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grendel

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Posts posted by grendel

  1. 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.

    • Like 1
  2. 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.

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  3. 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

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  4. 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.

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  5. 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. 

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  6. 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.

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  7.  

    ,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.

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  8. 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.

  9. 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.

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  10. 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.

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  11. 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.

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  12. 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)

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  13. Clickbait is an often used word amongst youtubers, what is it exactly- how is it defined, I have seen channels using the thumbnail of the female presenter partially clothed to entice users to watch the latest video, and in other cases the title sensationalises some of the content. Youtube expects a certain level of this to occur as part of the marketing strategy, but where does the line get drawn between marketing and out and out clickbait. I suspect that everyone would draw it in a different place, and others get upset over the interpretation of 'marketing' as 'clickbait'- I suppose similar to calling the Broads a national park- for some it makes no difference- for others its an absolute travesty and shouldnt be allowed.

    so where is the line between what is allowed and what is not, the audience wont know the intent  and the difference between a short punchy title that describes part of the video of some importance and one that is clearly designed to get you looking and has no relation to the content.

    to some of us if it encourages us to watch we will call it clickbait, while to the youtuber its just marketing. so the definition is everything here.

  14. managed to get conned today, came home from shopping and a couple of lads were cutting a neighbours hedge- now my hedge is a bit more than overgrown, so when one approached me and said he would trim it for me while they were in the area and shred and remove the waste, i asked how much (i had been planning to get it trimmed back) well I was quoted £200 which didnt seem unreasonable so I agreed, they set to trimming the hedge and after a couple of hours I went out as I had to take my dad shopping,

    it was at this juncture that one of the lads drew me aside to tell me i had rats in the garden pointing out 2 holes. strange I thought as i looked at a piece of wood that had a freshly muddy end near one of the holes, after they pointed out that i could be served with a d10 notice and prosecuted.

    i still declined having them clear the rats out while they were here- citing lack of funds (they had asked for cash) at this point as I was due to go out I decided that it was best to pay them what I owed for the work done, so handed over the money. well when I went back out several minutes later they had scarpered, leaving about 3 foot of hedge uncut, and a big pile of the clippings, out on the grass the other side of the pavement. the rat thing had given me a clue as to what to expect i guess, but now i still have the hedge clippings to dispose of- mind you the garden is looking better.

    I am generally trusting of others, but never again will I pay before the whole job is completed- this life lesson was learned the hard way, as I have just gone out and purchased a garden shredder for another £179 so I can clear the trimmings left behind- well now I know what I will be doing all day tomorrow.

    just disappointed now and this has removed a little bit of my faith in contractors, and hardened my resolve to just get on and do it myself (like I dont have 1001 other things to be doing) at least now I have a garden shredder to assist in disposal of the waste from hedge trimming. did I get the full £200 worth of work, well maybe not, but maybe I got £150 of work completed to a point where I may be able to finish it myself..

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