oldgregg

If going North to South you can be there at low water or even a smidge earlier if need be, but obviously it's October and if the weather has been awful then there could be quite a lot of flow. Going back North to South you don't ideally want to be earlier than slack otherwise you'll be punching the tide for a long time up to Acle. Based on those dates I think I'd go South on Wednesday morning and come back on Saturday or Sunday afternoon (Saturday looks easier) somewhere between low water and slack.

Bridgecraft do seem to like their lino! I'm a fan of the Lowliner, too. How would you say it compares with Contessa in terms of space, Simon? You lose the interior space above the engine because of the low air draft but is it a biggie?

RCD is a factor, too. While it's generally a good thing that we have standards in boatbuilding, the red tape does mean that it is not really worth it for a smaller yard who only wants to build one boat every couple of years. Look at some of the yards who stopped building in the nineties. I know for a fact some of them did so because it just wasn't worth the hassle to build any more. And without being able to use their own skills, it would have been unviable to buy new builds in. Any hirefleet needs newer boats to remain appealing to customers so as these kind of fleets aged, they mostly fell by the wayside where once they were go-to yards. If you can't / don't want to build new boats to RCD then you can't have a fleet renewal strategy (or do the odd private build) and so it's not a viable business.

Well those too.

Yup. I'm 6'2 and they're a complete pain in the posterior.

Chamfered or rounded edges stop people doing themselves a mischief when walking into the bed by accident, and allows a bit more room to move around and in theory you need less space at the feet end.

It's the brand they use, but the boats aren't necessarily built by them. Silverline, Broom and others have built some of them in recent years. Barnes own the mould tools to the Opal, which is still a great-looking craft. They are considerably more spacious than a Sheerline 740, which I would only really consider a 'weekender'. Viking have definitely built some small Alphas (such as the one which has just gone to Richardson's).

I see that GHD have just announced their 'Unplugged' cordless straighteners, which charge from USB-C. They're not cheap, but the convenience of being able to use them on a boat at any mooring would sell a few to people I know. https://www.ghdhair.com/discover-ghd-unplugged

I believe it has just silted up, and reeds grow very quickly. It'll be nice to see the site tidied up. That plug has been there for years and many people think it's a boat awaiting completion. They basically took a set of 44' centre cockpit mouldings and did a cut and shut so they could make the mould tool for the 35' version with it. From David's pictures, it looks like the mould tools for the doorwedge are there too and possibly the classic centre cockpit, judging by the shape. I'd like to see a reinterpretation of the classic 35, too, such a cleverly-packaged boat. Those mould tools will not be in good shape, though.

Yeah, that boat has had a LOT of work done.

The difference with a camper is that the exhaust gases exit through the floor where there's a big air gap underneath and even if there's a leak they're likely to do that. In a boat, it's all going to end up in the bilges..

I wouldn't leave it on overnight. As others have said, it's not beyond the realms of possibility for exhaust gases to end up in the ducting if something goes wrong. There have been many high-profile incidents over the years involving CO poisoning on boats, none of them are pretty. Use electric heating on shore power overnight (ie an oil radiator with tilt sensor) and don't overload the supply. It's a 16 amp supply, not 100 like you have at home, and is usually shared with an immersion heater and battery charger.

100% agreed, I have said basically the same thing on another thread. Haines are at the opposite end of the spectrum.

I don't think Pegasus and a Haines 32 are comparable really. https://www.nya.co.uk/boats-for-sale/vogue-27/ In the crazy market where boats sell within days, this still hasn't found a home..... The Haines will be lovely. Pricey but what a boat.

If you're thinking about replacing your inverter then it might be worth looking at an inverter / charger such as the Victron MultiPlus range. With that setup, you can have a 240v circuit for sockets etc that runs from whatever power source is currently available and a separate 'shore power only' circuit for your immersion heater etc. You can also throttle the current available to the sockets to ensure the batteries always get a good charge without maxing out the 16 amp supply. They aren't all that cheap, but if you're using the boat a lot then it might be a good investment. As for charging electronics, I always try to use 12V chargers where possible.

I think the Sheerline might be a centre cockpit? The boats are just being added with the names they already had. You can tell Clive's not about...

It's quite a nice mooring, and yeah there are normally spaces. I didn't know Acle Spice deliver there but it makes sense. We used them recently from Acle Bridge (both eateries were fully booked) and the meal was delicious, one of the best Indian takeaways we've had in ages.

Oops!

Do you mean Wroxham / Hoveton before where the Boatyards are? I think the area around the main river frontage is hideous past the turn for Sabena etc.

It's a fairly common model so I don't see why that wouldn't be true.

I think there's a plan that's been thought through, it just has nothing to do with running a boatyard and everything to do with 'proving' to the council that they've tried to make it viable.

Yeah, unfortunately GAP insurance is pretty much a necessity these days unless buying a £500 banger. I'm not quite sure how we got to the point where book value is complete nonsense and there's a need to have insurance on your insurance, but it seems to be where we are at.

Very sensible. Keyless entry is a terrible idea because it's just so easy to abuse. Car manufacturers happily fit it to whatever they can, though, because if the car gets stolen then they ultimately get to sell another one.

Hehe! I wasn't aware of that one, but I know the void of which you speak.

As long as they're the right way up, they're pretty good at not leaking. Assuming it's the usual split design then the top half has a water tank for the flush, and all of the 'black waste' is stored in the lower half which separates via means of a catch. Often when camping on less formal (think small festival) type campsites then the only option is to take it home and empty down the toilet. The big spout folds out, take the cap off, let the air out and empty it. Although they seem a bit prehistoric in Broads boat terms, they're quite popular on the canals where holding tanks are looked down upon because on some parts of the network you may go for weeks without seeing a pumpout point and things could get very smelly.