.png.5ff10cca1d0967e44a17e4a2edde2a80.png)
Meantime
-
Posts
4,056 -
Joined
-
Days Won
48
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Articles
Posts posted by Meantime
-
-
12 minutes ago, andyg said:
What about these ppl that keep pet pigs would that be OK. I guess in the case of last two examples, if you did get stuck on the mud for any length of time you'd have a food source 😉
You'd be surprised at what people shop for!!!
-
5 minutes ago, dnks34 said:
I sincerely hope the Rabbit was wearing a life jacket……..
By all accounts it was!
-
3
-
-
9 hours ago, floydraser said:
I've had a rare non-cynical thought: A 42 footer listing over in the mud waiting for the tide to re-float it. Would it still do so with the weight of 10 people effectively on one side?
Low water was at 22:23 on Saturday. The incident was called in on Saturday afternoon and they were airlifted off at 4:50am Sunday morning as the tide was falling again, so they had already been through a high tide cycle. If it was thought that the boat wouldn't refloat on a high tide I would have thought they would have been lifted off the evening before.
-
2 hours ago, rightsaidfred said:
Sadly we are not all perfect especially first timers, while I have never had a problem crossing Breydon I hesitate to criticise others without knowing the full facts.
You know the full facts that they were first timers then?
-
1
-
-
48 minutes ago, grendel said:
it is still speculation, as they may have left at any time after you went round the corner out of sight, they may just have waited until just after the end of slack to get the flood up Breydon, or any time after that.
Not really, because as I said in my first post, I went through at 11:05am a fraction after low slack water, so the tide had already turned. They couldn't have caught the end of slack water. However had they have done I'm sure an easier rescue could have been made. Not wishing to speculate further I can add the following facts. One of the boats was at the yacht station at 11:05 and looking back from the far side of Breydon, nothing else had followed us across Breydon. We also passed The Spirit of Breydon at The Berney Arms as it turned to go across Breydon. So yes the next bit is speculation, but I wouldn't have thought The Spirit of Breydon would leave a cruiser stuck on the mud IF the cruiser had left an hour or so after we passed the yacht station.
-
9 minutes ago, Mouldy said:
Whoever is responsible for maintaining Breydon, whether it’s the BA, EA or anyone else, ought to be prioritising their replacement. Using buoys is far from ideal.
The BA took over responsibility for Breydon from Peel Ports who I think were only to happy to see the back of it. There was then some specialists contractors employed to replace a number of posts and to give training to some of the BA staff who were then going to be getting some new toys and doing the maintenance in future.
It looks like the buoys have been placed in pairs where the missing posts were. However to the uninitiated looking at the posts and then the low buoys and then the posts again, it could look like it's marking the channel straight onto the mud. The channel bears left just where those posts are missing, so it could be easily assumed that you continue straight between the buoys.
-
3 hours ago, andyg said:
In a few weeks time no doubt we will re visit this topic as the next boat runs aground.
Seems you won't have long to wait. Another is sitting on the mud and from the picture I've seen it looks to be in a very similar place to the missing Green posts I mentioned earlier. I fear there could be many more this year unless the BA pull their finger out.
-
1 minute ago, grendel said:
thats a pretty shaky foundation you start your speculation with, then build speculation on the foundation of speculation, all to blame the pricing policy of yarmouth yacht station?
Too many times I've seen the procession of boats all leaving Yarmouth between 9:30 and 10 punching the tide back towards Acle when it might perhaps be better to have waited a few hours for the incoming tide to help them. I don't think the pricing structure based around daytime and overnight mooring works there given the tide times are not static. A simple 25hr period from the time you arrive might be better? If you follow the advice and hopefully arrive at low water, you would be leaving at low water.
As for the rest, well one of the boats was moored at Yarmouth when we went past, therefore it is not speculation that it left after low slack water and would either have gone aground on a rising tide, or on the falling tide just after high water, since the incident was called in on Saturday afternoon. The tide times are not speculation because we used them to pass Yarmouth at just after slack low water.
I suspect EMS would confirm that it would have been easier to pull the boat off the mud on a rising tide, which would have been occurring pretty much from 10am to 4:30pm.
-
21 minutes ago, grendel said:
I think its worth remembering this from the original BBC article
Coxswain Daniel Hurd said the cruiser's engine had broken and the boat was listing (leaning), meaning "those on board were in some danger".
and that it was the local marine engineers who placed the call to the emergency services (presumably they were in attendance to attempt a repair on the engine) who better to determine that the situation might be dangerous?
I might be tempted to wonder when the engine broke? Was it as a result of trying to get off the mud with a blocked intake?
I went through Yarmouth yacht station at 11:05am on Saturday a fraction after slack low water and then crossed Breydon. At that point there were no stranded boats. I did notice two missing green posts at the lower end which had been replaced with 6 green buoys. From one of the pictures I'm fairly certain that's where they ran aground. To the uninformed it does looks slightly more confusing than normal there.
From the reports it appears it was called in on Saturday afternoon, which would have been much closer to high water. We passed one of those boats moored up at Yarmouth Saturday morning.
As has been said previously, following the advice and going across at slack low water may have helped them, and more to the point their rescuers if indeed there had been an engine failure before going aground. Going aground on a rising tide at 11am would have given EMS ample opportunity to tow them off to the yacht station.
I make no apology for speculating, but a day out in Yarmouth and leave the yacht station before getting clobbered for the overnight mooring fee, means they would have been leaving just before high water, or perhaps just after high water once they had enough clearance under the bridge. I.E. late Saturday afternoon.
I've said it before the mooring fee policy needs to be addressed at Yarmouth.
Edited to add:
There was a strong bitterly cold North Easterly on Saturday which lasted through the night. It wouldn't have been at all pleasant out on Breydon overnight.
-
1
-
-
3 hours ago, Vaughan said:
I note the words "All deaths data"
It's slightly misleading. The graphic is for deaths within 28 days of a positive test. The text you highlight is actually a link which obviously you cannot get to in Hylanders screen grab. The link takes you to, as you might imagine, all the data in various different formats and with different parameters.
It's actually about time they did away with the Covid dashboard as it has largely become meaningless. Since LFT test are no longer free for the majority of people testing has diminished dramatically skewing all the other figures. Thankfully it has also become a milder disease for the majority and the hospital admission figure has risen as a result of people being tested when they attend hospital for something else and being told, Oh by the way you have Covid as well!!.
-
2
-
-
2 hours ago, grendel said:
full moon is in 2 days time
That will be why Easter Sunday is so late this year then!!
-
52 minutes ago, SwanR said:
We’re still testing positive on Day 10.
Hope you feel better soon. With regard to your testing positive on day 10 still, this for me is part of the worrying thing. I seemed to get it and test negative fairly quickly, days 6 and 7, but a friend who got it at the same time also tested positive up to day 10. Current Government advice is to try and stay at home for 5 days!!!! In my friends case he still has a cough even though he has tested negative for 2 weeks. He most certainly would have been spreading it had he followed the 5 day advice.
I had a really good day yesterday and felt able to tackle quite a few jobs that needed doing, but really paid for it last night and today. Over tired and couldn't sleep, and today felt like I run a marathon yesterday.
-
1
-
-
3 hours ago, Vaughan said:
I can't see the point of wind farms to power houses, as they don't work when there's no wind!
The Germans were working on a solution to that problem, but not sure how far it has progressed. It also needed the right geography. The idea was to place the wind farm on high land next to a large reservoir and also have a reservoir on lower ground. With strong winds the wind farm would supply the grid, but with some of the power used to pump water from the low reservoir up into the higher one. When the wind dropped below a certain level the pumping would stop and dam gates opened to allow water to flow from the higher reservoir down into the lower one powering hydro electric generators. The idea was to try and smooth our or make the supply of electric more predictable and use the excess wind to restock the higher reservoir as a backup source of electric on less windy days.
-
15 hours ago, AndyTBoater said:
Their point is that when the oil starts to run out this will be the norm. It may not be the best way to go about it but we have known things need to change and alternative fuels sourced and used in the not too distant future. Have we done anything about it?
Not really.
I'm not sure which world you live in? but in my world I see people starting to buy electric cars and hybrid cars. I drive around and see solar panels on house roofs. Keeping it on topic just about, one of Richardson's roofs is virtually completely covered in the things. Whenever I drive up to Norfolk from Essex I see more and more onshore wind generators and there is heavy investment in offshore wind generators.
It may not be happening quickly enough, but every KWh generated by those methods is a KWh not generated by burning oil, gas or coal.
So yes we have done something about it, and are continuing to do so, but arguably it could be speeded up.
Wanton destruction of property and needless disruption to peoples lives is not the answer.
-
3
-
-
1 hour ago, marshman said:
Shame that doesn't apply to the NHS who currently have sickness levels in excess of 10% - before you shoot me down, not all NHS staff are patient facing!
1 hour ago, Vaughan said:Tell that to Heathrow Airport!
18 hours ago, MY littleboat said:Oddly my son works for a national distribution company and they have informed staff they are expected to work even if they have covid now or risk being offboarded!
It should be remembered that whilst it is no longer a legal requirement to self isolate if you have Covid, the official guidance is still to "try" and stay at home. You would imagine the NHS would be one of the last department to flout official Government advice.
Oh and take a look at the rising death figures and hospitalisations, this thing may be milder, but it is still killing and it is still very unpleasant.
Having managed to avoid it for 2 years I finally caught a bout three weeks ago. I was doubled jabbed and boosted and the initial infection came and went within about 5 days, but the lingering after effects of fatigue and shortness of breath are still with me.
I did self isolate until I'd had three successive negative tests and then still wore a mask when I went to the supermarket to protect others.
I wouldn't want this again and would urge everyone where possible to follow the Government advice and stay at home if possible if you get it.
I didn't like having it and would certainly not wish to pass it on to anyone if I could avoid it.
-
4
-
-
14 minutes ago, floydraser said:
The price of fuel came down during lockdown to stimulate sales which to me, shows that if we all stopped buying it for a period, someone just may sit up and take notice. Oh but that may involve actually walking the kids to school; back to the drawing board then..
I think you'll actually find that the price came down due to a lot of the world being in lockdown and closing down production facilities and therefore the demand for oil fell of a cliff. The rules of supply and demand, no demand, the price comes down. With the easing of Covid restrictions and the world rushing to catch up with lost production of goods, suddenly the demand returned and exceeded previous levels hence the price rising steadily even before the Ukraine war which has caused the perfect storm in energy prices.
-
3 minutes ago, Vaughan said:
I can't argue with that, I am afraid. My experience of managing boatyards for corporate tour operators has been bitter and frustrating, to say the least. You are under attack from 3 sides :
1/. From the customers who complain about the state of the boats.
2/. from the staff, who are demoralised because they end up having to do the work of 3 people each, owing to all the staff cuts that have been made,
3/. from the senior management, because the customers are complaining about the service!
I am glad to say that most yards on the Broads seem to take much more of a customer service approach. Richardsons for instance is a family business which the two brothers grew up in. Although they have to be commercial they have obviously learned the importance of regular customers.
All the same, hull cleaning is not a priority for staff employment.
Now I apologise in advance if this is seen as controversial but it's all in the public domain. Most of The Broads companies are run as Limited companies, it is perhaps significant that the one that has been the main subject of this thread is run as a Limited Liability Partnership, a company structure more normally used for professional services companies such as accountants
or solicitors.
-
1
-
-
6 minutes ago, Vaughan said:
Well, if it took one yard lad an hour to clean one hull, I wouldn't want him back next week.
I am afraid the staff availability is a misconception as large yards are run by accountants.
And management accountants work for shareholders, not customers. On small yards, the owner cleans the hulls. Or maybe his son or daughter.
So we appear to be going full circle here. If I read you right you appear to be saying that large yards run by accountants are done so to extract maximum profit from the customer for the shareholders or owners, at the expense of the boats looking a bit more shabby. One has to wonder if the bean counters take or encourage the same approach when it comes to maintenance or making those ageing batteries last another year than they really should.
-
1
-
-
4 minutes ago, grendel said:
of course its much easier for a small yard with fewer boats to do this,
Why? I've never understood this logic. There are only so many hours in a day. If it takes one lad / yard hand an hour to clean a hull, a yard such as Bridgecraft probably need 3 or 4 to clean all their fleet. If another yard is 10 times bigger, it just needs 10 x as many lads / yard hands. It's the same equation whether its mechanics or cleaners for the inside of the boat.
Personally I would say its easier for the larger yards as they have more staff available to redeploy to cover for illness / staff absence.
-
3
-
-
I suspect this has more to do with the other topic of running engines at moorings, than rising water levels and health and safety. People have complained in the past about being told off for not being "quiet" at the quiet moorings and I along with many others have defended the owners of the quiet moorings and their right to enjoy their properties in peace and quiet without listening to the throbbing of boat engines on moorings that they are providing and then being abused when they ask people to turn off their engines.
You reap what you sow and now even those who knew what quiet moorings meant, are going to pay for the loss of this facility!!
-
1
-
-
1 hour ago, Vaughan said:
Don't let's forget that the diesel price charged for a hire boat has always included other consumables - such as gas and lub. oil.
Really? I think trading standards would have had something to say about that. The advertised price for a litre of fuel is just that, the price you pay for a full litre from a calibrated dispenser. Even before the recent fuel duty changes for Red diesel and before the EU insisted on derogation for Red Diesel finishing in 2008, there was a smaller amount of duty that needed to be paid on Red diesel and that would have meant selling diesel at the advertised price and paying the relevant duty. Adding in an allowance for an undefined amount of other items such as gas or lube oil would have made the duty calculation impossible.
-
1
-
-
32 minutes ago, YnysMon said:
Have you been on their boats recently, one that’s had a Torqueedo installed? They have batteries!
I believe they market it as an electric quant. There are now seven boats fitted with them.
Hmmm! Note to self, wonder if I can get a toll reduction by telling the BA I only have a diesel quant fitted.
-
3
-
-
We must have been posh, we used to take a compendium of games!
-
2
-
-
Your never going to get anywhere near enough moorings with power so that anyone who wants to plug in can and use what they want. Therefore the answer has to be to manage expectations rather than promising what cannot be delivered.
If you market that a boat has shore power, put a big disclaimer alongside it that power is only available at a limited number of moorings and then only in sufficient quantity to power a small percentage of the mooring spots.
Then moving to the onboard electrics move to installing USB charging points all around the boat so that people can charge their multitude of tablets, phones etc straight from a USB port which is way more efficient than using an invertor to give 240V and then letting them plug a charger in to knock the voltage back down again to charge their phone. The chances are the phone charger is left plugged in and the invertor on even when the device is charged.
Provide one small 300W invertor for powering anything else that cannot be charged directly from a USB port, or for if they bring their own games console along or laptop etc.
Finally make sure there are enough batteries on board, in a good enough condition to power the boats onboard systems such as electric cooker or the heater without the requirement to have the engine running.
Finally and this might prove to be a little controversial, but hire boats are not allowed to navigate between sunset and sunrise so fit a dusk to dawn sensor that stops the engine from being started when it is dark outside.
-
1
-
or solicitors.
Breydon Water Catches People Out Again!
in Broads Chat
Posted
I'm sure you could purchase one of these for your cat.