grendel

I have no personal experience with the company mentioned, I will defend to the hilt everyones right to an opinion, but please oh please can everyone respect others opinions and not go down the route of attacking each other, agree to disagree and just get on with what the forum does best, be friendly and have fun. Everyone can have a bad day, and that goes for businesses too, it takes years to build up a good reputation, but one wrong word at the wrong time can blow that in one go, maybe the yard people were thinking about the hassle of cleaning out the maggots and the results and were not focused on customer service, who knows. for me the worth of a business is not in its reputation when things are going well, it in how they react when things go tits up. just occasionally even the best companies drop the ball. While some posts may come across a little confrontational, my policy is to assume that the person just used the wrong words and didnt come across how they meant to, and that whatever they said wasnt meant to be a personal attack - by treating posts this way I dont take offence at anything said, and the problem does not escalate - please try and remember this when reading and responding. Thanks

after posting that I had a sudden impulse to install one of the front deck beams.

tonight that replacement rib is fitted, some more deck supports fitted and tomorrows ribs and deck beams steamed up.

At this rate Griff will be going round the side of potter bridge

the snow has stopped here and its now a bright sunny day with not a cloud.(though windy and a bit chilly)

JM, Where are the pictures then? It has been snowing here at work all morning, the boss has asked us to keep an eye open if it starts laying, but the roads are just wet at the moment.

I always think that negative points can be put forward in a positive way, so that instead of being outright critecisms they can be put forward as learning points, so for instance instead of saying 'this was rubbish', put it forward as 'this was not so good and could be improved by...' after all what upsets one person may be anothers positive point- for example " the holiday was rubbish- we couldnt get TV reception anywhere" for one person might spoil the holiday, for another, it might be the icing on the cake that they couldnt get TV reception. When I came on holiday on the broads, there were a few issues - the bed on pearl horizon just didnt have room for my huge feet under the side of the bed, this meant I was trying to fit 6'4" of me on about 5' of bed, in the end we just dragged the mattress into the saloon and bunked down there - no problem for us, but for someone else it may have ruined the holiday. I loved that trip, but the wife wasnt enamored with it (too many hours of sailing past seeing nothing but reeds I think).

my car is so old its still on the single fixed price tax.

As long as Tim does not see the fire exit sign in the crematorium, and get a fit of the giggles like I did at one relatives funeral.

May I just put a warning out about driving in the snow. based upon some of the things I have seen this morning on the way to work. 1. when you are driving your van, dont drive 3 foot off the bumper in front, with the weight on your vehicle you are not going to stop as quick as the car in front and may well slide on the ice. 2 always clear all the snow off of the bonnet and roof of your vehicle, there is nothing worse than touching the brakes and getting a roof full of snow sliding down over the windscreen. Also when cruising on the motorway, the snow will slide off the back of your car and obscure the screen of that van 3 foot off your bumper. 3. Keep back from large lorries, they cant get to the roof of their vehicle and clear off the snow and ice, one lorry in front of me this morning was shedding 8 ft x 4 ft sheets of ice off its roof, and its very disconcerting seeing one of those wafting in your direction. 4. even though the road looks clear there are patches of black ice out there (the M20 was closed due to accidents this morning, and I came past at least 3 accidents on the A2) so please keep your speed down, and leave reasonable gaps. Here endeth the first lesson, stay safe everyone

tonight was a bit of a late start due to the snow and time spent driving home, firstly when I took the rib out of the bending jig I spotted a crack, so this one was rejected, no rib fixed tonight, some more deck supports fitted and a new rib and deck beam steamed up.

well as I left the office I thought, great thats ok its raining, walked around the office and got in the car, hey its sleet now, by the time I had driven the mile to the m25, it was snow, the journey went downhill from there visibility not great, roads (motorways all the way) slippery, 2 1/2 hours to get 60 miles, at least everyone was driving reasonably. well all except the chap following me home from the petrol station, I was driving smoothly not sliding on the corners, yet he was very close behind, and almost every time I looked back he was side on to the road. got home with at least an inch of snow on the ground, and a front of the car thatt just had 2 holes in the snow, in front of the lights, work tomorrow - well we will see, traffic map will be consulted before I leave.

Right then, back to the business in hand, this evening another rib glued in , some more deck supports and new rib and deck beam steamed, now if you look at the pictures you will see I forgot to get a picture of the new deck beams, plus when I took the picture of the bending of the new parts you will see I have changed formers to the next one forward, and that I nearly forgot the deck beam, only spotting it and getting it into the former when I went to empty the condensation from the steaming box. the neutral pin of the plug has now also been converted to a tiller arm, just needing the actuating holes drilling (its just visible next to the deck beam former.

I shall of course have to watch out for Griffs puns on the forthcoming AMP, as when it comes to jokes and pranks he is a bit of a live wire, shocking I know, but it is the case.

Ah well - all these plugs keep this thread popular, and at the top of the forum, I will just have to Socket to them with the build progress later.

my handwriting is atrocious, unless I am doing the lettering for a drawing, then it is perfectly readable in upper case or Camel Case.

I'm Neutral in all this.

I now know just how much room I have in the stern for the steering gear, to be honest I want the tube for the rudder to end as high as I can to make sure its above the water line, even though it will be greased, we dont want leaks, and we dont have the facility for a proper stuffing box and grease nipple.

tonight the front support for the rear cockpit floor has been fitted, another couple of deck supports are in place and another rib and deck support have been steamed, yesterdays rib is glued.

well I have had 8 cats - so can truly say I have had octopussies, and their pupils were cat shaped, same as all cats.

So this evening another rib was put in, another rib steamed and formed, a second deck beam shaped, and in the rear cockpit, a pair of supports added for the sides of the stern lockers, plus another pair of deck noggins inserted, sounds a lot, but that was just 25 minutes work. 2 more supports will be needed in the stern cockpit, to support the floor, this will need to be removable to get to the steering gear. It will also need to be decorated to simulate the holly teak flooring.

One final bit of work for today, another former cut, this for the front deck beams (it may also suit the roof beams), and the first deck beam steamed up and in the former. now when I steam a rib, I can throw a section of 5mm square in and heat up 2 pieces with one steaming, though the thicker wood could do with 5 minutes more steam than the ribs, this can be finished off after the rib has been fitted in the former though.

my favorite headphones are very retro - very old school wharfdale dd1's I now have 2 pairs, no controls, no noise cancelling,, but great sound

As promised a few more of the noggins ready to support the deck, to be honest the model doesnt really need these to support the deck, but I figure I might as well do the thing properly, plus they will give the hull a bit more rigidity. at the front of the hull there will be full width deck supports, these will need to curve, so will need steaming, I will soon need to figure where the front of the cabin needs to be.

I was a few hundred miles too far away, not having experienced the Norfolk Broads yet, and hadnt ever heard of Broad Ambition. Of course if I had known I would probably have volunteered like a shot.