grendel

already bumped once, i now know to duck.

the image is on my computer at home, its on a thread here somewhere

i think they were grateful that i was having jayne for 11 days as it saves one cleaning session for them

yes planning to stay up north as I will be next on the waters a week after I get back, on water rail, when I can do the south. While I was waiting at marthams, I got chatting to the old gent who had turned up, Gordon can remember when they laid the keels and built many of the boats, he is also a great one for customer service, and happy to chat to the customers. to say marthams were busy would be an understatement, they are going flat out, so much so they are not open on sundays as they are all too tired and need the break.

Well for some strange reason my boating booking for may was deferred, today is the first day of my boating holiday aboard Jayne2 from Marthams. After a remarkably quick run from kent in just 3 1/2 hours at 60mph all the way (i was in no hurry) the car smoking like timbo for the first 50 miles as it was the first run of any distance it had done for a few months. I arrived a little early at Marthams- 11.30 to be precise. as the boat had only come back in from hire that morning i was informed it was ready, but needed to be fogged again (they fog the boats after the hirers depart, then the cleaners can go aboard, and the maintenance staff can deal with any mechanical issues that had cropped up, so I had to wait a further 30 minutes after the fogging for it to work (they fog again after their staff have done all their work, to protect the outward bound customer. As a returning customer, the handover was simply a matter of two signatures. and it was time to head off, I doubled the head rope back to the front cleat, and then started the engine, after casting off the stern rope, the wind caught me and took me sideways across the dyke, leaving about 2 foot spare between me and the yacht behind, acting as if i had meant to turn i feathered the front carefully round with short bursts of forward throttle, and spun her in the width of the marthams dyke, timing my departure from the dyke to coincide with when my bow was pointed correctly, I turned left and headed for Potter heigham, watching out for the fishermen on the way, my dont some of them have long pole rods, one was well into my half of the river, seemingly trying to fish the far bank from where he was sat, this meant there was nearly 50 foot of pole sticking out from the bank, and not too highly visible either. hugging the starboard bank I slowly pootled to potter, where i did my first solo mooring of the trip, I missed snagging a post from the front cockpit, but handily snagged one at the rear of the boat when I got there just as the rear had drifted close enough, bow rope in hand I headed for the stern, stepped off and tied up, at which point someone stepped up to slacken the stern mooring line as i tightened the bow line. many thanks. after a quick trip to Lathams where i managed to limit my purchases to a few essentials, (only £15 ) I headed back to jayne 2 and swiftly cast off, demonstrated her really impressive turning ability and headed back to Marthams, sticking to the centre of the river to avoid all those fishermen again, past Marthams then I had a choice, carry on to west somerton (apparently the weed on hickling broad is worse than west somerton as it has recently been cut) or take a left and see if there was a slot open at white slea, there wasnt but there was plenty of room at deep go dyke, managed to hook the post at the front this time, so around the post and tie back to the cleat, then look to the stern, unfortunatley the back end of the boat was quite far from the bank, and the stern ropes so short I couldnt walk all the way to where the gap was wide enough to step ashore, never mind the current was swinging the stern over slowly so it wasnt long before she was safely moored up, now it was time to unpack my bags, load all the food into cupboards and generally get things shipshape. Then time to catch up on the forum. soon it will be time to decide what to have for tea pictures may get posted here, or may wait until i get home, it depends if i have remembered the correct cables

as another unable to wear a mask, i have printed my own badge i can show. it says. for your safety and mine please keep your distance i have a health condition that prevents me from being able to wear a mask thank you for your understanding. i did this in the hope that i would not have to stop and explain my full medical disclosure with a non medical person, at every shop i went to. I did try wearing a single thickness cloth tube scarf, i made it 4 aisles before my breath soaked the mask, blocking the air holes, and steaming my glasses up so badly i had to stop mid aisle to remove the mask. i have been told that even net curtain is acceptable, as it catches a reasonable percentage of the particulates- this advice came from the asthma society.

MM i am moored up at deep go dyke, if you want i can have a quick look tomorrow. see if nyx has made it home.

my love of woodwork stemmed from the detention i gotr after my first woodwork lesson where i tested how sharp the school chisels were on the workbench, this detention was in a lunchtime, and consisted of repairing the damage i had done, and sharpening chisels, this was when i found that most of the 20 odd pupils attending of a lunch time were there of their own free will, the teacher brewing his cup of tea and eating his sandwiches in his classroom, so began a love of woodwork, i was never spectaculkarly good, but things i made didnt fall apart.

Ah Tims ignorance is understandable, its too modern for an archaeologist to recognise - I think we should let him off.

what attitude, I just said I would safely moor the boat before switching off. the only place i was a little bit naughty was in saying i might consider mooring there myself, as its a potter heigham, I would normally be considering picking up a marthams yard pilot to take me through the bridge, or be heading away at this point having just come under the bridge, generally if i want to stop, I will do it the other side of the bridge.

Where did I ever say I would unnecessarily prolong my mooring, I just said I would not be able to switch the engine off while I was busy setting the mooring ropes and rhond anchors, and that to expect me to would be unreasonable as I only have one pair of hands, I certainly would not switch off until the boat was safe.

if i am mooring as a solo the engine will be in neutral until i have finished mooring the boat, you are the skipper, you turn the engine off when you consider it safe to do so, its not the business of anyone else. no matter whether quiet moorings or not, almost tempts me to moor there now, as a solo i would need to hold the boat, set the rhond anchors and tie the ropes to them, all before i reboard the boat to switch off, if he wants it done quicker, he can come across and help.

I believe there is a pin to remove to get the head separated from the handle.

they have put the fuse back in and 50p in the meter.

I may end up cutting a stencil for those and spraying them with my airbrush.

Attention was taken today over a few details, not 100% happy with the results, but i can redo them if necessary after the wooden boat show, today is packing day for my holiday, then theres only a few days before i am due back for the wooden boat show, but as almost everything is ready, it meant some spare time, a temporary rear door has been made, this just puts wood in't'ole so to speak, a new door that hinges will be constructed to replace it, and i have finally added the lettering to the cockpit sides, not 100% happy its as good as it could be, but it will have to do for Beccles, then it may get redone.

its good to at least say you have seen it, nowadays naked eye visible comets are few and far between, i think the last really good one was over 10 years ago, a lot of those that are supposed to be good fade out and dont live up to their expectations.

last night i finally managed to get a picture of this comet, i am hoping for some better pictures once i am on the broads later this week, the comet is due north, just below the big dipped (ursa major) and can be seen as soon as it is dark enough, it should be viewable without binoculars or telescope, here are some images i managed to capture last night from the middle of light polluted canterbury. the lighter image was just after 10.30pm and was a 10 second shot, the darker was obtained at just before 1am and was a 30 second shot, also included cropped selection showing a larger view.

took me longer as mine at the centre was cancelled as they shut the centres 10 minutes before my change was due, did only take a few weeks to get a mobile van round to do it

if like me you have long arms you can lean through the forward window opening, the side of the boat is only about a foot away so you can nuzzle up, loop a rope around a post, then you are tied up and ready to secure the stern. when solo on the other boats i leave the side doors ajar and bring bow and stern ropes just into the cockpit ready to grab in one hand while mooring.

doesnt look nearly as bad from that viewpoint, a little busy, but if they were waiting on a bridge opening, it would be. must have been a slow news day

also the 5, 12, 13 triangle

JM, Duplicates hidden

I like Jayne as you can moor up while at the wheel, as long as the screen is not in the way you can lean out of the window and hook the front rope round a post.

I am out on Jayne tuesday, i just love the was she can u turn to a mooring at pyes mill, plus fits into those gaps people leave between boats.