grendel

the longest day is hardly spring and may is cheaper for those wishing to hire.

I am constructing the actual canopy cover from a suitably coloured card, here is progress so far, next is the rear section.

there are a few other members on here who are also knowledgeable about the boatyards at Oulton Broad, hopefully they will also chip in.

but thats what the problem was, they didnt want to spend a huge amount on piling and quay headings for what was quoted as a short 5 year lease, the land owner would then get an asset in the form of quay heading worth 80 times the £2000 he was asking, and that would hardly be a good use of the authorities budget, and then the toll payers would complain, Oops sorry, they will complain either way if the money is wasted or if it is saved and we lose moorings. I can understand the authorities stance that they will only take over the quay headings on a 20 year lease and not on a 5 year one as the lifespan of the quay heading is in the same realms as the lease length. the budget comes from somewhere- and part of that is the tolls. where does it go, well this year it went refurbishing the quay headings at neatishead, and ludham bridge as well as repairs at other places around the network, I am sure if you asked them where it had gone they would be able to provide detailed accounts showing just where every penny went.

and the costs to maintain the moorings / repiling, etc, would they be maintained by the land owner for that £2000? or would they be the authorities responsibility, in which case the £2000 is irrelevant compared to the other expenses.

Actually, I think pontoon moorings is the answer, they can be moved from location to location, if they dont have land access, then the land owners have no claim against their being moored on the river. if they do have land access all that is required is a short section for the walkway to go across, and there are no great lengths of moorings to maintain at huge cost.

how much extra are we willing to pay for our broads tolls to pay for extra moorings, is it just a case of the authority trying to be wise with a dwindling cash reserve, or something else, seriously we complain every year at the toll increases being above inflation, just ask yourself how much extra do we want to pay to give the authority the resources to pay for moorings (and their upkeep), at what point does it become financially non viable to keep doing so, I fear what we are seeing is this cutting edge of financial viability coming into effect.

you forget, they are trying to encourage paddle boards and kayaks, you could fit 6 of those on the moorings.

I think I have done more Breydon crossings solo than with someone else on board, including one when it was closed to Hire boats, one where I had engine issues and one where i was taking on water, all successfully completed and issues rectified, so I dont regard it as any more difficult than any other part of the broads.

for any of you that follow ship happens, on their other channel they posted all about the problems with dirty fuel, they were wise enough to get lifted back out and took out the fuel tanks, what they found was a lot worse than they expected (including the good tank, having far more crud in it than the bad one, not to mention corrosion..

A bit more canopy progress

Starting on the canopy support beam, beam cut and brackets fashioned, these will be hidden under the cover, so it's more important they support the structure, fashioned from 0.2mm stainless sheet (8 thou)

I agree, its amazing just how patient Griff is waiting for me to complete this, committment, well anyone who takes on something like this probably needs to be committed, skill- well thats just a case of doing whats necessary, and if it doesnt work first time, think of another way and try again. making small things is just like making them normal sized, but smaller, good spectacles small fine tools and lots of patience.

well, its happened, with the addition of new working areas I once again have space for the model on a work bench, and additionally space alongside to work, juggling space has been the issue at this end with multitudinous projects all demanding their own space. as some of you may have noticed where I sneaked an update into another thread yesterday, work on the model has recommenced, yesterday I got the stern jackstaff made, and today i have spent some time cutting wood. I had some formers for the canopy pre bent, however these were way to massive (some being 6mm square, so today it was down to the bandsaw, to thin these curved pieces up- of course i wont throw away the offcuts, they may come in handy elsewhere, so the curved pieces were cut down to just under 4mm square, and some 2mm x 2mm sections were cut from the board I used for the rear door (I wonder if anyone else has cut 2mm x 2mm timbers on a bandsaw), these will form the rebates to hold in the window glass in the cockpit and other places necessary, next to plane and sand all these timbers to make them smooth to work with, so I have my miniature planes and some flour grade sandpaper at the ready.

I have had a few days off (enforced stay at home due to no car, and am already wondering how I fit a days work into my schedule, I havent stopped, yet still I am not getting any more tidying done than when I am working. (on a side note I did manage to get the stern jackstaff done for the BA model, and compile a list of other jobs needed on it).

my abiding memory of driving through wales was driving through the horseshoe pass late one night (having driven up from kent after work), on the way to do a viking show at one of the castles, we were in a hired minibus that was full, (of people and gear) one of the passengers was already complaining of the swaying as we rounded the corners, and I then spotted random bricks in the road, it was as though someone had been sitting in the back of a pickup tossing them out one after another, of course the swerving to avoid hitting the bricks brought on another round of complaints from the passenger, we carried this on for about 3 miles (with added corners) until the person dumping the bricks had obviously run out. the other was the sheep standing on the edge of the road, for all intents and purposes the reflection of their eyes was just like the cats eyes in the road, that took a bit of concentration to stay on the road.

also worth keeping an eye on the bridge height on project troll - https://broads.bridgeheight.com/ -choose vauxhall bridge here you can see a graph of the previous day and previous 7 days heights and plan accordingly

be careful with your bridge heights, you may well need to pass under at low water, I have seen the clearance at slack as less than 8 foot, as though the bure is still ebbing, the tide is rising after low water, 40 minutes after slack could mean only just over 7 foot clearance. the best bet is always to phone the yacht station either on the day (or maybe the day before on your return trip) and ask advice on the best time to pass through considering your air draft.

lost cause, I doubt many of us would even make the foothills, I certainly wouldnt. (thats why we love the broads, they are generally flat.

done

fixed

there is everything within a close walk of the yacht station in Norwich, shops, cinemas, the cathedral, pubs, and clubs should you so wish.

I think you may be a few weeks too late for the fruit, its usually quite early in august, the location was here- about half a mile off the end of the thanet way (the roundabout in the picture)

my ex used to take bookings at eurotunnel, and one of the most common questions asked was- can you see the fish?

if all the private boats that wild moor carried the means to just trim a patch wide enough to get ashore it would go some way toward redressing the balance, I know after my experience on short dyke I will go next time prepared to at least trim a path to the footpath there.