JennyMorgan

There is an advert running on the 'telly' at the moment, not sure who or what for, featuring a lottery winner who has just bought a mega gin palace. The new owner and his wife attempt to reverse into a mooring, ohhhhhhh dear! Was it inspired by antics on the Broads I ask myself, at Brundall perhaps?

Points taken, HP, but the 17 hours came from comments by a forum witness, on the original thread, who photographed the unfortunate crew of White Boat number 20 being hauled from the water. Once again, not your fault but the harsh reality is that the call-out, however well intended, two hours or twenty hours late, proved not to be necessary. No way do I suspect that the call was malicious but it did prove to be a false alarm. Quite simply it highlights a problem, that of identifying the necessary from the unnecessary. Joe public does appear to be becoming overly keen to press that nine button three times and not just with the Coastguard. I have friends in the fire service, one who has told me of a similar problem, namely that of people seeing what they perceive as an emergency as they drive along but what in reality was nothing more, for example, than an innocent bonfire at an allotment. Apparently it gets even sillier when literally scores of calls come in that had the callers actually looked then they would have seen fire appliances already responding. Okay, so it's better to have an unnecessary call out rather than a tragedy and I appreciate that filtering that out can be a problem. With Archant's take on reporting fact it is becoming increasingly hard to pass judgement, I know that in regard to the recent boat collision on Oulton Broad that involved family friends. However it is inevitable that folk will form an opinion.

I have absolutely no wish to enter into an argument but 17 hours later does suggest that the call out was the following day. However that in no way your fault and in no way is this a criticism of the Hemsby Lifeboat, more a criticism of the move by Coastguard Control from Gorleston to Humber thus the unfortunate loss of local knowledge.

Just checked, see here: 17 hours rather than days.

I don't think that that is the case, perhaps more that people are tempted to make calls without checking the facts just because they can. I'm tempted to suggest that some folk regard their mobiles as toys and that any excuse to press a button is to be welcomed.

Saturday, whoever did the cooking did a superb job! Re that infamous call out, see it here:

On Oulton Broad the extras used to join their friends off the nearby Everett Park. Six berthers might end up with ten or more for the week. Two in a single berth was, I'm sure, great fun for an hour or two but surely not for a whole week! I am quite certain that many hirers had no idea just how narrow hire boat berths were back in the 60's & 70's.

I don't suppose that we shall ever know the facts but it does seem to me that, as with the swamped sailing boat, that perhaps it is not the potential casualty that is making the call, rather that it's made by well meaning bystanders. As for Chris's comment, heaven forbid that people call for help just because they are 'lost', bad enough that people call out the lifeboat for a sunken boat that has been on the bottom for several days. Perhaps Hemsby should bill Humber Coastguard for 'frivolous' call outs. My wife and I did our best to support the Hemsby Lifeboat by having both lunch and tea at their stall at the Yarmouth Maritime Festival, those fried herrings were perfection, but even so I doubt that their funds are finite.

I know that sailing boats and ships talk to their crews and that those crews talk back but surely those soulless motorised things can't talk, can they? By the way, welcome onboard.

I don't know the facts of this one and I rather think that neither the newspaper nor the Coast Guard does either. Apparently a cruiser was sailing in the dark, oh dear, does that really warrant a lifeboat? Illegal, arguably wrong, but it's been going on for years. Since Humberside Coastguard took over from Gorleston, so far this year, there has been a call out for a boat that had been swamped several days earlier and now for one that didn't have its lights on. Perhaps it's too easy, with a mobile, to call the Coastguard? Whoopee, I've got an excuse to dial 999!!! Without further information I do have mixed feelings about this one. Archant really don't appear to have put much effort into their report. http://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/news/hemsby_lifeboat_responds_to_report_of_cruiser_sailing_without_lights_1_4692193

Cockpit cover down and enjoying the morning, I'm envious! No unsightly bow fender either, the crew were on the ball at an early hour.

Thanks, Maurice, for joining in. I smile at the thought of Nyx being a void, having been aboard & wondering where on earth to sit or where to put my coffer cup down. Very much a homely, man's boat, a welcome refuge of sanity.

People from outside the area probably haven't got a clue as to what a Jenny Morgan is other than the name of an individual who subscribes to this forum. However a savvy Broads person would probably recognise 'Jenny Morgan' as the generic name for the wind-vane that flies gloriously from the top of a Norfolk Wherry's mast, both being peculiar to the Broads of Norfolk & Suffolk. It was this identity with the Broads that drew me to the name. Both myself and my boat are Broads based hence my adopting the name, firstly for my boat and secondly as a forum pen-name. The origin of the name is somewhat vague though. Apparently it originated as a folk art figure during the 1700′s and was popularly adopted as a mascot by numerous Norfolk wherryman. It is thought by many that Jenny Morgan was a locally popular music hall star originating from Wales. It has also been suggested that she was a popular 'lady of the night' although in neither case is there any definitive proof of either occupation, either vertical or horizontal. Whatever, her fame lives on as a wind vane, symbolically keeping an eye on the rivers and Broads of Broadland. What is yours called?

Hi BB, just as you come onto the Broad, immediately and hard on your left against the bushes. Just beyond the houseboats on the right side, too near the reeds there is also rather fleet.

Half a mile, they are only little flags! Have a good trip.

Mention has been made of how some Alpha-Craft boats need to be propped on their chines rather than on their keels. Not entirely unusual as MTB's sometimes have to be sat on specialist trailers when slipping them. Anyway, that aside, a warning to others. I am aware of a g.r.p. ex hire boat that was slipped at Lowestoft last winter. The owners had, whilst afloat, removed bulkheads in order to 'open plan' their boat. The yard owner was wary so disconnected the prop shaft from the engine before lifting her in strops. At that point it was clear that there was movement as the shaft, or was it the engine, went out of kilter by over four inches. When she was sat on a cradle a great deal of effort was made to prop the hull and realign the shaft. The boat owner had completely ruined the integrity of the boat. If he were to put her on the market would a prospective purchaser be aware of the boat's shortcomings? It's a nightmare world out there for the unwary.

One of Richo's Ginger Tops is fast aground on Oulton Broad this morning. She went on about three hours before low water so will presumably come off about three hours after meaning that she might loose the tide at Yarmouth, if nothing else she'll be late back if she's going to Stalham today. A number of us recommend out of the way moorings but if you come South then you will have a tide to contend with, in this case over three feet. Moored up, in a good fishing spot, but did the hirers have a dydle with the boathook? If you can touch the bottom and the tide is high then mooring there is not a good idea. In this case the hirers were anglers so surely knew the depth but perhaps had little awareness of the tide or it's hazards. Or maybe it was just a case of being a 'ginger'!.

The Silly Billy!! Agree about the photos, be proud to have have taken them.

Especially if they are still working. Don't suppose that they were ever intended to last for more than thirty years in business.

£25k in 1980, £100k in 2016? Not cheap other than the MFI! Mind you, compared with a modern Broom . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A bit of cropping can help, did this using the very basic photo editing that comes with Windows Ten. I don't like the colour much but I do prefer the cropping. All a matter of opinion but suitable cropping can improve a picture no end.

Don't reckon that they owe Richardson's much change then! What happened to Jimmy's 20 year hire boat life I wonder?

I have a feeling that there is, or was until recently, an 'Ideal Forty' in the Richardson's fleet. Perhaps the Forty was actually the proposed life in the hire fleets?

Surlingham Ferry is your's truly's favourite watering hole on the Yare, maybe for your lunch tomorrow?