LadyPatricia

Hi Jean and a warm welcome from Deb and I.

Friday 3 July I was wide awake at 5:30. It was a lovely sunny morning and I sat with a cup of tea just watching the flow of the river and listening to the birds singing (and Deb snoring) . By about 6:15 the quiet was being interrupted on a regular basis as people started to motor over the bridge on their way to work. Deb woke about 7:30 and was presented with her morning cuppa. We decided to head down to OB and moor at the yacht station. We arrived mid to late morning and found room to moor by the office. I was surprised how busy it was for the time of day but the weather was great and lots of people where out enjoying the sun. A B.A launch appeared and promptly stuck a notice on the private boat moored next to us. After taking several pictures the ranger went in to the YS office. I was sat on the wall enjoy the sun, and a smoke, when he walked back. He stopped for a chat and I enquired as to the reason for the notice. No tolls have been paid on the boat was the reply. Oh, how much is that going to cost them I asked. Nothing he replied, they just need to pay them in the next 4 weeks, if they don't then it goes to court. It's now July, if these people had any intention of paying then they would have by now IMHO. There was uproar when the 'owners' returned, cans in hand and several expletives in every sentence (that was before they read the notice stuck to their boat). When all the commotion had settled down we thought, ah great, back to enjoying the sun and watching various craft come and go ....... WRONG, the music started blaring out of the speakers on the boat with not tolls. Shame they never sold the big speakers to pay it We decided to go for a walk around the park. We grabbed an ice cream from the stall in the park and I got talking to one of the local fishermen. He advised the fishing was pretty good in the area so I decided it was about time I 'wet a line' On returning to the boat the music and foul language was still carrying on. We decided we would leave the moorings at the YS and see if we could get moored on the tea garden moorings, I think that is what they are called, the one on Oulton Dyke. As we turned the corner there was plenty of space so we moored up, I set my fishing gear up and Deb retired to inspect the inside of her eyelids 1 VERY small roach and two hours later we decided to look for a place to moor for the night. As we cruised up Oulton Dyke towards the Waveney. It was then we noticed some steam or white smoke coming from the exhaust. As I dropped the revs the vapour got less, as I increased them so the vapour increased in volume. Not being sure this was correct we decided on a very slow cruise back to the marina. The reason we are not sure if this is normal is because Lady P's exhaust used to be fed underwater by a 90* hull fitting and a piece of exhaust tubing. We removed this so we could see water being pumped out of the exhaust after our 'overheating' issues. We did have a stowaway on the run back up the Waveney. A duck decided to help itself to a free ride on Lady P's cabin roof . On arriving at the marina it was decided we would order a curry from La Bone indian take away and must say it was lovely.

Not sure why that's upside down. Can admin or mods rotate it?

Thursday 2 July After an uneventful drive up from Hampshire we arrived at the marina at about 3pm. We unloaded the car and loaded up Lady P. It was a rather warm afternoon and when we opened up the doors to Lady P's cabin the heat inside hit you like opening an oven door. I quickly got the stereo working (after the advice I was given last weekend when I fitted it and it wouldn't power on) and tested with phone. All music plays, Deb was a very happy bunny now she can listen to her music One more job was to replace the hose that comes off of the water pump. The old one had a big 'kink' in it and was probably not allowing flow as it should. All little jobs tidied up we decided on a short run up to the Bell Inn at St Olaves. We arrived at around 5:30 and moored up. I can never understand why this pub is not a lot busier. The food was good, the beer was good and the evening sat in the garden watching the sun set was fantastic. Retired to bed feeling well fed, well watered and extremely happy to be here

Did you not ask if she was signalling that there was only 1 or 2 inches of water there Griff?

It wasn't until my arm disappeared up to my elbow in the water that I realised all was not ok. When we started the job there was probably enough water in there to cover my finger nails. We live and learn . I won't be doing anymore jobs without turning the tap thing off

Morning Andy. Surely something can be set up between hire yards similar to the pub watch system. If a person is barred from an establishment for violence / bad behaviour then ALL pubs in the local area are made aware. I used to work for a company fixing pub tills and in almost every office there was a poster with names and pictures of the individuals on the list. Maybe it's something the authorities should look into.

A comedy of errors

Agreed Ray, but for the helicopter to refuse to pick them up due to the 'state' they were in you do have to wonder if there was a brain cell between them all on the boat.

Haha I'm sure you are Ok, so I headed straight up to the boat from work on Friday. Unfortunately Deb was working the weekend so I took the opportunity to go and do a few jobs to allow us to enjoy the full 4 days when we are up from Thursday this coming week. Arrived at the marina around 4:30 on Friday. Unloaded the van and relayed all the kit to the boat. Boy was it hot. Opened up the sauna, commonly known as Lady Patricia, and got everything onboard. Hit list of jobs this time where:- 1. Fit radio 2. Fit waterlock to exhaust 3. Cut 90* exhaust outlet to make it straight. Job 1 I had borrowed a generator to enable me to cut the hole in the unit to fit the stereo in. All set up, holes drilled to fit jig saw blade in to start cut and away we went, first part of this job done a treat . Got stereo, didn't fit. Filed the wood a bit to get it to fit. Great, it looks good That was that job on hold until I'd spoke to Dave regarding a 12v supply to use. Decided to have some dinner, a couple of hotdogs, and then went for a stroll. I only got 2 boats along the mooring and got chatting to the couple there (as you do). I was offered a drink and was quick to have a nice cup of tea. Got chatting and putting the world to rights when 2 suspicious looking characters got out of a car. Those two look a bit dodgy I said, keep an eye on them. (It was Alan and Dave) , the funny thing is they did watch as the Orca boys walked down to their mooring I thought it best to explain that I knew them and was just messing about. Didn't want any unnecessary calls to the police. Anyway I wondered over to Orca and was offered a beer. Sat and had a chat for a while and then turned in for the night. Saturday Woke early as usual when in the boat, it had been a warm night and the morning was lovely. Had breakfast and the usual morning cuppa then on with the jobs again. I thought I'd fit the waterlock first as the engine really was very noisy. The generator running was actually quieter than the engine. Opened up the engine bay and there I found the first problem, not enough room to fit the unit between the engine and the flooring. Alan appeared out of nowhere and asked if I needed a hand as Dave was stripping the engine on Orca and Alan was getting in the way . The help was accepted and eventually we found a way to fit the waterlock in. The inlet hose went straight on but the outlet from the waterlock was a lot more difficult. After lots of swearing and the odd socket being dropped in to the bilge and other hoses being removed all was together and tightened up. As I went to seat the waterlock in the correct place we notice the bilge had a LOT more water in it that was there before. We quickly notice the raw water inlet hose was laying in the bilge and slowly filling her up and sinking the boat . Luckily I have a bilge pump with a long 12v lead and about 5 meters of hose. After a few minutes of pumping most of the water was out. Everything back together the engine was started and I must admit it has made a fair bit of difference and made the engine quieter. Dave then arrived with one of the biggest recipricating saws I've ever seen. Out came the generator and the exhaust was cut like a knife through butter. Now we can see the water coming out the exhaust which in turn gives us that piece of mind that the engine is running ok. Now was time to get back to finish off the stereo. Dave kindly suggested a safe place to take the 12v from and all was connected. Pressed the on button and ..........nothing. Meter out, 12v at feed, 12v at radio plug but nothing working. By this time I was very hot and not very happy that I'd got a faulty radio off the internet. Decided it was time to load the van, head home and get another radio to fit when up on Thursday. Once home I got a message from Alan asking how I got on with the radio (Orca was out on a test run when I left) and I told him it was dead. "Did you connect the memory wire to the 12v as some radios don't work without it being connected" came the reply. As you can probably guess I hadn't so will try that when next there. That was it for this visit. As far as the jobs went, in the words of Meatloaf, Two out of three ain't bad

I can't understand how this happens so often http://greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/1.4129534

I'm up for that mate. I did say Deb needs to take the helm a bit more

First suggestion PAST THAT

There's a good idea, we need to come up with a good name for Iain's boy ban......no hold on dad ban...... No hold it ........ Grandad band

guys 'n' gal, the infection is a viral thing and could be with me for months according to my Dr. It's the inner ear so no pain just lots of dizziness and feeling faint, not good when your job relies on you being able to drive. Anyway I've got some pills that appear to be keeping the symptoms down to a minimum so life goes on. Lots of people far worse off than me Grace, I'm a little concerned how I'm being blamed for jaws being a p**s head? I've never seen a pint of wherry disappear so quickly Thanks MM, glad you cleared that up. I wasn't sure if I couldn't hear Dave or if it was the geordie / mackem accent I was struggling with. I know Dave will now come back and tell me he's not one or the other Steve

It's been a while since we managed to get up to the boat, mainly due to family commitments on a couple of weekends and my suffering from an inner ear viral infection. Anyway we have planned our next outing for the 2nd to the 5th July. Anyone around on the southern rivers be sure to give us a wave and stop by for a chat Oh, we thought it time we changed our username to reflect what is our own little getaway

As you know it's just Deb and I on Lady Patricia. If anything happened while we were 'away from any civilisation' then I'd do whatever I had to for her safety and deal with any consequences later. Use whatever means you have at your disposal to get the patient help ASAP. In all honesty though i need to get her to take the helm more and moor the boat a few times, that way should anything happen to me and she needs to move the boat it won't cause her so much panic if she knows she can do it. Now that's got me thinking.

When I read this title I thought we were going back to the nudist cruise thread

Alan, Dave has given you the same answer that I would give only he put it in more eloquent terms than I could have. Point is, I agree with him

Is that a mink coat Polly

From a boating point of view I can see your issue with these 16m black poles poking out from the bank on what is often a dark background of the river. I'm really surprised these don't get broken on a regular basis as most are made of carbon. I've known them to cost well over 2k as well, expensive bits of kit. This may help understand why some are so protective of them when boats pass From the anglers point of view these are probably the most accurate way to fish on a specific spot or even spots as sections can be removed to fish at different distances. With these poles you can present you bait directly over the spot you've been feeding. I love both activities and will continue to enjoy both

Well done Peter. Bet it was great just to wet ya line Tight lines and good luck with the pike. Not my favourite but I think that's because I've never known anyone personally who targets them so never had the opportunity to learn to handle them correctly.

So Peter how did the first session of the season go, any luck?

Great read again Alan. Glad Grandma is ok Get those pics sorted

That is a little out of order to use that as a selling point is naughty I must agree Dave