly (as in tomorrow!!).

Saturday 25th July. So the penultimate day of our holiday. I was awoken by the sound of scraping fibreglass which is never good. So I jumped up and ran outside. Geez it was windy and the rain was almost rain sideways. Thankfully the sound wasn't the bank side but the fenders we had were as flat as a pancake, I grabbed the spares and with all my (morning, half hungover) strength pushed Orca away from the bank side and put in two fenders in which did the trick.. I checked LadyP who was just infront of us and she looked all good. Back to sleep for a bit lol I woke up an hour or so later, spotting we had two small leaks but Orca was doing well. Eventually woke up to notice that a little boat had tried to come in but got blown towards us and the helman pretty much declared a mayday and requested to come along side.. Obviously no problems. They sat there for a bit to get confidence back before we helped, together with others to walk back and moor alongside behind us. At this point I thought we would be stuck here but the forecast promised the weather was leaving and it should be all calm. There was a large Broom on the entrance (we was on the corner spot) with this small boat just infront, thankfully the rain stopped, the sky turned blue and the wind died down enough to get out. So I said to Steve, this is the time, but it's still strong so it's still going to be hard work.. I said to steve we would walk Orca back to the entrance, then reverse out and suggested he did the same thing. Just as we untied though a little sailing boat headed in and moored on that entrance spot. I walked over and said along the lines of "It's very windy and alot of boats have struggled to get out, I don't suggest you moor there", They looked a bit confused so I was a bit more blunt and said "In other words if you stay there I will hit you when I came out as will our mate behind you".. Lol poor crew they pulled the boat one mooring spot but they was in no mood to move. Oh well we had enough room I think/hope.. Ropes untied, Dave pushed the stern out and I rammed Orca into reverse as I needed to get as far away from the bank side as posible, the stern quickly span around, I saw Debs looking mortified, Thankfully it missed the bankside and quickly span around but pointing towards the exit but now pointing right towards this little sail boat (I told them so!).. Netural span the helm around, Reverse, Missed again, and gently blown out of the WRC under some kinda control.. The lady on the sailing boat looked back at me as in.. "You did tell me but did bloody well to miss!!"... I watched Steve and he did really well too lol On the river it wasn't too bad..we let Lady P lead as they was having problems with the engine and we wasn't sure.. (Ok we thought it was head gasket!) Steve was keeping it slow at 4mph but that's OK. The river was thankfully quiet although we was crabbing down it most of the time given the strong sidewinds in the gaps of the tree. Half way down we spotted Charlie which was a bit sad as we hoped to say hello but we waved (charlie you need a burgee ) A bit further down we had a private boat approaching fast which is expected as we was going slow but they overtook and them erm stopped in front of us and turned towards us! Yup you guessed it AIR HORN! lol (Sorry Steve and Debs lol) (apparently Debs said to Steve that they need to get one!!). As we passed back a crew member gave us the looks and muttered something.. and the boat headed into the reeds, So ok seems like they had a breakdown (although they quickly moved off) and I felt a bit guitly to horn but I still had to take action to avoid them and in the side winds I didn't really have anywhere to go. A bit further down we also spotted another NBN flagged boat coming towards us (worring that the meet up had been cancelled now) but strangely they turned around and followed us. I quickly spotted it was Paul giving his new boat (Re-engined) boat a spin It felt brilliant to have three nbn boats cruising in company though! Arriving in Beccles I was really worried it was a strong cross wind and Orca was getting blown all over the place, I tried a stern on mooring but realised Orca would just slam into the other boat, Aborted. Tried again, I turned round and thankfully realised I basically had to get blown into the moorings and the spin around so the bow is pointing into the wind and then gently ferry glide onto a side on berth.. all went to plan and we gently arrived into beccles!! A really nice "Welcome Orca" from John.. (Ok sorry all as you will read a bit later you.. for some strange reason I've forgotten a lot of the next two days lol!!). I kinda remember walking into Beccles and introducing Steve and Debs to Geocaching, the first was easy and steve spotted straight away (We had done this before), but they both was addicted and we tried downloading the phone app but Steves phone wasn't having it! So we went into weatherspoons to get a wifi signal...still it was painfully slow though! The next cache a bit of a walk away we hadn't found before so we was useless too! It was a tough one and took all of us to look.. in the end (I think) Dave found it.. Back to the meet up via Tesco's we decided to grab food for a bbq. Arriving back at the boat we noticed the water was just below the cappings! (I've never seen it like this!!) and thank goodness we didn't try and go to Geldestone last night as we would be stuck! We had a quick chat to a few members here but we was a bit worried so went back to Orca and threw a mudweight over the starboard side to keep her away from the bank and put more fenders low down .. being a deep vee hull she would easy ride over the bank. Sadly this also meant we had to position our BBQ's away from others Thankfully though we spoke to a few members. My parents where there too and joined us for the BBQ.. We relaxed and chatted most of the evening (although at one Point our admiral John stumbled over a little tipsy ( ) and tried to take some pictures lol surprisingly he did really well though Jonzo rather stupidly gave us some business cards so a bit tipsy ( ) debs forced me into putting business cards on the boats moored in the basin!! I spotted the clock just before falling asleep and it was another late one.. 2.30am lol!!