YnysMon

More next week. Classes are Thursdays. We had another trip to Bournemouth today to take Alec back to Uni after his ‘reading week’. Just as we arrived at the campus he realised he’d left his house/room keys at home in MK...typical! Graham started talking about doing the journey back with Alec, and then there and back again in the same day (mad what!)...luckily Security had a spare set of keys. Whew!

Both, I would say!

I wasn't at work today so haven't been able to take the view from my window, as I've managed to get an arrangement where I do a fortnight's full-time work hours fitted within 9 days, so I get every other Friday off. (Yippee!) I digress...anyway, my office window overlooks the Open Uni's football pitch, and beyond that the River Ouse and beyond that trees (though there's a Milton Keynes grid road beyond the trees). Ahh - greenery...

I couple of weeks ago I posted on the 'My Day' forum a post about my first completed project from the 'Stained Glass' evening classes that I've signed up for this autumn. Really clumsy soldering - my first attempt! Jean (SwanR) suggested that I start off a new thread recording my further adventures with this class - so here goes! We had 'half term' off last week... (What's that about? It's not like we are in school and it was a week or a fortnight behind most schools' half terms anyway, depending on which authority you are under!) so I was quite keen to get back as I hadn't caught up with the rest of the class in the last session, having had a week off on the Broads mid-October. I turned up over half an hour early this week, as the Tutor had mentioned that he arrives early to set up, and he was quite happy for me to start to cut out the glass for the next project, which is a butterfly sun-catcher. I had cut out the paper templates for this at the last session. Using these templates, the next stage is to mark out the shapes on the glass using a 'Sharpie' pen, and then cut the glass using a hand-held glass cutting tool. For the first project we were given pre-selected glass, but this time we had been able to select our own glass from a batch that the tutor provided. I had selected a sort of green-blue glass at the end of the last session. Cutting out the glass was fine - I think I'm starting to get the hang of it, though I don't think my templates were very accurate! Inevitably, it didn't quite fit, and part of the process of preparing the glass is using a grinder to ensure that the glass is shaped properly so that it will fit together. After a bit of grinding here and there I was able to move on to the next stage, which is to put copper foil around the edges of each piece of glass. The copper is on a roll of about 1/2 cm (or less!) wide strips, and once you peel off the backing paper is supposed to stick to the edges of your glass. I got on okay at first, but then found that the copper just wasn't sticking to some of the smaller pieces. Tutor suggested I go and give my glass a good wash with hot water and detergent, and that worked - the copper stuck to the edges, which was a huge step forward. It was still really tricky to fix the copper with an even overlap both sizes of the glass though. Very, very fiddly! Still...I'm ready to go with the soldering next week! Not sure all my edges are where they should be though! Doh!

Lovely, thanks David. Looking forward to your further adventures on Goosander. Good luck with your future voyages!

I’ve always wondered about waterfront properties...how often do they get flooded and what are the insurance premiums like? I’d prefer to be on boat. Mind you, I’d love one of those properties in places like Belaugh which are on a hill overlooking the river. Sigh...

Right...I’m getting worried...why is Grendel channelling Timbo? Ooh, spooky!

Grace...where are you!

Welcome back Timbo...vintage post that!

Hi Debs, welcome!

I’m falling in love with Bournemouth. Love the really long expanse of beach stretching off to Poole and Christchurch, the promenade, beach huts and the Chines. Alec really likes Bournemouth too, so that’s a relief!

Thanks Jay, looking forward to your ‘Winter Tale’ when you are next on the Broads.

In my comparison I was trying to compare the price of boats that were similar in style and what facilities they offered. I know that other yards have cheaper boats that don’t offer things like shore powers and so on.

What a lovely post David. Love the detail and the exceptional photos (that egret did look like it was posing for you...I guess that’s just down to your patience). I’ve learnt so much from reading other peoples accounts of the passage through Yarmouth and it’s also helpful to have mentions of good pubs. Thanks! Helen

We had a trip to Bournemouth today. Alec sent a message last week to ask if he could come home from Uni for a few days as he doesn't have any lectures or seminars this week (I believe they call it 'reading week'). I took a day off work, Graham isn't working at present and Harry didn't have a shift today, so decided to join us. What a treat! The weather was kind too, a very mild day for November (up to 15 degrees C) with sunny spells. We managed to get there by mid-morning, having started off early. Alec took Seren around his student house to meet some of his friends, then we took off in the car to give Seren a walk along the beach. We found our way to West Overcliffe Drive (where we knew there was plenty of free parking), parked in a spot near the cliff overlooking the beach and found a footpath down to Durley Chine leading to the beach. Walked from there to the pier and back. Harry hasn't yet grown out of collecting shells and interesting jetsam (don't think he ever will...one of my grandmothers was just the same). Graham tried to persuade Seren to get her feet wet, but she wasn't keen. MVI_7408.MP4 By the time we got to the pier it was lunch time. We'd noticed a Harry Ramsden's just beyond the pier but we couldn't take the dog inside, so we returned to the car and drove over to the pier complex, parked in a shady spot and had lunch in Harry's (very good - beautifully cooked fish and chips, not at all greasy and very good and friendly service) before having a short walk through the lower gardens. The gardens were being prepared for the big Christmas display, so I must have a look at that when we pick Alec up for his Christmas break!

Our first hire with Ferry Marina was in March 2016 , the week before Easter. Helen

Love this thread!

Welcome from me Debs, it’s great that you are both now posting and keeping us up to date with your adventures on Thunder. Glad to hear you have started taking the helm. That’s something I really enjoy. Your little doggies look really cute in their jackets. all the best Helen

I’ve just realised that I referred to ‘Faircraft Loynes’ as NDB...it does confuse matters that they seem to go under two different names. Good customer service though. We thought the Fair Regents were particularly comfortable boats (we’ve hired Fair Regents 1 and 3), However, we think that Ferry Marina’s customer service is just as good, and their boat maintenance up there with the best. I’ve written up our experiences with these boats under the Holiday Tales section, as has Jean (SwanR).

When we passed the Comissioner’s Cut on our way to and fro to an overnight stop in Norwich last month we noticed someone had put up a tent on the western bank of the Cut. What’s that about? Actually, we weren’t certain that it was the same tent as we were leaving the following day. ? Helen

Before we first booked with Ferry Marina I made a comparison of the total cost of boats from a range of yards including fuel etc and was surprised to find that Ferry Marina was competitive in overall price. Of course, if you are planning not to cruise very far you would get a good refund on your fuel deposit from other yards. However, if you are planning to make the most of your cruising time, as we tend to do, it is a good deal. We like their very good customer service and excellent level of boat maintenance.

I noticed that some place names like Candle Dyke were different in Arthur Ransome’s books (Kendle Dyke). Sometimes wondered if it was due to people from different parts of the country mishearing accents. You can’t claim that from Pennygate though!

I’ve seen it referred to commonly as Pennygate Staithe too.

We have used a small dimplex type radiator on our last two breaks on the Broads in early Spring and October, one on Fair Regent from NBD and more recently on Bronze Emblem from Ferry Marina. Both of these had shore power, though we also ran the dimplex for a time (not overnight) whilst on wild moorings. I would also recommend Turquise Emblem (another one with shore power) from Ferry Marina as that’s another very comfortable boat for two. Yes to warm air heating, but for really chilly nights it’s good to be able to keep a low wattage heater going overnight. Actually, on Bronze Emblem some evenings we used the dimplex in the evening in favour of the warm air heating just because it’s so much quieter!