Meantime

Don't worry they're rarer than the booming of the Bittern!

A slight digression but very pertinent to this subject. Batteries do not make electricity, they store electricity produced elsewhere, primarily by coal, uranium, natural gas powered plants or diesel fueled generators. So to say an electric boat is zero emission or environmentally friendly is not at all valid!!!!

I believe the first charging points were paid for, or heavily subsidised by a sustainability grant to encourage electric boating, however the problem doesn't just end with allowing an electric boat to commandeer a post for charging purposes, given that most are on public moorings paid for out of the general toll. All things being equal priority should be given to an electric boat wishing to recharge over one which is plugged in to power the oven or boil a kettle. It could even be argued that if you put credit on a meter and a higher priority user came along you could lose it as their need to plug in is greater than yours. However imagine you're moored at Ranworth or Horning and there are no available moorings left and along comes an electric boat that needs to recharge to continue its journey. Would a non electric boat that is plugged in have to move off to make space for the electric boat that needs to plug in. Would a non electric boat that is not even plugged in have to move off to make space? There clearly needs to be an expansion of the number of electric charging points, but it is an expensive business especially in very rural areas, who pays for it? Should there be a network of special moorings purely reserved for electric only boats, and if so should it be funded from a different pot, either a government grant or an electric boat toll? The BA really needs a clearer policy around the whole issue of electric boating and also the placement of posts, and also a clear hierarchy of post usage. Perhaps one mooring nearest to each post should be reserved for all electric boats only, with anyone else able to use the mooring, but must stay with their boat and be prepared to move on should the space be needed by an electric boat.

EE / BT mobile seems to be fairly good in most parts of Horning now. Also if your cottage comes with WiFi, most modern mobiles now support WiFi calling where it will switch to using the WiFi to make and receive phone calls. (providing you have this turned on in the phone settings) Obviously will only work within the cottage, but you can also use WiFi calling if connected to a pub WiFi if in a poor phone signal area.

I think we have to go by the BA Byelaws. They define that navigation lights should be exhibited between sunset and sun rise. Since hire boats generally do not have nav lights, they should be moored up by sunset. In the interpretations they also state that "By night" means between sunset and sunrise.

Ahead of schedule then!

I would imagine it all depends on the age of the post and how rotten it is. Judging by the marks and scuffs you see on the posts, they get nudged on a fairly regular basis. Wood under water without oxygen never rots, or rots extremely slowly, on the other hand wet wood exposed to the atmosphere will rot much quicker. The part of the post that is constantly wet and exposed to the air due to the rise and fall of the tide is the bit most at risk of rotting. Which begs the question, when you see a missing post, how much of it is still left just under the surface of the water? Maybe, just maybe an extra reason why they should be replaced in a timely manner. Edited to add: I believe it was a snapped off post on Barton Broad which holed a boat a few years back. In the channel on the approach towards Neatishead.

It's worth noting that the crew on board the hire boat had already spent the night on board the boat stuck on Breydon and the coastguard were called at noon the next day, which would have been just after high tide on Breydon. I suspect that having gone aground the crew sat it out until the next day on the hope of refloating on the next high tide and had they have been successful little would have been known about this particular incident. Possibly the high tide not being high enough or having drifted further they were unsuccessful and called the coastguard.

Now there's a point. Any boat not tolled after a warning has been issued gets towed to Breydon and sunk to mark the channel. Would save on marker posts and also serve as a reminder to pay your toll.

You are right that mistakes will happen and if you like, idiots will be idiots, but please bear in mind that the navigation markers are not a luxury, they were installed as, and are an aid to navigation. When they fail they should be replaced in a timely manner. The Authority responsible for maintaining them has a statutory responsibility for safety. One they wanted to take over from Peel Ports. And far from doom and gloom to put people off from crossing Breydon, replacing those posts and improving the signage should give more people the confidence that they can cross Breydon Water in safety.

However improved signage and posts being replaced in a timely manner would lead to less people running aground as was proven when John Cressey improved the signage. Or are you suggesting that if the number of posts makes no difference that none of them should be replaced when they fall over. Perhaps you would like to see all the posts removed? The posts were installed for a reason. They should be replaced when they get damaged.

A true statement putting to one side the sarcasm, but them luckily someone also took a photo. So it looks like Oulton and Breydon Bridge were not dark!!!!!!!

No my point is that if the posts had been in place and proper signage then they might not have gone aground there. I fully agree there is a chance they may have run aground further across and I fully agree they should not have been there. The picture below borrowed from elsewhere and modified to disguise the identity of the boat is from an eye witness who took the picture as it passed Breydon Bridge. I think we can all agree the light levels should have been sufficient not to have run aground even if their final destination may have been Timbuktu with an arrival in the pitch dark!!!

I don't know if you are deliberately trying to miss the point, but I have already stated a few times that they should not have been there and I have no idea where they were heading. It was after dusk so the destination is irrelevant, but at the point they grounded it was NOT pitch dark.

It is not a pointless debate and at no time have I tried to defend the hirers. There would still have been good light when they run aground, even if they should not have been cruising after dark. The missing post there is confusing and does need to be replaced. John Cressey put signs on those posts for VERY good reasons and they reduced the amount of call outs dramatically. I know because I spoke to him a few times in The Berney Arms. He used to be a regular at The Berney due to locating one of his rescue tugs there in the Summer due to the amount of call outs on Breydon. I believe it is his nephew who owns EMS and has again put signs back on the posts just recently. John's original signs were so successful that the BA eventually replaced them with their own and then failed to maintain them. It's not just hirers that use Breydon. I've made a few night time crossings and also gone across around dusk when the mist suddenly descends and at that point you rely on the posts. I say posts because they stand out against the horizon far better than buoys.

I'm merely pointing out that your previous comment made it sound like they ran aground in the pitch dark. At 10pm it would not have been anywhere near being pitch dark, therefore that was not the cause of them finding themselves outside of the channel. I agree as a hire boat it was after dusk and they should not have been cruising, but many do ignore the rules and at this time of year there is a good 60 mins between dusk and total darkness.

It is reported they ran aground at 10pm, now I know that is after dusk, But, I was in Oulton Broad a week ago and it was still very light at 10pm, more like 10:20 before you could say it was dark. I doubt light levels was their issue even if they should not have been there.

Exactly what I was hinting at. I don't know EMS's relationship to the BHF, but I do know the owners are related to John Cressey and I suspect have taken over his dealings with the BHF on a similar basis, which would leave the question why are the BA neglecting to cover their own commitments? Perhaps the coastguard and inshore lifeboat need to have a whip around for the BA to fund a few extra posts to prevent so many call outs. That was tongue in cheek, but perhaps if the BA are neglecting their responsibilities to providing clear signage there might be a case for the BA to cover some of the rescue costs.

I wouldn't bank on it! John Cressey was paid by the Broads Hire Federation to provide a recovery service. He put the initial signs up to prevent so many call outs, I believe he was paid annually rather than on a per call out basis.

If by the other side you mean Richard's you will see that it was Everitt Marine Services who put out the markers and signs with the BA onboard Spirit of Breydon eyeing up that the sign were level and at the correct angle. A task that the BA should be more than capable of doing. Taken from Facebook " Everitt Marine Services 22h · Yesterday we put three more markers out on Breydon and today we fitted two channel signs to posts 1 and 1A. Many thanks to Keith and Martin on Spirit of Breydon for there assistance making sure we had the signs at the correct angle.

It might actually help if the posts were installed similar to the rather simplified diagram shown in the Broadcaster with the posts directly opposite each other. It wouldn't take much to also depict the jetty to give people a point of reference. Even perhaps a big warning note that sometimes marker posts can go missing and be replaced by temporary, (I use that word loosely because I don't suppose they will be replaced quickly), marker buoys.

It took John Cressey to come up with the idea originally and that helped the situation a lot. Then the BA realised it seemed to be working and replaced John's signs. Why are they not maintaining them? Why has it taken another recovery company to put up signs for them? The BA wanted control of Breydon from the port authority, are they perhaps regretting it now?

I know the area well and have been across Breydon probably close on 200 times. Having checked there is only one very strategic missing post and it needs to be replaced as soon as possible. Also the signage is absolutely abysmal. The timing of the amount of extra groundings in that area and the post going missing can not be seen as a coincidence and the resolution to the problem lies solely at one Authorities door. I've recently taken a walk along the edge of Breydon and my pictures and a picture from Google maps shows the problem clearly. In the image below from Google maps I have highlighted the Red and Green posts that are still there, and the missing post in Black. Just as a large gap in the Red posts occurs due to the jetty, opposite is a missing post circled in Black. Now plot an imaginary course as you come under the bridge and look at that inviting gap between the Green posts and the expanse of water that appears to lie ahead. You are told to stay between the posts and you don't see any Red posts for some time, but also the large gap is marked with some lower marker buoys. Why are they buoys and not posts? Could that be the way we are meant to be going? Is that the entrance to Breydon? All valid questions or observations for the inexperienced. Then you need to consider that where I have put white circles there also used to be arrows pointing to the main navigation channel. One is missing and the other was on the missing post. Well the BA must be aware because they have stuck a recovered, or new sign on the post highlighted Yellow, but that is the first arrow you see after coming under Breydon bridge and is after that large inviting gap. My first shore side picture shows the large gap between the two Green posts and quite hard to see in my picture unless you zoom in are six low buoys. Note not a Red post in sight either. So you are meant to be staying between what? Look at all that inviting water just after the dolphin. The picture below is the first sign you come to showing the main navigation channel and the first Red post after quite a gap in the posts due to the jetty. It should be simple, the BA could make it a lot more simple with the addition of three new Green posts with a sign on each one pointing out the main channel.

These are the opening hours posted on tripadvisor. Sun 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM Tue 12:00 PM - 10:00 PM Wed 12:00 PM - 10:00 PM Thu 12:00 PM - 10:00 PM Fri 12:00 PM - 11:30 PM Sat 12:00 PM - 10:00 PM Looks to be closed all day Monday. The Ship is quite good these days and decent food as well.