Timbo

Okay I know my mind works in some mysterious ways...when it works at all, but something crossed my mind while I was perambulating the beagles this evening, just as a bit of fun...if The Broads was a monopoly board which Broadland Location would go on which space on the board? Would Wroxham be Mayfair? Dilham...Old Kent Road? What about the stations? Would the utilities be 'Pump Out', 'Electricity Post', 'Water' and 'Diesel'? What about the cards in the Community Chest and Opportunity...what would they be? 'Speeding Fine down the Ant'. Instead of houses would we buy boats for a fleet until we could cash them in and upgrade to a Wherry? What about the playing pieces...bags I the life preserver?

...it cost £1 for two light bulbs at the local pound shop. For years now, since they enforced those stupid energy saving bulbs on us, I have been struggling to see what the hell I'm doing once night falls. My eyesight is not great...but fumbling around in the dark ain't much fun when you are on your own! While I was away this last weekend three of those expensive light bulbs failed so I had to replace them, miracle of miracles with a proper light bulb in place I can actually see what I'm doing when I turn the lights on. Now I know Brussels is not in France...but I do blame the French for all my current woes...I'm sick to death of having to convert Imperial to Metric and back again while working on Royal Tudor. You would have thought thee French would have learned not to trust the metric when it cost them Quatre Bras and the confusion over moving troops over an Imperial mile and a metric mile. Even when I buy my tobacco I'm starting to get a little antsy. "Half an ounce of Cherry Virginia please!" "Is that 12.5 grammes?" asks the shop assistant. "How tall are you?" I ask. "Five foot, eight." comes the puzzled reply. "In that case it's half an ounce." So my current quandary...I need some half inch ply for a new bulkhead. Doug and I measured it...but is it 15mm or 12.7 and why do they only sell it in 18mm? Come on I thought we won at Waterloo?

Are you sure they weren't those Welsh Nationalists at it Mike? You know the ole 'come home to a real fire...buy a cottage in Wales' advert? My ex-mother in law (first one) had the habit of hiding and crouching in the bathtub whenever a thunderstorm would occur...you can't image the hassle I had trying to get the lightening conductor connected to the plumbing! The strangest after effects of a storm I have encountered was on the Southern Broads in 1972, we were taking Captain XII back to the yard on the last morning of our holiday after a terrific storm the night before. The water was littered with hundreds of dead fish of all sizes and species where the lightening had struck the water.

Oh I'd say it was more a flash in the pan?

Just finished updating my blog with some footage of the Lightening we had over the Broads on Saturday night. Well I'm assuming it was just a storm and 'ole 650xs' was not creating a monster behind one of his sheds..."It Lives!" http://youtu.be/rM8IUbo0v48 More images on the blog

Kkkchhhkkk I'm with Jon on this one, Kkkchhhkkk not necessary at all. Kkkchhhkkk Kkkchhhkkk Apart from which as I found out today even walking down the road at Wayford with the beagles Kkkchhhkkk friends will pull over in their cars Kkkchhhkkk to have a chat Kkkchhhkkk failing that will ring me Kkkchhhkkk well they could if I answered the phone.Kkkchhhkkk Over. Kkkchhhkkk

I thought it was common knowledge that Norfolk was annexed by Yorkshire in the early 1970's? There's small colonies of hen pecked, whippet trailing Mesters all over the Broads (northern section of course) particularly in the Wetshed at Stalham...and of course there's the official Yorkshire Colonial Office based at Wayford Bridge!

I heard about this several months ago and knew that Bill Nighy would be playing Sgt Wilson, but its a bit brave of all the actors to take on the roles of such beloved characters. Here's the cast. Talking of brave and Dad's Army there was also a brilliant Radio 4 programme on Arnold Ridley I think this year. The episode of Dads Army where he was the conscientious objector has always stuck in my mind as one with the most sentiment. In real life Arnold Ridley was an incredibly brave man having served in both first and second world wars apparently after being invalided out of the second world war and joining the Real Home Guard he was blown up by an enemy aircraft landing in a tree. Here's the wiki on him.

I came across these guys busking in York a couple of years ago...Blackbeard's Tea Party...I've now purchased all of their albums and although the sound quality on this clip isn't too great I'm a bit like the little lad in this clip...I can't help dancing to them! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP_QLAJgBIc

How could I have forgotten Mike? I'm hoping it serves" white wine or a fruit based drink" for Pat? Just one more thing...Bags NOT designated driver!

I like the look of that Dajen...even beer mats! I can't abide putting a glass down on a table without a beer mat! Just two things missing...A Timbo and a Maurice Mynah propping up the bar! MM...I've got a bottle opener too!

I've had the feeling that someone is following me all day. Everywhere I have been I catch a glimpse of something or someone behind me. A grey and red shape has been following my every move. An hour ago I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I came back in from walking the dogs...there was a large grey and red price tag sticking up out of the collar of my coat. Now that's not what has me paranoid. What's really got me worried is that I've owned the coat for eight years and the label is in such a prominent position that it would not go unnoticed. Even if I hadn't spotted it, my other half would have. I've checked and can confirm it is my coat...worn at the cuffs, fishing disgorger in one pocket, various dog ends and cigarette papers in the other. The label itself is the kind that's fastened into the coat and has to be removed with scissors and it's shiny and new, uncreased, unfaded but not from any shop I recognise. So the question is what sort of twisted individual is following old blokes round and stitching price tags into the collars of their coats?

Kettle's always on as you know MM! Only a short trip down this time though, Thursday through the weekend back home Tuesday if all goes well!

HMS Betsie Jane is a little cracker and Paul keeps her in tip top shape. I invited her to join us in 2013 for a cruise in company as flag ship. Photographs & video by Lord Paul. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIuaTY7E0uo&list=UUHNWCoviVtmdV8hYxFcTTeg

Thursday will see me drive to York in the morning and then drive down to Wayford in the evening. Now although for obvious reasons I cannot sample the brews of both counties on the day...but anyone got any suggestions for a drop or three of bottled beers so that I can compare and contrast at my leisure over the weekend?

"As part of a new re-branding of the Norfolk Broads the river Ant is to be renamed the Lesser Zambezi! It’s hoped that the renaming of the river will bring in Big Game enthusiasts from around the world who are unfamiliar with this Broadland River.” All this talk of renaming things Norfolk Broads got me wondering...particularly when I ran across a reference to the River Smale and how it became the River Ant in 1781!

It's a clay pipe kiln Alan....here's a link to the sales brochure Fantastic images Jill! Edited 'cos I thought it was a brick kiln

Not been out at Christmas but we were out in November last year. It's the most relaxed I've been for years! Probably due to it getting dark early...and being chilly as there's no heating on the boat, and I was in bed by 7:30 pm and loath to get out of it until daylight. As a measure of how cold it was...I usually have a nocturnal tussle with Dylan my beagle who sleeps in the crook of my knees until he gets too hot then he will climb out of the duvet onto the floor dragging the duvet with him. In November he got into bed, stayed in bed and did not move all night. One problem we found was the lack of anywhere to buy tokens for electricity posts in winter. We had convection heaters and relevant shore leads but could not find anywhere that would sell us tokens in winter. I have to say though I never felt cold, and even on some very chilly days we were cruising around with the canopy down even if we were nursing mugs of hot chocolate.

I'm proud to say that's she's mine Speedtriple, but then like all the old Broads boats I think a little bit of her belongs to everyone. I think that 'ol 650XS has a bit of a soft spot for her, and I like to get Nigel Royall's input too. Just like you I always wanted to hire the best bit of fibreglass going but deep down it's been wooden boats since my first trip on board Captain XII. 2012 we were moored at Ludham Bridge when a young lad, around six or seven, and his mum walked past Royal Tudor. "That's a proper boat Mum!" the lad exclaimed running his hand along RT's varnished cabin sides. "Don't you like our boat then?" asked a crestfallen Mum as they climbed aboard Clive's Broadsman moored behind us. "Yes but when I grow up...I want one like that!" said the lad...future wooden boat owner. It made my year to be honest, and I suppose a part of Royal Tudor belongs to that young lad too.

Rt is a very accommodating lady when it comes to the leg over Iain and those doors have already come into good use to retrieve a man overboard; but that rear well does get used as an 'up bung and stuffit' area especially regarding fishing tackle. I brought all of the fishing tackle back home with me with the intention of sorting everything out into two sets of tackle. One set for use at home and one set for the boat. I've always been a 13ft match rod kind of bloke but now that good fishing rods are relatively cheap over the internet I invested in some shorter Drennan rods for the boat, float, ledger and spinning. On my long list of 'to do's' I have to design a seat box/tackle storage unit for the rear well of RT. I've tried bed chairs, deck chairs...every type of chair there is going for fishing and the result has been a steady stream of family photographs where I've fallen through the chair bottom. I want to design a box with plenty of drawers that fits exactly into the rear well of RT (once on board the top step is at mid thigh height so a box of drawers would be easily accessible when fishing from the back of the boat) but will be in hardwood to match the cabin sides yet also has a mud feet system attached so that I can take the box out and put it on the bank as a seat. I also want to come up with a design so that I can store made up rods on the roof of the boat safely and securely. I used to make up the rods and use bands made out of old inner tube to secure them to the grab rails of hire boats. That way any light fingered Larry would be presented with a spot of bother trying to lift the rods quickly and give me time to get out of bed and apply a thump in the ear-hole, but RT's grab rails are solid timber so I need to come up with a more durable and secure method.

The North Lincs Heavy Brigade will be with you next Thursday Jon....stick a fat beagle in the Bilge and the boat will get under that bridge! I once took a posh girl from Grimsby out to dinner, you could tell she was posh by the way she crooked her little finger when she drank the vinegar after she'd finished her chips!

Even folk musicians are not keen on folk singing...that's why they always stick one finger in an ear! Have a great holiday!

Oh I dunno...I think I'm just as bad for things loafing on the roof!

So I've been thinking of putting some of what I've learned from Doug into practise and trying my hand at replacing the bar stools we use in RT's cockpit with a design of my own. So I trawled the internet looking for a tutorial and came across this little gem. I just could not keep a straight face...God bless America! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m0O4rNxvgc

I had a uniform at University Iain! Gandalf beard, long hair, Doc Martin 1490's, hand knitted jumper in loud colours, jeans and combat jacket. Accessories included nicotine stains, curry stains, trowel, notebook and pencil, pint of Abbot Ale or a Pernod and black.