JennyMorgan

Grace, the ultimate is sour milk, works far better for us exhausted blokes than the evergreen excuse of having a headache!

Mark, water said fuzz with a pint or two of Broadside on a daily basis, will grow a treat then. Rub in a few delicacies and allow to stand for several hours.

Actually, Griff, a beard makes you look more like a real skipper, look more the part, rugged and all that sort of thing. Perhaps a weather bleached flat-top and parrot on the shoulder to replace the whippet & pidgeon would complete the illusion! Puts me in mind of that Corrie bloke wot ran the bookies & supported several off-licences.

Marina, lovely thought but I doubt it could make a reasonable living for anyone, surely it is just too small to be viable? Personally I shall miss it, always enjoyed poking around and they did have some nice souvenirs, even for a local.

Nice one, thanks, Robin.

Jon, come back soon, all is forgiven. In the meantime, have a good Christmas!

MM, quite right.

Iain, more like as decrepit!

Can't imagine why but in times gone by, as youngsters, we would have said that the boat on the right was powered by a Broads Outboard'!

Once a common occurrence on the Yare: Must have been a surprise to many a holidaymaker! I notoriously won a race thanks to coaster on the Yare. A day of next to no wind and the undertow from a ship's propellor dragged me through the fleet of sailing boats. Once we arrived at the buoy, turning point, we did have a problem pushing ourselves away from the stern of the coaster but the skipper gave the engine a surge to push us clear.

About 1930/40 this time. I just hope the skipper of the tripper-boat hasn't forgotten his 'chimbly', as we call them up this way. Re that 'chimbly', reckon it must have been a matter of pride. Even in the 1950's it would be left up until the last possible moment before swinging down and then up again as soon as possible.

Good on yer, Frank, appreciated although I suppose the hoss has bolted but it's a good gesture, IMHO..

I have a transfer screen but my camera picks up the white flash between frames that the eye can't see. Well, it can when I play it back on a PC. Very frustrating.

Agreed, but did the world & its dog need to know her front door?

This video worries me, apparently it was secretly filmed on the lady's private land, without her consent or knowledge thus should not have been put it in the public domain. Bit late to comment now but it does seem a bit distasteful, despite it being posted with all the best intentions in the world I'm sure..

Hylander, you and me both! Re tip top condition though, it always surprises me that some owners, especially those who do have the time, don't spend more of it looking after their boat, but there are folk like that. I was involved with a double glazing company for a number of years and if a house was particularly grim the sales people & surveyors would warn the fitters with the comment on the work sheet to 'wipe your feet before you leave.'

Mowjo, thanks for that. The boat was sold off cheap, at any price, just to get rid of it, I don't blame Ruth one iota for doing that but the harsh reality is that it was sold to avoid further worries or costs, completely understand that, but the problem has just been passed on. The end result is that society has now got to clean up someone elses mess. Quite frankly I hope that the BA et al throw the book at the latest owners, I really do. They had installed an engine, had they obtained a BSS & paid the extra toll, were they insured? Were they paying a mooring fee? We can all guess the answer and I suspect that we will all be right! Makes my blood boil, it really does. I'm afraid the Broads is not a something for nothing, dosser destination. I really don't care who comes here, so long as they respect both the Broads and the folk that they share it with.

Martin, how right you are. In this case the declared owners are known, despite apparent doubts as to whether that they had actually handed over their money, however, 'tis they who should pay. Okay, so it's never going to happen. Me, my thoughts are that eventual disposal costs should be factored into the building costs. However, with fifty years of GRP production in the pipeline, so to speak, that solution is a bit late!

Apparently the wood-burner has been removed from the boat and is up for sale. The possible source of the fire, the evidence, has been removed. Bearing in mind that blood can't be got from a stone I hope that the authorities take this one seriously, if only to make an example. Dumping end of life GRP boats is major fly-tipping, a problem that will only grow. The boat in question is, I believe, grp sandwich construction, whether foam or balsa I don't know. I can only imagine the problems involved in its disposal. In a nutshell old boats are sold off cheap to avoid the costs of disposal. Dreamers buy them before they realise what the costs of ownership are, moorings, toll, insurance and BSS for starters. The Broads Authority has wisely put in place reserves to counter this growing problem. My feeling is that this has to be a problem shared by the 'industry', after all it was the 'industry' that made money building the boat, the industry that made money hiring or providing moorings and so on. Apparently end of life grp hulls are either disposed off as land fill or ground up, either way this forty foot ex hire boat, redundant houseboat, burnt out hulk is going to cost thousands to dispose of. A solution needs to be found, and it shouldn't be solely down to the toll payer.

Polly, don't worry about the cat. At my age I prefer a good book!

I have a cine taken in about 1965 when we did a Christmas cruise from Oulton Broad to Oulton Broad via Gt Yarmouth, lots of it in a snowstorm. Would love to get it transferred to DVD, any tips? Back then it was common to see a Christmas tree at the masthead.

Give me 'shed city' at Potter Heigham every time! Better fishing and top burger bar.

'Fraid it was, Loribear. A tragedy for two, what I suspect, are two innocents afloat. Apart from their mobile phones, and a friend with a flat, these two folk have apparently lost everything. In the meantime I rather doubt that they will be clearing up their mess, the cost of doing so will probably be several times the purchase price!