dnks34

I mean no disrespect Smellyloo but to me your opinion really makes no sense! If you go for a walk in the countryside you would expect to see cows right?! (they terrify me but thats where they live) So when your going for a pint in a riverside pub.....on the Norfolk Broads.....why would you find the sight of boats (big orange and yellow ones or otherwise) so unpleasant. Its the Norfolk Broads and without those boats and tourism etc who knows the pub your having your pint in may have to close its doors! We all must agree to live and let live but based on the impression I have gotten from the media available (and my latest Toll bill) it is clear to me that the worst for not doing so could be the Chairman of the Broads Authority himself!! A man in his position will always be critcised for something but does he ever get anything right, and not only right in his view?!

I completely agree with this view in theory. I posted recently about the 24hr moorings before Beccles road bridge and how it appeared they were being used by match fisherman in albeit off season. I drive that way a lot and almost every day i go that way there are fisherman set up on that stretch of 24hr moorings. You can usually tell by the number of vehicles in the 2 laybys on opposite sides of the bypass that there are fisherman there. Im not anti anglers but for those moorings to be being used almost everyday by fisherman in my opinion its an abuse, especially if fishing a match. Personally I cant see any match fisherman happily packing up and moving on in the case a few boats turned up and wanted to moor as they are entitled to do.

I may have already stated that my Toll is going up around £75. I am still undecided as to what I am going to do, do I pay in full when I am totally against the level of increase or do I offer payment at the same level as last year + 2% or so and then deal with any consequences. I appreciate if the BA have a funding shortfall then something has to give but the BA need and must live within their means. Instead of doing that they prefer to open toll payers wallets and help themselves to whatever they fancy. In the grand scheme of things our boat is seeming less and less important in our lives and its possible that before much longer enough will be enough and it will go. What interests me more than anything now is what will happen with the next Toll in 2018, any increase whatsoever will probably be the final nail, i am not being held to ransome. Its almost a 30 year old boat.

I did remember you had said before he was actually quite a welcoming man and had I visions of becoming brainwashed to the cause down the teabag aisle!!

Joking aside, I did actually see him in the Supermarket this evening. I did think I should convey my dislike to the toll increase but It wasnt the place really was it. And also for a man who his reported to be used to getting his own way what is anything I have to say going to achieve......

I was quite tempted this evening to have all this and my toll increase out with the Dr when I noticed he was also in the supermarket doing his shopping, but being english I bit my lip (remembered the CCTV!) and acted with dignity. It was an oppurtunity well missed though im properly gutted that the wife was with me or they'd be down a few dozen eggs and a couple of bags of flour now!!

Marshman, in the nicest possible way adopt a sense of humour and dont try and bait me into an argument by insulting me. I dont see where i mentioned JP in my post.....do you?

Does anyone else remember in recent months (in the last 12 or so) all the hype there was about fuel going back down to £1 a litre? It lasted how long....i think i made the mistake of blinking.

I must appologise for using the word "erection" in my last post, can I assure all members I was not intending to suggest Dr Paddock is infact a P*nis!!

A.J.B how can you be sure Dr Packard isnt funding this signage from the Toll Account? What will he do next, commission a statue of himself Angel Of The North style and make this erection of himself at the Berney Arms so he can keep watch on all he rules......and us plebs??

This will be from the extra 75 quid they are hoping to get off us in Toll money! That is if and when I decide to pay it........ For a supposedly clever man hes pretty stupid.

Couldnt you just non slip paint the bottom of your shoes? Do they do tester pots? !!

I have heard of the Sir Lancelot class ships. They were still using a few of the remaining ships into Antwerp from Marchwood at the time I was over there although I never saw them, just a vessel name on a piece of paper in Northern Germany. This was Sea Crusader:

Very interesting reading Vaughan. The bosun not closing those enormous bow doors would easily be accepted by the victims families and public as the reason for the capsizing. Did the Captain or Chief Officer take any portion of the blame, did they even survive? It seems to me that time pressure from the company could have played a big part in procedures not being followed and vital tasks not being completed before sailing. My father was in the British Army and I had the pleasure of spending all of my childhood in Germany so we used the various channel and north sea routes quite frequently. In my early adult years I had experience with the RFA while assisting the movements squadron whom i then worked for as a civillian unload tanks and various other military vehiclage returning from conflict on an RFA ship called the Sea Crusader at Emden. That ship returned to its original name of Celestine years later and I think is owned or atleast operated now by Cobelfret Ferries. I also had a spell working for P&O in Hull and was sometimes involved in loading the evening Zeebrugge service at that time served by the Norland & Norstar. I remember one particular evening we were loading the self drive trucks onto the Norstar, they all drove on at the stern up the port side then looped back at the bow to come back along the starboard side. The ship suddenly took on a hefty starboard list and chaos ensued on the radios to get more weight on the port side as the ship was being supported mainly by its mooring lines. It never was explained why that happened, id never seen it happen before nor after in the time I was there before I moved on.

After this event and I believe as a result of changes to the SOLAS regulations some car ferries operating from the UK were fitted with exterior sponsons whilst others preferred intermitant moveable bulkheads along the length of the main vehicle deck. The Norland & Norstar on the old North Sea Ferries / P&O fleet (both now scrapped) lost a degree of freight space by having a second skin built inside the vessel along the length of the main vehicle deck. Their counterparts the newer and larger Norsea / Norsun have the opening bulkheads spaced out along the length of the ship preventing any water ingress from causing the effect it did on the Heralds unobstructed main deck. Its sad that it takes accidents like the Herald to make things far safer for the future.

Do you think the Herald had a stability issue even before what happened Vaughan. I remember reading that what compounded the flooding that night was the ship being trimmed down at the bow for loading reasons bringing the open bow doors closer to the water level. Had that not been the case it might have made it across without issue and the open doors would then have been discovered when arriving in Dover. Terrible event and I can still remember watching events unfold on the TV news all that time ago.

I have to agree with Baitrunner, our boat has an upstairs helm (not sure if it qualifies as a flybridge!) and the viewpoint is ideal. On a bathtub or low level boat you really are missing a lot! We would prefer a higher level boat everytime but in saying that if it could fit under all the bridges without having to lower screens and canopy it would be much more appealing. We cant have it all!

Eggy pong....are they stainless tanks? Ours is stainless and even though we do put some tablets in each year we have never yet had to investigate an Eggy pong. For the price you pay to moor at the Ferry Marina the water should be kept available at the berth all year! I know they say its turned off to prevent burst pipes but our basic little boatyard on the southside keeps the water on all year round without a fuss....at less than 1/2 the price!!!

Is Matt Le Blanc still a presenter? I must say I preferred him as Joey in friends and not as himself in Top Gear!!

Marshman if we are saying its simply the location rather than the offering affecting southern hire business then they are dammed from the outset! In my opinion the broads north and south have a lot to offer but with the current trend of southern hire fleets closing or fleets being moved North I can only think the Northern side must be becoming very crowded. We keep our boat on the South side for that reason. The last time we ventured North was 2014 and as much as i like the place I couldnt wait to come back South! I have nothing against hirers (except the incompetant ones!!) but who will really want to be paying top dollar for a UK based holiday and spending the week in an area that at peak times is becoming to busy and somewhat overcrowded. With that in mind if I was a hirer a Southern based yard to me would be quite attractive.

Hi Rob and welcome +1 for the ezydog life jackets, we have one each for both our dogs. Our Jack Russell inparticular actually loves wearing hers. We dont take our German Shepherd to the boat as often as we used to but she did once end up in the drink in the Ferry Marina. The handle on the ezydog jacket made it very easy for two of us to lie down on the decking and lift her out, we would have really struggled without it or potentially hurt her. Shes never done it since though!! Have fun.

Condensation has got to be the bain of boating Trev. Our boat is also lacking in fixed vents but ive never been brave enough to cut the head lining in order to fit a few extra mushroom types! I think window design as much as fixed vents can help or hinder enormously. If you are lucky enough to have the posh window frames with self draining chanels to take away the dripage then your laughing. Unfortunately ours are the typical basic aluminium type and in certain areas where condensation forms above a bed on the frame or glass we have strategically cellotaped puppy training pads to the area to prevent any annoying drips during the night. We always leave 1 small hopper window open while sleeping or i start to feel clostrophobic but even doing that doesnt always prevent the condensation and if you have a small oil heater on low over night then its even worse.

Marshman can you give examples of which Southern Yards couldnt run effectively? Atleast one closure I can think of had more to do with unrelated financial matters and a delapadated fleet. Had that not been the case then their outlook could have been different. Swancraft were very popular and had a tidy well kept fleet, did that make them ineffective?! I thought their closing the hire business was nothing to do with shortage of bookings and more to do with owner time of life and sick of all the hassle. Who can blame them. Many customers these days will want to hire plush new vessels and those vessels will be attractive to hirers on whichever sides of breydon they are based. I would have thought a Southern Yard with a new fleet should do quite well. The old days are gone, in my opinion the product on offer Is becoming paramount but whether these boats are actually suitable for hire does remain to be seen.

When it warms up a bit......hopefully by June or July we might get a few warm days and i can put the tubes away!

This galvanic corrosion issue. My shore system earth is not physically wired to any metal objects on my boat ie shaft, engine, tanks or anodes etc so I dont understand how these metal parts become at risk for galvanic corrosion on a GRP hull. I have 1 magnesium anode on the rudder and at the last lift there was still some material left on it and it had been almost 5 years since the last lift. I did put a new one on obviously. Is this not more of a concern for metal hulled boats or where everything inside is bonded? I have queried my floating system with an engineer in the past and he wasnt at all concerned about the way its wired up. Ive got an RCD on my shore panel, my small inverter has its own RCD and then theres the trips on the actual shore supply post so we should be covered in electric shock terms without any earth bonding.........shouldnt we?!