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Mouldy

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Posts posted by Mouldy

  1. 5 hours ago, oldgregg said:

    Unfortunately, having worked in the industry, I don't think you're too far from the truth.

    I get that the repair prices are high because insurers need to use approved repairers who meet a certain standard, and for the work to have a warranty etc.

    They also aren't allowed to compromise on repairs . . . .

    If only that were the case.  In 2007 I had a Subaru Legacy 3 litre and was involved in an accident which necessitated replacement of the n/s/f strut amongst other components.  The car was sent to the local approved repairers and when it was returned, I noticed a knocking from the near side front area when on full lock in either direction.

    The car was returned to them for checking and it was pronounced to be all okay.  Not satisfied, I booked it into the nearest Subaru dealer who stripped the n/s/f suspension and found that the strut had been replaced the wrong way round.

    They gave me a written report, which I sent to the insurers who reimbursed the cost of the inspection by Subaru.

    From a customer’s perspective, one would hope that an ‘approved’ repairer was at least competent and able to repair a vehicle to the correct standard.

    • Like 5
  2. 49 minutes ago, kpnut said:

    Not so sure Helen. If you watch carefully, he took no notice of the first whistle, probably because his head was stuck underneath a tussock. I shouldn’t have had to blow twice. 

    I wouldn’t complain Kate.  If you blew your whistle at our belligerent, eleven year old staffie, I doubt if she’d even raise an eyebrow! 

    • Haha 3
  3. 37 minutes ago, ExSurveyor said:

    I hate so to start a sentence, it used to be the preserve of academics.

    My other pet hate is official spokespersons saying " you know" every sentence, No, we don't know that is why we are being forced to listen to you.

    And my final hate, well for this morning, Really really. Stop it, using it twice doesn't double its power.

    So, you know, it is really really annoying.

    Don't start me . . . . . . . . . no, really, please don’t start me.  The soapbox will be out!

    Noooooooo! Too late.  If we’re on about pet hates, where has this habit of making a statement, but emphasising the end of a sentence to make it sound like a question come from?  Grinds my gears.

    And when written, the use of ‘of’ instead of have - he shouldn’t of done, for example  Just wrong.  It doesn’t make grammatical sense.  Another one that I see more of now is the use of the word ‘are’ instead of our - that’s are house, for example.  What is being taught at school these days?

    We say we’re proud to be British, but have no pride of our language.

    Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

    • Like 3
    • Sad 1
  4. 12 minutes ago, NeilB said:

    I did have a look into this but they have a tiny amount of subscribers and views, it's doubtful whether YouTube would allow them to monetise the accounts and they would be lucky to buy a Mars Bar with the yearly profit.  You need hundreds of thousands of subscribers and a boatload of views to earn even a modest amount.

    Our neighbour’s son has a YouTube channel and is doing very well from it.  At the age of 19, he has a Porsche Cayman, a BMW 325 and a heavily modified  Volkswagen Golf.  He bought his dad a Rolex Oyster Submariner as a gift.  He doesn’t work, simply makes content for his channel.  I wouldn’t like to say that what he makes is a modest amount.

    He clearly has far more subscribers and achieves many more views than the people we are talking about here, but you only need 1000 subscribers to monetise content.  However small their income is, there is the potential to make some money from the antics at Ludham Bridge.

    My main issue is the fact that many people will be give the impression that navigating The Broads is like playing dodgems on the water.  I realise that on a weekend particularly at that location, it frequently is, but doesn’t represent the area well overall.

    • Like 2
  5. 21 minutes ago, CambridgeCabby said:

    Sadly , without this type of footage these channels would not have got the viewing figures they have and may well have been abandoned .

    Whilst I too dislike the bumps/mishaps etc, the rest of the footage I find most enjoyable and would be saddened to see them go 

    Are there not ways of showing videos of The Broads, without the clickbait titles?  Robin’s video were always popular, as are the likes of Dave Whitworth, who vlogs his travels on his two syndicate boats.

    The problem, to me, is the location that these videos are generally shot and the almost inevitable bridge strike that attracts all sorts of idiotic comments from armchair admirals, who all know better.  It’s strange that we seem to have a predilection towards watching accidents, whether they’re on the rivers or on our roads.  Who hasn’t sat in a queue on a motorway, caused by rubberneckers eyeballing an accident on the opposing carriageway, with little thought for those who may have been injured (or worse).

    In my view, they portray the worst of behaviour and create an image that these antics are prevalent across the network.  Those of us familiar with the location obviously know better and can filter out the stupidity, but for folk who maybe would like to sample a holiday afloat, what sort of impression is being generated?

    For the people who film there regularly, clickbait titles benefit their metrics with YouTube and enhance potential income from their channel.

    • Like 2
  6. 19 minutes ago, dom said:

     A private sector business would fail if it lacked the funds to meet its demands. We need to try and put the BA into a similar light and to highlight every time they fail. I'm not sure anyone's doing this particularly effectively at the moment.

    Hmmm.  Like a certain Water Authority, recently in the news, who are pleading for a 40% increase in charges to their customers to put right the neglect of an antiquated system that is no longer fit for purpose, whilst paying dividends to shareholders and inflated bonuses to their directors?

     Not all private companies are run properly, sadly and it does seem to me that the way the BA is going currently, emulates the path of the aforementioned water authority.  We are already more than half way to a 40% increase in tolls inflicted over the past two years and no guarantee that we won’t be subject to more bending over with our trousers down next April.

    What is needed is an authority answerable to their stakeholders, who are prepared to respond to issues and not hide behind the Notional Park ideal.

    • Like 4
  7. 3 minutes ago, dom said:

    Anyone who bases their actions on anything significantly different will probably go down in history as a fool. Dr.P seems well on his way to such infamy.

    Infamy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Why am I reminded of a line from a Carry On film.  ‘Oh why have they got it in for me?’

    In your case JP, the answer is probably rhetorical!:default_coat:

    • Like 5
  8. 15 hours ago, YnysMon said:

     I’ve noticed the ‘New Name’ lady seems to have moved on to producing a range of interesting videos about the Brads area generally, which are a welcome relief.

    Not quite.  Her latest offering has a title that includes the words ‘boat hits barge.’  To me, that constitutes clickbait and is done for a singular reason.

    • Like 5
  9. 55 minutes ago, kpnut said:

    Like at Potter Heigham too. Loads of mooring after the bridge, let alone all those lengths up Heigham sound that are maintained on our toll money.

    Okay for sailey, flappy things, paddleboards and canoes/kayaks, fairly much in line with National Park aspirations.  Or is that me being cynical?

    • Like 8
  10. 21 hours ago, Mouldy said:

    We went past over the weekend and they are advertising diesel (£1.87/ litre), water and pump outs on their quay.

    For some reason, I can no longer post photos from my phone straight to the Forum, but have to convert them on my Mac first, but this is the sign now displayed by the fuel pump at the WRC.

    IMG_1716.jpeg

    • Thanks 1
  11. 6 minutes ago, dom said:

    I'm subscribed to no end of boating channels and it's nice to see the Broads featuring, but the whole Ludham Bridge situation is starting to grate a bit with me. It's getting to the point where you inevitably have one of the three main protagonists recording every weekend. I think it's starting to get a bit intrusive and it's obviously largely waiting for something untoward to happen. I can't help but wonder what the net effect of it all is. If a new hirer comes down from Stalham the first time, bumps the bridge and their error ends up attracting derision on YouTube, are they more or less likely to come back next year? Between that, and the added emphasis it puts on bridge clearance issues, it all seems a bit undesirable for the hire industry in my eyes. It's not really surprising to me that at least one of them has attracted some hostility from certain areas.

    I have to say that I too am unhappy about the picture of The Broads is painted by the video vultures.  I will not subscribe to them and am disappointed that the use of clickbait titles helps them to make money from predictable chaos at the worst pinch point on the network.

    • Like 4
  12. 2 hours ago, Lulu said:

    We’ve never had phone signal issues there. We are on Vodaphone, but never had tv signal which we had forgotten about.  In the photo of us moored you will see the telescopic pole with the aerial at full height but nothing. So we were properly off grid! Fine for one night but I do like my tv. 

    The radio in NL is poor, so we generally stream music using my phone as a hotspot and linking my iPad for the source to a Bluetooth speaker.  We used to get a few times when the signal would drop out, but we cruised all the way from Brundall to Beccles, listening to Greatest Hits Radio.

    We also sometimes used to struggle with phone signal at the marina, but it’s improved so much now that Deb can work on the boat, hot spotting her laptop to the phone.

    I guess that the announcement that the old copper phone lines will end soon has forced the mobile companies to improve their service, so that there is continuity of a phone service when it happens, although many in remote areas fear that it will impact them.

  13. 2 hours ago, Jbx5 said:

    Good to speak briefly when passing (on Noah’s Ark ) yesterday afternoon Mark I thought you looked a little calm after the storm 😂

    Also passed your family Mouldy same time around the Ferry house.

    John 

     

    We saw someone on Whitey wave as we went past on Sunday, guessing it was Mark.  May have seen you too @Jbx5 as we ended up at The Ferry House.  Managed to squeeze in so we could go for dinner in the evening.

    Smoggy was also there, celebrating having his boat back for the weekend, following some work on his boat.

    • Like 3
  14. 8 minutes ago, kpnut said:

    Sounds like a couple of days spent in the best company, it’s wonderful they love boating so much. 

    Our son and his family are using one of our weeks on Moonlight Shadow this week.  It seemed very selfish to use it ourselves, when it fell in a school holiday.  We took him on The Broads for the first time when he was about six and went annually for many years after and although he kind of fell out of love with the place through his late teenage years, since having a family of his own, he now looks forward to his time afloat as much as we do.

    Our grandchildren are all now boating fans, our eldest grandson is currently enjoying his seventh boating holiday at the age of (almost) eight - birthday on 7th April!

    • Like 3
    • Love 1
  15. Salhouse is one of the worst places for TV reception on The Broads, or so we’ve found.  However, 4 & 5G coverage seems to be much improved across much of the area and if you have a smart TV, streaming services may be the answer, with a decent data package on your mobile phone to hotspot.

    • Like 1
  16. 4 minutes ago, kpnut said:

    My ‘bible’ onboard also says pacific cruisers st Loddon on non-turnaround days, but that’s on the wrong river. 
    And perhaps a self serve pump out machine at the Waveney river centre, no diesel though and I don’t even know if the self serve one is still there. Last time I used it was in 2019. 

    We went past over the weekend and they are advertising diesel (£1.87/ litre), water and pump outs on their quay.

    • Like 3
    • Thanks 1
  17. 14 hours ago, Broads01 said:

     The engineer said they used to use Eberspacher units which were repairable but expensive. They now use Chinese units which are comparatively "throw away" at £80-£100 each but just as reliable. The heater issue would have been a hard one to spot as the heater worked perfectly well for an hour or two at a time initially. I also took into account I may well have been the first hirer of the year.

    Point taken regarding the bolt, but surely a mention of the electrical system during a handover isn’t too much to ask for?

    As for the heater, I get that the Chinese ones are cheap and probably not worth repairing, but for a hire yard who appears to push technology and battery technology, it does seem strange to use something that is potentially of dubious quality in a premium product.  I know that several Forum members have used Chinese heaters and some for several years, but I am also aware of safety concerns and failures too.  There are mid priced heaters with a proven track record that are cheaper than Eberspacher or Webasto (who are generally considered within the industry to be the best, as I understand it), like Autoterm/Planar and Mikuni.

    Still, they have their own business model and are doing things their way.  Good luck to them, but maybe some customers wouldn’t be as forgiving as you, Simon and unreliability may cause them to lose return business in the long run.

     

     

    • Like 2
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