Paul

in terms of sheltered moorings I would head for The Bargate, Rockland, Loddon, Oulton Broad Yacht Sta or Geldeston.

Agreed, in a storm the wind seems to slam straight in to those moorings, though that said the last time Roya and I took a boat out from Freedom we overnighted there. As darkness fell a real hooley blew in and as we turned in I expected a fitful and sleepless night. I fell asleep to the constant lap lap lap of waves hitting us abeam and we both enjoyed the sleep of the dead.

I feel for you, I have suffered with sciatica for many years, since injuring my lower back playing rugby as a teenager. It comes on seemingly for no reason and can be close to 100% debilatating. I'm alergic to benzodiazapenes so diazepam is not an option and I refused Tramadol because of the dangers so for me it used to be Coproxamol and Sodium Diclofenac. Coproxamol is no longer prescribed so now I tend to make do with Ibuprofen Gel. It's not great but does help a bit and doesn't seem to cause the same degree of side effects as ingested Ibuprofen. I don't find pain killers to have much effect. The best comfort I find is a pair of welly boot socks, one inside the other then filled with a kilo of long grain rice. Microwave it till warm and put it in your chair, right where the back meets the seat. I find lying flat very painful, I never can lie on my back, when it comes on the only place I get comfortable is the recliner chair, with the afforementioned home made heat pack (which you can reheat when needed).

I personally cannot see what all the commotion is about. Horning Parish Council have taken steps to prevent vehicles parking along a stretch of roadway which they shouldn't be using anyway, in fact are committing an offence each time they do. The restricted byway is NOT obstructed, there is still sufficient width available for non motorised vehicles to pass along it. I guess it is human nature that when a priviledge to which we were never really entitled is finally removed we moan about it, rather than be grateful for all those times we have parked along there and shouldn't have! I know the impact on local businesses is being mooted as the big concern, as is the impact on disabled drivers who will now avoid Horning like the plague. The loss of these few spaces means the end of Horning as we know it. Intact adult male bos taurus feculence, we all know that is nonsense. Any disabled driver looking to park near the shops, or anyone else wanting to pop into one of the nearby businesses hasn't got a cat in hells chance as these spaces were invariably occupied by the same vehicles for days or even weeks on end. I wonder why? Perhaps if supporting local businesses and looking after the disabled is the prime importance then making the 8 or so spaces by the staithe and willow disabled only and any remaining spaces along the accessible part of the road time restricted is the way forward.

That's the one (IIRC there wer two) that I remember. So did these hulls go on to be Top Liners? Given the popularity of caravanning there could well be a market for these now, if the price was right of course.

There used to be at least one of these for hire at Oulton Broad. A hull onto which you put your caravan and pushed it about with an outboard. I enquired about them elsewhere many years ago and it was suggested that Camping Boats offered them, though I'm doubtful on that as we used to stay at CB, I'm sure I would have remembered them. I always thought they came from Topcraft though that too was doubted.

When you consider the difference between what it actually costs a yard to build a boat, especially if the build is scheduled to occupy committed man hours which might otherwise be unprofitable and the commercial resale value of the finished boat it is excellent business for any yard capable of building new boats to sell out some of it's older stock. Especially when you can sell a ten or even fifteen year old model for the cost of building a brand new replacement.

I read in eddie's post, That dr Johnson states ... A staggering attitude for anyone in a position of authority in a public body.

Thanks for the link Strowager, that seems somwhat more controlled, and therefore far safer than most of the suggestions I've seen from such mines of information such as you tube, some of which are extremely "hillbilly". I have an inspection tower and wondered about using that as a kind of a frame to lift her but capacities are tight so this looks a much better bet. We had reported the theft, even though the boat was uninsured and we had paid a token fee for her and so the good folks at Cambridge Constabulary oversaw the repatriation when we notified them of her location. They were reasonably happy that the person in posession was not the miscreant who removed her but had bought her with the idea of restoring her without realising the amount of work involved. There is a lot to be done. She is virtually stripped bare inside, and anything which is still inside her is past saving so will come out. She has no electrical system, engine, freshwater system. The control ropes and sheets are shot, the stays are in pretty poor condition and the woodwork which holds the sail is rotten. The companion way hatch is past it and she is missing the rubbing strip which serves to seal hull and superstructure. The plan is to give her a damn good clean, scrape her bottom and antifoul, repaint the hull. We hope to get away top sides just with cleaning. An outboard will be acquired, I'm thinking a four stroke 4hp will suffice but again, any advice gratefully received. A fuel tank suitable for the outboard and that will be that. We'll remove her rigging and use her as a day boat initially. We have foam to remake internal cushions, a portable stove and water carrier will add the facility to make hot drinks, heat soup etc. I doubt I will be spending many nights aboard, she is very tight inside and for someone who is mildy claustrophobic it feels a bit too enclosed. We might consider a canopy for the rear so that we can sleep "outside" perhaps in the summer. A couple of fire extinguishers and a BSSC and she should be fit for a few days out. The trailer needs new hubs, we could go for new suspension units but the liklihood is we will butcher a caravan chassis and fit her with a new braked axle and drawbar. I am concerned about her weight on an unbraked trailer. Originally the plan was to have her in the water for June and that other places Ranworth meet, but having withdrawn from that place we will probably look for an August launch. I am quite keen to explore the Well Creek through Outwell and beyond, having driven alongside it many, many times on our way to Norfolk.

well go on then, just a little one to start with. This was taken the morning after we finally got her home. Sadly, on the way home from Norfolk the trailer hit problems, a wheel bearing cracked and we were forced to park her in a layby whilst I sought assistance. During the hour or so she was left somebody decided to steal her and a patient wait began until, last November we finally found her on ebay, as we knew she would be eventually. As the boom, sails, tiller and rudder were all in the car she was very incomplete. Eventually she made it home on the back of a beaver tail.

I was lucky enough to acquire an 18ft trailer sailer last summer. She has seen better days but is sound and water proof. I know this because she is currently three parts full of the stuff. So the first order of business is to get inside her with a pump and dry her out. No problem there, I have a decent pump. Once that is done there are lots of jobs to get done The second order of business will be to get her off her knackered trailer so that we can get that sorted and be able to move her when needed. At present she is marooned in our back garden. And that is where we start to need your help. How to get her off the trailer in the garden? I have one or two ideas but any suggestions, or warnings for that matter welcome.

I think there would be more money in Lord Lucan Timbo.

I think I was with you for a while there Timbo, until you jumped from archaeology to time travel and it all got a bit blurred, I rather lost the plot at that point. Were you smoking something as you typed? The identification process was quite sound, sufficient matches in the mitochondrial DNA of a direct descendant Richards father, Richard Duke of York found in a skeleton precisely where Richard III was expected to be, and where there is no liklihood of any other member of the family being buried at that time offer sufficient archaeological evidence to name the skeleton. Of course it will only ever be a 99.99% prognosis but that is good enough, at least for 99.99% of the population! The cost of his reinterment is being met by personal donations and trust so don't panic that your hard earned taxes are being misused, if you are looking to start that argument do it elswhere. The undervalued sell off of the Royal Mail to government cronies which cost every single income tax payer over £30 each would a good place. You might even look at the legal process which sprung up over the place of his burial which because of the sharp practice of the so called "Plantagenet Alliance" in bringing a nonsencical judical review cost the UK Taxpayer over £200,000. Who paid for the £4m visitor centre in Leicester I'm not sure, but it's doing good business and is expected to bring 150m a year to the city for the next few years so sounds like good value to me. Living locally to Market Bosworth, and the Battlefield we blagged our way into the nearby village off Shenton on Sunday and enjoyed some glorious weather, walking down to the Station Buffet for a cuppa and bacon roll before grabbing a place by the roadside to wathc the cortege pass. I was disappointed that neither the coffin or his funeral car carried his standard. I'm sure that would be down to etiquette or royal protocol but it didn't seem right. Whatever he might have done or not done, and we only have proof of those things which survived through history, the many reforms he began which shaped our modern world, especially it's judicial system. He probably did come to the throne through a plot of intrigue and betrayal. The grounds on which the illigitimacy of his nephews were based were tenuous to say the least however the throne has been passed around in much more questionable circumstances many times. Whether he was a good king or a bad king he WAS King of England and his coffin should, IMHO have carried his royal standard, or if that was not permitted his battle standard, plenty of which were on display around the route of the procession on Sunday.

Interestingly a 2013 FOI request relating to the average speed cameras on the A149 confirmed that the ameras were at that time out of action following an act of vandalism. The "can't afford to operate them" is difficult to understand as the operating cost of SPECS cameras is very low, hence their increasing popularity. I generally support cameras along with any other sensible initiative to make our roads safer, though one or two things do irritate me. firstly is the way speed limits are set, and for this I'll use an example local to me, in our little corner of NW Leicestershire, but I'm sure this happens everywhere. The A447 is a mostly rural A road running from Coalville to Hinckley, a distance of 12.8 miles. along it's route it runs through four villages , Ravenstone, Ibstock, Nailstone and Stapleton. In Ravenstone the limit is 30mph part way where houses line the street and thre is an uncontrolled cross roads, then 40mph for a section where houses stand back from the road and there is a second, light controlled cross roads. In Ibstock the limit is 30mph for the entire length of the village, including past two schools, in Nailstone the road passes the edge of the village with a crossroads with no restriction and in Stapleton the limit is 40 on the approaches then 30 through the village centre. About ten years ago the remainder of the road was restricted to 50mph due to the number of accidents reporting casualties. The total was 13 over the previous three years along the 12.8 miles. of those .... 7 were at or near the Ravenstone crossroads in the 40mph limit. despite listing casualties at all 7 ambulance or paramedic services only attended two. 3 were along the stretch adjacent to the schools in Ibstock though thankfully none involved children. 1 was a motorcyclist travelling at excessive speed around bad bends in the 40mph stretch approaching Stapleton 1 was a drunken driver leaving a public house alongside the road after a liquid lunch, into the path of a bus. 1 was a vehicle pulling out of the blind crossroads at Nailstone, hit by a motorcyclist travelling below the 60mph limit. Local residents have long campaigned for change. Ravenstone residents want the 30 mph limit extending through the village, but despite the concentration of accidents in the 40 section no changes have been made. Ibstock residents have been asking for a 20mph limit by the schools plus a restriction on parking which causes severe visibility issues approaching the crossing, but again to no avail. The limit by the pub, in the middle of nowhere was 40mph anyway. Nailstone residents have been campaigning for improvements to the junction, or at least a viewing mirror so that cars leaving barton lane can see around a blind bend immediately to their left but agai9n, nothing can be done. Andfinally anyone with any sense knows that the bad bends approaching Stapleton should be included in the 30mph limit, especially as there is a pub car park entrance between them. I don't have much of an issue with the 50mph limit being introduced but the issue remains that it has done nothing to help in the areas where the accidents that led to the change actually occurred. This was highlighted very catastrophically last autumn when a young man from Ibstock was knocked from his bicycle and killed in the 40mph section through Ravenstone. Still, Leicestershire County Council will sit back and say that they have taken steps to improve road safety on the A447.

It does seem somewhat strange that as soon as dredging is scheduled for the Upper Thurne system a Prymnesium outbreak or potential outbreak is reported. The BA announced on it's website a while ago that dredging due to be taking place currently had been postponed. Perhaps there is no link between Prymnesium Parva and dredging after all and that the cause lies elsewhere?

I don't think luck had much to do with it, credit experience and skill when you see it, even on a flappy windybag type of thingy. The skipper knew exactly what he was doing even lining his approach squarely at the starboard side pier wall knowing that the sea state would wash him to port, and plenty of throttle and commitment at the proper time. respect.

i hope it gets lots of use! We moan about the cost of living rising but really, when you look at most things they are nowhere near as expensive as they were ten, or especially twenty or so years ago. Sorting some old papers out the other day I came accross an old receipt dated 1984 from the motorcycle shop. It was for a replacement side panel on my first motorbike, a Suzuki GP100U, U meaning special edition with Mag wheels and disc brakes. the price of this lump of plastic about the size of your hand, a little bigger maybe was 19.97. Today on ebay new similar panels for modern day Suzukis go from £12 for a "pattern" to £30 for an original. of course, in 1984 there was no ebay, no amazon. The only option we had was the local bike shop or a string of phone calls to adds in the bike mags in the hopes you might find one a bit cheaper. Now if those figures alone don't convince you in 1984 as a 17 year old I earned £35 a week, effectively the tax free allowance for a single man in those days. So this panel was half a weeks wages, In todays money, with minimum wage etc that equates to about £75 to todays 17 year old

It's all a bit sad really, the voice has gone, the energy has gone, the hair has gone. Of course the saddest thing is that when they were young so were we. In many ways I could be looking in the mirror. I was a child of the new romantic era, I had the hair, the eye liner and garish blue eye shadow of Bowie. Above once we were sent home from school for wearing make up (and that was the boys, kids today can't hold a candle!). We eagerly awaited new videos on TOTP from the likes of Flock, along with Visage, Talk Talk, Classix Nouveau and Teardrop Explodes etc just to see what the latest "look" was, and next day we were out on the streets with it painted on our own faces. Like them, my hair has gone, probably a victim of the endless peroxide washes, the inches have arrived and the voice, if it was ever any good has turned gravelly under the strain of a lifetime of woodbines. They were good days, no they were great days. So why do we cringe so much when we look back on them?

I think it's an age thing, the younger generation swear by 8.1, more mature persons seem to prefer XP. 8.1 hs many great features which may not appeal to everyone, many of them based around todays digital lifestyle. I too use open office as I have managed to lose the media disk for MSO 2007 and despite still having the license key am finding it almost impossible to get a replacement so hence open office but .... load a workbook with plenty of stacked calculations and a few pivot tables and it just can't cope.

I can't disagree Peter!

I notice on that link there is also an option to buy a book "Norwich City, History As It Happened", yours for a tenner, which is slightly more than their current squad is worth.

For sure Peter she is at Thorpe having her little botty wiped, though whether she is back in the water or not yet I can't be certain. Why such work couldn't be done in January when the rivers are at their quietest escapes me.

Ultimately it is we (as in we the hirers, for those of us still incorporated into that great unwashed mass) who foot the bill. I doubt the boatyard will submit an insurance claim, you will be amazed what they can do with some timber batten, GRP paste and patching plaster.

it gets very confusing Jonzo. Puma is quite an old engine and will be replaced later this year by the panther. I think Puma is the last all Ford diesel still in use. If you try and track what vehicles use what you're likely to drive yourself mad. Mondeo started with DW12, the joint venture engine, then got the Pum, then about 2008 went back to DW12's except for the 2.2 which is still the Puma. They stick a "duratorque" badge on but in reality that means nothing, stand any three engines side by side and they could each be totally different.

to clarify, there are no Ford / PSA joint development engines used in Transits. The joint development DLD engine was used in Ford Fiesta and Focus road cars as well as by their subsiduary brands such as Volvo and Mazda with these engines being built at Ford's Engine plant at Bridgend, or Chennai in India. Peugeot Citroen used the same engine in certain models of road cars with their engines built at PSA's diesel engine plant at Tremery. The diesel engines in used in Ford Transits since 2000 is the ZSD "Puma", an all Ford designed unit built at Dagenham, In addition to the transit you'll find the same engine range used by Jaguar, Mazda, Land Rover, LTI as well as Vivarail in it's new range of commuter trains. I am led to believe the Nissan / Renault K9K 1.5 dci engine is well suited to marinisation, but use the lower power, sub 90bhp versions with Euro V compliance which have Bosch fuel injection systems. Earlier Euro IV engines had Delphi systems which were prone to problems and the higher power versions tend to be very unreliable.