grendel

2 degrees overnight, on an unheated boat, i was toasty warm and snug in my sleeping bag, but awoke early (as usual) to a glorious sight of the sun rising over the marshes. kettle on for boat coffee- I forgot to bring a big mug with me, so thats on my shopping list, as are teaspoons. i will make up some cheese and bacon turnovers for first breakfast (did you know I am a hobbit, hairy feet and all).

will do Liz

only 1 and a log awaiting carving

Well she behaved as far as the wild mooring just up river from the waveney river centre ( totem pole mooring) which was where I had planned to moor up if it was free, of course, all the ropes were set up on the wrong side of the boat for the receding tide, so nose into the reeds, sort out ropes, and rhond anchors, and then back out and come into the mooring against the tide, step off with the ropes, get a rhond anchor set with the stern rope loosely attached, set the front anchor then back to the stern to properly set that anchor, as the front anchor was in very soft ground, I then added a third rhond anchor amidships. Set up for the night and tea cooked, it's still a bit chilly, so on with the thermal long John's and vest, not planning on being cold tonight.

Weather has ranged from bright sunshine to hail, which stopped as I arrived earlier.

Well after a quick uneventful trip up the A12 to oulton broad, we are still resolving a few minor issues(such as a fuel return line developing a leak at the banjo fitting), a new line is being prepared, ready for me to set sail later. All my gear is aboard and stowed away, and apart from the fuel return we are all ready.

I will attempt to join in, it will be dependent on getting a good wifi signal aboard

yes i too will keep my eyes open for members.

well thta will teach me, it was a head gasket, its on order and I may be putting in for a pit stop to have it swapped over mid holiday. the injector pump issue has been resolved for now, by adopting a new procedure called shut off the fuel when not running the engine. yes the pump can be refurbished, it was just a time issue with me being due to take the boat out tomorrow.

well tomorrow sees the start of a week aboard, at first there was some doubt Water Rail would be ready, but she is, so thats ok, (ok there are still a few minor issues, but nothing a mechanically minded bloke cant keep on top of). I had planned to head straight north but will be hanging round down south for at least a few days until we are happy the issues are resolved. I am just happy i wll be out and bout on the water.

most of kent was in bomb alley where they dropped them on the way home. but particularly the area from canterbury to the coast

yes, its quite an interesting read

my mother in laws house still has the cracks in the plaster from the practice firing of the rail gun, residents were all warned before practice firing to open their windows so they werent shattered, as far as i know only a few practice rounds were ever fired.

https://www.sheridanmarine.com/product/freeman-window-throwover-catch left or right? though they do say

a more rectangular shaped crater would occur if two bombs landed in close proximity exploding almost simultaneously, yet these clear near misses of the tunnel mouth showing on the 1940 image on google earth, can no longer be seen on lidar And the other nearby ones previously shown were in woodland so dont show on the historical aerial shots (or were post 1940)

well from some local knowledge and knowing they would have been targeting the rail gun stored in the railway tunnel at bishopsbourne, I have found you some examples of what i believe would be lines of bombs dropped in kent, the tunnel in question would have been just to the right of this area, it was a defence gun and because of the curve of the track just out of the tunnel could cover from ramsgate round to dover against invasion, these lidar images show what i believe were a stick of bombs (well several) some of the craters have quite odd shapes. in the fields these can be seen because the chalk beneath has been brought up into the soil creating a lighter surface. the second image is a half and half from a particularly large bomb near my mother in laws, the trees have grown in the bomb crater. anywhere in kent is a good study area for bomb craters, especially between canterbury and the coast as all the bombers used to dump any un dropped bombs in this area before heading back across the channel after raids on London or Canterbury.

all boats tend to smoke a bit on startup, some more than others, especially the first startup after the winter.

I think it may be a fuel injection pump he is after in the way of oily bits. just a hunch mind you.

last year in the warmth of august I took several opportunities for a cooling dip. after mooring up, I always stayed near the boat while swimming, I would use a spare mooring rope and rhond anchor on the bank to set up a safety line, and always stayed within the radius of the line and hanging on to it. When I set up my safety line it was always after i had checked out a safe and secure place to enter and leave the water, with the safety line set to enable me to pull myself up out of the water. the safety line was in case I got into trouble, feet tangled in reeds or caught by the tide / current, or as a quick way to move myself to the bank if a boat came close by. think ahead, take precautions, make sure you will all be safe, and the kids will enjoy the water (if its not still too cold). I learned to swim in an outdoor pool in my local town, I am used to cold water and the cold water shock reflex, we used to start swimming in April every year in an unheated outdoor pool, fed from a river, if all you are used to is heated pools, be prepared for a cold shock. be prepared for hot drinks to warm yourselves up afterward.

to be fair to pigs, urea can be found in any urine in some quantity.

the biggest danger is lots of boats charging everywhere, there are very few places where i would choose to swim, in some the tides are strong, so i would avoid those, generally the water can still be very cold, there can be blue green algae at times so best to be aware, that said you can swim some places, at coltishall, you can go from the moorings by the locks and there is the mill pond just a short walk away, thats always busy with kids swimming as boats are not allowed down that branch. at gedelston there is a nice area where the kids swim too. and there are swimming pools at beccles and the waveney river centre. that assumes you can get under the bridges. salhouse is reasonable in some spots. remember though that you will need to keep an eye on the children and keep them in the safer areas away from the boats, as a swimmer in the water is not always easily spotted from the helm of a boat. there are organised swimming events occasionally where they have guard boats and all the facilities set up, the broads authority have a page on swimming so its best to read the advice there too, basically they dont say you cant, just advise on the potential dangers. https://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/boating/navigating-the-broads/outdoor-swimming

Dave i have whatsapped the manual on wooden boats group, can email if you wish

d650b, d750b, d850b, d950b 70mm stroke series engines

well as happens getting ready for my holiday intruded and i needed to pop into b&q for some small bits, thus i walked to b&q, then carried on up into the estate and found one of the paths leading ino the woods just past the pond, so it was back through the woods, and a slightly longer than normal route, combined with a shopping trip.maybe 2 1/2 miles today.

it gets better, 2 side bars on Trevor, now a mini bar on BA, i know where i am headed saturday now.