Islander

Unless the EA and BA get their heads together over dredging and flooding there will be a lot of boats unable to pass under Ludham bridge let alone Wroxham and Potter. The flood plain map will be redrawn and property’s will become uninsurable. We need 8ft to clear the railway bridges here at Thorpe and have not seen many days where we could transit them. Just how many boats are going to be stuck upriver of Ludham bridge. Colin

Glad to hear The Ram is open again. We use to walk up from John Brooms yard, Brundall gardens 20 years ago. They would put a band on sometimes. Just to add that the Waters Edge is under new owners. https://surlingham.org/2024/01/25/a-message-from-waters-edge-new-management-and-introductory-offer/?IYA-mail=876c1480-155f-4bc8-a532-677716f00894 Colin

Just for information, flood warnings for Yare and Waveney. I’m not signed up for the northern rivers but suspect there will be another salt surge. note how low it was on the night tide. Beware overtopping at some moorings if you’re on the rivers at the moment. Colin

We had this problem with Lady Linda when we bought her 10 years ago. Toby at Moonfleet of stalham made a new one out of stainless steel. Toby has since moved on to I know not where. I have no idea of the cost as it was all part of engine service, bow thruster and electrics upgrade etc costing about £10k. I think your best bet Matt is to remove broken part and try to find local marine engineers who will know who can make one for you. As Vaughan has said, your engine looks like a BMC 2.5. If it’s like ours it’s inclined at about 45deg and the water injection bend is far from standard. Colin

The northern rivers do not seem to be dropping very fast looking at Potter and Wroxham bridges. Colin

Hi Vaughan, a very happy new year to you too. No news regards private moorings. Maybe the legal side is a problem or just the usual snails pace of parish councils ( sorry, town council ). River green seems to pop up at council meeting but nearly always after exclusion of the press and public. I wonder why. The plot thickens. Watch this space as they say. regards Colin and Ruth

Reverse tidal surge this morning. Thorpe river green this morning. We need to see the 5th rung on the ladder to get 8ft under the bridge. Plenty of room today. The second picture shows the steps where the flood water was up to the first tread. This seems to happen every year about this time. Seasonal changes no doubt. Colin

This is now the highest tide we’ve seen here at Thorpe St Andrew in 19 years of being on the island. Chickens have been rescued and furniture raised up in the bungalow. Last time it was like this Roger’s two girls actually canoed through the bungalow. The quay heading our end is a lot higher. The bungalow and workshops and associated boardwalks are all underwater. Merry Christmas everyone. Colin

High tide River Green, Thorpe St Andrew Colin

I wonder what this equates to. My guess about 1Km a year! Colin

Not as fragile as mine on a pension. We are in the process of down sizing I.e. one of our boats has to go. Dr P will still get his money as the new owners will pay. A 10% increase will give us a tolls bill of about £1200. Add to that moorings, insurance etc etc something has to go. Option B. I think is the most likely but I can’t see inflation falling that much for the following years with the current international situation. Maybe I’ll win the lottery. N.B. Buy a ticket. Colin

We’re the beer prices that hair raising? Have a great evening.

I use this to check for roadworks just before a journey. https://one.network/uk/norfolk adjust to the area you want and zoom in. I also find google maps will show you the quickest route if you look before you leave even if you know the route well. We saved an hour of our trip back from north wales as the M6 had 3 lanes closed due to a lorry broken down. Colin

I think it’s fair to say it won’t look like this. Old pic just e.g. Colin

Average speed needs to be minimum 6Km/Hr. Ludham bridge is going to be fun. The weather is looking good for the weekend too. There will be a lot of boats about. 26.5Km is a blooming long way. 4Hrs at the helm and I would be busting for a pee. Colin

Spent the day watching on tv. Glad it went so well. Dress the boat as best as I could.

I think that concern should be directed for those with a hidden phone who are living in an abusive situation. The best advice would be to turn off the phone and remove sim and not reactivate until it is safe to do so. Personally mine will remain set to alerts so I can still receive EA flood warnings. Colin

I always thought that as long as you don’t leave your boat you can moor at Yarmouth without charge if waiting for the tide/bridge clearance. We need minimum 8ft and I wouldn’t push my luck in Yarmouth. We do here at Thorpe because we’ve passed under many times. Colin

Every year we seem to see an increase in the toll in excess of inflation. Our toll this year is now over £1000. That’s quite a chunk out of my pension what with mooring, insurance and repairs but charges for mooring at Ranworth or Reedham won’t force us of our boat. We don’t stop at Reedham as we prefer Reedham Ferry and rarely venture north so Ranworth is not an issue but if we did, the mud wait comes to mind and the inflatable which can be pulled onto the staith (no mooring required). So Steve, don’t give in just yet, Packman is not immortal and won’t be here for ever. Colin

I really would like to know where to get them from. 3 would do to start with for my car and boats. This little chap may know. https://dippydragonfly.blogspot.com/ Colin

Does this count a personal insult? Colin

Exactly Smoggy. C

Peter, the primary purpose of this device is to charge another battery in say a caravan or motor home. Secondary purpose is start assist I.e. working in the reverse direction. If you are not happy with this setup then I would look at a complete update and I would recommend Victron products. E.g. our Victron Centaur charger on The Green Lady is over 20 years old (fingers crossed) and still going strong. Please note we live aboard and batteries get more use than the recreational boater. Without knowing your entire electrics layout, my guess is one engine has split charge for domestics and it’s start battery and the other engine just charged its own start battery with the the charge relay added when the bow thruster was fitted. If this is the case fitting a split diode to charge the bow thruster may be the easiest option. Colin

Ok. With that level of voltage the relay should energise in 4 seconds (see above) if you have a battery connected to terminal2 as well. You may find that the relay won’t energise if your thruster battery is not present. Colin

This device is a charge relay with a secondary option of a start boost in the spec given in the installation instructions. It is actually quite a sophisticated device not to be confused with the old fashioned charge relays or start assist relays which were no more than a 12v solenoid switch. If it being fed from the alternator +ve out I don’t see why it shouldn’t work. It may have been the most convenient to make the connection. Why not borrow the other engines start battery to do a test run of the thruster and see if the charging engine/alternator circuit will function. I notice from the spec sheet you posted the device won’t switch on until the charging voltage has exceeded 13v. I would look for a voltage of 14v to 14.4v from the alternator and that should switch it on. Colin