thingamybob

You are right Siddy. Just go straight to your bank and they will sort it out for free. I would be worried about giving those claims firms my bank details.

One thing to remember when side towing is that the towed boat will try to keep going and skew the outfit when the towing boat goes in reverse so it is best to slow down well in advance of stopping so only a little reverse is needed to stop the outfit. Of course, if the towing boat is powered by an outboard motor then the helm should be put down away from the towed boat so the outfit stops almost straight. On a conventional powered boat the towing boat should be lashed on the starboard side of the towed boat so that the propeller bias (walk) partially alleviates this skewing when reverse gear is selected.

Hi Andrew. I think it is something to do with the steering of the tow vessel. If you look at a proper tug the towing post is somewhat amidships allowing the tug to turn without the towed vessel trying to keep the tug going straight. If a long line is used it will reduce this tendency if the line is attached to the stern.

Quite right. I have rescued quite a few boats on various rivers over the years and that is the proper place to lash the tow boat.

Best wishes for your holiday Meg. Please don't keep us all awake on the moorings with all night parties.

Glenmorangie has my vote.

The computer battery will charge and the computer will run off the boat battery in this situation. It is ok to do that but just keep an eye on the boat battery voltage.

Hi MM. I have a 3 mifi on the boat and it works almost all over the Broads. If the signal is a bit low I put the mifi into one of those little mobile phone belt pouches and stick it up on my boat hook which greatly improves the signal. with regards to charging your laptop there is no need to go down the route of using an invertor as it wastes battery power with losses. Maplins supply a nice universal laptop charger which will do the job admirably. Also, charge your mifi using a usb port in the charger as charging it through the computer will also waste power. It is all about banging the volts up and then bringing them down again which is wasteful. When using these computer chargers make sure you have at least 11.5 volts in the boat battery otherwise the unit will get hot, pull more current and eventually blow the fuse. Also, never leave the computer on charge unattended as if the boat battery gets low the heat of the unit may cause a fire. It is really best to charge the computer whilst cruising when the voltage in the boat battery is highest. Hope this helps. thingy.

Hi Kingfishers Time. Basically it is not rocket science to keep between the posts in good daylight but if things go pear shaped hirers and indeed owners need to deploy the anchors or mudweights as soon as possible. If the mudweight does not do the job and seeing the length of some of the mudweight warps on some hire craft it could cause a problem. However, if it has been deployed then the skipper has done the best to secure the boat. An anchor warp or a mudweight warp should be at least three times the expected depth of where it is expected to be used. Personally I prefer a proper anchor with two metres of chain on it before the anchor warp is attached. Also my anchor is bigger than the boat requires, if it is chucked over the side nothing moves, especially as it has 100 ft of warp.

Having crossed Breydon many times on hire boats and now my own boat my advice is that if the engine fails for whatever reason get the mudweight or anchor over the side IMMEDIAELY. Whilst Breydon is not as bad as some people make out it is to be respected. Breydon takes no prisoners! Just regard it as a flooded field with a channel going through it. Stray from the channel and you are in deep doo doo. Once you are anchored you may be able to sort out the problem, if not you can easily be rescued even by a little squirt of a boat such as mine if the tide is right.

Hi Andrew. What may help is a little information about yourself ie. to fill in your profile. Also I think you need to put a bit about yourself on this thread and possibly a picture. Best of luck in your search. Thingy.

There are some people who appear to positively enjoy hearing their pesky little doggies barking. I have owned a dog and trained it myself and it is not difficult to train your dog not to bark incessantly and unnecessarily. I bet that if I ran up and down a quayside shouting my head off I would be quickly be shut up by other boaters. These incessantly barking dogs are nuts and so are their owners.

That's why I always choose wild moorings for overnight or long stay moorings. I just use the 24hr moorings for shopping or pub visits. Its great with no pesky neighbours.

Also note that The Times used those dreaded words "National Park", how dare they?

Also we have www.saving-old-seagulls.co.uk. I have dealt with this company and they provide excellent service

The Navy Lark. Priceless!

Never mind Polly, we still have this forum which is almost as good as The Goons.

Oh dear. typo again. I really meant "did". thanks MM.

Ah! That is where I got lost, I only read your thread after the original post was deleted. Will you lot please stop confusing me! I was beginning to think I was losing it more than I thought I was (if that makes sense). I think I need a drink!

I am sure you would be forgiven if you bid bash His Holiness.

I have a feeling that I have lost the plot here. Is anybody else confused? Am I missing something?

I am almost afraid to use Google Earth. It regularly makes my computer crash and re boot. Does anybody else have this problem?

Otters are fast becoming a regular sight on the Broads. I was speaking to somebody in the Kings Head a while ago and they told me that they saw one bounding along the moorings on the path outside in broad daylight and with people around. On my last trip there were two of them in the reeds knocking the stuffing out of each other, probably a territorial thing. In fact I almost always see one in the morning in a rather nice place where I like mooring (not telling where otherwise everybody will go there).

Either train them up long canes or string, pick out all the side shoots and let them go as high as five trusses and then pick out the growing shoot at the top to stop growth. This year I tried another method. I let the plants branch once and trained each shoot up a separate string but I still limited each plant to five trusses. Give them a good feed once a week once the first truss has formed. There is no need to use Tomorite fertiliser, I use Aldi's or Wilkinsons tomato feed which is just as good and much cheaper. I have had a bumper crop from my seven plants this year. Pull off any yellowing leaves with a sharp downward pull and get them away from the plants and trim off any bits of fungus infected plants. I do not use pesticides or fungicides on my tomatoes so a bit of fungus can occur. If you do get a bumper crop tomatoes freeze well and you could try making tomato jam, you would never realise that the jam was made from tomatoes. [Edit] Since tomatoes like an acidic soil I have used ericaceous compost for the last two years with very good results. Happy growing and eating!

Thanks HA.