thingamybob

Perhaps pubs and posters can put on this thread which pubs have banned unruly parties. Then the boatyards can let the unruly element of their customers where they will not be welcome.

Groups of "Steller swillers is the last thing that The Lion needs. Rick needs to build the pubs reputation and is doing an excellent job of it. The last time I visited a few weeks ago the pub looks like a place for family dining and responsible drinking. A few locals are also using the pub which is always good for winter trade. Hopefully The Lion will follow suit. Whilst we are on the subject, The Lion has a very quirky washbasin stand in the gents. Visit to find out!

Oh come on now Poppy, you could put in a few asterisks etc. I could do with a few new expletives to hurl at irresponsible helmsmen.

Perhaps I should have put "large all male crews" in my heading. Obviously a handful of responsible males would always be welcome.

I just heard the other day that The Dog at Ludham Bridge has banned stag parties etc. at the pub. They have had so much trouble and had their decent customers upset by their evenings being ruined by the bad behaviour of these groups. I hear a number of other pubs in the area are following suit. Well done Jeff and crew.

Are those big orange floating balls on the river banks of the Bure markers for beaver traps?

Hit and run seems to be the normal practice on the Broads. I have lost count of the amount of damage done to my boat when it has been moored. Nobody has ever owned up. I have now become almost paranoid in finding a safe place to moor to avoid some clot belting the living daylights out of the boat and outboard motor when I go for shore visits. I bet the culprits would be livid if I belted the living daylights out of their nice shiny cars and then just drove off.

Possibly somebody did not like it moored to a fishing platform.

I have always known it as propeller bias. A propeller also works like a paddle wheel giving a sideways thrust. In forward gear the helmsman automatically compensates for this by just pointing the boat where he wants it to go. I reverse, until the boat picks up a bit of speed and has a flow past the rudder to give steerage the sideways thrust takes over, that is the theory anyway. However, what I cant work out is the sideways and indeed the top and bottom and the other side thrust must be equal and cancel each other out. Any physicists out there that can enlighten us?

Sounds delicious, will give that a try myself.

Perhaps he could, and modify that bridge somewhat.

I really don't care, my boat will be safe on the Gt Ouse for a couple of weeks. Heaven help you all. Do the insurance companies know?

One will be quite enough thanks MM.

Nope. Perhaps Cheshire Cat could suggest some interesting recipes in "Cooking on the Corsican"

Got to be mushy peas.

Snake and chips? Rick White Horse.............. Beat that!

Yep! There is nothing wrong with Seagull engines. Its their owners that are the problem. If you treat a Seagull properly and that is not hard to do they work admirably.

Quite right Dilligaf, just standing, having a look and thinking things out first is always the best policy.

Steve. I don't know if you have ever had experience in this sort of project before but what you need to do is to sort out the framework for your canopy first. Next, you secure it on the boat as square as you can using some strong cord. Now you have something to work on. Now you need to make templates or patterns whatever you want to call them. Acorn Canvas do supply some heavy duty polythene sheet for this job but if you can obtain a bit of heavy duty polythene sheet from other sources it will work admirably and be cheaper. Cut the polythene to shape and stick it to the frame with duck tape and make adjustments using a felt pen and scissors. this way, if you make a mistake you are not using the expensive canvas and can even patch the mistakes with a bit of poly and duck tape Once you have got your templates right then you can use them to mark and cut your canvas just allowing a quarter of an inch all way around for stitching. I used yellow kids colouring pencils to mark mine out. You can buy soapstone pencils for this purpose if you want but I like to keep the cost down. You can attempt that fancy seam they use on jeans but in my case I just stitched the seam, folded the selvedge down and stitched it again. It is not as strong but I find it quite adequate. If you want to put windows in your canopy there are some interesting videos on the subject on You Tube that tell you how to do it. Incidentally, my canopy was knocked up on my mum's old Singer sewing machine left to me by my mum, made in 1884 (the machine, not mum) and still going strong. Sadly, it outlived mum but bless her she showed me everything I know about sewing machines. I used to turn the handle for her when she used to make her own dresses when I was a little kid. What an education I had from my parents! Dad also taught me everything I know about engines. Thingy.

Smitch: Just to give you an idea of the quantity of material you will need, I bought 9 metres of acrylic polyurethane coated canvas and I still had a metre left over. Your cockpit, if that is your boat on your profile appears to be a bit bigger than mine so you will need a bit more. The material is 1.5 metres wide and I paid £17.95 per metre for it. This is quite a comparable price for such a quality material. If the pennies will not run to that price Acorn Canvas do a non PU coated material for £15.79 per metre You might just get away with one 1oz cone of thread to complete your project. Make sure you use the correct size of needle in the machine otherwise you are in for a lot of grief. Also, do what I did not and buy some of their basting tape, it holds everything together whilst you stitch it together. It makes the job much easier. Do not use leather stitching needles as they sometimes have a chisel point and tear the cloth. Good luck, and let us know how you get on. Thingy.

If you do make your own canopy make sure you use the proper UV resistant thread. It is a bit more expensive but well worth it. If you can get the silicone coated stuff you will find it is much better as it runs through the sewing machine very smoothly. Also the proper thread will not "wick" where the thread gets wet and leads the water through the seams, dripping all over your cockpit. Please do use a quality fabric as there is a lot of work involved which would be wasted if the canopy fell apart in a couple of years. A friend of mine used a cheap acrylic canvas and after a year's use it went brittle and he found that a large sea bird had landed on the canopy and put its claws right through the canvas. The materials for the whole canopy for your boat should cost in the region of £300. Have a look at the Acorn Canvas website, they will supply you with everything you need and provide an excellent prompt service. Having a canopy made will cost you between £500 to £800 and possibly more.

We all go out to relax on the Broads. If the Vice Commodore and the Rear Commodore of the want to put on the garb to try and impress everybody let 'em do it. Just leave us happy, free, rebels to enjoy our Broads. We will dress how we want. Times have changed and we are not in the Twenties and some people should realise this. Personally, there is no way I could ever join an organisation that had a Vice Commodore and a Rear Commodore. Just think about it.

Ties? The only use for a tie is to stop spilled soup staining your shirt front . Otherwise I consider it one the most useless piece of male dress, along with tail coats, top hats, bowler hats, jodhpurs, stiff collars, starched shirt fronts, cummerbunds, cravats and so it goes on. Having worked in a financial employer for nearly forty years I cannot stand all the c**p. I used to leave home dressed in a suit (oh yes, I missed that one as one of useless garments) with my tie in my pocket and only put it on when I was paid to wear it. On leaving work my tie was ripped off and stuffed unceremoniously in my pocket until the next time I was paid to wear it. I AM REVOLTING! I am retired and I am the scruffiest old geezer cruising on the Norfolk Broads. And I really do not care. Was that a rant?

Judging from the shots in the cabin, could it possibly be in Australia?

My boat is also insured with Nav and Gen and has been for the last thirty odd years. I have only had one claim years ago and that was dealt with promptly. There has been no requests for surveys etc. not that the boat would fail anyway but they seem a good company to deal with. They are part of the Zurich Group.