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Meantime
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Posts posted by Meantime
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I don't think I've ever paid for water by card, it's normally free, or a donation or coin operated.
Pumpouts I generally pay by card. At least one place, they don't accept cash, that was Brooms Brundall.
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Glad to hear your ok. I'm actually wondering if slippery mud was to blame, or was it Griff's blade of grass up to it's old tricks again?
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There is a good team at St Olaves and I believe John Spruce is certainly authorised to work on site there and may even work for the marina now. Natasha could do a lot worse than let him take a look over the boat. In terms of Natasha's original request St Olaves probably fits the bill, onsite laundry facilties, electric and water, plus it's about a mile walk to Haddiscoe station if she needs to commute into Norwich or further afield by train.
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The pump out at the WRC is token operated, but they do prefer to do the pump out for you. They are not keen on you buying tokens and taking them away to use at your leisure. I think they have a shortage of tokens.
Pump out is £25, and it is a very good pump but is time limited, so not really enough time for a flush, which is probably why they prefer to do it for you. They probably end up using tow tokens, I don't know for sure.
We were lucky enough recently to have phoned ahead and been told it would be open till 4pm on a Saturday. When we turned up we were told it closed earlier on a Saturday. Explained the situation, that we had phoned ahead. Turns out it is was a central Tingdene number and they didn't know the times of the WRC. They searched around and managed to find a token for us and as a gesture of goodwill didn't charge us if we didn't mind operating it ourself, which we didn't have a problem with.
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I feel really sorry for Natasha who started this thread.
Perhaps its time for the mods to prune out anything not directly related to Natasha's original request to one of the hundreds of other threads that have already discussed the other issues ad infinitum?
I know we have a tendency to wander off topic, but this is not a good welcome to a new member!
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A lot of local authorities in London have resident permit parking areas and usually you get given a number of visitor permits. When your visitor turns up, you simply circle the day, month and year and write a time on the permit. Any car parked in the zone without a residents, or visitors permit correctly filled in gets a parking ticket.
All it would need is a check when the BA rangers turn up to do their mooring post checks and if any boat hasn't got a correctly displayed ticket, they get a fine. It might rely on some honesty and is not perfect, but its a possible solution. Hire boats would be exempt in view of having paid a larger toll.
You also have to remember I placed that solution in the group that don't have a home berth, but who do play nicely and legally. The examples you gave probably belong to group 3, or in the case of the "one" boat, group 4. It was never suggested as a solution for those groups. If the boat isn't licensed it won't have been issued with any mooring permits and therefore shouldn't use any BA mooring. That is a perfect example of what I was saying, not lumping all groups or solutions together. There is never going to be a one size fits all solution to these problems.
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I think the answer is that we need to stop discussing this issue in broad strokes. We need to understand that liveaboards come in various forms and each need to be treated respectfully and there is perhaps a different solution for each.
I think there are broadly three groups and the solutions for one, may not fit the other for whatever reason, but lumping all together risks alienating certain groups who don't all want to be tarred with the same brush.
1. Those who want a residential mooring, which I believe is where this thread started before it got derailed slightly. There should be marina berths for those who want to liveaboard full time. There should be the usual facilties as well as somewhere to receive post. This group want to pay their way, have a fully insured, licensed and BSS certified boat. We have several members here in this group who we frequently upset whenever this subject is raised. I agree with Vaughan (who saw that coming) that the BA should do what they can to facilitate such marina berths. However, I also feel that marinas need to be receptive as well. James had planning for 12 berths for a trial period I believe at the WRC. Then the marina was sold to Tingdene and it was their decision not to pursue extending the planning period and gave notice to their resident berth holders.
2. Those who don't want a home berth, or cannot afford a home berth, but still play by all the rules. The boat is insured, licensed and BSS certified. I'm not sure if we still have any members in this group, but by and large I think any that do join, end up leaving before too long as a result of these discussions. I think this is often a lifestyle choice to live like that, but do also accept that for some they might feel it is there only option, even if in reality there are other options out there. My own views are that an uplift to the license for boats without a home berth wouldn't be out of order in recognition of the extra pressure they put on the resources funded by the BA, in much the same way as hire boats pay more. Or as I've suggested before when you renew your license you get given 30 24hr mooring permits where you write the time and date you arrive at the mooring and its valid for one use, with extra bundles of 30 being purchased if you make more use of the BA moorings.
3. Those who don't want a home berth, don't insure, license of BSS toll their boat. There maybe some who simply cannot afford to insure, license and BSS their boat, but there are also others who just simply refuse to conform. This group are generally the ones that give all liveaboards a bad name, and they shouldn't. We should be clear about which group we are talking about when having these discussions.
In my opinion the BA should provide more help to those in group 1 to aid marinas to provide residential berths if they want to. Group 2 are pretty much self sufficient and play by the rules. It's those in group 3 that the BA probably need to concentrate some effort to ensure their boats are at least compliant for the system, and if finances dictate that they cannot be, then assistance from other external agencies should be sought. No one should be forced to live an an uninsured, unlicensed boat because they have no other viable alternative. Local authorities need to step in with support and emergency housing.
As I write this, there is perhaps a fourth group, those that will not abide by the law, do not want to be helped and in fact go out of their way to generate mess and be abusive. Very few and far between, but they exist and perhaps do the most damage to the reputation of liveaboard boaters.
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Most places ask how many toilets you have and charge per toilet, which is a con. 2 people on a boat will fill one tank at the same speed, no matter whether they are using one or two toilets.
My boat has two toilets which feed into the one tank. When asked the question I always say we use one toilet. No one has ever questioned further, but if they did, then the simple answer is that one of the toilets is in with the shower and therefore often soaking wet, so that is the shower room, the other toilet is the only one used. That may be stretching the truth slightly, but I'm not being conned. If they had to pumpout two tanks, then that would be a different matter.
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I've never seen such an unfair bet
I bet you get a lot more satisfaction out of yours as well! 
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It might not be broke, but it also isn't optimal. Over time the first battery will wear quicker and shorten the life of the others and normally by the time you realise, it's too late. Having just replaced the batteries, now seems like the best time to take action to protect your investment.
It's worth bearing in mind Vehicle Wiring Products when sourcing parts. They also supply pre crimped battery leads in various sizes and this might be easier than crimping your own.
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8 hours ago, BroadAmbition said:
Then it happened.
I fell over a blade of grass, it was a particular tough blade of grass to actually leg me up.
I was about twenty yards from 'B.A's well deck at the time. I thought to mysen, you know what? I'll just lie her for a while. Trouble with that was Purdey thought this was some kind of new game and proceeded to charge round at breakneck speed puppy like woofing her head off. All that succeeded in doing was drawing attention the the pair of us. Goodness knows how many attempts it took me to find mysen in the well deck but I can assure you it was way more than one. I do hope some bystander was videoing this sequence of events as it must have been hilarious
I'm glad all's well that ends well, but this is a timely reminder, especially for those returning to boats alone, whilst slightly inebriated. You can never be too careful. I'm reminded that not too far from there a very experienced Broadsman, a pilot non the less, lost his life in similar circumstances.
Whenever we visited The Berney Arms, we were normally the last to leave and stagger back to the boat, but Tracy always made it her responsibility to see us back to the boat and safely back onboard.
If you are planning on returning to your boat alone after a few, please consider taking your lifejacket with you if possible.
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31 minutes ago, ExSurveyor said:
There is a programme on Radio 4 now, inside health, It is on insomnia.
It should be available on catch up.
I started listening to it, but fell asleep!
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27 minutes ago, Broads01 said:
It is a fact of life, yes but I agree with Vaughan nonetheless. I have a dashcam too but that's not the same because I have one to protect myself, not to make money from others. Anything which makes money from other people's mistakes and misery is distasteful in my view.
I guess you never watched Jeremy Beadle then! Mainstream TV used to pay £250 for funny clips of other peoples misfortune.
22 minutes ago, Vaughan said:I cannot see any relevance whatever, to that iconic moment in honouring one of the country's most famous comedians.
Unless you are suggesting that all this internet blogging is just slapstick comedy.
People laugh at other peoples misfortune, they always have, and that's the part that slapstick comedians are often exploiting.
How many times have you watched a work colleague do something stupid and tried not to laugh and then once you know they nave calmed down and are ok, everyone laughs about it and takes the Mick for the next few weeks.
You see someone slip on a banana skin, it is funny once you know they haven't seriously hurt themselves. Once you know it is only someone's dignity that has been hurt, people laugh at such incidents. The laughing induces endorphins which often reduces the stress in such situations.
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33 minutes ago, Vaughan said:
And even that is not the main point : these little "peeping Toms" are actually earning a living out it.
This is a rather nasty form of voyeurism.
Steady on there Vaughan, both voyeurism and being a Peeping Tom in their truest definitions are nasty activities and illegal.
You may not agree with people filming in a public place, but it is not illegal.
Its a fact of life that cameras are everywhere these days, you cannot even walk down most streets without appearing on someone's door bell video camera. More so when you visit a tourist spot. Try walking across Tower Bridge in London and not appearing in anyone's pictures or videos. Chances are if you trip up and fall over, it will be caught on camera! Someone will laugh at your misfortune.
Everywhere I drive my dashcam captures the journey and everyone and everything I drive past. It's not going to change.
The only thing you can change is whether or not you choose to take the time to watch the videos on Youtube, Facebook etc, and, or read the comments.
It's a fact of life that other people laugh at other people's misfortune. Some comedians make an art form out of this to elicit laughs.
Even the Queen had a chuckle when Sir Norman Wisdom pretended to trip up as he walked away from the Queen after his knighthood investiture at Buckingham Palace.
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1 hour ago, MauriceMynah said:
"Costs awarded through prosecutions are used to offset legal expenses, while the fines and victim surcharges are not paid to the BA."
The victim surcharges I can understand, but why are the fines not paid to the BA?
Ps. Thanks for this m. MM
I believe it's true for all fines that they are paid to HM Treasury and go into what is known as the consolidated fund.
What I cannot understand is why Thorpe figures so heavily in the comments section when I'm betting most of those prosecuted reside around various other areas of the Broads. More than likely the Upper Yare / Wensum (excluding Thorpe and the Upper Ant. A classic case of tarring all with the same brush!
I do find this article somewhat akin to Clickbait as it appears every year about this time of year. It's nothing new. Was speaking to a ranger recently who said they will soon be doing their May tour of the marina's, which he wasn't looking forward to. Then they do another later in the year and eventually the persistent few get prosecuted and another article appears in the EDP around March / April as a reminder for the honest to pay their tolls for this year.
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Hi, on looking again, I think the length of the sections for low water slack may also be too long as well. I've looked at a few differing days and on 1st May around 1pm the animation shows the flood as far as the mouth of the Chet, and everything above as low water slack. Because the rivers drain the land they continue to ebb until the incoming flood meets the outgoing ebb and then starts to hold it back and then eventually pushes it back. So Norwich would certainly still be ebbing and probably all the way down to Cantley at least, if the flood has just reached the mouth of the Chet.
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At first glance all looks pretty good. One slight critique is that your animation for the New Cut appears to show the tide ebbing from some mid point towards both ends of the New Cut. In actual fact when the tide is ebbing the current runs from the St Olaves end towards the Reedham end. The reverse happens when the tide is flooding. It runs all the way along the New Cut from Reedham to St Olaves.
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1 hour ago, Gracie said:
even though I keep reading Mophead
There'd be a reason for that! Take a closer look.
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I don't remember Richard ever posting on this forum that he moored at OBYS. It might have been common knowledge amongst those that know him and then posted about the last time they stopped and had a chat with him and where they were when it happened etc, and bit by bit it became common knowledge, but was it with his permission? or blessing?
This is a friendly forum and that leads many to believe they are having a chat with friends down the pub and letting slip far too much personal information. I liken it more to people having a chat in the Big Brother household with about two or three thousand people watching in from home.
It annoys at least one forum member that I occasionally change my forum name or picture. That is part of my privacy and my personal choice and i have my own reasons for doing so. Those who know me know who I am and I make no secret of it.
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I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't know what chicken puffs are
I thought maybe they were similar to cheese puffs, but they are a savoury snack, and I cannot for the life of my think why you'd put them in a freezer.
Gracie, I have the perfect oven for you. My boat oven has gone faulty and won't go above gas mark One. Your family would thank me for it, if you want it.
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5 minutes ago, Spray said:
We were in Oulton Broad at the weekend and I can confirm that Richard's boat is no longer there and I do not think it was there for most of last year either.
No, he moved moorings some time ago.
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So first they want £20 to transit through the port, and now they want to stop lifting the bridge due to safety concerns around systems that have been working just fine for the last few decades! The bridge has always jammed occasionally. The barriers haven't been changed or moved any closer recently!
Seems like they don't want boat traffic through to the Broads at all. Perhaps time for Norfolk County Council to take the port back into public ownership.
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1 hour ago, MauriceMynah said:
Now, this matter has arisen on a different thread and I don't want to derail that thread especially as my motive seems to have been misunderstood.
It regards the NBF, and it's owner Richard.
I heard he was unwell and that his forum appears to be down. I did not have any direct problem with Richard, it was some unpleasantness from the forum moderators, aimed at me personally that stopped me posting there.
It is with that in mind that I ask genuinely, how is Richard? And what state is the forum.
The forum is still down and I've no idea if it will be coming back. It's been down some time now. A friend was asking me about Richard only last week, which reminded me that the next time I'm in Oulton Broad I'll take a walk past his boat and check in on him.
If you take a look at the Facebook page for On a Roll there are some contact details, although I don't know if they are still current.
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19 minutes ago, Mouldy said:
Ah, the joys of social media! There’s always someone to capture a boater in difficulty on film and post it on Facebook or YouTube, apportioning blame, without actually knowing what’s gone wrong.
Just wait until someone goes outside the markers crossing Breydon, running aground and witness the vultures name calling. Very occasionally, it may be justified, but if a crew has lost power, or suffered some other issue, they don’t deserve public vilification.
I feel as the person who started this thread I must reply.
I posted the thread as a warning to anyone travelling up or down the Ant, hence the word warning as the first word in the title. I mentioned it was a Hunters boat and it was mid channel. It was a very blustery day and also raining at times.
Despite it being "questioned" whether the boat had capsized, it had. It was lying on its side on the bottom with the mast blocking one half of the river. Apart from saying it was a Hunters boat, I didn't name the boat, or post any pictures of the boat. Much more info has come since this thread was started, but my only aim was to warn anyone travelling up or down the Ant on the day, which is why I have restrained from the fascinating discussions that have followed. Despite passing the boat, I didn't even take any pictures. That was not the intention of my post.
The boat was about three quarters of a mile downstream from How Hill on a bend. The later pictures showed it at How Hill upright, but still underwater. I assume the staff from Hunters must have righted the boat and then dragged it along the bottom to How Hill for refloating with pumps at How Hill?
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I bet you get a lot more satisfaction out of yours as well! 
I thought maybe they were similar to cheese puffs, but they are a savoury snack, and I cannot for the life of my think why you'd put them in a freezer.
Water Rail Out And About.
in Holiday Tales & Blogs
Posted
Yes, there are three mooring spaces at Worlingham, 3 at North Cove and if you discount the demasting section, about three just below Beccles new bridge at the BA mooring. However the reality is that at the moment only 6 of those moorings are ever available. The same three boats bouncing around between those three moorings. Mainly moving just between Worlingham and North Cove and using tenders to visit Beccles. Moorings along this stretch are scarce enough as it is, without three being effectively constantly taken.