[Boat Hit]

4 hours ago, SteveO said:

I remember years ago, mooring our little Freeman at Reedham Ferry and taking the kids to the playground up the road, leaving Mrs O in charge of the boat.  We returned to the sound of revving engines and screaming from the wife, who was hanging on to the pulpit of a large. probably hire, boat which was reversing at high revs away from ours. It turned out he had tried to turn against the current to moor - a manouvre that went badly wrong and resulted in him nearly T-boning the Freeman.  I gave him both barrels of my Yorkshire invective (after covering our children's ears) and persuaded him to bring my wife back slowly and carefully, which he did.  As he reversed off, never to be seen again, his passing shot, in a broad Midlands accent, was "That's what fenders are for innit?".

It’s often the last passing comment/s that gets my foot tapping and blood boiling after getting swiped, being “it’s ok it’s only a boat, it’s what they are for” funny no one will ever tell me where they have parked their car so I can return the exchange as it’s only a car 😜

[Christmas Leftovers]

It’s about time to put the sprouts on? They should be ready for Christmas 🤶 

[Water Levels]

24 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:

Just checked the project troll for PHB - 5ft 8”

Griff

It’s been higher than recently this week. Wroxham bridge was a little tighter than normal for us on Wednesday at approx 6’3”, still a little bit of room to spare any higher would have required phase two, canopy back, instead of forward,  side screens completely removed along with the mast instead of just folded. This allows a for around 2-3 less inches in height on the boat, along with a few more engine revs for improved steerage and to help push a bit more water out of the bridge.  After that at below 6” there is no option 3 for us, other than to enjoy the peace and quiet along with the mostly empty moorings above the bridge 👍🏻. 

Kind regards 

Paul 

[Anyone Feeling Brave!]

33 minutes ago, Woodie said:

Haha😁

It would be purely out of interest in boats-honestly!

Any more ‘projects/toys’ would get me in deep trouble with management !! She is tolerant, but does have limits.

 

I know the feeling 🤣

[Anyone Feeling Brave!]

Do so at your peril 😊. Lovely boats very well built and designed, handle like a dream, so make sure if you check over it, you do so with your head and not your heart. 
 

as Sean Connery once said, Never say Never 😜. 

[Anyone Feeling Brave!]

The yard that built it had a fair few of these in this type of condition that had been standing for years. It was nothing that a JCB and a box of matches couldn’t sort out. They now have much more space. 

Sad to see but at some point you have to be realistic. Roof, Cabin sides, decks, may be some structural’s, that’s before the bottom, hull, engine, gearbox electrics etc. are checked, replaced and repaired.  

Could be fixed if someone has very deep pockets or a large affection for the boat, (both actually are required). 

Kind regards 

Paul 
 

 

[Wild Moorings]

17 hours ago, FlyingFortress said:

Can you appreciate why I declined and at age 56 decided to see out the rest of my working life just parking the largest ships in The World at The Largest Port in this Country.

I hope you didn’t scratch any light blue ones. 👍

[Thanks Tbmc]

That’s not so bad for over night with power and more like it, but I think some of the prices appear a little conflicting maybe even compared to those displayed on HWs foot bridge? I can’t recall what these are? 

🍻

[Just Saying Hi]

30 minutes ago, grendel said:

it used to be the river letter then number - eg water rail B77 was the Bure (1933)

I’m not too sure if the the Letter had anything to with the location/build of the boat maybe it reffed to an obscure/random river in the area? I thought it had more to do with a boat age. I was once told the letters in the early days signified boats built at either north or south yards, not sure about this either. The boats of the broads, Craig’s site had something on this?

🍻

[Thanks Tbmc]

3 hours ago, Mouldy said:

That would be for boats leaving their yard admittedly, but the number of folk who leave it too late to turn before getting to the bridge and struggling never ceases to amaze me.  That said, considering how far Potter is from Yarmouth, the current near the bridge seems to be quite strong and probably doesn’t help craft either trying to moor, or turn.

Sadly, if Woods do start to strictly apply their somewhat heavy mooring charge for private craft (£7 per hour), Potter will be crossed off my list of places to visit when we venture to the northern rivers.

Unless transiting the bridge many folks I have talked to have said the same. It’s a long way round to PH to find no moorings, nice trip though, Womack being the closest next stopping point, or mud weight option, which is very nice. We now tend to go to PH by car if we need to. It will likely be an out of season stopping option by boat from now on? 

I wouldn't mind paying HW a fee if it was a more reasonable charge, I’ve paid less than that for car hourly parking in London. I guess they charge this just because they can and would rather not have more boats entering and exiting their busy yard, so maybe these charges are more of a deterrent than a service? 🤔 

🍻

 

 

 

 

[U Bend If You Want Too.]

The sink in the heads on our boat has no u bend, however after springing a leak on a fresh water connector today, (why is it that every job no matter how simple it should normally be, ends up being a right pain on a boat?), the failed connector was well hidden away, so a large amount of the galley units had to be removed. While repairing with my head in the under the sink cupboard what was left of it, I noticed we have a u bend kit that’s at one time been installed to the galley sink.

As the boat sometimes gets left for a while, I can imagine whatever is left in the U bend will not be in its first bloom of health when we return. For now will make sure to flush it well through each time we leave and arrive as I thought it was straight through, I would prefer this to be straight out, so another little job for the end of the year. (Bet it’s not as simple as it should be 🤔🤪).

Kind regards 

Paul 

[An Apprehensive Recent 'woodie' Owner]

 

Clean her and use her as much as you can this season, then consider what you would like to do/have done to her over the winter. 

When it comes to wooden boats, it can depend on how “hands on” you wish or can be. There is a lot to be said about over winter undercover storage at somewhere like Martham Boats in their DIY shed if you’re considering doing some or all the work yourself, if not and you require assistance, the folks there know a thing or two about wooden boats, could also be a mix of their services and your own work depending on what’s required, they are darn helpful along with offering guidance too, something to consider? 

Looking back, with last year being the exception, we have spent the last 36 years helping to fettle and trim a boat or boats in the shed at Martham. 

Thats where I would start, there will of course be others with more or different alternatives for you to ponder upon. The most important thing we were ever told, was ventilation and plenty of it, open draws, cupboards, lift floors and make sure windows are opened no matter what you end up doing. 

I know Nipper will at least know the inside of the Martham DIY shed quite well 😉. 

Best regards 

Paul 

[Water Rail Out And About.]

Woodbastwick, phone was on charge when you passed us. 
 

Cheers 

Paul 

[Travelling Down To The Boat Tomorrow Evening.]

39 minutes ago, BroadsExplorer said:

I wouldn't wish to be classed as a liar, so here is Sutton Staithe tonight with it's empty moorings in August if you can see them in the dark, I am not very good with a camera 

 

We are just up from you on the green or not so green part of the Staithe There’s also a 30-35 foot space behind us as well, though you would need night vision to see that from where you are 😊. You did well with the night camera shots 👍.

Not sure why anyone would class you as one of those? Mooring visitors change all the time, quiet one minute busy the next. 

Quite a few boats in the hire yards, there seems to be quite an eclectic mix of start and finish dates, as mentioned this could be down to the pricing structure this year?

Enjoy it. 

Cheers 

Paul 

[Travelling Down To The Boat Tomorrow Evening.]

Something changed overnight? Moorings have been quiet we thought. Wayford was empty last night we were the only ones there, Dilham too was empty at 12 ish today, we are at Sutton we’re there are a few spare places as well. We had to get some shopping, so off to Tesco at Stalham by lecy outboard and dinghy, was hard pressed to find a mooring 🤪.

Its been a very strange week in how quiet it’s been, with the good weather at the height of the season?

Don’t get me wrong it’s great to just rock up somewhere and moor with no issues but it feels very strange, like a bubble has burst for some or is it just us?

Cheers 

Paul 

 

[Water Rail Out And About.]

7 hours ago, YnysMon said:

Hi Paul. Can you enlighten us about the state of the moon and Potter H? Dave is letting us use Water Rail in September and we would very much like to get under the bridge. We've been advised that there are often high tides around the autumnal equinox toward the end of our fortnight, but we were hoping the week before that would be okay. 

I would check the weather closer to the time, wind and rain has an effect on the water levels too, also most important the height gauges on the day.  Get a BA tide table, the moon states are in there, examples attached. 
 

Cheers 

Paul 

 

 

[Water Rail Out And About.]

5 hours ago, grendel said:

Up early this morning and a shower then it was a lazy day I did pop into lidls for some bread, saw a 2 litre plant spray bottle, and got it thinking I was a plant that needed to stop withering, it was excellent for cooling me down.

Tabitha Rose went for a little pootle up to geldeston, and back, but when it came time to reverse into her home mooring, suddenly didn't want to and refused to engage reverse, I think she secretly was hoping to stay out a few more days. 

As I have a purchase I made that inconveniently decided to come into stock last Tuesday, but fortunately the shop is in great Yarmouth, I was hoping to pop into GY tomorrow, so at 1.30pm, I headed off down river, at 5.30 pm I was passing burgh castle, and decided to call it a night there, the crossing time was 7.48 pm, which I thought uncomfortably close to sunset, so I will head over at my leisure tomorrow.

I have been hearing water levels at potter higham are relatively low, so it would be good to give it a try.   

PH is worth looking at, the moon state at present is offering some lower, low tides. We got through at the end of July, going through was fine, around 6’8”, coming back caught us out a bit, but we got through with less room than I would have liked. (6’2”ish on the height boards, I thought 6’4” was tight which was the lowest we had been through at in the past. Just remember to keep a check on things so you can make sure you can get back under 👍🏻. 

Cheers 

Paul 

U

[Water Rail Out And About.]

1 hour ago, ranworthbreeze said:

Most grills on boats are poor at best and produce dried bread rather than toast.

Ours produces Charcoal if you turn your back on it for more than a few seconds. 😂

[Tabitha Rose - A New Adventure]

These Camping Gaz grills are great bits of kit. Been using this for the last 4-5 years. The blue bowl at the top gets filled up with water, this keeps the whole thing, apart from the grill cool, the water also catches the cooking juices. Gas canisters last an age and are cheap. Very easy to clean. It also packs away and has a frame bit for pans or a kettle etc. The next one up from this one has a lid, that if you turn upside down can be used a a wok/pan. 

If anything did go wrong, it would get kicked over the side. 

Cheers 

Paul 

 

[Broad Ambition - Underway on the H2O]

11 hours ago, BroadAmbition said:

Proper narrow, reefs brushing both sides at same time Alongside, B’fast

Griff

Nice spot there

[Wrc Moorings]

1 hour ago, grendel said:

you did well then, my electricity supplier would supply me with 25kWh for £10

I should have opted for the £20 card for double the amount of power and not been so tight 🤪. 

[Wrc Moorings]

11 minutes ago, dnks34 said:

Are boatyards allowed to make a profit selling electricity now?  

I would think even at todays extortionate energy prices one boat would be hard pushed to use £10 of electricity in one night.

My guess is £10 is almost 30kw hrs worth! 

We have just paid £10.00 for 40Kw upfront at our home mooring lecky point. 

I fully agree it seems someone is either cashing in, or is On a very poor tariff?

kind regards 

Paul 

[Lapwing]

I would still say a wheel and throttle is much more civilised 🤪😉. Sailing is great I have done it but there’s too many ropes and many other things to think about, especially when that zig zagging thing happens and the wind changes direction. 🤔🤪

cheers 

paul 

[Rnli Burgee/pennant]

Not sure about the Pennant, but found quite a number of these in the last few days 😉

[Hijinks On On Hi-jinks]

If getting hold of the gas you need is an issue, then changing to flo gas I hear is a good alternative around the broads area. Not sure if it is true, apparently some places will swap your empty Calor cylinders for no core charge when swapping to Flo? Regulators are not to expensive either. 
 

Cheers

Paul