TheQ

Last time I saw her I was putting out a warehouse fire a few hundred feet away during the first firemans strike. There is a famous picture of the first fire crews with Belfast in the Background, as we all wore ww2 Tin hats, so it looked like a blitz photo. We also put out their fire engines as a wall fell on them....(no one injured)

1982 the first week in August, a friend had borrowed the company Broads cruiser, for his family to stay on during Horning Regatta week, I was invited to take a spare berth. Yes the company he worked for had a broads motor cruiser, even though the business wasn't broads related, but it was based in Norwich. Sadly he is no longer with us having left at an early age. Following that for many years my stays were less comfortable in my 17ft Lysander sailing boat, only for the last ten years have I been back in the comfort of a motorboat.

On Sunday the 22nd April, Horning Sailing Club have a down river race. If there is enough wind, ( and not too much), it will start somewhere near the Ferry Inn at around 10:30, down to either The Thurne Lion or Acle Bridge, a stop for Lunch and then race back starting at 14:00. There could be up to 30 boats starting with the big sailing cruisers, they start in groups of around 6 at 5 minute intervals. The general advice to you is, if you come across a big group coming towards you, slow down and stick to the right hand bank and let them sort themselves out to go round you. This applies whether they are tacking or just sailing along the river. The only exception to that is if they are all coming down the "wrong bank" towards you, without zigzagging across the river. In which case it may be possible to move out into the river to let them through. If you come across them and they are sailing away from you, stick to your right hand bank, and when there is a gap go forward to overtake. Always overtake behind a sailing boat if they are tacking, not in front of it. If you are lucky someone on a sailing boat may point to where they want you to go, my procedure was always to point to the motorboat in question and then point to where I wanted it to go. Hornings Sailing instructions, prohibit telling a motorboat to go, where it would then be in the way of other boats!!! You could of course just be moored up somewhere and have a camera and a glass of something while watching them all go past...

The Above advice is Good, a question is, When are you coming down for your week? just in case thee is something mad on, We need to give you advice about...

Not as such, although I have explained in on other threads. Basically it's a 3 phase AC motor by ev not too dissimilar to this http://www.everything-ev.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65_77_97&products_id=416 Their controller that converts 48V DC to 3 Phase ac, a small throttle on the dash board. 24 2v batteries 4 12V solar panels with controller. 4 CTEK battery chargers I managed to get a bargain for the generator a panda fischer AGT 4000 (48V) a a good price. like this https://www.fischerpanda.co.uk/AGT_4000_PMS.html I estimate I could get from Horning to Potter and part of the way back, on battery power only, but in reality I'd wind up the generator before setting off to save takeing a cycle life out of the batteries. For short journeys I just let the solar panels do the topping up. So for Black horse or just from the Moorings to the sailing club it's solar only. Had I not got the generator deal, I would have had the system at 72V as that would be more efficient. I have the stuff to fit Shore power, and once thats fitted I'll have the battery chargers available. The intention then is to have 48V- 240V inverter and have a microwave, hot plate and kettle . no gas. The electric motor It's very quiet except for a small high pitched whine at full blast. The generator is very quiet except for the engine noise from the water cooled exhaust. So I intend wrapping the exhaust in the fireproof jet engine insulation foam, and covering the boat around that area with the jet engine insulation foam. Even so the whole arrangement now is much quieter than the old BMC 1500 that used to be in there. The only problems I've got, Are because it's conventional lead acid batteries, having to keep them topped up with water. I'm also having to ballast the boat at the rear, as the batteries have moved the center of gravity forward. This is because it's a center cockpit, center engine compartment boat.

yep I'd agree with that...

I've had four panels, similar to those you have shown, fitted for over a year With an MPPT controller. They seem to be doing the job of charging 24, 2 Volt traction batteries very well. So far the only maintenance they've needed is a wash off with river water, as the dust and bird carp collects on the Cabin roof.

The last type shown in the video has a great similarity to the fireproof jet engine bay stuff I have..

Those of us in the Land Rover world, who have money tend to use FATMAT (US site but you can get it in the UK https://www.fatmat.com/ Those of us in the Land Rover world, like me, who have little money, use Flashing tape which is almost Identical, costs a lot less, but doesn't come in Huge sheets. https://www.diy.com/departments/building-supplies/roofing/flashing-tape/DIY570203.cat This then is covered in 10mm or 12mm EVA rubber camping mats. it's very effective. Remember that if you are going to hang anything over moving or hot parts, you will need a Mechanical way of holding the sheets on not just glue. I'm lucky sitting in my boat is a 8X4 sheet and a half of Jet engine test bay insulation, left over from... err insulating a jet Engine test bay. But at nearly 4 inches thick it was too thick to use on the Landrover.. Its made of two sheets of very fire proof foam rubber with a thin sheet of perforated lead stuck between. This I hope to fit this summer.

I saw too many of them on Sunday..... Being used to fish from while motoring. On one, because we were close, I did call out about broads regulation 29.1

Today being sailing day, it was off down the sailing club. A surprising amount of snow drifts still around. I put the buoys out, at least I only had to press a button to empty the boat of rain water not shovel out the snow. The usual bacon butties followed and a mugacoffee. The weather to start was misty and windless, but as we were having the aforesaid sustenance, a light breeze arrived. Wind north Easterly, not a lot to not much more. Tide, high tide just before the first race so not a lot, increasing all the time though. Sunny to start then it clouded over. Race 1, course 4p,2p,3p,2p, twice. We started very well, close to the left hand bank, so did most of the rest of the fleet spread across the river. Everyone was busy hauling up spinnakers, we all changed position several times as winds varied, but ourselves and the boat near the other bank drew ahead as we were out of the tide. Just before the first bend we had to cross the river as we didn't want to go in the fastest out going tide on the outside of the bend. This allowed the far right boat and one other to get in front of us. On rounding the corner those two kept to the right shadowing each other. So I cut across the river to the other bank, as the wind was slightly more from the right now, we tacked the spinnaker as we went over. We then slowly passed them but after passing we got a good wind and were 50 yards ahead by the time we rounded buoy 4. We were then tacking down river, the tide pushing boats against the wind exaggerating it's effects. We stayed ahead until just before buoy 2 when one boat passed us. Round buoy 2 up spinnakers and we went down the right hand bank this time, the lead boat made the mistake of sailing down the middle against the tide. So we soon over took and reached buoy 3 in the lead. Tacking back down river they passed us again, our boat doesn't do well in light winds. Rounding buoy 2 just behind them, we again, took the right hand bank and got ahead. Cutting across the river as before after the corner. Rounding buoy 4 we again tacked up river but they again overtook us and then as we rounded buoy 2 the shortened course signal was sounded and we finished second. There was a long break as we waited for the tailenders, and they shortened the course bringing buoy 4 closer . Race 2, course 4p,2p, 3 times. A very similar start to last time almost all boats starting in the same places, however we cut across the river to have the boats that were ahead near the start of the first race, behind us, so we reached the corner just in the lead. However they were blocking our wind. Almost immediately, We just rounded buoy 4, but going slowly, they rounded faster than us and soon overtook. We basically followed them, tacking to buoy 2, we all then came into the back of the dinghy fleet. Although we caught the other two, lack of manouvering room meant we were unable to get past, before rounding buoy 4. So they sailed away from us, and we finished 3rd. Race 3 there were no other competitors not even a dinghy, I think they all got fed up with the very light winds....

There is no ban that I know of on using anchors on the broads. Generally they just don't work very well, much of the broads has a very soft mud bottom, so there is little for an anchor to grab hold of.

I noticed on my way after work it had gone over kerbs of the raised triangle splitting the entry and exit of the Norwich road. I guess once it did that the driver was a passenger as to what the car was going to do. My assumption is that he arrived too fast, hit the kerb and lost it at that point. The car had gone by the time I went home.

The final Bump for the Norwich Railway society show which is tomorrow.. details a couple of posts before Broadland Model railway Club will be showing one of their layouts

Too much of a hurry to escape Norwich Drivers...

I'm not suprised you giving up with that instructor, using a mobile phone to text while instructing a learner is unprofessional and I believe Illegal. As she is counted as being as much in charge of the car, as you are...

I notice on the roundabout on the corner of the airport runway several muddy tacks on the roundabout, unusually not straight across, but the tracks indicate that in the bad weather the drivers had the rear end of the car break away and so they drove onto the roundabout... This morning a black car (polo?) is parked on the Coltishall road NDR round about, the demolished sign indicates that it came from the Norwich direction as did the previous accidents. There must be something about arriving from that direction that is causing problems..

Fancy a week's trip to Mull in independence? Due to the huge backlog when I was taking the test I was offered other test centres , but being in the RAF and training at the time I could not get the time off to go elsewhere. Mull is a nice place, not much traffic, no roundabouts, no dual carriageways, but you'd better be good at hill starts...and dodging sheep.

it's also national pie week, for both yum yum..

Swindons got it's own magic roundabout ( that is its official name..) and from above, Boy did i hate that one I used to come in from Oxford then head south or from the south head to the ring road up to Blunsdon. I also hated the trial one they had to the north of Edinburgh at one time.. My first test was, the day the 1976 heatwave broke in Milton Keynes. my two failing points.. I went for 5th gear, unfortunately it wasn't the avenger I learnt in, and it only had 4 gears, On the emergency stop, after 6 months of no rain it was like a ice rink the roads were foaming as it bucketed down, so the car slid into the kerb when I braked.. I then moved and on my first lesson the new instructer said had that been my test I would have passed, unfortunately there was a six month waiting list for tests then, so a lot of money later. I took my test and did two emegency stops.... one was the required one, then shortly after a lorry reversed out in front of us and I had to stop in a hurry again.. I passed...

That and the gangers and length men doing their job, My Grandfather (Mums side) spent a lot of that winter digging out snow along the tracks and especially between the points to keep the line open. Those men in the Blea Moor video I posted, would have been length men and gangers. I can remember granddad going out dressed like that...

The NDR will be useful for me, especially if the section to the western end is ever completed. Those of us who live north of the 47 and out to the coast, have to drive down to Acle then join the 47 which is a long way round if you're Heading for Edinburgh.. The main reason for the NDR though is to reduce traffic on the Boundary road / Mile cross lane / Mousehold lane round to Trowse. This is an increasingly congested route. I'm already using the Coltishall road to Wroxham road section every day and the section round to the A140 occasionally Once the Wroham to 47 Section is complete, then traffic to Wroxham will no longer go through the city or go out to Acle then wind their way through to Repps / Bastwick or wind their way cross country though the Plumsteads. I do wish it had been built without the roundabouts, you just know at some time in the future, they'll remove more of them at vast expence and disruption.

The traffic lights just off of the NDR on the the Wroxham side of the roundabout have been removed, but after the cafe, the hole in the road marked by cones is still there.. Yesterday I followed someone who is obviously used to being told what to do by the black bocx on the dashboard. They drove past new signs and lane for the Rackheath turning, then Indicating and trying to turn into the Old Rackheath road., Coming to halt in the middle of the road blocking, traffic from both directions. Eventually turning back in to the straight on lane and no doubt listening to the words "recalculating route" before turning off at the next junction...

to avoid Norwich Yacht Station?

On 3 Rivers Saturday...