vanessan

Crumbs, if you google that number and look at the website and mobile numbers involved, there are THOUSANDS of them! It seems these days we cannot do anything without the fear of being scammed, it is worrying and not surprising that so many folk are caught out. It surely can be no coincidence that the scam text involved a pastime of Timbo's, could mean yet another list of addresses, mobile nos etc has been sold on or stolen. Thanks to Timbo for giving us the warning.

That seems to have covered a multitude of sins! Let's hope the EDP take due note and manage to quote it all without prejudice. So that's at least 3 of us who have put our views forward. With everything that has been said on this forum, I hope more have been moved to comment.

Personally I am pretty disgusted at the proposed new tolls setup and I have written to the BA Navigation Committee with my views asking for them to be taken into account prior to the committee making any decision on Thursday at their meeting. I would be very interested to know how many other NBN members have done likewise. There is a lot of hot air on this topic but seemingly very little action being taken. I hope I am wrong and we are all voicing our thoughts in the appropriate quarter.

Fairly recently I was talking to a private boat owner whose boat was damaged quite badly when a hire boat hit him late at night. The boat did not stop and, as it was dark and the guy was in bed, he was unable to get any definite details other than the name of the hire yard. Needless to say, without any witnesses the boatyard did not want to know. Nothing he could do.

By coincidence I bought this book in Jarrold's in Norwich last week (for £8.99) and I have to agree it is a splendid read. I am very concerned at the way things are going with regard to moorings, waste disposal and virtually everything relating to the boater, hirer or privateer. This thread is bringing a lot of our worries to the fore and I hope 'the powers that be' take notice of it.

I think it is fairly common for residents to be able to access local attractions, either free of charge or more cheaply. Maybe it's because very often their local taxes etc go towards funding the attraction in the first place. Residents of the diocese of Canterbury (and that covers a very large area including Dover and Folkestone) can apply for a permanent free pass to the cathedral and grounds and that maybe the case for other cathedrals too, I don't know.

This is amazing news, almost too good to be true! I'm rather surprised the 'broads boating co' doesn't have a website ( not that I can find anyway) but I wish them well and look forward to hearing how the project is going. I hope the BA will see fit to give them support where possible, heaven knows we need more visitor moorings at Acle.

So let's come up with a strategy! It really is time to be doing something, it's a case of WHAT!!

Then what CAN we do? Andrew has given voice to concerns that many of us have but we seem unable to come to any sort of agreement as to what to do next. Has anybody got any ideas at all? At least the NBF is doing something rather than just talking about the problems. I think it needs a concerted effort by all the forums but it doesn't appear likely that will happen any time soon.

I've often thought about this and I have come to the conclusion that I wouldn't change very much with regard to our boat. Probably refit the interior but to change the bathtub for something blingy and limiting just wouldn't do it for me now. I don't think I could get on and off some of the boats that are around now anyway! I guess if money were no object, I would have to be a bit like Lady Shifty (Lady Green) and have a large fully crewed yacht and sail the world. But I would still have to come back very regularly to my little treasure on the Broads.

It's daft isn't it how much we all look forward to our trips?! We are lucky enough to have our own boat now and we spend many weeks each year on it but I still get a buzz from the anticipation and planning. She goes onto hard- standing for the winter months and I find I get withdrawal symptoms, like you all do, during those cold dreary months. It's a good thing Christmas brightens up that time. I often think it would be nice to spend the festive period afloat but I don't think my bones and joints would stand it these days!

No 6 - So often I see boats come into moor and eventually someone appears to take care of the mooring up only to have to spend a good few minutes sorting out a heap of rope. At the bow, the mudweight rope is usually all muddled with the bow ropes making for a real bird's nest! No 10 - I am trying so hard to be 'uncool'! Remembering to put my lifejacket on each time I go on deck is hard but these days very necessary. For some reason I don't seem to move as easily as I used to !

Happily sorting out ropes on deck completely oblivious to Beccles Old Bridge coming up............... Oooops (almost)!!

Where is the 'Bolero incident' please? It sounds interesting.

Talk about threads going off topic! Sorry Cheesey.

and never the twain shall meet..........

But you can't walk dogs sitting in the car!

"I'm trying to avoid things like "Going too fast past moored boats" because although it shouldn't happen that's down to thoughtlesness rather than an error." Mostly I would agree with that but I see far too many 'helmspersons' who seem totally unaware of the wash they are creating with their speed. That goes for private and hire. IMO going too fast has to be included as the more it gets mentioned the more it will be taken on board surely?? Maybe something along the lines of 'being unaware of the boats you've washed onto the quayside because you're going too fast'.

I did make that comment tongue in cheek! With regard to tugs, the ferries at Dover still need their help from time to time when the wind is exceptionally strong. The cliffs above the docks make a good viewpoint - if you can stand upright that is!

Cross channel ferries have them, the skippers seem to find them quite useful. When the hire yards first started fitting them, quite regularly we would hear a boat coming along and then the sound of the bow thruster as the helmsman changed direction. It was a case of 'look at my boat, it's got what you haven't'! Only now it seems that half the boats on the Broads have bow thrusters and the 'in' thing for hire boats is to have stern thrusters too. Seriously though, we would really miss our BT, tight spaces are a doddle now - as long as they are big enough if the first place!

I now have a fear of a boat ramming us while trying to leave a quayside going forwards as if the helmsman was driving a car. It did happen to us around 6 years ago when the helmsman was trying to leave Reedham with both wind and tide behind him and did a lot of damage. These memories stay with you. Earlier today I watched a Richos boat at How Hill attempting to leave. Luckily he had a reasonable amount of space as he was going forward trying to turn away from the quayside then backwards to enable him to have another go. I think the boat was probably on its way back to base so had probably been out for the last 5 days, I guess he had been doing this all the time. It's a common sight and I think the boatyard trial run should include guidance on how to leave a mooring and an explanation that boats do not steer the same way a car does. It seems to me that some of the guys who do the trial runs merely want to show off their own skills and rush into and out of a mooring as fast as they can leaving the client thinking he has to do the same! Earlier this year I was talking to a couple on a Maffett's boat. They were first timers and had come into moor at St Olaves in a way that made me think they had been at least a couple of times previously. They told me that Maffett's had given them about an hour's tuition, taking time to explain things and answer questions. I know it is a small yard but all credit to them, they had happy and confident clients and that's the way it should be.

Beccles does seem to catch some people out. We saw a hire boat earlier this year caught up on one corner. The people from the boat alongside seemed to be a bit concerned as the tide was still rising. I think they woke the crew in time to avoid any major problem!

We do exactly the same and on more than one occasion it has saved our boat from getting a bump. Mostly folk are happy to accept help and will go on to ask questions or for advice. Only once has a chap got tetchy when I offered him help to leave a mooring. "I can't be bothered with all this technical stuff" he said as I tried to explain to him how to get the stern of his boat out easily!

I guess we must time it wrong as there has never been a space on the quay! Robin's idea of sounding the horn might be a good way to go but at least now we know that pump outs can be done at any point on the quay. Whilst we are on the subject of pumpouts etc, we have found customer service at various places quite varied over the last 4 weeks. We stopped at Goodchild's, Burgh Castle, for diesel earlier this month. Reception informed us 'they are just going for their tea break'. Sure enough, 2 minutes later the hooter sounded. 15 minutes later it sounded for the end of the tea break and after another 5 minutes someone appreared to serve us. It did make me wonder how many places would make you wait to be served while the staff went for a tea break. If it happened in a shop, I think most people would go elsewhere but I guess it's a bit more of a 'captive audience' on the Broads. Yesterday we popped into Russell's at South Walsham for water and decided we might as well have a pumpout while we were there. One lad point blank refused to do it because of 'faulty equipment' and said someone else would but would be extremely cross at being asked anyway. I decided to give it a miss at that point, sad as Russell's have always provided good customer service but at the moment there appears to be a lack of understanding/communication at the yard. Went to Horning Marina Services (the old Southgates yard) this morning for the pumpout plus diesel and water. What fantastic customer service. The pumpout was the best we have had on the northern rivers, 3 good rinses. We'll be going back there. We did stop at Broom's last week, the guy there who normally looks after the quay services did not seem all that well so if it was him who went home sick, I can't say I'm surprised. We've always had good service from Broom's and you get free water!!

We have passed by on quite a few occasions wondering if we could get a pumpout rather than use Broom's but never seen a space to pull in. Is there a specific spot to head for?