JanetAnne

oooh Peter, I love it when you ooze positivity with such enthusiasm!

There are that many boats being run 'on the side' this year I'm surprised Inland Revenue haven't been in touch! Ok, ok, sorry

Congrats on your purchase. Were you lucky enough to get the mooring with her? Beccles YS is an excellent home and Tim, the harbour master, lives aboard on site so its nice and secure.

I think you will find that 'fan' belts also drive the engine water cooling pumps, both the raw water for the heat exchanger and exhaust as well as the sealed system water pump for engine cooling. When such a belt failed the charging light would be first to show as that is the first detected fault. The following alarms would have sounded once the engine temperature had exceeded the set levels. Some boats have just one fan belt running everything thats needed whereas others have multiple belts either running together so if one fails the systems continue or with different belts doing different jobs. By the way, should a raw water belt fail your exhaust will get very hot very quickly and, with plastic chambers and components used in exhaust systems more and more, it is very easy to burn or melt a hole through it once the water cooling is lost. Before you know it you have a boat full of diesel fumes... that's one t-shirt we have that we would rather not own! Our's was not a belt failure but a blocked weed filter that collected a big clump of seaweed as we crossed Breydon! The effect was the same though

I was always told that all boats will fit through all bridges, its purely a question of momentum

Are we boats or ornaments? I will, have and intend again to happily moor there.... However, I'm not sure that the heavier use from a full blown forum meet will do the moorings any favours especially if its a really windy weekend

Dry Dock? You aint seen this place. In last years floods I was tied to the bench - and I mean moored - because the water was on its way up and they thought I might float away!!

Can I have one to keep aboard?

St Olaves gets my vote. If you have to use the New Cut because of clearances you can sneak back right up to the Bell moorings next to the lower bridge and there is normally plenty of space.

oooh... red lead primer.... what every surviving old woodie dreams of. It should have been called orange lead primer really!

love it! Ultimately the real problem here is that can we actually afford all this protection from COSHH or whatever they called? All we are doing is taking away natural selection. Now we are all so protected we will have no alternative than to grow many more years older than is ideal and cost the country a fortune in longer term pension payments and dementia care. Bring back machine oil, DDT and tar varnish that actually had tar in it. Them were the days....

'Thixofix' used to be the glue of choice for sticking formica to plywood bulkheads. Its what we are using and is still readily available And just in case you dont have the 8x4 press available... here's our version! Needs must!

You're pretty close there. The Sonnet lads are well known amongst us floaties. They are a right laugh when they are together though. Simon is the quieter one but Steve more than makes up for it. Dont forget Stuart as well, cant see him there in the picture...

Twasn't me! No chocolates have been received here - yet, though if the offer still stands?

The only things getting through Wroxham Bridge these days are flat tops and day boats!

We have a really sharp bench saw here. Its sharp because its a brand new blade. I have no idea whether we read and understood all the bumff that came with the new blade because we used our common sense when fitting it. I am now sat here awaiting a knock on the barn door from someone with the sole intention of confiscating our saw and saving us from our common sense because we failed to wade through the bumff in the first place. Shall I hide the chisels now? And what about the new pack of stanley knife blades... just how much danger are we currently facing in this barn? The whole place needs shutting down immediately....Talk about systematically bringing a country to its knees! We dont make anything anymore because we are too scared to. And if we do try then some one will soon be along to protect us from from it.... And when my antifoul goes on we will apply some more common sense and take whatever precautions WE deem necessary. just remember you lot, at this rate its my a##e that will be covered in zebra mussels!!! If we are serious about protecting the broads how about actually enforcing some of the laws already within legislation rather than adding more? Rant over.... and I dont do ranting....

20 ?!! This inflation thing is just becoming rediculous!

on the subject of fishing (something I dont do by the way) who would be responsible for dealing with the huge number of hirers I see fishing from the back of their cruiser whilst motoring along? I believe this is a no no?

Sorry sir... I'll behave, honest I will

This is how it starts... wearing a helmet... hi vis fleece. Before you know it he'll be wrapped in lycra and shaving is legs!

Alan, the original poster was looking for a boat to use rather than one to spend many hours on in a vain hope of trying to get some use from it (hehe)

You'd need a lot of film if you were to follow my lot for a week. Public ridicule is not an issue though, they are used to it!

That pesky mod gets everywhere! For an excellent family boat without breaking the bank you just wont beat the Connoisseur. Old enough to be very affordable, built like tanks, laid out well (go for the extra cabin with the two bunks in tacked on the back if you can). Yes, some could do with a silencer revision and the steering ram will need an upgrade as the originals are a bit short (if it hasnt already been done of course) but apart from that its a proper bread and butter broads boat. And you can get under all the bridges...... nuff said!

Here's a bit of a report as promised. We had a superb collection of boats as you will have seen from pictures already doing the rounds with most of the broadland manufacturers represented. We had asked if those who felt able to, would open their boats up on the Saturday afternoon for anyone to have a look. Well, what fun... Whichever boat you got onto there was someone else either leaving, arriving or just passing through. Ideas were wowed at, soft furnishings discussed, cocktail cabinets compared, varnish stroked, polished engines were displayed and admired. As Jax said, everyone got to have a good rummage through each others boats... A truly fabulous afternoon which bought everyone together (most had not met before the day)! Would you believe there was one boat there that sported not only 5 permanently made up berths but also had a bathroom with full size bath as well as a full 12x12 lounge and a galley with washing machine and fridge freezer. Such opulence aboard a woodie! We also learnt a neat trick using roller blinds, a fabulous way to store bedding without the hastle of stowing it every morning and just about everyone had their own take to share on clever storage ideas. Saturday evening saw the area fill with the sounds of live groups as part of the carnival weekend and then on sunday thecarnival procession made its way through the town and onto the fields behind us. With all that going on and it was quite a filled few days. All too soon it was over, goodbyes were said and, amid much waving, the woodies set off one by one along well known rivers and back to their moorings to rest and dream of next years event. Yes, we will be back. We are most definitely invited for next year! Just waiting for the dates from Beccles and we will start to get it all organised for 2016

Including a trophy cabinet?