grendel

They only measure the deep spots

I agree Vaughan, it's pretty near the whole way from stokesby down that's shallow. The ba say that water depths have remained constant, but they don't account for the fact water levels have risen, so if the depth is the same, but the water is a foot higher, that means the bottom is a foot higher too, if the bottom is higher then there is more damming effect upstream, if I can see this how on earth have all their experts missed it?

It's started getting colder now, so the oven is on for my dinner, which will warm things up a bit, then it will be an early night in my sleeping bag, which gets lovely and toasty. Clothes are slowly drying, my big lament is that I was wearing my fleece and that is soaked, I think that might take a while to dry, as though I wrang it out, it's still dripping.

I didn't have the rum until after, in my coffee. I did report the broken chains to broads control, typically when I phoned, I was diverted to answering machine, I then backed that up with a email. About an hour ago a ranger dropped in asking if I was ok, and getting pictures of the offending chains, one had taken the complete ring bolt out of the quay heading, (actually I think it rusted through). She said it looked a pretty easy fix, which shows that safety at least is a concern.

Rarely

The southern brads is particularly lacking in this respect, for a while with the wrc not selling fuel, and availability at Beccles being patchy at best, there was nowhere above the new cut where fuel was available, the wrc pumpout is a DIY one now, with tokens you get from the kiosk.

I breakfasted at norwich yact club and by 8.30 was catching the last of the tide downstream., the tide turned around Brundall and I decided somewhere nearer to Reedham was going to be my destination. Its been raining off and on all morning. Eventually Hardly Cross was picked as a destination, just my luck, wind offshore and tipping it down as I came in. Now time for a public service announcement, behind the Quay heading at Hardly cross (upstream end) the ground is a sheet of s.ippery mud. Carefully avoiding the slippery Quay heading I stepped off the boat to the ground behind the Quay heading, which was even slipper, my foot went out from under me, well the water wasn't too cold, and I still had the rope, this got tied off to the chains under the Quay heading, several of these chains are in dire need of repair as about 3 broke when I grabbed them. Next , with the boat secure-ish, I needed to get out of the water, so using the chains I worked my way down to the ladder and pulled myself out, returning to water rail, who was patiently sitting there just off the Quay heading waiting for me to stop playing silly beggars. Anyway I got the rope and tied her up, placed my slips, and then it was time to get back aboard, carefully. Then get out of my wet gear, dry off and get the kettle on, now I just have a bunch of wet clothes ( and a wet fleece) to sort out So was I wearing a lifejacket- no, but I would recommend people wearing them. Would it have made any difference to me, probably not, as I swim like a fish, and probably wouldn't have bother to inflate it if I had been wearing it ( I use a manual inflate lj, so can choose to inflate or not) the ladder gets quite narrow at the top and was a tight squeeze for my bulk, a life jacket may have hindered meat this stage. Anyway, those of you who are reading this, take it as a stark warning of what can happen. If it does happen to you, remain calm, don't panic, sort the boat out and make it safe, then get yourself out of the water. I knew I was going in the second my shore foot slipped, so finding myself in the water was no surprise., everything from that point forward was carefully thought through before I did it.

Acle already has bridgecraft for pumpouts, Richardson's new development if approved will also provide a similar service

I left herringfleet after breakfasting this morning, with the top up and the side canvases in place due to the persistent drizzle.4 hours later I caught a lucky break between dragon boat races, and headed to norwich yacht station. I think I may have passed 4 boats out on the rivers. I did pass Chilton lady moored up at the shops in norwich

The old one was replaced during the haulout last year, it was bent in several directions, both the shaft and rudder so a replacement was made and fitted with nylon bushes to prevent the slop.

The issue we are having is when the rudder was replaced, the nut is higher than the board on top, to remedy this the board would need to slope, directing rainwater right where the water comes in at the back, so Dave has taken the pieces back with him, in case we want to reinstate it at any time, with just me aboard when I am crewing, there's a slim chance of me getting my leg trapped, by removing it, we take it back to original.

Just on 8 foot at Somerleyton bridge at high tide.

This morning a quick trip to lidls, where I got most of what I had forgotten to bring, plus a window vac (only £20 - bargain), back to the boat to bring her to sailing readiness. Low tide was something around 9am, so I would be pushing the tide a bit, finally left about 10am, and had a leisurely pootle down to Oulton Broad to discuss future upgrades to water rail, then it was time to carry on, nearly high water now, so not too bad heading downriver. I passed petos Marsh as there was a boat moored there- nearly stopped at Dutch tea Gardens, but decided to carry on, Somerleyton was empty, but I carried on, finally stopping at herringfleet. Where I decided it was time to have breakfast, beans on toast. Next to carry on with the cleaning, I have already used one pack of wipes, everything had a layer of black, everything needs cleaning, and there are a couple of leaks to locate.we took a decision to remove the box over the steering quadrant, as it frees up deck space, and needed repairs too. I have managed to dodge the showers and the sun is shining.

While it is desirable to optimise the battery connections, its not urgent, a few months are not going to matter, so treat it as a desirable maintenance item to be dealt with next time you are aboard, if needs I have crimper and battery lugs, actually on board.

,Well it's that time again, first trip of the year. A few jobs need doing, a clean out and air of the boat. The trip here was horrendous, roadworks all the way up the a11, accidents here and there, then just short of my turning for beccles they had shut and blocked the a11. I headed in the direction the one sign showed, then drove 5 miles without a side turning or another sign, so I turned right where the car in front did, only he pulled up as he was lost too. Eventually by keeping the setting sun on my left I found a road I sort of knew, arriving at beccles after 9pm, a good 5 hours after I set off. Right time to get the kettle on and get a fray bentos pie in the oven, gas on, now where is the matches or lighter, in the drawer - the one that'd stuck fast 10 minutes patient prying with a screwdriver and I was rewarded the lighter was out of gas on fortunately the spark did the trick. Just waiting for my pie to cook, then it will be bedtime.

MM, I took have an issue usually when running an older browser on my Linux machine ( the one I run in the background while working) this shows me the forum, but doesn't allow me to post, so your issue may be an out of date browser on your phone. I just live with it as I have 3 other machines I could post an answer with, all easily to hand.

that was just me- I went for a swim.

I have crossed in worse, my ideal crossing south to north is if I hit the incoming tide at about Breydon Bridge, then push into it to the yellow post, where I then get a boost all the way up the bure.

I would use the cleat, and before using it check it is really secure to the boat. I have seen fender eyes ripped out of boats just by brushing fenders too hard. the last thing you would want is to get halfway up the ladder and then have the thing it was secured to break loose.

one trick I use is playing music very quietly in the background, then as i lay down i can barely hear it, so concentrate on trying to make out the words- leading me to drop straight off, my current background music is status quo.

MM, You are not alone, I too am awake, however I now plan to hit the hot tub for an hour of relaxation there without having to think, then it will be time to get dried and start work for the day. the trick is to concentrate on something so boring and dull that you will fall asleep.

just a suggestion, i know that even more information might be difficult, but maybe the phone numbers for the yacht stations for checking mooring availability- bridge heights etc or even just for great Yarmouth?

I use the OS maps app for where I am, on there you click the location button once and it zooms to your current location, then the next click it follows your location.

well I managed 3 hours, mostly moving hedge clippings, back into the garden off of the grassed area by the footpath, about the first hour I was also feeding the shredder, but realised that if I kept that up, then i wouldnt get the grass cleared before I ran out of steam. the Ryobi shredder I bought has a 40 litre collection box, and I filled that 5 times, apparently without denting the massive pile of clippings, it will shred up to 45mm dia branches, so pretty decent for the price, anything that wont fit will be chopped into firewood and stored for next winter. It was at this point the nosey neighbours mum announced that her boyfriend was in the gardening business and was going to offer to clear it for me, well a shame he didnt offer earlier and save me the hassle. All the trimmings will be chipped and the chips spread out over the garden to mulch back in. at least now with the shredder I have a way of disposing of the garden waste (i dont fill my green bin often enough to warrent paying for it to be emptied, and when I do a clearout- its not big enough for all the waste.) the good news is the garden is now back to manageable (well will be once I have finished shredding)

the amount shown on the posts at Beccles is the actual units of electricity left, so you bought £3 and the post showed 7.5 units remaining.