socrates

Plenty of holy water on Broadland Grebe.

Fresh water with a bit of added Ecover. Don't tend to use river water because it is often filthy and contains bits of weed, grit, and unmentionables.

Not sure if the owner of Dawn Star is on here, but someone might know a bit more about the history of this boat which had an electric motor fitted several years back.

Apart from rare occasions when boats are dressed overall, I have not seen anyone using signa flags on the Broads.

Yes, closed and up for rent at 35K PA.

Hired from them several times and have absolutely no issues. Efficient yard, with immaculate boats, and helpful staff. The last hire boat we had was Silver Myth which we took to Beccles for what was then the Vintage Wooden Boat Show. It was whilst at that show that we decided to buy our boat. We have also moored at their yard for a few hours and found the owners very welcoming.

The older boat designers certainly knew what they were doing. Here is our boat which (according to Awiegh) was doing over 7MPH across Breydon.

Both Noisy Goose and Queen of Light have been restored by Abbey Molyneux of Abbey Boat Builder. I met Abbey a few weeks ago, she is certainly very knowledgeable and it looks like she has done an excellent job.

All the best, will miss seeing our shed neighbours when we are down next week. Let us know if you need anything.

Good to catch up with you at Beccles. Thanks once again for the warning shouts when our rear cover blew off pulling the stern line into the water. Potential major issue averted.

See you on Monday.

£173.95

We arrive early doors next Monday. Having a few days on Mona's Queen with Nigel before we bring BG over.

We have just moved our moorings to Richardson's, our boat will be arriving there once we can travel, Of course the facilities at Richardson's are excellent, and we found the company staff very helpful and a pleasure to deal with. Keeping our boat in the famous wet shed will mean we can use her all year round, and she is protected from the weather. Having spent most of our time on the Southern rivers, it will also be a delightful change of scenery and we new places to visit. As part of my wife's new job, she is involved with Mona's Queen (the YMCA boat) which is kept in the wet shed, it made sense to keep our boat there as well. From what I have experienced so far, I would highly recommend Richardson's yard.

Same here, driving down to Mona's Queen, hope you have the kettle on in t wet shed for when we arrive.

Totally agree that dangling fenders interrupt the classic lines of a vintage boat. As much as I detest having fenders down when cruising the Broads, it is a matter of practicality with such narrow side decks.

At some point in time many of us were first time hire boaters, and a lot of us who are owners began as hirers and own former hire boats. We also experienced the so called "Benidorm boaters" last August, and agree that there were issues. However, drawing a distinction between owners, first time hire boaters, and regular hire boaters is somewhat simplistic. The issues are far more complex and, to a large extent, centre around attitudes and good old fashioned manners. Boat yards have a degree of responsibility to educate and inform those hiring boats, experienced boaters (both those who hire and owners) also have a part to play. People deserve the opportunity of a break on the Broads, but the enjoyment of a few should not have a negative impact on the enjoyment of the many. Education, engagement, and (as a last resort), enforcement by the BA should be firmly in place before the start of this season. When you say yards should be "harder", I am wondering how this could work out in reality. A larger non-refundable deposit might help, as would a clear message that any reported incidents may result in the boat being taken away from them and their holiday terminated. In fairness to one yard, the latter was actually implemented following an incident we witnessed. We can only hope that the worst doesn't happen this season and the powers that be are aware of concerns expressed on various forums. There is also a moral obligation for all of us to conduct ourselves in a manner which sets an example to others.

As for the term "acceptable death", all well and good until the "acceptable death" is your loved one or yourself.

Flu has been largely prevented due to the current restrictions, increased hygiene and more people getting the flu vaccine. From what I can see on death certificates, no one has lumped COVID and Flu together Death certificates are legal documents and it is not a good idea to falsify the cause of death. As a point of interest, there is still a three week waiting time for funeral slots at the crematorium.

We should be arriving in the wet shed at about 0400 on 12th April, allowing for the 4 hour drive.

Indeed it wont. Our friends keep their Broads cruiser on the Barrow, they transported it there before lockdown last year.

Others may have better knowledge than me. I think this boat is a bit too wide for the Ant or the Chet, and it probably won't get under Potter, Wroxham, Ludham, Beccles Old, or the bridges up to Norwich. It might not be the easiest of boats to have on the Broads but I could be wrong.

Another very enjoyable restoration thread, many thanks for sharing your experiences . It was good to meet you and have a look at Kingfisher (Golden Light 5) at Beccles when we were on Mona's Queen (Golden Light 1), in company with Manxman (Golden Light ?) They are lovely boats and well worth the hard work to restore them. Posted this picture in a previous post, but it does show the off the shape of the Golden Light boats. (picture taken by Nipper's crew when we were crossing Breydon Water in August).

In the last two weeks I have had clients who were a plumber, a plasterer and a driving instructor. All 3 of them in their early 60's, and had been working during this lockdown. None of them had any known health issues apart from this dreadful COVID. For those who don't know, I am in the funeral business.

Hopefully by April we can all have some boat time. We plan on being on BG for Easter Monday and then a move across to her new moorings at the end of April. Better get the Mrs to talk to her boss upstairs.