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Petrol 9p a litre, Beer 13 pounds a pint. . . Hmm I wonder what the petrol tastes like. Mind you if the beer is John Smiths I think I would rather drink the petrol. Roy

Neil, we are on Lightning for a week from Saturday. Will try not to get stuck on Breydon. Roy

Money no object. A dual steer lowliner on the Broads, the same on the Thames so I could get above Oxford to the best bit of the Thames - 32 miles of river similar to the Waveney above Beccles. Another dual steer lowliner with a beam of 10ft so I could have it transported to other waterways like the Nene and Great Ouse, a beautiful river which most Broads fans would love. An electric dayboat to get under Potter when the lowliner can't – has to be electric because the diesel one's are much too noisy. A bungalow in Horning or Wroxham with the river at the front and a backwater behind to fish in. Now for Europe - a Connoisseur Magnifique on the Canal du Midi (don't want one of Le Boat's modern, joystick control, doesn't look anything like a proper boat, unless they are giving them away of course). Another Magnifique on France's central waterways. Another dual steer lowliner to sneak under Belgium and Holland's low bridges – save you having to pay for each bridge to be lifted. Now does anybody know the address of the Portuguese person who won last week's £150 million Euro lottery.

Interesting film JM. No mention of any homes being built on the boatyard site. Spotted Thunder on her new home mooring, Lightning moors behind her in front of the old boatshed shown. Roy

I don't see anything in the EDP article about residential building on the present boatyard. Does anybody have any links to info re planning permission or to what was said at the public consultation.

Who can afford 118 118? Roy

Thanks for that Jeff, got my boats crossed, had been looking at Summer Horizon. I have taken note of your comments re presentation of the boats. Should have said that we have a share in Lightning which we will be on the same week and are looking to hire a reasonably priced boat because too many family want to come with us to fit on Lightning.

Has anybody hired one of the Dream Gem's from Horizon Craft recently. I know they have a good reputation for turning out their boats well and was thinking of hiring one next August. Been with them before on Clear Horizon 2 but that was quite a few years ago. Roy

I also noticed the bit about not being able to pass under PH bridge so I was wondering how the one we met last year about half way down Catfield Dyke got there.

I saw one about nine years ago on the Camargue on the Canal du Rhone a Sete. We were on a Connoisseur at the time. Hope none of them stowed away on any of the Connoisseurs that came back to the Broads.

Been holidaying on the Broads since '58 and there isn't one of the boats we hired that I didn't like. Here's a few of them. Landamore's Vestella 4, lovely woody and special memories of my first Broads holiday. Richardson's Crusader 1, a well used (for want of a better description) woody – we were five teenage lads so I can't blame them for not letting us have a new boat. Now probably the one I would pick as my favourite, Chumley & Hawkes Constellation 2 which we hired twice. Our first GRP boat was a 42ft Connoisseur, from Porter & Haylett, unbelievably roomy compared with the wooden boats we had hired. Brooms' Admiral 7 another woody in pretty good condition considering how many years it had been on hire. Even in less affluent times when we were down to hiring for five days via a Sun newspaper deal we enjoyed our holidays on such boats as Richardson's Saucy Gem 4 a well used DC30, basic but lovely and clean. We are now into shared ownership first with a share in Moonlight Shadow, a lovely AF38 Pearl which was unfortunately a little too small for us with the granchildren coming along so we now have a share in Lightning, a superb AF43 Diamond which we hope to keep for many years to come. Roy

Apologies I didn't include Box 1. "Box 1: the bylaw applies to: Common Bream, Common Carp, Crucian Carp, Silver Bream, Barbel, Chub, Dace, Perch, Pike, Roach, Rudd, Smelt and Tench. It also includes hybrids of any of these species." The bylaw seems to miss out Mirror Carp and Grass Carp unless it sees those as a variant of Common Carp.

While most people do not take the fish they catch for eating, the following is an extract from the Environment Agencys booklet "Taking Stock". Rivers On any given day, you may only remove: • 15 small fish (up to 20 cm from tip of snout to fork of tail) of the native species listed in Box 1; • one pike of up to 65 cm; • two grayling of 30–38 cm. If you remove more fish than this, you are committing an offence under the new byelaws – you risk a substantial fine. You can still take: Non-native species such as Zander. The byelaws also apply to some natural lakes: • Windermere, Coniston Water, Ullswater and Derwent Water (all in Cumbria); • All the waters in the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads that are subject to the coarse fish close season;

I have always thought that Hardley Dyke isn't private. My understanding is that the moorings on both sides are private but that the dyke itself is open to navigation although it would be difficult to turn anything but a small boat at the end.

Mowjo, "wrapped in a towel", you must be posh ours was wrapped in newspaper. Didn't half hurt when you kicked one in your sleep. Roy

Don't have the reel tension too tight. Reasonable size perch are fairly common and will give a good fight. In the same vein a landing net with extending handle should be used for anything over a few ounces. You can get one on Amazon for less than a tenner including p&p. Roy

Can't help with Christmas openings but we did Boxing day to Jan 2nd on Moonlight about four years ago and found the heater kept us warm enough in the evenings, definitely warmer that the heater on Lightning. Lots of lovely cruising with only a couple of other boats moving some days. Enjoy Roy

The shouting bit worked on me in Oulton Dyke back in '64

When this one is completed any chance of the one a little further upstream being replaced.

Not North side I know but good fishing for the casual angler: Fished last week on Chet at Loddon end of Pyes Mill moorings caught Roach and Perch to half pound. Boat Dyke at the Locks Inn Geldeston with Roach and Perch to six ounces and a few small chub. Brundall (Brooms basin - we moor there), Perch to 1.5 pounds and Roach to a pound. Yare from Commissioner's Cut moorings Perch and Roach to half pound. Only fishing for an hour or two each time with maggot and caster. Nothing special but ideal fishing if you have youngsters. Roy

MBA - there were more than one or two dinghies padlocked. Paladin – Don't know what the by-laws say but I would have thought BA would when they put up the "No Dinghies" notices on the quay heading adjacent to the mooring posts to which these dinghies were padlocked.

Things are really getting confused now. This is the reply from Thorpe town council: Sorry Roy you have been misinformed by the Broads Authority. They lease the River Green moorings from the Town Council and it is their responsibility to manage the moorings. The lease has over two years to run so I really don’t know why they told you they had transferred them back. Only the Broads Authority can enforce the 24 mooring regulations. In the event that the Broads Authority were to hand the moorings back the Town Council would aim to have new byelaws in place that would give it the power to manage the moorings properly. Hope this helps – Steven Ford, town clerk – Thorpe St Andrew Town Council tel 01603 701048. I suppose I will have to contact BA again Roy

Hi Matt, There was nearly 8ft at low water and the two pubs are worth a visit. The mooring is still quite pleasant if you can get in and the water is very clear if a little weedy.

I have emailed Thorpe St Andrew town council asking their position on the moorings and will post their reply as I receive it.

Just telephoned River Control. They say that the moorings are no longer under the auspices of BA but have been taken back by the Parish Council. They also said that the issue goes back to before the Parish Council took over and BA did then have some success in stopping the practice. I suppose the next move will be to phone the Parish Council and ask their position on this. The chap at BA did say the dinghies mainly belong to the boats moored at the old Hearts yard. Also there was some confusion over the legality of BA removing the chains.