Speleologist

They can be quite big. This one, at Cerneval Shipyard in Gibraltar Bay, is 176 metres long by 26 metres wide.

Never in an English breakfast, but a vital ingredient of an Irish one (along with colcannon).

Never in an English breakfast, but a vital ingredient of an Irish one (along with colcannon).

I'm aware of that. I'll be avoiding those ones. Thjere's nothing wrong with a quant pole.

Having read, or at least skimmed, through this thread I am even more appreciative that, on the rare occasions that I get to the Broads there is not a battery in sight. I'm happy sticking with Hunter's Yard.

It concerns me that anyone would consider acceptable to have tinted windows in a wheelhouse or on any window used for navigational purposes. There is a reason why SOLAS V/22 makes it illegal for commercial vessels. It may not be illegal on pleasure vessels, but the loss of light transmission is a hazard in poor visibility, such as heavy rain or fog and at night. I know some boats are not used at night, but rain and fog are still issues.

It's early days for plans yet. I rarely get to the UK these days, let alone the Broads. However I have no doubt that nearer the time I shall be looking for someone who wants crew for the 3RR (assuming I can escape from work). If I can get enough time in the UK then a few ays on a Hunter's yacht would be good as well.

It strikes me that It strikes me that the first issue here is you cannot make sense of a tide table unless you know the source of the data and it's reliability. These days I am predominantly a coastal and offshore sailor, although I have sailed extensively on the Broads over many (50+) years. There are many tidal apps available for the coastal sailor, but they are not necessarily good. I would only use one based on the Admiralty data. This has been developed from around 200 years of observation and is the best there currently is. (Developments in live tide forecasting may change this before too long). For the Broads we have coastal date modified by observation, but the observations are nothing like as comprehensive or as well co-ordinated/documented. An Admiralty Standard Port tide table (e.g. Lowestift) will give the best possible prediction of tide times and heights. These can be modified for environmental factors. The change can be accuraate for pressure, one HPa up or down for eacn HPa from the standard pressure of 1013HPa. Modification for wind is less exact but easy to understand the type of effect. Once we get in to rivers, then we also have a significant impact from things like rainfall, topography changes (e.g.silting) etc. None of this is well documented. I suspect that the app referred to in the OP tries to make a prediction based on some poorly defined criteria, and has got at least the range fundamentally wrong.

I'm another fan of Ludham Butchers. Great fresh meat and great pies. Many a Three Rivers Race has seen our crew fuelled by them.

I'm a bit out of date as I'm no longer in the UK, but I have had both private and NHS hearing aids. I have been very pleased with both the NHS aids and the service. The best aids I have ever had were Oticon Spirit Zests on the NHS. None of my private ones have been as good. My experienc e of NHS service has also been good. In Gosport there was a weekly drop off. Drop it in Thursday morning and it will be fixed for Thursday afternoon. The main audiology centres have also been superb. When I first got to the point where I needed them my GP said I should go with the NHS as they are just as good. He was right. If you need any other advice drop me a message. I've been a hearing aid user for 12 years now so have a bit of experience.

Byelay 83 (Navigation byelaws 1995) would seem to be the relevant one: "A person shall not navigate a vessel whilst under the influence of drink or drugs to such an extent as to be incapable of taking proper control of the vessel." That is obviously open to a lot of interpretation. I have always kept the quantity down until moored up for the night, although on the 3RR a small beer to celebrate rounding a mark or transiting a bridge is traditional. (Or at least it is on the boats I've raced).

Have a great race everyone. I really miss taking part, but in current circumstances arriving from overseas to compete is not an option. Next year if anyone wants a highly experienced crew member on a River Cruiser I will be very keen to take part.

It's not clear from the report whether the problem was a pot or some other debris. I've certainly experienced fouling by pots and by abandoned nets, as well as other debris such as fertiliser bags. Fortunately none of them have ledd to a need for assistance. The UK is not great at requiring and enforcing pot marking. France is much better. They mus have a clear flag and a light. Spain, where I mostly sail is terrible. an old 1 litre can seems to be regarded as enough.

Enjoy! I've always fancied sailing Bootlegger.

We seem to have graduated to gliding! For me, gliding came in my school days. A weekend at Lasham with the scouts, flying Slingsby T21 open cockpit gliders and then a week based at RAF Locking where we flew every day at Weston Super Mare in T31B's The climax was the three solo flights for an A & B certificate. It cost me all of £0.35. Everything was paid by the RAF apart from 5 pence a day contribution to the mess fund. On to the boats. For me there are several key factors: It must sail well Wooden and traditional No TV No other fancy electrics Preferably no engine I go to the Broads to sail and explore the countryside, not to watch TV I expect to spend most of my daylight hours sailing, or possibly in an interesting outdoor venture ashore. I prefer to have food and drink to allow wild mooring as I have no interest in mooring up early enough for most moorings with pub access, although I enjoy a good pub when it is possible. Apart from a couple of midwinter dayboat hires I have only ever hired from Martham, Hunters or Eastwood Whelpton. I am somewhat disappointed that Hunters are now fitting electric engines to many of their fleet and have dispensed with the oil lamps in favour of electric lighting. However they still remain the best option and, apart from a desire one day to sail Zoe from Martham, are the yard to which I will return as and when I get time to get back to The Broads.

There's a man who should be converting to rag and stick!

Blue/green algae is probably a bigger issue if there is a bloom. Leptospirosis is rare, and easy to treat if caught early. If you develop flu like symptoms within a coup;le of weeks of your holiday simply go to your GP and make sure that you tell them that you have been involved in watersports. They can then test and treat.

An interesting question is whether there will be a significant number of river cruisers with smaller crews. This would mirror the trend in offshore sailing where there has been a huge increase in the popularity of double handed racing. Most river cruisers could be sailed with a simall crew of between 2 and 4, though maybe not manoeuvring quite as quickly. IN my days of racing on Wandering Rosethe ideal race crew was 7, but she was very manageable with just 2.

That's why I always aim to leave with everybody already aboard. Lines looped ashore and back to the boat so they can be released and recovered from on board. If the boat would otherwise need a shove to get it out then it's simply a matter of springing off. The only exception would be when I have no engine to spring off, but even then it's easy enough to leave one warp attached until everyone is on board.

Mooring, for most relatively inexperienced people, is the most streeful thing they do on a boat. It's a different context, but as a Yachtmaster Instructor I can confidently say that the thing that students worry about most and want to practice most is mooring and manoeuvring in a confined space. To get it right takes a good appreciation of the boat, the wind and the tide. Alongside this it takes lots of practice. I always stress two things to my students: 1. Have a plan and communicate it clearly to the rest of the crew so they know what to expect. 2. If it isn't going right, abort early and try again. This is much safer than trying to salvage an approach that is going wrong. The question of external help is an interesting one. I am always willing to help, but it is only helpful if it fits the skipper's plan. These days any offer of help is usually from people who have a different first language, so it is better to decline assistance than add to the confusion. However in some circumstances, especially when singlehanded, I may talk to a marinero on the VHF and agree a plan. I also encourage my students to plan on the basis of no external help, and to stick to the plan. On the Broads I am usually mooring under sail on a boat with no engine and I really don't want well meaning helpers who don't understand the proccess under sail. I regard the actual method as being secondary to having a clear plan. I usually use centre cleats if available and I will also use different techniques according to the boat. The manoeuvre in a RIB, in a yacht under power, or in a twin endined moror boar etc. can each be very different.

Unfortunately my standard solution doesn't work on The Broads. Many is the time I've poured buckets of salt water over the decks to get rid of ice and frost. It works.

It's still happening: http://www.norfolkreed.co.uk/pages/about2.html

Technically, the whole of the Broads is a harbour area, at least to the extent that the Broads Authority carry out their navigational functions as a Harbour Authority. From the BA website: "The Broads Authority (Pilotage Powers) Order 1991 confirms that the Broads Authority is a “Competent Harbour Authority” as defined the Pilotage Act 1987" I am sure that they should terefore be applying the principles in "Guidelines on the provision and maintenance of local aids to navigation" although I suspect it isn't very high on Trinity House's list of things to check.

Surely an obstruction is, by definition, dangerous. If it's an obstruction It can be hit. And anyway, the Trinity house doc goes on to say: "The use of Special Marks should be confined to marking wrecks of historical interest and those considered non-dangerous, but for which a surface marker is required for future location purposes." The obvious one that occurs to me is the Mary Rose special mark in theeastern Solent. It marks the site of the Mary Rose wreck, where there is still significant archaeology and diving is restricted. It is in no way a hazard. SIGNI, an interesting document and not yet adopted. As no UK inland waterway has adopted CEVNI and as we are no longer part of the EU, I cannot see it applying in the UK, but it acually has no conflict with the requirements for a harbour authority as defined in the Trinity House doc. However it does use the same buoy as the IALA Temporary Wreck Marker for a new danger: 4.2.3 Marking of new dangers The term “New Danger” is used to describe newly discovered hazards not yet shown in nautical documents. New Dangers include naturally occurring obstructions such as sandbanks or rocks or man-made dangers such as wrecks. Figure 4.3 Colour: blue and yellow vertical stripes in equal number dimensions (minimum 4 stripes and maximum 8) Form: pillar or spar Topmark (if any): vertical or perpendicular yellow cross Light (when fitted): Colour: yellow/blue. alternating Rhythm: one second of blue light and one second of yellow light with 0.5 seconds of darkness between. Unfortunately the pictures won't copy from a PDF, but here is an image from another source.

Trinity house are also the body responsible for ensuring that aids to navigation deployed by harbour authorities etc. conform to the IALA standards. The Broads Authority is a harbour authority and the rivers are navigable by seagoing vessels, so all navigation marks should conform to the IALA standards. The document I quoted above is their guidance for local harbour authorities, which includes the BA.