JennyMorgan

That early stuff was certainly more brittle than later products. Strangely enough I have a Swedish ABU fly-fishing rod from the same period. ABU maintained that their products had been tested to destruction and they forecast a forty year life. Mine is still going strong, is as sweet as ever and certainly not gone brittle.

I wonder if this has any connection with the mud pumping in the Lower Bure?

Those things were dreadful, we had two when I was at Bosham Sailing School in Sussex as an instructor during the summer and boat repairer/maintainer during the winter. No one like sailing them during the summer and yours truly found them hard to repair during the winter. Back in the 1970's surplus US drop tanks were readily available and bought by the hundred for floating jetties, houseboat floats and even boats proper. Trouble with them, and those Tod built dinghies, was that the resins of the day did not key with the glass fibre, no matter what we tried to do thus permanent repairs and conversions proved to be next to impossible.

Simple answer, wellies!

Uffa Fox was certainly quick to see the potential of grp. Back in 1963/64 I was a sailing instructor at Pin-Mill Sailing school where one of the boats was an Uffa designed dinghy called a Pegasus, not dissimilar to a Firefly and certainly prettier than the Albacore. No gel coat and semi-transparent she was an exciting boat to sail, totally unsuited as a school boat and liable to capsizing whilst being boarded, but she could certainly fly! The school had bought her second hand and apparently very cheaply. Perhaps the sailing world was not quite ready for grp at that time.

is it that the night watchman refuses to sleep aboard in case she sinks, pitiful lack of confidence, or because it's too hot to be below? Will a float switch on the pump not make said N.W. redundant?

Considering the oven like qualities of the boatshed where she must have dried out something wicked I reckon that you are lucky to be down to just one pump. She'll be tight after 48 hours!

According to the FB Wilds website the first Caribbean was launched in 1966.

We bought two hulls, as did Trumans, and fitted them out ourselves, very popular with our hirers, more so than the Wilds boats.

Hope to see and enjoy hundreds more! Your mum obviously had a good eye for a picture. By the way, a soft water-colour brush as well a good blast of dry air is as good a way to clean a slide as any.

From a boatyard's point of view they could be moored stern onto the shore and all servicing done directly from the quay heading. On a busy turn-round day that was an invaluable asset.

Andrew, we bought ours before the move to Loddon. They were delivered ready to go.

1963 or 4 at a guess. As a part owner of a boatyard back then we went out and bought two and Hoseasons guaranteed us so many weeks hire as they were sold on a buy to let scheme. I always enjoyed using one of them when not on hire, generally as winter beckoned, but they weren't hugely popular with our clients because they couldn't see over the reeds. Repeat business was not as good as with our other boats so we were glad to sell them on at the end of the purchase period but we were sold on the principle of GRP.

Vaughan, with a little attention it's quite clear that the quality is nothing to apologize for. However, next time that you do a spot of hoovering remember to click the suck rather than the blow button. That's a disreputable amount of dust that you have on your slides!

In Oulton Broad there is a hairdressers called Code for some strange reason. One of my daughters goes there & she's well pleased. Head from the Yacht Station towards the Wherry Hotel and carry on along the road, three hundred yards or so and Code will be on your left. Alternatively a DIY job!

Thought was given to speed limits, that being that on Breydon they would not apply. Had they been applied then various bodies had threatened to oppose and petition against the Broads Bill and quite possibly the Bill would have failed thus the Authority bowed to demands from such as water-skiers and jet-skiers.

Having now looked I agree that Bye Law 31 is probably valid. The Broads Act has, if I understand things correctly, brought the Lower Bure & Breydon under the BA's jurisdiction thus the Byelaw applies.

New one on me too although I can see the advantages for sailing boats shooting a bridge with a following tide.

Several have been launched/recovered using a hiab set-up at Oulton Broad, Caldecott Road where the road runs alongside the Broad, absolutely free! Are hiabs good for the job? We've had that topic before!

Not all brothers then, economising on names! Grandfather, father and son perhaps? Maybe Hazel has a couple of spares, just in case! Wonder which one I met?

Unquestionably quieter this year around Oulton Broad and area.

Just make sure that it on suck & not blow and that no one Is sat upon the 'throne' at he time, unless it's the mother-in-law!

Is it rhyming slang?

Let us know what you think of it please.

You could! The use of and meaning of the word 'ducks' by Yorkshire lasses?