vanessan

I think the Broom's smaller boats like Torvill have pushpit rails. We had called in at Broom's for water one day last year and a boat had been returned by a hirer after only a couple of days of the week's hire. Apart from a couple of scrapes, the pushpit rail had received a severe wallop and was badly bent and wrenched from its fixings. The guy at Broom's thought it probably happened when leaving a mooring. The hirers decided boating wasn't for them!

Creative Covers really do excellent work but they have become very difficult to contact. I believe that much of their work has been picked up through 'word of mouth'. I also learnt a little while ago that they were doing a substantial amount of work for Freedom. If that is still the case, I would guess that this will be a very busy time of year for them as boats are being refurbished for the 2017 season. It's a shame if they are losing business through lack of communication channels.

MM has nailed it! But what a good thing JM posted the topic, it's these sort of posts that give us something to chew over this time of year when it is fairly quiet. Thank goodness Broads boating is not to everybody's taste, there would never be sufficient BA Rangers to police the system! And how about moorings and rubbish disposal...................?!!

Many boaters go through their boating life without ever wearing a life jacket/bouyancy aid - I did until recently. I realised that, as I was getting older, my mobility was getting a bit iffy with joints not behaving like they used to. I now wear a LJ when mooring etc, for my peace of mind and the skipper's!

EDP 8th November 2016. Mark Wakelin launched the Great Yare Ferry Company just over a year ago from River Green, in Thorpe St Andrew. The hourly service takes people from the banks of the River Yare across to Whitlingham Country Park and into the city. But Mr Wakelin has now decided to shut down the operation due to what he calls “unfair” pricing of new river tolls. He said: “I never set this up to make money, but I also didn’t do it to be made a monkey of by the Broads Authority. “On the 22nd day of the season this year, the total of all my takings equalled my annual toll. “You don’t have to be a business man to realise this does not make sense.” The 62-year-old said he paid around £625 each year in river tolls, Under the new changes, Mr Wakelin claimed that while his toll would remain the same, hire boats of the same size will pay significantly less – despite making more money.

Fourplay!

I think the ticket office idea was linked to the ferry being run by Mark Wakelin (?) from Thorpe Green but I believe he has now pulled out in protest at the tolls revamp. I'm sure I read that somewhere, no doubt someone can confirm - or otherwise.

Many years ago we had a cairn terrier who, like most dogs, was adept at clearing the floor of any dropped food etc. On one occasion my great-aunt managed to empty her full glass of gin and tonic on the floor. We didn't know until we found the dog standing over something licking furiously. Then he sat down and continued licking, then he lay down - still licking. We finally realised what he was enjoying but too late, he had cleared the lot. He didn't move from that spot, just keeled over and slept for hours! No harmful effects luckily but he did seem to have a smile on his face for the next day or so. Watch out for slippery decks when dogs are on board. We have found that wet towels are ideal to stop paws slipping and provide grip when getting on and off the boat.

Sorry to hear the sad news. My own Dad passed away last year aged 95, it is so hard to accept they've gone. Now you have Bill to worry about. It never rains but it pours does it! The post from Wildfuzz is so true.

So our tolls will be reduced in 2020 then? Mind you, by then most of us will probably need 2nd mortgages to fund them anyway!

Brilliant suggestion - gets my vote.

Like others I never met Iain but I always enjoyed his posts and his banter. He will be sadly missed on this forum. A true Broads addict.

And if anybody really needs telling, March is Pull's Ferry, Norwich. Taken 12 May this year at 9.30pm. Edited to add: super calendar, thanks to all concerned.

A Christmas morning sail could be very interesting!

Yes but I don't suppose we'll notice it for a while yet. The shortest day/winter solstice also marks the start of winter.

To put it in simple english, it is when the sun's daily maximum elevation in the sky is at its lowest. That point was at 10.44am. What would we do without Wikipedia?!!

We have pulpit and pushpit rails on our bathtub and, contrary to others, I wouldn't be without them. I guess it does depend a lot on what type of vessel you are trying to manoeuvre around but as I get older I need all the help I can get to stay upright! Useful for flags too.

No, jut say sorry and grovel to the BA ranger! I guess we'll probably never know until it happens.

Hirers are apparently told to run their engines for 3/4 hours each day, that means some are bound to run engines at moorings particularly if the batteries are not up to scratch anyway. I think the only way Byelaw 84 would be enforced is if someone complained to the BA that the noise was a nuisance. IMO a BA ranger would probably have a word with the miscreants before coming down heavily on them. I think most private boaters and probably the majority of hirers are considerate towards others where the running of engines is concerned.

This was badly written in the February edition of BroadSheet. It is only an offence if it causes disturbance to others. This was clarified by the BA at that time and they agreed the wording was misleading.

Maybe I would too thinking about it!

"I'm still keeping my eye out for the pervert who scoops up dog poop into a polythene bag and then hangs and leaves the bag on trees and bushes!" I was thinking earlier today that I would love to find those morons too. I would collect a number of their bags, find out where they lived and decorate their own tree (assuming they had one) so it looked like it was festooned with black christmas baubles!!

We have been with Plusnet for about 5 years. Until around 2/3 months ago, everything was fine but lately it has been steadily getting worse. Our internet (we're in the sticks so can only get basic broadband) has been very slow at times but webmail over the last few weeks has been dire. If it is by chance available, it is desperately slow and from the reviews it,would appear this is quite common. Speaking to 'customer service' (and that title is a joke), no one seems the slightest bit bothered and almost seem keen for you to leave Plusnet! If we hadn't only recently paid 12 months line rental up front, we would be off but where to I really don't know. I wouldn't recommend Plusnet to my worst enemy now.

Only the other day I was trying to remember the dog's name so I could show someone that clip. For the life of me I couldn't remember it so thank you Hylander for the timely reminder . It really is no joke when something like that happens to you. As the owner of 2 dogs, I have had many a 'heart in mouth' moment and the sheer relief when all turns out well is unbelievable. A 'prime example of an irresponsible dog owner'? Possibly, but accidents do happen and for all we know Fenton may have slipped his lead in his excitement. He probably thought his master was egging him on and joining in rather than calling him back! It does make for a good video clip though.

The Broads Authority didn't come into being until 1989, many would probably say that's when things started going downhill!