Vaughan

I grew up on the Broads so it will always be close to my heart. I have operated hire boats in 15 different areas of the French waterways (all of which are different), 2 in Holland, in Belgium and on the Lagune de Venise in Italy. Also on the Hudson River and Erie Canal in New York State and the Intracoastal Waterway on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Inland waterways have two categories : A canal, which is a man-made transport system. A navigable river, which is made navigable with weirs and locks. In some countries these are also called canals. In this respect the Broads is unique to anything else I have seen. An enclosed system of rivers and lakes, with no locks (of its own) and allowing sailing and other watersports as well as motor boats. Apart from Holland, there is almost no sailing possible on inland waterways. Yes, I know about the Thames "A" Raters but even they are restricted to the reaches around Cookham and Bourne End. The Broads is a boating playground like no other. Which is my loyalty? The Broads - by birth - but I naturally have empathy with the Canal du Midi, after 25 years. I was probably most impressed by the Erie Canal, from Albany to Lake Erie, and Lake Champlain, on the Canadian border. As for the sea, I prefer not to go to sea in anything under 5000 Tons!

By the way, be very careful not to lose the screws, as they have a special thread, known only to Jabsco! Always use the genuine part. If you try and use what "looks like" the right size setscrew, you will wreck the threads in the pump body.

Yes, but you must still take the impeller out in the spring to inspect and grease it, as routine maintenance.

To remove the impeller, or not to remove? The last two yards I worked on, we passed antifreeze through the raw water side as described above. A large watering can full would do the trick, diluted to give about -10 degrees on a hydrometer. (That's in south France, of course!) The impeller is then removed, the face plate and screws put back so you don't lose them and the impeller is left on the dashboard to show that it has been removed. Why is this? Because if you leave it in the pump for several months, the same 3 vanes will be squashed up against the cam plate and will stay bent when you next start the engine. We saw a photo of a failed impeller on another thread a couple of days ago and that looked to me to be caused by this problem. Some yards (and owners) replace impellers every spring as a routine but if you have left it out for the winter and inspect the vanes to make sure they are not cracked, there is no reason not to re-use it. Always smear the impeller liberally in special water pump grease before re-fitting as this will keep it soft and give a bit more suction to draw water up when starting the engine. If you don't get any water unless you rev the engine to "prime" it, then you may also have worn front and rear faceplates. In which case, ask the boatyard to change them.

It won't need bleeding, but it will need fixing! I imagine it is leaking from a connection in the feed pipe.

Thank you very much for letting us know! Please keep us un touch with your news and I hope things will go well for you. If it is any consolation, I grew up on a boat, from the age of 6 months, right there on Thorpe Island! Ventilation is what you are going to need now. Lots of open windows. Especially if you are going to fit a fuel burning heater of some sort. Think about plenty of air! Please keep in contact and all the best.

I have never seen such a stupid, inaccurate, misinformed and totally misleading article as that which describes this "incident" on the EDP website. I would not wish to link it, as I would not wish to infuriate Maurice Mynah!

I did wonder about the M&GN line in Yarmouth and the old Breydon swing bridge. As this a Jarrolds map I suspect it will have something around the edge which says when they printed it, and on which OS maps it is based. By maybe Floydraser already knows this?

Looking again at this, I notice how little development there is on the outskirts of Norwich. Pound Lane, to the east of Thorpe is open country and Thorpe End is not there. Catton and Sprowston are open country and the Plumstead Rd is only developed on the south side. Behind the red word NORWICH is Boulton and Paul's airfield, where they developed the Defiant fighter before the War. All that is now the big Heartsease Estate. I remember going shooting with my father around there, in open country on both sides of the Ring Rd. Whitlingham station is shown and I think that closed in 1953. So I would think the map on which this is based is early 50s. The Jarrolds version may be quite a bit later.

Where do you want me to start? I suppose one of the worst things is the galley in the saloon, where you have to drop a flap down across the rear door to have any kind of working surface. This cuts off all access to and from the aft cabins and aft toilet/shower, while someone is cooking, as there is no aft access from on deck. This is a 10 berth boat so any kind of social distancing is out of the question! The only way in or out is by the sliding door either side of the saloon and you don't "step" out of that either. You have to almost crawl out on your hands and knees. That great big glass saloon is like going down the river in a greenhouse. The other thing is leaks. They don't seem to have been built with a great deal of structural strength, so when they run into something (which is very often) the impact springs the seals in all the cabin windows. So next time it rains, every one of the beds is soaking wet. I think that will do for now!

The Borg Warner is an excellent gearbox which has an excellent history in Broads boats. It is one of those things which proves Sod's Second Law of Engineering : "If it is running well, you don't need to bugger about with it". The Austin BMC 1.5 diesel (known as the Newage Captain) was first fitted in the London black taxi cabs and is also a solid, reliable and iconic engine. So your boat is very well equipped!

The oil will be thin red hydraulic oil, TQF, and I seem to remember that the reduction box takes EP90 gear oil. But please Google that first, as I am only going by memory and wouldn't want you to put the wrong oil in it!

This is a Borg Warner box with 2:1 reduction gear. The nut has a dipstick on it when you remove it. The thing is a pressure relief valve. Needs no attention!

I notice the Pickerel Arms, upstream of the bridge in Beccles. For a couple of years in the 60s, I was a member of the Pickerel No 2 crew in the Beccles and All England shovel-boat race, held on the last evening of Beccles Regatta. It was raced in hire boat dinghies, rowed with genuine wooden brewers' shovels. The one and only rule of the race, was that you were not allowed to sink any of the other competitors, before the start! There's health and safety for you!

This shows a foot ferry on Whitlingham bend, at the end of Whitlingham Lane (north) which was the reason for the footbridge (still there) and the right of way across the line at Whitlingham station. Going past what is now the Commissioners Cut. It doesn't show the old Whitlingham road ferry, a bit further down, from Bungalow Lane across to the old Whitlingham church.

Well before the War, I think! The small basin in front of the pub today, is the old ferry dock. It shows a ferry at Coldham Hall which was still there in the 60s. It was an old reed barge, which was rowed across by anyone in the pub who felt like it (including me) when someone rang the bell on the little jetty at the end of the lane opposite, in Brundall.

It also shows Surlingham Broad as non navigable, which it wasn't, officially, in the 50s. Also a deep water branch at the top end of Breydon, which was the site of the old cement factory. Rockland Broad appears before it had a buoyed channel across it. This is a tourist map, which is an interpretation of the O.S. map, but it depends which version the map was taken from. I think I agree with TheQ though.

All the same, the situation is clear. If you are prevented from travelling by "legal" * government restriction then you are entitled to a refund. You may have booked direct, but I assume WRC should be most keen to follow Hoseasons conditions of hire. * I use that word with tongue in cheek.

Thank you for your contribution, Professor Stanley!

Oh dear. I was going to make a little post this morning, just to say that "all is quiet on the Western Front". But it seems that hostilities have been resumed . . . .

It's funny how, down the years, the rowdy element have always been attracted to certain types of boat. In fact some designs have become almost exclusive to them. The particular one that we are referring to here looks as though it is doing 40MPH even when it is moored up. Maybe that has something to do with it! In fact, if you have to live aboard one for a week, they are awful things!

You probably know it by the Norfolk name : Cow pat.

I assumed this must be an early ply boat. However if it is GRP then the problem must just be a matter of "plumbing". Skin fittings, sink outlets and such. I also assume it is fitted for an outboard engine? Much easier to find and sort out in that case. So is it ply, or GRP?

I am very glad that someone has given you that advice as I was hesitating to say so myself! Dawncraft were reasonably well built boats but plywood, of that age, has a "shelf life". If it has started to de-laminate, especially around the chines, then a repair becomes almost impractical. The problem may be due to loading, as you have said that the boat was lighter before you moved in. In which case, the hull may now "take up" and become more watertight. I think you are right not to spend too much money. Welcome to the forum by the way, and keep us posted!

Just downstream of the first Thorpe bridge is a big, deep slipway which used to be Stephen Field's boatyard. It has easy road access over the unmanned rail crossing that leads to the Frostbite sailing club. Turn off the main Yarmouth road just to the east of the Rushcutters pub. Don't know who owns it but you could ask at Moss's boatyard, just across the lane.