Vaughan

So have I. From a reliable source!

And please don't let's think it would be the first time that old trick has been played! Many a cruiser, over the years, has left Wroxham, Potter or Stalham with 4 people on board, only to moor that evening and meet the rest of the party off the train at Acle. Or Yarmouth, or Reedham. And from July 4th onwards, day boat parties will be able to meet up in pub car parks again. They often get caught though, as the rangers, apart from their other skills, know how to count heads! Personally, I think we should all calm down a bit and see how this season develops. I was most impressed with the e-mail as it demonstrates a level of understanding and interaction between the authority and the tourist businesses which I don't think I have seen stated as meaningfully as that since the days of the River Commissioners. Coming directly from the pen of Dr Packman himself, I find that heartening and most encouraging. I could quote several parts, but this one is most significant : "at this point the prospects for the remainder of the boating season are unclear". I think I would be more inclined to believe that, from him, than I would all the marketing claims of how the bookings are flooding in!

Oh dear. I feel a bit guilty about this as it seems to be me who first put his foot in this particular ant - heap and stirred it up! I agree with everything Andy says as I have been through all these experiences myself - including the stress medication. It is a way of life which can sometimes seem like a thankless task, especially as a small business will naturally take a great deal more personal pride in its boats and its customer service than the large ones (although they would wish to) ever can. I don't know anyone who took more pride than my father, and it showed! But then his standards were so high that he never made a profit and decided to sell and retire at an early age. Let's look back to the OP's original post on this thread. It was only one line : I'd have been straight on the phone to the yard. It is this immediate assumption that the boatyard should do something, that I was reacting to, since the fact still remains, like it or not, that a yard cannot - ever - be held to account for the anti-social behaviour of holidaymakers just because they have hired one of their boats. I was speaking, as I always do, on the side of the boatyards, whose position is so often mis-understood but I had not realised that my support would get such a strong reaction, indeed contradiction, from Andy or I honestly would not have started this. This subject has been raised many times before on the forum - sometimes it seems to happen every time someone pukes outside a pub - and it always seems to cause strong feelings that get no-one any satisfaction. To those of a neighbour-hood watch disposition who wish to do their duty as they see it, could I just suggest three things : 1/. The Broads depends, now as always, on tourists having fun on holiday. Without them, your private river toll would be eye-watering. 2/. There has always been an element of rowdyism, ever since the days of the Midland and Gt. Northern railway. It comes with the territory. Doesn't anyone remember Yarmouth Yacht Station in the 60s? 3/. Please understand who is responsible for what. If you want to complain of uncivil behaviour then complain to the authorities, who are there to police it.

That is perceptive of you. Whether it is true or not, I couldn't say!

Perhaps I am getting out of my area of knowledge here but the source was quite clearly a smartphone video, taken on another day launch and then posted to the EDP, but not, it seems, to the appropriate authorities. The EDP then added their own, ill - informed opinion to it.

I would also like to add some comments to that, from a hire fleet manager. What do we suppose the boatyard should be "made aware of" by these phone calls and videos? There are companies on the Broads such as John Loynes (Broads Tours) who have been letting day launches ever since the petrol engine was invented. They are very well aware of what their customers get up to, thank you! Their staff are also most adept at checking their boats for damage when suspicious looking lads bring them back in again. But they are NOT, never have been and please God, never will be responsible for the civil behaviour of members of the public, in public. The behaviour of yobs on Bournemouth beach is a public order matter for the police but NOT for the coach tour company that brought them there. And what is all this about with-holding security deposits when bad behaviour is reported? That, itself, would be blatantly illegal! You can't even with-hold a hirer's deposit for damage to another boat : that is for third party insurance cover. You can't extract money out of people just because some member of the boating fraternity (who probably posts under a synonym) says they saw them pee-ing in the reeds! I am sad, honestly, that we now live in a dash-cam age where the slightest incident can be uploaded in seconds and dissected at will on the internet. I repeat, I am not condoning this although I am not in the least shocked by it either. Could those who wish to report these things please report matters of civil behaviour to the civil authorities? Meantime, if this is a sign of what is going to be happening on this forum during this season, then I for one will prefer to stick to railway modelling.

"You and me both" old chap. I am well retired, these days. You just end up with hassle from every angle. Despite trying to survive in a local business and trying to bring a bit of tourist revenue to the Broads at a time when it needs it more than ever.

Then it should be mentioned to the authorities and not to the boatyard. That is my point. If you hire a car from Hertz, they are not responsible for how you behave in it, or even how you drive it. We have had this same discussion so often on the forum, and here we go again!

And my question is the same. What do you expect the boatyard to do about it?

To tell them what, exactly? What offence would you have them charged with? There was no traffic in the other direction and following traffic was clearly not involved. The video is entitled "Group nearly roll boat on river" but anyone who knows anything about boats can see that it was very well within the limits of its stability even with seven clowns on board. There is no obligation to wear lifejackets but you can bet they were provided on board. I am not condoning this, of course but I have seen it happening all my life and it is one of the main reasons I have always avoided hiring out day boats. Same applied to my father. Sorry folks, but the high season has started. The Broads are not exclusively private any more. Better get used to it.

I don't think that is at all a fair comparison as "our generation" has a great deal to be ashamed of. My argument, however, would be off topic, so I will leave it there!

This sounds like the land owned by the Wright family, local farmers, who host the Buckenham sailing club and its moorings. They also have a small boatyard there where Paul Wright was a well known builder of racing dinghies.

My money would be on potato clamps. Turnips, carrots, apples, were all kept in clamps that looked just like that. My parents had them on Thorpe island. Even sugar beet was kept in large clamps at the edge of a field, covered by what looked like a straw stack, until the beet factory had enough time to process it, later in the winter.

This is very sad for me personally as it used to be one of my parents' favourite pubs, so I spent quite a lot of my youth there! A mis-spent youth, you may say! The south rivers are a lovely place to cruise but there are not a lot of overnight moorings left these days and pubs such as this should remain as important "destinations" for an overnight stay and a good meal.

And they can use the Ra, to take the flock of fascinated visitors back and forth!

It is very interesting. I also notice the roof of the cottage seems to be half pantile and half thatch. I am wondering if those piles of hay or straw on the bank are not there to be transported but are maybe "clamps" for the winter storage of vegetables and fruit.

In the days, back in the 60s, when there was no speed limit, you could go fast up there in a launch and watch your wash making the reeds wave behind you, right across the broad. It used to be Sutton Broad and effectively it still is, with the reeds floating on it. To try to salvage a wide, long, flat lump of old concrete out of that place, will not be easy!

Excuse me, that last post post seems to be quoting Vanessan. It was not, of course.

Perhaps the rest of your post has answered your own question? I think that is the sort of remark which you would need to back up with proof. There are occasional criticisms of the BA here but they usually concern management decisions. I think you would feel rather lonely on this forum if you want to criticise those who work on the rivers for the BA. They do a great job and let's not forget they continued to do it all through the lockdown. That is why the Broads are still open for navigation today.

Thank you for that Peter. This must have been a harrowing experience for Miles, especially as he seems to have been on board to offer the owner a bit of free technical advice. There is no film of the actual dog so I can't tell if it was the same one that nearly attacked me. I suppose I am lucky in that I was just walking along the pontoon and not actually on board the dog owner's boat. I must say that from what I saw of those moorings and the people living there that morning, if I had bought the boat that was advertised for sale, I would not have kept it there. Sorry, did I say living there? Living on board boats on marina moorings is, of course, not allowed on the Broads. Is it.

I have searched youtube and also a certain forum but cannot find a video about this. Maybe someone can link it here - if allowed? I only ask because I was very nearly savaged by a bull terrier type dog which was loose on the moorings at Sutton Staithe boatyard last year when I was there for the legitimate reason of viewing a boat for sale. The person who appeared to be the dog's owner (when I asked him) turned his back and walked off onto a private boat. I just wondered if it might have been the same one.

It wasn't always controversial. Here is what the old gunboat Morning Flight used to look like. Incidentally, the symbol I use as my avatar is her original Broads river toll disc.

Sorry about the repetition but you must have heard of that Norfolk farmer's expression? It means good old farmyard slurry, ripe for muck spreading!

"Load of old squit".

This has been my own experience, on rescue boats. There were a couple of times though, when I got elderly people out of the water and ashore fast, after they had been knocked down (rather than capsized) in Norfolk Dinghies after a sudden squall. They were only in the water a few moments but if they had not been in lifejackets and I had not got there quick, they would have succumbed very soon to hyperthermia. They were already semi-conscious. And this was on Wroxham Broad in August, believe it or not!