grendel

I would also suggest martham boats, not only do you get the nostalgia of an old wooden boat, but you are guaranteed to get to hickling and all round that secluded section of the broads, service is very friendly, and although the prices seem more expensive, they include a tank of fuel, which should last all week, unless you are really doing a lot of cruising (down south and back several times)

that reminds me, I really must get my thicknesser adjusted over the holiday, its about .5mm difference across the width of the bed, so needs adjusting.

I too am a fan when out and about, fray bentos pie and some good quality instant mash (the Idahoan mash is not cheap, but tastes nicer than the smart price stuff.) always good for a stock cupboard, that and the kenco 3 in 1 sachets, just add hot water for a white coffee with sugar. take a couple of sachets of instant custard, and there is the basis for a few days meals, (though I have to admit to a good fry up with bacon and eggs for breakfast)

the only problem with that statement is that every time I have attempted to get through Potter heigham bridge I have been sucessful - (okay twice on Janet 3 from Martham Boats and once on Royal Tudor), so anecdotal evidence from personal experience can also give a false sense of the possibilities. the first time (in Janet 3) there was under 6 foot on the height gauge.

I seem to recall dredging at Marina quays was a part of the planning application for the site there recently, of course that is dependent on the planning proposal being re-submitted and accepted.

the problem is that when working out the average, events like last weekends low water level, affect the average by increasing the clearance and skewing the result, so also the warm dry period earlier this year, when we squeezed Royal Tudor through at 6 ft 7". has anyone been able to recalculate the clearances and averages to disprove the BA figures, I suspect if you could provide scientific proof via water level tables you might get a response. then again what is their measurement point, are they quoting the actual clearance at the crown of the bridge, - or the clearance for a boat passing through, without clarifying where their 6 ft 5" clearance is measured to, we cannot say its wrong.

to me the repps gauge looks like the sensor bottomed out at just over 0.2m - mainly because where all the other graphs carry on dipping, that one just levels out and shows almost flat over a wide period.

surely Griff if you dredge the river, the water will flow out quicker, but will also flow back in quicker, and will still be dependent on the water level at Breydon, I can see the case being made by the non dredgers, that if the flow was clearer, then salt water incursion would be worse. we have clearly seen over the weekend that the river level can drop rapidly, but only when the sea level in the north sea also drops, so I am afraid my mind has been changed - by mother nature. I would still advocate dredging to keep the navigation clear across the width of the rivers and on the bends, but I no longer think this would drop the river levels to the extent we had supposed. seeing the effects of the low water at Brundall and other places where most of the boats were aground, I am thankful in a small way that this tidal range isnt seen as badly on the northern rivers. I do wonder what the levels were like above Potter Heigham Bridge over the weekend, for instance was hickling broad still navigable, what variation was there due to the low tides at that location. I like some others am beginning to think this is far more complex than we supposed, and that there isnt a simple fix that wont make matters worse in some respect or other, somewhere.

my point is that dredging should be continued to maintain enough depth for navigation purposes, for example on shallow bends where silt has been deposited. it has certainly made me revisit my thinking on the matter.

is that not just the local equivalent of the severn bore?, where the incoming tide and the outflowing river meet? or is it some other phenomenon?

yes , from what I can see, when the sea levels are low enough, the tide does recede, there were substantially lower levels at horning and stalham too, indicating that given low enough levels at breydon, the water can escape fast enough, which leads me to surmise that possibly it is not additional dredging that is required (although i too thought this previously). this would seem to indicate that sea levels hold a major factor in the water levels on the upper northern broads, ie that if the levels are high on Breydon, the water doesnt flow out., this doesnt mean that the dredging is unnecessary as the depths should be maintained sufficient for navigation, but it does seem to indicate that the air draft at Potter Heigham Bridge is more a factor of the sea levels than the dredging (or lack of).

well it ran out fast enough when the sea levels were low enough, so I guess that answers the question on whether the lower reaches around lowestoft need dredging.

might be worth checking the weed filter next visit, in case everything is bunged up with mud.

I see tarring the road, and pitching the roof, wheres the swan feathers then, are they getting ready for JF's visit?

I didnt now buses played in an orchestra.

mine arrived safely thanks.

thats the beastie, show me the graph and I can visualise it, show me the math, and well...........

At least he has a proper mast to nail them to.

wasnt that three wise guys?

I dont have anywhere to park a car to charge it as we are second in from the road, besides, if we cant even fit a power shower, I dont imagine a car charger is on the cards. I have looked at the zero motorbike, but at 120 miles a day, it means I would need the added power tank, and then I couldnt fast charge off a car charging point, plus I would need to charge at work if I used the lights night driving

once they got into the maths of it all, they left me trailing in the dust.

if its any consolation we have just been having a discussion in the office regarding the two phase voltages and phase rotation and currents in cables coming from a Schott T transformer, that takes 3 phases incoming at 120 degree phase rotation and outputs two phases with a 90 degree phase rotation- talk about brain bending.

It has been known that people take a standard 240V lamp and just replace the bulb with a 12v one

it might also be worth just checking a fuse hasnt blown before digging everything out.

cat litter is a good (and cheap) absorbent for getting the last residues up, of course you then need to get the cat litter up.