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Mouldy
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Posts posted by Mouldy
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2 hours ago, Turnoar said:
Currently digging the footings for an extension to our vegetable patch. Fortunately shaded later in the day but still very hot! The main culprit is a bay leaf tree, put a cutting in a pot a couple of years back knowing this day would eventually come. Shallow roots all severed; rock solid still, doesn’t a millimetre. A flowering currant tree came out easily in the corner behind but I have some old tree roots species unknown which the bay’ grew into and the gravel board is resting on. Will leave a bit more of a hole when done but have circa a couple of cubic metres of topsoil to lose from elsewhere. Target is to have the garden completely sorted within 10 years of moving here!
Sounds like there’s a big tap root, straight out of the bottom of the root ball. I’ve had to deal with quite a few of those!
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5 minutes ago, Cal said:
Non. Le France 🇫🇷 😀
Been there, done that many times, but further south. I think, on reflection, the Gorge du Tarn region was my favourite and maybe we’ll go again one day, but we’re very happy with Norfolk and The Broads.
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24 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:
I have noticed over recent years that it is no longer sufficient to say that a record has been broken. Now it seems that any new record is an "all time record", sometimes a "new all time record"
Does it not occur to those calling it thus, that they sound really stupid?
Much the same as when folk say ‘it’s 6AM in the morning.’ For some reason I thought the suffix of AM or PM defined whether it was before or after noon.
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16 hours ago, NeilB said:
. . . . . . . I've dropped my weight on Wroxham Broad with windscreens down and canopy up to try and create a breeze tunnel . . . . . .
I dropped my weight into a folding chair, strategically placed in the shade of a nearby tree at Pyes Mill and enjoyed a lovely afternoon there. I had to force my weight out of the chair a couple of times to replenish my glass and to set the Cobb up to cook dinner.
Days like these are made for idling on The Broads.
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We’d intended to spend this weekend on board Norfolk Lady anyway, but a new owner was in Norfolk and had asked if it would be possible to see Moonlight Shadow whilst he was on a pre-arranged holiday in the area. This meant leaving home earlier than usual, so the wife brought her work laptop with us, so she could continue to do what she needed to from Norfolk Lady in Brundall, whilst I went to Horning.
I’d noticed a new mould in Silverline’s yard, that was in the process of being moved for fitting out. Obviously, there is still a programme of new builds in progress, despite the apparent downturn in visitor numbers. With our belongings, the wife and dog safely on board, I left for Horning and as usual, got stuck in traffic entering Wroxham, arriving at my destination just after 15:00. Our new owners arrived on time at 15:30, which was a bonus as I’d just finished measuring all the galley cupboard doors ready for a planned future upgrade.
We spent an hour, going through the boat and systems, before our American owners arrived to start their two week allocation. After having a chat to them and saying goodbye to the new owners, it was time to head back to Brundall, where I pulled into the yard, parked the car and walked to our boat, when the wife said ‘did you call into the Co-Op on your way back?’
By the time I’d been to the shop for necessary items that the wife had forgotten to bring (still in the fridge at home), it was getting late, but we set off anyway with a view to get to Short Dyke, Cantley, Hardley Mill or Cross. Oh, we do miss Langley Dyke! We had a pleasant cruise watching the sun go down and arrived at a fairly full Cantley just around the time of sunset. There was room for probably one more boat after we’d arrived.
We had dinner on board, just a quiche and salad, but it was tasty and filling. There wasn’t much of interest on the TV, so I did a couple of crosswords to pass the time before retiring.
The weekend weather looks promising, so we’re both looking forward to a pleasant couple of days.
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8 hours ago, 750XL said:
Had a change of heart and downgraded to Adventure Light as we'd really love to visit the Ant again, and possibly Wroxam for the first time.
Few pennies saved as well for the odd
Good move. If The Ant is an important cruising destination, then something that will pass under Ludham Bridge easily is a better option.
Enjoy it!
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8 minutes ago, LondonRascal said:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . Put it like this, Shiela and I had a Sunday Roast at the New Inn recently, and for both of us with two Cokes it came to £39.90. That is the issue - local to me a roast is £11.99
Ouch! Makes the carvery at The Kings Arms look fantastic value, especially on a Wednesday, when you can get two for £22!
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5 minutes ago, CambridgeCabby said:
The rapid rise in consumers purchasing online has,I feel , consigned the high street as was to history .
Many of the high street chain stores were far too slow off the mark as far as an online presence is concerned allowing Amazon/eBay and similar to grab the market place .
Not to mention the ‘out of town retail parks, where parking is free and major stores seem to have branches. There are several such sites around Northampton, where we used to live and they continue to be busy, whilst the town centre has all but died.
Anyone who lives close to Rushden Lakes Retail Park will know how popular that is and how much it’s damaged local towns.
We can all bemoan the death of the high street, but most of us are guilty of shopping at supermarkets, instead of local shops, at retail parks or online. We therefore, must all bear responsibility for what’s happening now, including the change to a cashless society, which was probably led by retail outlets refusing to take cash through the early stages of the pandemic and forcing us to use debit cards or our phones instead.
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Nice one, Ray! Our old girl just glares at the wife if she dares to sit on the navigator‘s seat, so the wife moves and the dog jumps up . . . . . . well, when I say jumps, gets helped up. She is totally relaxed on board, which is a bonus!
Enjoy - deeply jealous, although we’re heading up for the weekend tomorrow afternoon!
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11 minutes ago, Puddleduck2 said:
The concrete walkways under Ludham Bridge are at 8ft 3" airdraft, so if the water level is below the concrete you have that much extra space. Take it very slowly if in any doubt.
I wouldn’t swear to that - possibly more like 8ft. We went under in July and the river was a few inches below the concrete. Height markers were showing 8 feet and we went through with very little clearance.
I still think that the chances of getting under Ludham Bridge that late in the season in a boat with a stated airdraft of 8ft 10ins are slim, even allowing for a bit of safety built into that figure and the inaccuracy of the height boards.
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3 hours ago, 750XL said:
We've finally took the plunge and booked Gleaming Light from Herbert Woods for late October.
Last year we had a bath tub so thought we'd go for something different.
Southern Broads are a no-no due to tide times but our favourite spoke is north of the Ludham Bridge. Wild mornings, bit of fishing, we leave it.
Air draft of Gleaming Light is 8ft 10" and I note the general consensus is Ludham Bridge is 8ft 6" on an average day, according to the markers.I understand this is a bit of a piece of string question depending on tides, rainfall, etc etc, but has anyone had any luck passing at that air draft?
If it's a complete no-no I'm tempted to contact Herby Woods and see if we can change to something with a bit of a lower airdraft.
I've seen in the past boatyard staff ballast boats with exceptionally high tides but not sure if this is a Richardsons thing or Herby Woods.
Many thanks for your helpful insight. Very excited to get on the water after a very stressful few months (health, redundancy, all that lot!)Personally, I’d be looking for some with a lower airdraft. Sometimes the clearance at Ludham is less than 8ft. Our boat has an airdraft of 8ft 3ins and there have been times in September when we haven’t been able to negotiate the bridge.
It is true that the height boards are pessimistic, probably by three or four inches heading from The Bure, but slightly less in the opposite direction.
Spring tides and the weather also affect the river levels, so if cruising The Ant is an important part of your holiday, I’d definitely be looking for something lower to hire.
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Enjoy it, Ray!
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10 minutes ago, hazelgirl said:
Crossing everything that the weather holds up for the 15th and the week after
Forget the week after. We’re up for a week on 22nd so wet and windy is almost certainly guaranteed!
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53 minutes ago, hazzer111 said:
Well we have been looking at next year's holiday and was looking at Silver Emblem from Ferry Marina. The prices seem to have been updated and are now £328 more expensive for 2024 (July before summer holidays). Quite the price hike, which has now priced me out of a holiday next year.
One has to remember that Ferry, as well as one or two other yards, operate what they call an ‘all inclusive’ pricing policy, which doesn’t compare well to similar branding on foreign holidays that include food and drink, but does include all of the extras, such as fuel, parking, damage waiver etc. that are added on elsewhere. If you intend to blast around the network, making good use of the included fuel, it could represent good value, however if you intend to potter about the northern rivers, in my opinion it is not good value for money.
There are plenty of dual steer boats available from other yards. Windsor Bridge from Bridgecraft for example or maybe Swan Ranger or Moon Enterprise from Richardson’s, depending on the size of your party.
Have a look round - there are plenty of options that may fit your requirements.
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37 minutes ago, Puddleduck2 said:
There seems to have been far more boats passing the bridge this morning than I have seen all season.
That’s handy. It’ll ensure that the usual YouTubers have a few bumps and crashes to video and post.
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1 hour ago, Vaughan said:
Perhaps I ought to keep out of this as, since a similar discussion on another thread last week, I am made to feel like a right dinosaur.
All the same, "bums on seats" means the business model of the package tours. They charter an aircraft to a beach resort, where they pre-book a number of hotel rooms. Once they have filled half the aircraft and half the rooms, at the brochure price, they have covered their costs. Any more bums they can put on the aircraft after that (pun intended) at whatever discount, is where they get their profit from.
The Broads business model is not at all the same. For a start it is strictly seasonal, for only 32 weeks of the year. The rest of the year, you make no money, and spend huge amounts on maintenance. Customer loyalty is indeed very important, as well as regular customers booking in advance. If you have plenty of advance bookings on your chart in February, you can take that to the bank for an overdraft!
Discounting has always been heavily avoided but I agree that this business model is changing. I think this is largely because the internet allows people to book so easily as well as so close to the actual holiday date. It also allows the yards to easily offer and advertise a late discount. In the old days of Blakes Brochure, you couldn't do that.
So I tend to agree with those who say the yards should have set the prices more in line with trends, in the first place. It's what we always had to do in the past - once you had set your prices in late September and printed the brochure in October, you were stuck with them!
There have already been several posts on Norfolk Broads FB groups, asking whether it’s worth booking in advance for next year, or whether to wait for the heavy discounting to be applied and make last minute bookings.
I’ve noticed that petrol and diesel are on the way back up again and not just local to me, by around 10p per litre. The B o E are still threatening further interest rate rises, house prices are falling and overall inflation is still high. With all of these (and more) factors to consider, is it any wonder that having set what I think was a dangerous precedent, some folk will avoid early booking in the hope of late discounting.
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We spent several holidays using Eurocamp sites in France and once at Lake Maggiore, Italy. We also used Campaniles for overnight stopovers, but later discovered a new (at the time) hotel chain called Ace, which became our chain of choice. In the main, we stayed inland, visiting the Ardeche, Gorges du Verdon, Gorges du Tarn and the Dordogne, but did venture as far as Argèles sur Mer once.
We crossed the Viaduc du Millau, visited, Monaco, Rocamador, Saint-Cirq-Lapopie and returning from Italy went over the magnificent Sustenpass. Memorable times.
Maybe, in time, we’ll go again, but since Brexit, taking our dog with us has become much more expensive and more involved than when the Pet Passport was in operation. We’ll see.
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5 hours ago, Bikertov said:
. . . . . . . . . . and the accompanying infrastructure (power, water, waste, health, schooling etc) is needed.
And I won’t be holding my breath for any of that to happen. Using profits to pay for improvements in infrastructure seems an alien concept to UK companies. A lack of investment in so many areas in which we used to excel, has resulted in the death of most industries which will never return. We’ll just wait for foreign investment to build power stations, car manufacturing plants, wind farms etc that we need and rely on Victorian sewage systems to deal (or not) with ever increasing levels of waste.
I fear for the UK that my grandchildren are growing up to live in.
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We’re on EE and have generally found the coverage over The Broads to be quite good. We were on the boat over the weekend before the Bank Holiday and coverage everywhere was atrocious, but we went again over the Bank Holiday weekend and we were getting 4G and sometimes 5G, even on Short Dyke, Rockland.
Not sure what happened the weekend before, but normal service seems to have resumed.
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3 minutes ago, RS2021 said:
Eurocruisers 1984 brochure.
*don't know how to rotate picture on my phone - if anyone can fix*
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9 minutes ago, Jbx5 said:
I've always found the Saphire not the easiest for stern access with the high deck.
There is a modern/ later version 99k at NYA which is quite nice and better steps at the stern but it's been for sale a while.
John
We hired Gainsborough Girl from Summercraft in 2018 and I think they are great boats, with excellent accommodation for four and with the potential for six, but as you say, access is not the best, especially when stern moored. I’d have one in a heartbeat, but the wife isn’t keen and our arthritic staffy struggled even then.
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Owning a boat is not without its issues. Fellow owners will know what I mean - BOAT and all that, but when you wake up, open the curtains to scenes like these, any questions you may have about the sanity of it all, are answered. This is why we do it!
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7 hours ago, Bikertov said:
Had lovely Mr Whippy 99 this afternoon, whilst watching the world go by at Ranworth.
Followed by a drink at the New Inn, Rockland St Mary with @Mouldy and his lovely wife - it was great to meet you both and to see Norfolk Lady - she is a lovely boat indeed !
Good to meet up with you and your (better) half too!
7 hours ago, YnysMon said:It’s obviously Mouldy’s bad influence.
Whoaaaaaaaaa! Helen!
I have to say that my bad influence didn’t affect @Bikertov at all! Soft drink at the pub as he was driving, but my Trawlerboys slipped down very nicely! 
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2 hours ago, Ray said:
I'm OK thanks, it did make me jump though I must say!
Electrician has been, chopped out a bit of wall and replaced damaged cable so the only pain is in my wallet 🙂
One of these would have been cheaper! 😉
https://www.diy.com/departments/bosch-truvo-multi-detector/1518921_BQ.prd
Glad it’s only your wallet that’s been damaged though mate!
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I have to say that my bad influence didn’t affect 
What Ever Happened To This Boat?
in Broads Chat
Posted
Might still be there, rotting in the overgrowth behind the yard.