JennyMorgan

What hope would they have if they decided to cross Breydon?

Must be the same shower that designed the incredible Tesco roundabout at Gt Yarmouth!

I will accept that there are good non marine electricians out there, of course there are. However, I'll go back in time to when Powells built the Nantucket Clipper, a very pretty clipper bowed sailing boat. Well built, as you'd expect of Powells, but there were problems with the electrics in the earlier boats. Well installed electrics, only the boats were hard wired, single strand rather than multi-strand wiring. The result was that terminals snapped off, the electricians hadn't allowed for the movement of the hull in a sea or the vibration of the diesel engine. A good friend of mine had an aluminium day boat that he kept afloat in a Brundall marina. At the end of the year he pulled his boat out and was shocked at the degradation of the hull below the waterline. He took this up with the builder who then did some research, it was down to the poor earthing and installations on nearby boats that were hooked up to the mains. 12 volts might not kill an electrician but it can kill a boat. I'm no expert in matters like galvanic action or electrolysis but I have seen the amazing degradation of fastenings in a wooden boat due to a poor installation. I have friends in the industry who have shown me the breakdown of metal parts in a boat's structure due to electricity, worrying stuff. The modern fad for mains hook ups is a worrying development, especially the DIY jobs. Water & electricity are poor partners, it's almost a science in itself. Domestic electricians may well be able to turn out immaculate terminals, but they don't have the problems that a marine electrician has.

Marine electricians and domestic electricians are generally a world apart so yes, check out who you intend to have work on your boat. I wouldn't have a house carpenter work on a boat of mine so why a house electrician?

One of my loving daughters bought me one of these for my birthday, set me thinking. http://www.partypacks.co.uk/inflatable-zimmer-frame-pid86976.html?gclid=CjwKEAjwguu5BRDq8uSKhaKIzDkSJACQ7WJlt3NopFmmncxmNiDaYdfGev-eQ_5ALNi1Qrbo9_UsuxoC_lzw_wcB#fo_c=1308&fo_k=d9f1ac71d163153a0015985fad5ef7f4&fo_s=gplauk Additional buoyancy, able to walk on water, emergency fend-off, easy to store onboard, ideal store for elicit gin, can carry in a pocket in case of emergency, doesn't require batteries and non magnetic so doesn't effect the compass. Every old boater should have one! Wonder if anyone does a tartan one? Certainly more useful than one of the blond, blow-up lady thingies!

It could have been worse, tea is wipeable up and replaceable. Far worse is the frying pan full of fat and sausages, when that lots hits the deck and falls into the dill your bangers are lost and the cabin sole is like a skating rink! Erhem ski boat passing much to close on Breydon, grrrrr.

Hi Marina, that reed raft, in Norfolk it's a 'hover', just thought that you'd like to know.

I honestly can't remember when I was last hit by a hire boat down South. What's it about up North? I've been hit twice up North in the last four years, albeit damage I easily repaired. One a dayboat on Hickling, the other a small private boat at Martham.

In a rush to leave off? On a promise? Just had a call on channel 16, brew ready back at the yacht station?

The SOB is not exactly a one off, apparently she was built for another customer through, the sale fell through, she then sat in the shed for a year or two and was then modified for the Broads Authority. The hull moldings are well proven, the yard well able, but she does seem to spend a great deal of her time out of service. As for being unfit for purpose, perhaps not entirely true but I would agree that she was an illogical choice of craft for her stated duties. Re-engined with something better suited to slower speeds I suspect that she would make an excellent ferry, probably expensive though.

http://www.stanfordarms.co.uk/ https://www.facebook.com/TheStanfordArms Yesterday we went there for the day, my daughter Rebecca plays electric violin in a jazz group that performs there occasionally. Place was comfortably packed. They have a blues band there next week, now, as well as good ale and cider, I enjoy blues music. Met and befriended 'Mike the Potter', now there's a character! Pub's like the Stamford & Geldeston Wherry do seem to pull such people in.

Good ones survive, so true. Spent most of yesterday at Lowestoft's growingly famous Stamford Arms, they have a challenging twelve pumps on the counter - - - - - - hic!

Tame carp on self hooking rigs might appeal to some fishermen but perhaps not to all of us anglers!!

Perhaps the Authority could afford it if they weren't so keen to hive off so much dosh for their undeservedly high pensions pots from our tolls.

Nearly made it! The roof is pretty well shaped to fit under the bridge. Pretty central too. Nice try. Is the height gauge in the picture not working? Twatts!

We can drown our sorrows waiting for June 16th!

Having just lost my much loved mother in-law I can relate to Eric's loss. My sympathies to Eric & his family.

Considering that so many of Potter's Shed City are hired out to anglers by the week then I think a pub dedicated to anglers could have a future.

I would add to that the potential of wind-burn, that can really catch folk unawares.

Sunday markets, like all markets in this area, Gt Yarmouth for example, are up against the likes of Matalan & the Pound Shop. Beccles Sunday Market started to go into decline, as have others, but it became terminal when the organiser, Ian Frazer, regretfully died of cancer and no one was prepared to take it on. Ian's wife could have but it wasn't that much of an earner by the end, not like the old days, & if the weather was dire then Ian used to loose money.

Oulton Broad is no longer the seasonal holiday resort that it was, it has to move on in order to survive. However the small, community shops have gone, no fault of the holiday trade, the local community has moved away, off to the retail parks and their free car parking. Nevertheless Oulton Broad now has more good to excellent eateries and pubs than it ever had, both residents and holiday makers are well catered for. Oulton Broad has a huge catchment area right on its doorstep. Beccles has gone the same way although its catchment area is more widely spaced. Potter, on the other hand, is perhaps further out on a limb and its catchment area is perhaps rather more sparse. Lathams has lost its unique identity, numerous are the Pound Shops, Q.D's and Roys across Norfolk & Suffolk so why would the locals go to Potter? At one time the china and housewares departments were a godsend to the local holiday home & B&B industry, not now. Oulton Broad and Beccles, for example, have their winter trade, don't think that Potter does. Potter has long been the iconic Broads village, it was well worth visiting, winter or summer, perhaps not now. For years it was the Thurne hub but unfortunately peoples' expectations have changed, boats have grown and the Bridge has not.

Hopefully there is no reserve thus allowing the pub to be sold at a realistic price thus allowing it to flourish as a commercial concern.

Soundings, I am not just a boater and angler, I too enjoy walking the marshes. The riverside walk from Oulton Broad to Beccles, for example, is well worth the effort. I have recently discussed with Dr Packman at the Broads Authority the potential of promoting rambling and backpacking around the Broads.

Soundings, it is not the fault of 'Potter' that Lathams was sold, nor that the chippy has in the past received poor reviews. However it is a fact that the facilities that are on offer are how visitors judge the village, that is quite simply inevitable, same at Oulton Broad I suspect.

Oulton Broad certainly isn't what it was, agreed. However the surrounding area has a lot to offer the visitor and we do have some good boozers & restaurants, not that that matters. As for my comment being bx as you so quaintly put it, well, do you really think Potter is as attractive as it was? Many of the riverside bungalows certainly are, but facilities for the visitor, well, clearly we clearly have a difference of opinion. Afraid I shall be in Potter during the summer . . . . . . . . . hopefully the burger van is still as good as it always has been!