Vaughan

By all means go ahead if you wish. I used to work for Jenners, so I have seen enough gas explosions on boats to know how important the "rules" are. I am also ex CORGI so I know what the rules are for. What exactly are you changing, on the grill? If it just has an electric spade connection this is more probably the spark ignition, or "Piezzo" in which case, go ahead. A so-called thermocouple comes in two parts: 1/. the probe which sits in the flame of the burner and has a thin copper pipe running up to the control button, where it screws into the back of it with a small nut. In which case, be very careful as the pipe is fragile. It is actually an inner and outer cable, which passes a small current to a little solenoid in the control unit. You are not opening a gas line by doing this, so you cannot be in danger of a gas leak. Just make sure that the tip of the probe is positioned so that it is being fully heated by the gas flame, or it won't work. Often, these have just been bent out of position when cleaning. Also ensure the little fixing nut is clean and tight, as it is an electrical connection. 2/. The control unit itself, which incorporates the k n o b that you have to hold in while you are lighting the flame. I do not recommend that you attempt to replace this yourself and I am not going to try to tell you how to do so. 3/. Why do you think you need to replace the thermocouple? They are a very simple and sturdy affair which almost never need replacing, but might need cleaning or adjusting. In which case you will be far better off talking to a boatyard, who do this sort of work all the time. Peace of mind and security would only cost one hour's labour.

So we have photos taken both fore and aft, showing the name of the boats moored next door. I thought "naming and shaming" was not allowed on this forum? It is commonly accepted that one should not run an engine on moorings after 8PM although this is not a legal requirement. I have not heard of anything to prevent someone charging their batteries in the afternoon, should they wish.

So, there will be 18 metres of public mooring? That is two medium size boats or one big one. That is not enough. Good Lord, I hope no-one is going to use the hackneyed excuse that they have "fallen into dis-use"? That there is "no longer a call for them"?

Photo from "The Broads" by Robert Malster. To allow the effective privatisation of one of the best known public staithes on the Broads, and by the very parish council that owns it and used to depend on it, is not only a disgraceful disregard of history and tradition but also perilous for the future of Broads navigation as a whole. If Barton turf is no longer a public staithe then the waterway leading to it is no longer a "navigation". So there is no longer a need to dredge or maintain it. The waterways that we love to cruise on depend on these ancient rights and laws. We are already using only about a third of the navigations and waterways which used to exist in Norfolk and Suffolk around the time this photo was taken. We must not lose any more of them.

According to the EDP, one of the barristers has asked for more time as the case is very complex.

I read in yesterday's EDP that the coroner's inquest into the fatality has been put off "until the end of the year". It was to have been held this week.

To be selected as the "button boy" to stand on the masthead truck on ceremonial parades at Ganges was a great honour. I was told that there was a short pole, about thigh high, that he could grip between his legs, but that was his only support. He also had to shin up the last few feet of the mast to get there. The tradition of manning the yards goes back hundreds of years in the Navy, to when a warship entering a foreign port would do this as a sign of peaceful intention. With all the crew up the rigging, there was no-one down below to man the guns.

Excuse me - I hope I haven't stifled conversation about the meet! I would certainly not want to do that. All the same, if you fall in on Malthouse Broad - or Salhouse - you can stand on the bottom.

And thanks very much for that write-up, for those of us who could not be there! I must say I am a bit concerned about the attitude of that ranger in Ranworth. If I were bringing an obviously private boat into the Maltsters quay I would not appreciate a lecture from an official about wearing lifejackets. In Reedham, or of course at GYYS, but up on the north rivers, no. It is always recommended of course but I very much hope the BA are not going to try and make it an obligation.

Check the relay for the stop solenoid. If you can fill the filter by hand pumping, then it might be a lift pump problem. I don't think it is air in the fuel or it would simply stop dead.

In which case that ensign shouldn't have been up before Morning Colours. Have a great day everyone! We are having a weekend with Pat Simpson, who is visiting us here in France. "If Mohammed will not come to the mountain" and all that!

Is this because they now have auxiliary motors?

Use of a snore hole. You can just see the winch wire running along the ground under the port side. This runs out to a pulley sunk in the river, known as a deadman, and back to the aft snore hole. The block and tackle on the stem is to check the boat and stop her running off down the slip on her own. These photos were posed for an article in Motor Boat & Yachting, about 1952. We didn't normally launch on a low tide!

Might be, but I would allow for 10 metric tonnes, to be safe.

It's worth looking at some of the other Broads features which can be seen clearly here. The hull rises gently up almost to the waterline at the stern, which greatly reduces the stern wave. That long, prominent keel is what makes her so easy to steer and keeps her in a straight line, along with the very large rudder which means she can still be steered easily when drifting in neutral. See how the long keel is dead flat on the bottom, to allow the boat to be hauled up a slipway on "greasy ways". That hole in the metal, just where the skeg joins the keel, is called a snore hole, where a winch cable is attached to a pin, for hauling her down the slip when launching. There wlll be another one at the bottom of the stem, for hauling her out. And look at that shallow draft! Less than 2' 6", I would guess.

1/. This depends on the hull, and what you want to use it for. Broads cruisers are displacement hulls, which will not lift out of the water and so will not go faster than their hull speed. Broad Ambition, for example, has perfectly adequate power with a relatively small engine and even goes to sea on occasions. If you want your boat for towing, then you need a more powerful engine. 2/. Yes, in general, it is a bad thing, especially if they have turbos. On the Thames I have seen big twin engined Brooms that moor in Penton Hook marina and hardly ever leave. They venture out once a year to go upriver for Henley Regatta and the whole of Penton Hook lock disappears in a cloud of white smoke!

Memories of 2018. Sorry we can't be there this year. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Sorry about the various scans but it was in different columns on 2 pages. Courtesy of Lowestoft College of Marine Engineering. It is sometimes not realised how important it is to align the engine to the shaft to avoid damage, especially to the gearbox.

Except if it is British registered. On the Thames, the name must be unique as the name is the boat's registration and there are no numbers.

This sounds more like "With a couple of sticks of jelly-ger-nite an' me old alarum clock"!

I notice from this that you do not have SILENTBLOC engine mountings. No problem - if you need to re-align the engine you just undo the mounting nut by about a quarter inch and then lever the engine up at that corner, to place shims under the foot. It is surprising how useful a rond anchor can be on these occasions! They are also very good for tensioning alternator belts . . .

When I first saw the photos of Tangle, it reminded me of one of the Brink of Eden class from the original Brinkcraft. They seem to have used this wooden boat as a plug to mould the Brink of Day class, so maybe this is where the builder of Tangle got the idea, and the mould, from? From Blakes catalogue of 1978.

And as the cooking oil comes from Ukraine it might be in short supply. All the shops large and small, here in France, have already run out of mustard, for the same reason.

There is just as much of a knack to removing vinyl logos, as there is to fitting them.

Sorry, I meant the aft side!