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Mouldy
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Posts posted by Mouldy
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1 hour ago, Gracie said:
. . . . . . . . . I even like the sound of bow slap. . . . . . . .
Had to read that twice!!
Are we still able to use the word slap? Have the woke brigade not banned it yet?? 
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16 minutes ago, Graham47 said:
As you say a lot of the bigger yards are now putting their new additions into various categories as you stated above but how many years is it before they are downgraded. I haven’t seen the category, Basic or Downgraded in use anywhere.
Barnes advertise Premium, Mid Range and No Frills whilst Richardson’s have Platinum and Classic ranges. There is some differentiation, but I’m guessing that saying they have a premium range, implies that those that aren’t within that group, are not premium by default. Maybe calling some ‘old tubs overdue retirement’ wouldn’t be seen as good for business.
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3 hours ago, Vaughan said:
Blakes did this sort of thing in the 70s, by branding the newer and more luxurious boats as "Blue Chip". They had a badge on the cabin side to denote this and there were one or two extras on board, such as better linen, and towels.
Most of the larger hire yards are doing this now, surely. Platinum, Premium and Luxury are all terms that feature in their advertising, giving some indication that the craft that feature in those ranges have something extra to offer in terms of luxury. Even Hoseasons offer their Starboard range, with various extras included.
The word charter just seems to indicate that the whole experience is a bit more special. Looking at some of the Broads related FB groups, many regular visitors are being dissuaded from returning due to ever increasing hire (charter) costs, making a week on the Broads too expensive especially when compared to other holiday options.
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On 28/04/2023 at 19:37, YnysMon said:
Bump the boat is obviously just a game to some idiots. As you say…grr. I was thinking of making a bee line for Thurne Dyke next Saturday morning (in search of good TV signal). . . . . .
Stay at the end of the dyke, near the mill. It’s wider there and still close enough to the pub for a post coronation beverage. Ideal!
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Surprised that the issue with the port engine issue wasn’t picked up on the survey.
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Obviously following NYA’s model, although it’s fair to say that the craft that NYA offer for ‘charter’ are all a ‘cut above’ in terms of quality.
I think Ray has hit the nail on the head though. For many years we went to France and Italy with Eurocamp, staying in mobile homes on parcs in some very scenic areas, including the Gorge du Tarn, Ardeche, Gorge du Verdon and the Dordogne. Some were quite basic, others more luxurious with air conditioning, en-suite facilities, decking and gas barbecues all included. Maybe the name Eurocamp gave the impression that it was a tent in a field, but in reality it was far more than that.
Are they trying to oversell the product? With some of Richo’s newer craft, maybe not, but chartering something like their old Ocean 30’s doesn’t quite fit the picture that the branding implies imho.
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2 hours ago, kpnut said:
I know roads in the alps like you describe Chris. Being the driver ‘on the wrong side’ is ok as you can see the drop next to you. For the passenger it’s a bit more scary!
We went up a hairpinny road between Bergen and Voss in Norway in a Montego estate so loaded up with camping gear that I thought the front wheels were going to lift off the ground. The steering was certainly extremely light. Made worse by all the lorries coming the other way without a care in the world!
In 2010 my wife, mother and father in law and I drove to Provence in my Skoda Octavia vRS. We were staying near Castellane to visit the nearby Gorge du Verdon. I’d done some research on the area and found a tourist route called Route des Cretes (D23), which was supposed to offer magnificent views over the gorge, with various stopping places to get out and take in the scenery. The start and finish are within a few hundred yards of each other and part of the route is one way traffic, so we started at the correct end to drive the entire way round.
It certainly lived up to the description - it was stunning, but my driving ability was slightly impaired by my father in law sitting in the front passenger seat, but was trying to sit on my lap! I’ve had to ‘borrow’ the photo from Google, but here’s the reason:
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15 minutes ago, Gracie said:
You could have had roast duck with your veg and new potatoes the other day. Oh goodness me I am just kidding, you can't eat a little duck
I don’t want to eat a little duck either, Gracie . . . . . . . . . . . A bigger one’s better - more meat to enjoy! 😉😁
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51 minutes ago, LizG said:
What was the weight limit prior to closure?
I wonder whether the repairs had to wait for the new financial year as they hadn't been budgeted for in last financial year?
The only vehicles with a gross weight over 7.5 tonnes allowed over the bridge moving forward are emergency vehicles. Buses are now prohibited.
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Just seen on FB that the bridge has reopened to pedestrian and road traffic with a 7.5 tonne weight limit imposed.
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17 minutes ago, YnysMon said:
Please, where’s Fineway?
New one on me too. Fineway used to be in Hoveton years ago. Their yard was near where Barnes hire out their dayboats now.
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Hippersons in Beccles for fuel and pump out. Pacific Cruisers at Chedgrave for both and water, but not on changeover days. Waveney River Centre are advertising fuel available on their website. Beccles Yacht Station for water.
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22 minutes ago, Wonderwall said:
Head a off banging brick your wall .
're-arrange these words to reveal an apt saying 😋. It may also help with the frustration. 😉
Sadly, HS2 has gone too far to be stopped. Thousands of acres of land have been turned over to develop a railway to speed the journey between London and Birmingham by a few minutes. Maybe, a few years ago, this could have been something for the country to be proud of, but based on current estimates, it won’t be finished into its terminus in central London until 2041. When many other countries already have high speed railways, once again were a bit late to the party.
There are so many better ways that in excess of 100 billion pounds could have been spent to benefit a much larger proportion of the population, it really does grind my gears.
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8 hours ago, Meantime said:
GY has the population density to warrant spending money on the sea defenses, sadly most of the North Norfolk coast is to sparsely populated for what are very expensive works. Take a look at Canvey further South. It is costing 75 million pound and two years just to make good a two mile stretch of sea wall.
Isn’t it amazing that multiple billions of pounds have been spent on building ‘smart’ motorways, that most sensible people could see was a flawed idea in the first place. Far too many billions of pounds have been found to build a massive vanity project, that most of us live too far from to gain any benefit from, in the form of HS2, yet preserving our coastline and saving the homes of folk living in coastal villages, is deemed not worth the cost.
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11 hours ago, Meantime said:
But, you have to realise it is totally different to the Track and Trace app. The emergency alert system is a feature that has been built into the OS by Apple and Android over a number of years. It is available in any country that wishes to take advantage of the technology. It relies on you having a good signal with a 4G or 5G phone mast. It relies on a number of phone network providers and their phone masts. It is a one way broadcast on a best endeavours basis. Our Government has very little input to a system that has been put together by a number of disparate technology companies.
Our Government is basically responsible for about 10% of the whole setup. They rely on the phone networks, using their masts to send the alert. They decide which of the masts the alert should go out from, either localised or National. That is the part the Government has any real control over. The rest of the system is down to the phone manufacturer, the OS developer, the quality of the signal from your local mast, whether you can even get 4G or 5G. Whether your local mast is down at the time the signal is sent etc. etc.
It is not a fail safe communication. It is just ONE of many systems the Government will use to alert you should a real emergency occur. There are way too many factors outside of the Governments direct control to make this the one and only alert system they would use, I guess that's why they wanted to test just how useful it could be.
Hmmm. Given Three’s claimed network coverage, the fact that very few of their customers actually heard the alarm, seems to indicate a massive flaw in the system. Surely, not all of their network was down at the time, nor all of their customers using ‘old tech’ phones?
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35 minutes ago, SwanR said:
I can’t see how they could possibly set a time that would be safe. How do you take account of all ages and groups of people and the disabled. Not to mention people wanting to stop and look over.
How do you set a time at a pelican crossing for people of all abilities to cross safely?
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So basically, what appears to be the case, is that it does seem to work as well as the Track and Trace app developed during the pandemic. Probably put together by the same people at an exorbitant price, too.
Why am I not surprised?
Me, cynical? Whatever gave you that impression??
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27 minutes ago, SwanR said:
It really would have made sense to keep it traffic-free given the lack of safe pedestrian crossing.
They only need to alter the sequencing on the traffic lights to allow additional time for pedestrians to cross, as they do at pelican crossings.
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Just seen on a FB page that Potter Bridge will be closed to all traffic, including pedestrians from Monday to Wednesday (inclusive) this coming week, but will be open to vehicular traffic from Thursday with a 7.5 tonne weight limit in place.
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2 hours ago, CeePee1952 said:
Now sampling “Somebody called Chris” beer! Good shout Mouldy - thank you!
Chris and Brenda
My pleasure - enjoy! I enjoyed it so much at The White Horse, Neatishead, when I found it was on at The Lion, I just had to try it again to make sure I wasn’t mistaken the first time! 😉
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Friday 21st April
I woke at quarter past five. No time this morning to get the heating on, we needed to get back to Boulters for pump-out and refuelling by 10:00, when we were booked in. I dressed and went to demist the windows, Deb dressed and took Harley for a short walk to allow the dog time to do what she needed to do. By 06:00, we were on our way across a much calmer Barton Broad. It had been raining overnight and was still raining as we made our way back down The Ant.
Once again, I cursed the idiot that positioned the windscreen wiper on MS where he had. Every time we’re on board and it rains, the same thought crosses my mind. It clears such a small area in the upper left hand side of the port side screen, frankly it’s of little use. We had breakfast as we cruised along, then with hot water available, Deb went for a shower.
Despite the rain and wind, there was even more clearance under Ludham Bridge, with almost 8ft 6ins showing on the markers. I noticed Kate’s boat safely moored in a corner at LBBY, the bright orange superstructure standing out on a dismal, wet, grey morning.
We we’re soon turning onto The Bure and just before we arrived at Cockshoot Dyke, where I’d intended to moor, whilst I went for a shower, we spotted the first boat on the move that we’d seen since leaving Gayes Staithe. It was almost 08:00 by now and I’d expected to have seen some Friday hire returnees out and about, but it was really quiet.
Once moored, I went for my shower and got dressed, we tidied up the rest of our belongings, moving them all to the aft cabin, ready to load the car. We chugged round to Boulters, a little early and with room at the fuel berth, we reversed carefully in. The breeze, although present, was nowhere near as strong as the previous days, for which I was grateful.
We’d not used the forward heads, so there was just the aft en-suite to pump out and fuel to top up. We’d used 44 litres of fuel, a good chunk of which would have been on the heating, so not bad for what we’d done. Bill paid, we cruised the short distance back to Horning Pleasurecraft, where we moored without difficulty back in our berth.
We loaded the car, finished cleaning through and left at about midday. It had been a good week and we were both reminded that hanging on to our half share in Moonlight Shadow had been a good idea, even after we’d bought Norfolk Lady. She’s a grand boat and with recent investment by the syndicate, now free of the management company that had cost so much over the years, was getting better with every visit.
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Thursday 20th April
The early morning routine continued for another day. A bright, cold start to the day and my first task was to start the heating, before returning to bed for a few minutes. I’d been thinking about our plan for our final full day, which was originally to go for a mooch round Hoveton, but with so few hire boats out, I didn’t think there’d be much chance of mooring, so decided to go back up The Ant.
Deb took Harley for her walk and although it was quite breezy, I flew my drone to grab a few photos. After breakfast, we set off. There was little boat traffic on the rivers as we headed back to The Bure, forking right at the junction and continuing past St Benets.
The weather forecast was for the wind to increase in strength, cloud to move in and for rain in the afternoon. So far, it had been quite accurate through the week. The breeze was picking up already and the pennant flown at Moonlight Shadow’s bow was flapping briskly.
We easily passed under Ludham bridge, with about 8ft 4ins showing on the markers. The works at Horning Marshes moorings were scheduled to start on 20th and I was surprised to see that they’d already made a start. Not all the moorings had been closed and a few boats were still moored nearer the bridge.
We continued up the river, passed How Hill, where again, there were very few craft moored. I hoped Jonny Crowe’s Staithe might be empty, but no, out of luck again. One day, maybe, one day! There was space at Irstead, but I’ d decided to go to Gayes Staithe first, to see if there was space there.
Heading onto Barton Broad, with the strong breeze heading from the north east, it was very choppy with white horses forming on the surface. Spray was breaking across the windscreen that I’d cleaned the previous afternoon as we made our way across. As we rounded the bend to Gayes Staithe, I was pleased to see that aside from one boat moored side on on the stern on moorings, it was empty. I reversed onto the end, stern on spot that we favour and we tied up.
A few more boats arrived and I chatted to a couple of crews for a while. Lunch was a park pie, bought from the Ludham butchers, with a bag of crisps. Not exactly the healthy option, but enjoyable nonetheless. Deb knitted and did some sewing, I cleaned the interior windows through the boat and we both tidied a few bits and pieces in readiness for the end of our trip the following day.
During the afternoon, the promised rain set in, although it did stop in the evening, when the sun emerged for short periods between the clouds.
Dinner was lamb chops, again from the excellent butchers in Ludham, with boiled new potatoes and green beans. We watched TV for a while, before retiring for our final night on board, on this allocation.
We had an early start the following morning. I dozed off thinking about how quickly the week had passed, but how much we’d enjoyed it.
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1 hour ago, oldgregg said:
Ah, you upgraded....
I've been eyeing the Mini 3 Pro too. There's quite a few useful differences from the standard model and for the price (even with the DJI RC) it really is impressive.
I haven't owned a drone for a while now and the features, price and size (particularly compared with my old Mavic Pro) are really impressive.
It’s a brilliant little drone and quite capable. There have been a number of firmware upgrades since it came out which have greatly improved it. I’m also very impressed with the RC controller. Although the screen isn’t as bright as the more expensive DJI ones, having it built in, instead of using your phone, is a massive improvement imho.
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2 minutes ago, DAVIDH said:
Glad to see you've had the drone out Malcolm. My favourite shot is the portrait image of Thurne Windpump.
Drone time has been limited by the wind. It’s really been quite breezy this week with some quite strong gusts. I’ve been using my Mini 3 Pro due to the proximity of uninvolved people to comply with flying regs.
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Are we still able to use the word slap? Have the woke brigade not banned it yet?? 
My Day
in The Broadscot Lounge
Posted
And the fact that British consumers aren’t satisfied with seasonal produce anymore. The expectation now is that we can eat strawberries at Christmas and asparagus in November. Energy costs are now dissuading UK producers from growing some fruit and veg as heating greenhouses is too expensive and a shortage of pickers means that some of what was grown, had to be left in the fields to rot.
They might be part of the reason that when I bought parsley and thyme from the supermarket a few weeks ago and they came from Portugal and Greece respectively.