JennyMorgan

For those who don't know what the fuss is about, be warned, it's bank to bank sailing boats and the little ones are the least sympathetic to inept motor boaters, indeed it's several extra points and hero status if they manage to sink one!

And if you damage the reeds you'll upset the tree-huggers. Oh sod it, come South for the week!

I have, and she is a Lady although I've never known her use the title. Sails at Horning too. Mind you, her comments are normally reserved for fellow competitors and rescue boat crews that get in her way!

Gracie, love it!

Q wrote, and I quote, ' Swearing by competitors to anyone is ungentlemanly / womanly conduct and will cause disqualification from that race. Womanly conduct to swear, must be a Horning thing!! Down at Oulton Regatta our ladies are most refined, at least when sailing!

I'd be more concerned about them getting in our way, after all we were here first!, WE are the aristocracy of the rivers!! If that doesn't wind 'em up then nothing will!!

Some of the smaller yards can hardly help themselves today let alone afford to plough money back into the Broads. One Trip Adviser correspondent pointed out that after a long journey from the far North he arrived at a Broads yard, his whole family in need of lavatories, only to be directed by the proprietor to an old caravan that was the yard's toilet block. For heavens sakes this is 2016, not 1916. Surely it is not unreasable, after a long journey, to expect a civilised toilet, perhaps a shower and the offer of a tea or coffee? I well remember stopping at a yard, now long gone, at Acle Bridge. Sordid is not a strong enough word to describe what we found. Toilets say a great deal about a business.

All in all there is one factor that we, the boating public have no control over and that is the accuracy of the height gauges. The great imponderable! Perhaps a sextant is the answer?

Out of curiosity I checked out some of the smaller yards on Trip Adviser last night as it tends to be the smalls one that are struggling and tend to come up for sale. Inevitably criticism of the bigger ones came up too and one issue reared its head more than once, lack of infrastructure and moorings in particular. Regretfully the big yards are all on the North Rivers and folk, being reticent to cross Breydon, tend to stay up there thus there is congestion. Tin hat time, possibly, but if the hire yards want to make money out of the Broads then I really do think that the time has come for the big yard millionaires to dip their hands into their pockets rather than depend on the toll payer & Broads Authority to provide all the moorings for their boats. The hire yard mooring network is crumbling, regretfully, the industry needs to provide an alternative, in my opinion.

Re poorly turned out boats, there are some shockers, I feel quite sorry for the punters who I feel are sometimes quite badly let down.

We went up to Somerleyton today, short walk up from the staithe to the village green for the annual fete, this time every year. One thing about such events is that people are there to enjoy themselves and the bonus is that they rarely seem bothered by cameras. Me, I suppose I'm something of a people watcher, always find them interesting and have long been a fan of 'street photography'.

Should have come South, Pauline, thunder free all day, indeed a nice trip from Oulton to Somerleyton.

Very sociable, not like some who resist even doubling up!

Delta, don't forget the burgee. I know to the inch my mast height and worked out that I could sail under the bridge on the New Cut at St Olaves. Under I went, without a care in the world, down came the burgee, neatly snapped off above the truck!

Down, Gracie, down! You too might get his blue light flashing!

Actually I rather like it, reminds me of my first job!

Here's one, Fritton Lake! It's at Fritton & flows into the Waveney.

Surely to goodness local geography, heritage and history is of some importance?

Do you mean the very apt cowboy hat? Actually he's always very smart when in the office but when outside his dress sense does seem to go a tad chaotic. I had to smile at the two ladies holding up the Broads sign! Perhaps that's apt too?

That says a great deal about the education that our local kids receive.

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/broads_sensory_teepee_and_pond_dipping_at_first_royal_norfolk_show_broads_village_1_4597983

Believe it or not, Gracie, but the forty foot boat next to the one I was working on this week was having it's bottom anti-fouled by the owner's wife. Beats scurrying backwards & forwards to the pub by a country mile in my humble opinion!

If the Authority were to create more wild moorings then would they still be wild? Not only that but the Authority then takes on the liability. For myself I have found some cracking new 'wild' moorings, the result of the flood prevention scheme so I think that your idea is sound. Best keep such wild moorings to ourselves though otherwise there will be a raft load of do and don't do signs and a puttering rash of people demanding access to mains electricity.

Reedham can provide superb feeder fishing. A year or two back I watched a gentleman of Yorkshire reeling the bream in. We were moored outside the Reedham Ferry. The Yorkshireman was fishing away whilst his wife was constantly scurrying backwards and forwards to the pub, first for a pint, then for a sandwich, then another pint, a bag of crisps, his lordship kept on catching, she kept on scurrying, the perfect wife!

Like Robin I have taken a look at the reviews. All credit to Hoseasons for publishing them and high-lighting the overall scores. Some of the reviews make for really grim reading and, let's be honest, there are far too many really bad ones. No wonder that the yard is closing, it would seem that the owners have lost all interest. Such a shame when one considers the history of the yard and the quality and innovative designs of their boats back in the 60's & 70's.