Mouldy

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

https://www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk/news/24223282.three-boats-involved-fire-oulton-broad-suffolk/

According to local radio, three boats were damaged by the fire.

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.

From the BA website. Where does £16 come in?

If it’s just the gin and not the contents of the cocktail cabinet, make sure it’s the bottle with the most in!

I have to say that for an ‘Elite’ boat, hired at a premium price, the upholstery looks poor and if I were you, I wouldn’t have been as understanding of the requirement for three call outs. One of them should have been dealt with but adequate explanation of the electrical system at handover. A broken bolt is not acceptable, being able to secure the boat is a given and issues with the heating this early in the season, when the boats should all have been thoroughly checked over is poor. The heater on Moonlight Shadow is serviced as part of winter maintenance and one hopes that hire craft are treated similarly too. We hired from Summercraft several times over the years and the biggest issues we experienced were a blown bulb in the heads, that we replaced, much to Sue’s disappointment, as she told us we should have called them out and paid me four times the cost of the bulb in recompense. We also had a faulty hairdryer on one boat and again Sue told us we should have called to get one sent out. It seems that some yards are happy to let the customer find the faults and repair them as they go. The fact that they were repaired quickly is a bonus, but should they have happened in the first place? Of course, the failures may just have occurred, but it’s only March.

Yep. And it was very well ventilated.

Moored yesterday lunchtime at Beccles Yacht Station. The sun was out and it was very pleasant. We had our saloon windows open, the galley window open as well as the doors to the aft well, where our canopy was also open. I lit the grill and within seconds our CO alarm was sounding. Pushing the button to silence it didn’t stop the bloody thing, so I took it off the wall and the wife went outside with it, covering it with her hand to kill the sound. She was outside for about fifteen minutes and it still wouldn’t switch off, so out of desperation, it was drowned, not in the river, but in a sink full of water. That did the trick. Less than three years old, too. We left it in the aft well overnight with a view to take it home to be thrown safely with our electrical waste. The alarm light was still flashing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m in favour of these to promote safety, but to be fit for purpose, they have to be reliable. I hope the new one is better.

We headed for Beccles yesterday and noted that there were three yachts with a certain patina occupying the Worlingham moorings. Interested to see that one of them had been moved this morning alongside one of the others to make space for an outboard equipped dinghy to moor there. Its obviously not worth checking the BA webpage to ascertain whether they were tolled, as we know that it may not be up to date, but it already seems apparent that some live aboard/continuous cruisers are already doing the same thing on The Broads. Don't get me wrong, I understand that some people can’t afford housing and have turned to the Broadland rivers as an alternative, but those of us who wish to legitimately use the rivers and moorings that we pay to use, are going to be denied the privilege if something isn’t done soon.

Thought charges applied from April 1st, which is a most appropriate date, tbh.

Nice thought and one that appeals to my sense of humour, but did you know that according to The British Coinage Act (1971), you are legally allowed to tender up to 20 pence (total) in mixed one and two pence coins. More can be paid, but only if the person you are paying is willing to accept them.

Danny, always remember B O A T. Bring Out Another Thousand. Always worth remembering that old and much used adage. Just enjoy the boat, get it sorted out and think of the good times to come, when it’s done (which, frankly, it never will be, ‘cos there’s always something else to do). No good being the richest man in the graveyard! 👍 Good luck, mate!

I’ve found a similar issue with the Aweigh App, where when it’s first opened, the data doesn’t always display correctly. Closing the app properly (and I’ve no idea how to do that with a Google phone) and reopening it seems to make it behave for me. It may work for you too!

Our son and his family are in Moonlight Shadow this week. We met them at HPC to sort the bedding out and went to The Ferry Inn for dinner, before heading back to Brundall and Norfolk Lady. We hadn’t booked, but soon found a table for us all (four adults and three grandchildren). They’d just switched to a new menu, which certainly looked more like ‘proper’ dishes rather than something out of the Brakes Brothers catalogue. We did wait quite a long time for the food, but it was very evident that it was a long way removed from what they used to serve. Our son and daughter in law both had a 12oz gammon steak, which looked really good, thick and well cooked, the wife had lasagne, which she described as freshly made with plenty of mince and sauce, served with a salad of dressed leaves and olives, with garlic bread. I opted for pie of the day, which turned out to be turkey and mushroom. Unlike some pies, this was a proper shortcrust number (top and bottom), properly filled and very tasty, served with creamed potatoes, green beans and gravy. They’ll need to speed service up before we get to ‘peak,’ but after a winter plagued with closures due to the flooding, it was good to see the place busy again and serving food that would entice me back.

You remember our conversation from a few months ago . . . . . you know, when I said ‘you don’t buy a boat, you buy a hole in the water to throw money into.’

Exactly! In my opinion, the fact that water company bosses are trousering huge bonuses for running largely profitable businesses, whilst dumping vast quantities of untreated sewage in our rivers, is utterly unacceptable.

From the EDP - just gross! https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/24215267.norfolk-broads-village-named-countys-sewage-hotspot/

In the other hand, she could be expressing her feelings towards your photographic technique!