JennyMorgan

I don't honestly have any real criticism of the Bridge, I always regard it as a 'must drop in for a pint and a snack as I'm passing' type of pub rather than one of the 'I'll give it a miss' this time watering hole. Just one niggle though, dropped in there last September and almost before we'd sat down our order had been taken and seconds later it was on the table! Excellent food and drink, as ever, but I would have liked time for a natter and a chance for the anticipation to kick in. Slick & professional but we did feel that we were being hurried along before the next customers came along. As for pubs and mounting expenses, apart from the very excellent Wetherspoons at Beccles I find that problem pretty universal. Pubs that I don't like going past without stopping at! The Bell at St Olaves, The Bridge at Acle, The Locks at Geldeston, The Pleasure Boat at Potter, The Ferry at Surlingham, the Ferry at Reedham, The Waveney Inn at Burgh St Peter and the Kings Head at Beccles.

Can't argue with that, Peter, but that's not really the issue. I accept that there is more to the Broads than just boating and fishing and that encouraging Broads related activities is no bad thing, but there is a limit! There is plenty to be done by the BA without it becoming involved in whimsical , unrelated projects that really should be the prerogative of the private sector, in my honest opinion.

The people of Norfolk do want their wherries, not so sure that they want the Broads Authority under its present leadership though.

Agreed!

If they are busy then they have no need to take bookings, got to say that I don't blame them.

Should the Authority be organising events that have absolutely no relevance to the Broads? Should a private individual wish to organise such events then so be it, all power to their elbow, but for it to come under the BA's banner, and expense, has to be questionable. Personally I see it as further evidence that the Authority has lost its way.

As kids we used to play 'chicken', namely riding our bikes towards each other and the first one to take avoiding action was chicken. Some of us grew out of it, at least by the time we bought our first cars. I notice it in our local swimming pool where people swim endlessly from end to end, some will take common sense or courteous avoiding action whilst others stubbornly carry on, refusing to deviate from their chosen course, leaving it to others to keep clear. Similarly I see boat owners of both persuasion doing precisely the same thing, but why? What is so hard about moving either tiller or wheel and why do some folk get so visibly angry about having to? Human nature I suppose. Only half of us are perfect! I certainly don't see it as just a MAFI or WAFI issue but it does sometimes manifest itself as such, especially up on the North Rivers. Must be that we are a tad more pragmatic down South!

Trial by forum! I wasn't there so I can only guess. As has been pointed out, overtaking boat stays clear, plain and simple. The Yeoman might have been forced into tacking, it does happen when, for example the wind backs off nearby trees, can't be helped and apart from clenching one's buttocks not much that can be done about it. Alternatively the keel, about 3'6", smells the mud so helmsman goes about. If the other boat, Nyx, had also been a sailing boat then a customary call of 'water' would normally alert other boats. The sailing boat appears to have been maneuvering with difficulty and it appears that it was being overtaken, both situations demand that others, Nyx, stays clear. Just my understanding of the situation. Give and take, as well as understanding by both parties is desirable. Granted that Nyx probably needed steerage in order to avoid running aground herself but nevertheless I have to agree with the observation that greater patience would probably have been a virtue. Perhaps the Yeoman could have waved Nyx forward and let John go past, it would have been the decent thing to do, but then John could have held back longer.

So very true. No maybe about it being control, that is almost certainly the reality. Teaching youngsters that the Broads are not actually Broads, rather that they are lakes, as one example.

See you there?

Where there is a will then there is a way!

Not sure that I can see anything even slightly amusing in this latest, shoot themselves in the foot P.R. exercise by the Broads Authority. We are talking about a highly respected charity here, one that many of us support.

Somerleyton Marina? Bit shallow on a really low tide but nevertheless a lovely spot and a darn good engineer on site.

Drowning, suffocating, it's all related

Back in the day when I had the riverside shop at Burgh St Peter (WRC) I sold many, many hundreds of copies of Deep Throat, I also sold may hundreds of T-Shirts, often to seemingly diminutive males, claiming to have choked Linda Lovelace, as if!

According to Wikipedia she died at fifty three following a car accident. She had become a 'happy clappy', a born again Christian.

Will have to try this drop-shotting lark. In the meantime I catch using soft bodies worms and jigs but maybe I'm missing out.

I've crossed on the Ferry when very clearly the chains were not hanging down vertically, far from it, the tide pushing the Ferry sideways and lifting the chains both astern and ahead. For the sake of a minute I'd rather hold back, not worth the risk.

If there is any tide then I have always waited not just for the Ferry to dock but also for the crew to slack off the chains. Not sure that it is particularly wise to pass astern of it whilst the chains are under tension.

That one must have been Mss Lovelace then, a book called 'Deep Throat' wasn't it?

In my formative years it was Linda Lovelace, Tropical Linda & DH Lawrance!

Nor did I!! Does he write books about the Broads?

He came to the Maritime Festival at Gt Yarmouth a couple of years ago, hugely interesting man.

Half a century ago I was an RYA sailing instructor and ropework was very much my interest. We taught a basic, must know list of knots which included the clove hitch, reef knot, figure of eight stopper knot, single and double sheet bends, anchor hitch, constrictor knot, bowline, buntline hitch, rolling hitch and round turn & two half hitches. I'm sure that some folk have had a lifetime of boating without ever mastering a single knot or hitch but for me the bowline and clove hitch between them will cover most situations on a motor cruiser and are well worth mastering. For more information Google The Ashley Book of Knots. Master that lot & you will have an interest that will last you a lifetime!

It is possible to tie a bowline incorrectly so that it collapses and turns into a 'cow hitch' and inevitably that will slip. The bowline is well worth mastering, in other words behind your back, eyes closed, standing in the shower and with your life depending on you getting it right, easy!