Vaughan

70 years ago would be 1953, when the floods were a lot worse than currently, and 41 years before that 1912, We should remember that 1953 was caused by a failure of the sea wall on the north Norfolk coast. Many local people in 1953 believed that if the wall had not breached, the Broads themselves would not have flooded any more than usual. I think 60 years or more ago does have relevance, as this flooding was caused mainly by rainfall, which could not get away owing to the present state of maintenance of the rivers system and the closing off of the washlands by excessive use of new flood banks. Even 8 inches of sea level would have little or no effect on that. Also, imagine all that volume of water that used to be contained by the Yare when it was dredged to 12ft at low water, right across its width all the way to Norwich. I know very well how shallow it is now, by the number of places I have run aground during the Yare Navigation Race, in a yacht drawing only 4' 6". This must surely make an enormous difference to the flow of a surge tide and is possibly why more water now seems to be going up the Bure. Sorry for a pun on the NASA analogy, but "it's not rocket science"!

Leaving aside the wash for a moment, that flooding at Surlingham would have been quite commonplace in the "old days" on the Yare, where the sheds at Hearts in Thorpe used to flood every full moon in winter, along with the Brundall yards as well. You just got your waders on and got on with it! Right now though, this is very different and I can't really recall flooding over such a wide area that has gone on for so long. It started on a neap tide and this is now the second spring tide to come up, with the original flooding still there. As Griff says this morning on his thread, something must be wrong. Griff feels it is lack of proper dredging on the lower Bure and I think the current very shallow depth of the Yare nowadays does not help either. I also blame the lack of deliberate washlands in the meadows of the lower reaches, caused by too many new flood banks. The Broads used to be able to cope well with flooding in the past, until all the "experts" started buggering about with it!

That is a very real danger, especially to hire boats who don't know the river. These sort of conditions will normally mean the closing of other rivers, such as the Thames, where they put up a red board at the locks and all navigation stops.

And sure enough, we are now back on spring tides again.

Your knowledge of the BA does not seem to extend as far back as myself and Paladin. I can count, just offhand, at least seven ex members of the BA all of whom are known to me personally and all of whom tell the same basic story. I don't tend to assume anything of those un-elected members, appointed by The State, who appear to show no real local knowledge of the Broads at all. If that is what you mean by "care a toss?"

Here is the text of a letter I have just sent by e-mail to Paul Sharpe - www. paul.sharpe@dft.gov.uk Subject : Broads Authority navigation charges 2023/24. Dear Mr Sharpe, Reference: 1/. An objection made to you by the Broads Hire Boat Federation (BHBF) under the Harbours Act 1964, section 31. 2/. A further objection made to you by the Broads Reform Action Group (BRAG). I am writing as a Broads boat owner and toll payer to support both of these objections to a situation which I consider is most damaging to to the future of the Norfolk Broads, as a quite unique area of inland waterway cruising, whose commercial activity is supposed to support and finance its wetland landscape; its wildlife and the employment of probably thousands of people in the tourist and related industries. In terms of the Harbours Act, it also includes the maritime navigation from the sea at Gt. Yarmouth to the port of Norwich on the river Yare. The Broads Authority (BA) in justifying their 13% tolls increase in 2022/3, said that a survey of boat owners showed that the river toll still represents less than 10% of the costs of owning a boat. One of their appointed members even shamefully stated at the time that the increase is "just the cost of a round of drinks". I can report that my river toll this year is 22.5% of my fixed costs, which include a figure for routine annual maintenance but do not include fuel. There is clear evidence, even from the BA's own reports and minutes, of apportioning funds received from river tolls to supplement the costs of the Broads "National Park" - which is not a national park in fact and for which the use of river tolls funds would be illegal under the constitution of the Authority itself. They claim that the rise in tolls is necessary to offset "expenses related" to the national park - such as a visitor centre on Ranworth Quay with staff costs alone at £55,000 p.a. - despite having just received an extra payment from DEFRA of £400,000 which will more than offset the amount they claim they need from increased river tolls. It has been suggested to you by others that these continuous increases in river tolls with out any appreciable improvement in service to the navigation or its maintenance, will start to force people away from the Broads, both as holidaymakers in hire cruisers and as private boat owners. I can certainly confirm this as my wife and I decided to sell our boat in June this year. I have no faith left in the ability of the BA to manage the Broads as they should and consider this latest proposed rise, which ignores the advice of their own Navigation Committee, to be unjustified and quite possibly illegal. Yours sincerely, Whilst I am well aware that this forum declares that it is not a "campaigning platform" there is nothing to stop any member who cares, from writing something on similar lines if they feel the same way as I do. Now is the time, to get our voices heard!

I can't imagine how we have managed to get a thread about hire fleet changes into so much intimate detail about registration numbers! I think the key word here is "fare paying" passengers. This goes back to the old Board of Trade sea regulations, where a vessel may carry up to 12 passengers. Beyond that, it becomes a commercial passenger ship and must have lifeboats, handrails, all sorts of other things and must also carry a doctor on board. So Broads hire boats are always limited to 12 passengers and 2 crew. Not to forget also that since 1996 all new boats are built to ERCD regs, which specify the number of passengers and the weight of baggage which may be carried. This is displayed on a CE plaque at the steering position. Here is the Geest Line's lovely old ship Geest Cape (which I have sailed on) shown leaving the Pool of London, upstream of Tower Bridge. She was a refrigerated banana boat, on a regular run around the islands of the West Indies. Her luxury accommodation was fitted out for only 12 passengers, in order to avoid the Board of Trade regulations for passenger ships.

There's a Naval tradition after me own heart!

Because paddle boarders fall beautifully in line with National Park thinking. No need for dredging, or moorings! And why should river tolls pay for Mutford Lock, which levies its own toll on those who use it? It gives on to Lake Lothing which is part of the maritime port of Lowestoft. Broads hire boats are not allowed through it and private boats are not insured to go though it, under the terms of a standard Broads insurance policy. So why should Broads river tolls be used to maintain it?

I am told that there is an article in the EDP this morning which suggests that a mutiny is brewing on the Broads after the recent meeting of the Nav. Committee, regarding the toll increase. Unfortunately I can't seem to call up the EDP website on my screen this morning. Perhaps someone could link it for us as I am told it is quite a long article.

That's all right - the Bimini will come down on its own, the first time they go under St Olaves bridge.

He probably understood you in that case. Almost all of the hotel barges (but not Anjodi) have exclusively American customers and do their marketing only in America. They also have American crews. Some of them are not so bad but others are a menace. A lot of them went out of business during the Covid pandemic.

More like 7 years I would think. We are looking at getting on for a quarter of a million pounds of boat, there. Does that make it good value to hire, in a height-restricted cruising area, at 3.4K a week for 4 people?

Have a look at the control lever on the injector pump and you will see it has a small setscrew sticking up on either side of it and each one has a small locknut. The max speed screw may have a wire seal on it, from the factory. Put the Morse control in neutral, and the screw which the lever butts up against will be the tick-over adjustment. Run the engine, loosen the locknut and adjust the screw to where you want it. Then tighten the locknut. Rev the engine on the Morse lever and then return to neutral. If the engine does not come back to tick-over you may need to adjust the travel of the Morse cable, which you can do by tightening or loosening the screw terminal on the end of it.

Exactly. Scraped it off when hitting the lock gates on leaving. I have heard a lot of people say how lovely Rick Steins programme was, but none of them are boat hire companies on the Canal du Midi!

I wouldn't worry about it, just remember it is there. I have only ever had to use it once!

Remember it well and how we all sneered at it! The skipper of Anjodi deliberately forcing hire boats (which he called bumper boats) into the bank and having a good laugh, then displaying his own professional incompetence by ramming lock gates on more than one occasion. He couldn't even steer it straight down the canal. I met him a little later, when the barge was moored in the port at Marseillan, and I was in there looking after a group of boats on a journalists' visit. As I walked past, he asked me if I was anything to do with the canal. I replied "Yes. I am the regional manager for the bumper boats". That shut him up. Luckily Anjodi is now with new owners, who are a great deal more competent.

Most enjoyable, thank you.

It was 1976 or later, as I spotted one of my own hire boats from Womack, moored at the Anchor in Coltishall.

I forgot to mention that the PRM box has a "get you home" device in case of clutch plate failure or low oil pressure. If you take one of the two covers off the top of the box, you will see it has a forked metal tongue sticking downwards into the gears. Turn this plate round and put it back on, and the box is now locked in ahead gear, so that the boat can be driven.

Nanni in France supply the Hurth gearbox as their standard but most Broads yards have the Borg Warner or PRM box. The Borg Warner is almost indestructible but has the small problem that the astern gear works on sun and planet gears which mean a big reduction in output shaft revs, hence the need to rev up a lot in astern. The PRM is a "twin disk" box which has exactly the same power and speed in ahead or astern, so it is perfect for twin engined boats, where all you have to do is change the direction of the Morse cables in order to "hand" the propellors. The box can also be installed inclined in 3 different positions, for ease of aligning the engine to the shaft. Only problem is the the output shaft does not incorporate a thrust bearing, so be gentle when changing gears and don't let them crash. Keep the engine tick-over down to around 700RPM.

It is not a BA mooring, it is the parish staithe, going back hundreds of years to the old maltings, which used to be on the site and for which the building materials were said to have been "robbed out" of St Benets Abbey. The Good Doctor simply used the situation, to make another one of his pronouncements.

It was an announcement made, including a speech by the Good Doctor, earlier this season.

Not the first riverside cafe or restaurant to close down this year. I can think of two in Hoveton and another in Horning. I can't see this as specifically boat related, unless the recent decision to make the staithe exclusive to dayboats has not produced the footfall that the council were hoping for? In view of all the national park aspirations that are supposed to produce the kind of trippers that such a business might thrive on, it would suggest to me that there is more wrong with the Broads economy these days, than simply a slump in the hire boat business.

Oh dear. I have been answering what I assumed were serious questions about the history of Broads hire boats and have been giving answers, in good faith, as I do to all members of this forum. I had not realised I was getting involved in mental health issues about which I know nothing, but nonetheless sympathise. Excuse me, but I am just a boatyard manager. At this point I will leave this discussion to others more qualified than myself.