ChrisB

I have just had a thought.

The first thing to consider when buying a boat for use on The Broads is " where do I want to go?" If the answer is everywhere then you will have to set a maximum airdraft and that will effect your choice. The second is how will I use it? Are you local? Or will you have to travel? So in effect your boat will be a second home. We deliberately bought a new small boat as we lived 20 mins from our mooring for two reasons, it could go everywhere and we had no intention of sleeping on it in inclement weather. We would typically spend 80 to 120 days afloat per annum but not spend more than 15 to 20 nights on board at the very most.

I hired an Alpha 29 Sportsbridge from Bridge Craft in Ely. It had a radiator heating system run off a super-thin boiler that was fitted over one of the "bedrooms" it was really excellent. I always liked the Sportsbridge version of the Alpha 29, but not good for the less mobile as the companionway was very steep and the canopy pretty heavy.

Very interesting, and being so close it is my intention to combine it with a "discovery cruise" of the Blackwater on a Thames Sailing Barge out of Maldon, either end June or mid July. It will make a very pleasant 3 night break for me. Thanks for your post.

Thanks, I will try to visit next summer.

Is that the RHS garden that specialises in plants for dry areas?

May I also add my sincere and heart felt condolences. My thoughts are with you Alan. Chris

Said a bit of a contradiction there. The reason I have an out of date Hamilton still is Judith bought it for me from the book stall at Ingworth Trosh. The main reason being she noticed that it was signed by Jamie Campbell.

Got out on the marsh at Blakeney today as tomorrow looks fowl again. Juno is back in her winter berth minus rigging so it must be the year for a refurb. Lion of Stiffkey is also up for the winter. Poor old girl needs a good going over and refit. I love the lines of Lion, unfortunately the light was not kind to me today but she has the most wonderful counter stern, rounded, the like of which was blamed for the destruction of the French Tunny Fleet but beautiful to the eye. If I was younger I would love to take her on.

I don't know, how would I know it just changed in my tables but I don't keep old tide tables. My 2001 Hamiltons says 6ft 9in. My method with Potter was always to cruise up and see how it fitted in the hole. Usually it was tight so I asked the Pilot, if he said it would go then I paid him to take it through.

Potter clearance was changed around 2010. It used to be quoted as 6ft 8in it then changed to 6ft 6in. It rather depends on their base of calculation if it is based on chart datum, normally lowest astronomical tide + a mean high tide in summer the calculation is no doubt correct. However chart datum is just a figure from which all depths and heights are calculated from, rarely seen in real life. Like all charts and almanacs the responsibility is The Skippers for safe passage. We all know how much atmospheric pressure plays in the North Sea! Bridge clearance heights are no more than a very rough guide.

No. I do have very powerful binoculars, 20X - 180X x 100. They are too powerful for hand use and you need a tripod. Actually they are in the conservatory to spot deer and watch a pair of Little Owls that nest in a hole in an Oak tree over the field. That latest photo was again taken on my Samsung phone. PS. As I don't drink alcohol, (not good when you are home alone) I tend to have a steady hand for my age in a morning!!!!!

At 05.20 this morning the moon was rising below the Morning Star (Venus)

I am unable to post a link at the moment but I am 99.9% certain that there is a separate Government Department to cover this problem. I believe it is "The Department of Energy and Climate Change" I remember coming across it during yet another "Potter" debate and it had loads of graphs and data on Sea Level Change, right up to the present within 2 years or so.

Now it is rainbows.. getting "Cabin Fever" with all this rain but tomorrow is set for sun all day.

Beautiful clear morning in North Norfolk and the moon and Venus were clearly visible. Sorry about quality taken on phone when I needed my camera and tripod A real end of Autumn Sky.

Locally the land is not but the whole of South East England is sinking as the North and Scotland rises this causes the double whammy that East Anglia is experiencing. There is hardly a glacier in the World now that is growing, most are melting at an alarming rate.

If you have a modern install where the condense pipe runs to a soak-a-way filed with limestone chips in very wet weather it can become waterlogged and the fluid can't get away as if it were frozen. My answer to that problem was a 3mm drill to the bottom of the pipe, never had a problem since. HAND DRILL! you don't want the the water spurting out as you break through ruining your Makita Cordless and you certainly don't want it in the mains variety.....

Good luck Ray, she will keep you busy!

Get yourself a Worcester Bosch for Christmas. This house had a Baxi when we moved in dreadful!

Many years ago (Christmes 1985) Judith and I sat around a table for dinner at The Loews Hotel ( think it is called Fairmont now) in Monte Carlo. One of the guests at our table was Nick Edmiston, founder of the yacht brokers that are named after him. Someone asked him about what advice he would give someone who wishes to buy a boat. I have never forgotten his reply. " Never spend more than 5% of your total worth on a boat or 10% of liquid assets"

Very Sound advice.

Owner to salvage! I just got buzzed by a low flying pig. I wonder if it is tolled and insured?

That has been about for a while, I saw it underway once towed by a bathtub that was powered by a very ancient outboard. Not surprised it sank, the state of it. Looks like the little bay between Stalham Dyke and Sutton Dyke/Broad. That used to be a favourite mud weight fore and aft of ours if we wanted an early start.

I think someone established that while many of Ransomes Pubs were real The Roaring Donkey is fictional.