Islander

Hi Kingfishers Time. I was not aware of the lockers GY but an excellent idea. They need to encourage boaters to leave their keys in the locker too. They might actually put their lifejacket on before they get on the boat. Colin

Hi Alan, yes all praise to Gary he did an amazing job. His quick reaction knowing his jacket would inflate in a matter of seconds was amazing. Well deserving of a life saving award. Let's hope JP doesn't try to make too much out of it over life jackets. What Gary did is far more news worthy. Colin

Hi MM, according to the BA they had just moored. http://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/news-and-publications/news/life-jacket-reminder-following-dramatic-rescue-of-4-year-old-child At what point when on dry land would you remove your lifejacket and where do you leave it. Does somebody then return them to the boat or do you carry it with you as you walk round Yarmouth. Most people will not want to be encumbered with even a modern automatic in the heat of summer. Every praise for the prompt rescue but please let's not let 'Elf and Safety' take advantage of this rare incident. Personal choice is everybody's right. Colin

Morning Griff didn't turn in time to wave as you passed us at Thorpe Island. We are dead opposite the church and 2 back from the big barge. We are work in progress so of to get some wood this am. Have a good trip. Colin

Hi Paul, and big welcome from Ruth and I. September is usually a good month for the broads. Hope you have a great trip. Colin and Ruth

Sadly local councils no longer have to provide a minimum number of sites for travellers and the situation can only get worse. Any open space will be fare game. Farmers are now having to block almost every gateway to keep these'travellers' off their land. The Dale Farm incident was a ridiculous waste of money where a suitable planning application would have solved the problem. A quick look at google maps shows how the whole area is a hotchpotch of farm and industrial development and hardly an area of natural beauty and will be all swallowed up by Basildon in the future. Until the councils except that this is going to happen, if they don't provide somewhere for them then the rest of us will have to accept seeing big concrete blocks and restricted gate ways plus narrow entrances to car parks in some of our much loved spaces. I can only guess the show ground security had gone home then and no one was on the gate???? Colin p.s. Being a traveller trying to find a place for the night must be like trying to find a free mooring after 4pm on a Saturday

Hi MM, we use a 3mifi and have been very pleased with it. Like all providers there are black holes. When you've bought your new/upgrade laptop why not consider one of these. Beware some of the really cheap ones which may have poor regulation. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/High-Quality-Universal-12V-Car-DC-Battery-Charger-Adapter-80W-Notebook-Laptop-/122478990210?epid=863804651&hash=item1c84511382:g:ofIAAOSw~y9ZCwMk Colin p.s. My laptop, an old Acer, runs Vista but we have an iPad2 each which are now considered old. These have a simple car charger but the batteries last a good 8 to 10hrs. We also have a DVB adapter each so no arguments over which channel to watch

Having been a self employed telly man in the past maybe I should apply for a business TV licence. If I don't watch it or record it it's free.....I think. Typical GOV dept, they don't want you to know the truth with out giving your sock size. I think I will stick with ' No fixed abode'. The taxman seems happy to take my money where ever I am. Colin

Time for a PAYG licence in my opinion. We use the net for weather and news (various sources) and DVDs. The TV licence is well out of date but I don't know what should replace it. Colin

Can you only moor at Acle in high heels and a VPL then. I don't think I could do that in high heels! What's football. Colin

Hi Karrass1. Big Hi from Ruth and I. Just to get things started. Try to wear something that will keep your phone, wallet, keys etc safe for when getting on and off your boat. Zippy pocket maybe. It might sound obvious but our previous yard owner lost 6 phones in 2 years!!!. Anyway I'm sure others will come up with a few good ideas. Colin

Hi MM, if you are on 3 you can go to my3 and click data allowance. It will tell you how much data you have left and when it expires. the dongle will get an email when your dat is low. we never get to the expiry date so just top up when needed. We use payg. Colin

Maybe these spoons are like the ones referred to by the late, great Alan Rickman in ' Robin Hood, Prince of Theives' .Locksley, I'm gonna cut your heart out with a spoon. Colin Not been asked for id for years

Grendel, you currently have more bench space than me. I thought I was the only one with a shed like that. I do have plans to extend mine though. Colin

Not sure if this is posted in useful info. Paul Bassham PC1048 Broads Beat. 07770 323463 or the usual 0845 456 4567 probably the same as 101 Colin

Dnks34, quite agree, send a clear message but yet another working group/committee. No, just awaste of money. The BA have enough bylaws etc without producing more unnecessary policy and 'working groups' to waste our money on. Should the hire firms be any more responsible for the behaviour of their customers once they are on land, in the pub or night club than say the holiday firms that send them to the 'Hot Spots' of the Med.??? Educating these people that, maybe, not getting totally 'rat a***d' so they can remember the fun they had is possible the way to go. Getting the pubs and clubs to be more responsible and not just listen to the till. IMHO we have a diminishing police force that do a great job and it will only get smaller if we don't report incidents but just moan on social media. Simple case of use it or loose it. Lack of reporting crimes results in cuts to police numbers. The BA should enforce the bylaws they already have. i.e. Speeding, noise etc Broads beat are already doing a grand job of talking to large groups of young people out for a good time before they leave some of the large hire companies. These companies are already taking boats back if need be. What more is required other than to get on with the job. This discussion has only come about because of one group of stags that went to far with their antics in a family pub garden and effectively got away with it. If they had been arrested and put in the cells for the night plus ,maybe, charges brought would we have been happier. Probably. Will the BA produce anything more than is already being done. I don't think so but it won't be cheap. Colin

Sorry to have to drag this up again. Link for EDP report of BA meeting. http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/environment/working-group-to-tackle-anti-social-behaviour-on-broads-1-5126338 this is my posting from elsewhere. Comments in the EDP. - Avatar david gom a day ago In reality they are going to talk and do nothing. Sounds about right. Not the BA's job. We have enough laws and policy to deal with this. Just another waste of time and money within the BA. If you see ASB phone 101 and report it. If you feel threatened in any way phone 999. Let the BA get on with the dredging and moorings we need. Just my opinion the BA wasting money on something that's not their business. Colin I'll go back to my bottle of wine then.

Hi Paws, go and have a look here. Scroll down the page as various choices. Spend over £10 and postage is free. https://www.toolstation.com/shop/Electrical/d190/TV+%26+Satellite/sd3084 If you can call into the store there is a basic one for <£9. Colin

Quite agree. Learnt a few things and confirmed others. Love to see more like this. Thanks Vaughan, now I know why 'The Green Lady' is such a #*%^ in astern but 'Lady Linda' is much easier and steers reasonable well, even though in our narrow channel at St Olaves I always have the bow thruster on and ready to use. Colin

I don't condone in anyway the conduct of the group of lads in this incident but do wonder what the response would be had it been a group of girls poring champagne over a nude bride. Colin

Hi Rum punch, we have done the same. Colin

I think the first job here is to ensure your meter is reading correctly. Try it on your car battery or even a torch battery, AA C or D cell making sure the polarity is reading correctly. If all ok, work from the battery terminals forward. Colin

You beat me to it Peter but I'll post mine anyway. Seems it's up to the BA planning dept. Link is to proposed new local plan. http://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/953406/App-G-Broads-Local-Plan-TSA2-Thorpe-Island-Thorpe-St-Andrew-Revised-policy.pdf Should these moorings ever happen then it won't help the need for more 24Hr moorings. It is unlikely the BA would want to lease the river front from the new owners having just handed back Thorpe River Green to the local council due to lack of use. Not wishing to sidetrack this thread as I can see both sides for reserved moorings. I too find it annoying to see 'Reserved' signs on moorings that appear to stay empty all day when we could have stopped and had a drink and maybe a snack, only staying for an hour. On the other hand, next year, I hope, my daughter, her husband and my grandchildren will be camping at WRC and we intend rent a mooring there for the duration of their stay so we can take them all out on our boat. This would mean a mooring that is empty during most of the day. Having paid for the use of the mooring should anyone else be allowed to use it while we are out for the day and may return at anytime. I have no answer to this problem other than the obvious. We need more moorings. Free 24Hr or pay to stay. Colin

I know Jonzo but I live on mine. I must admit those ceiling fans work really well. Simple and very cheap to run. Colin

Like the idea Jonzo but ceiling height 6'2" on the boat and I'm 6'1" now I quite like still having hair at 63 so a wind sail for the fwd hatch could be the next project. Robin, we had a one piece through the wall unit where I used to work at Millers Music in Cambridge some 40+years ago. It was about the size of 2 large suitcases on top of each other. I remember helping to lift it onto its mountings. This was located in the office which was in the basement of the shop. Normally this was a fairly stable temp area but we had upgraded the computer system with a half gig hard drive. It was the size of an American washing machine and kicked out a lot of heat!!! There was no easy way to duct the heat outside. The heat pump unit did a great job and still wonder if I could use my keel coolers in a similar way. Food for thought over the winter. Colin