Meantime

WOW!!!!!! is all I can say to that. So as long as you have a job, but don't want the vaccine that's ok? I sometimes wonder about the people in charge, but on balance you have to be grateful!!!!

Perhaps as alcohol kills when taken to excess we should ban it? Or tobacco kills and creates a burden on the NHS we should ban it. Obesity puts a huge load on the NHS so perhaps we should force people to go on a diet or healthy eating course. etc. etc. Don't get me wrong I'm all for taking the vaccine and I've had my two and the booster and the flu jab, but we do live in a free country thankfully. I took my vaccine as a free choice and I would defend that free choice.

That sounds like a distortion of the boost the booster program that was recently announced by the government. Initially you couldn't have your booster until after 6 months, then you were able to book it after 5 months in preparation for the 6 months interval. When they announced that the over 40's and even more recently the 18 to 39 year olds would be able to get a booster in a race against another wave of COVID driven by Omicron they said that you couldn't have a booster any sooner than 3 months after your second dose. All severely immunosuppressed individuals are being given a primary course of three doses and again their booster or fourth dose cannot be any sooner than three months after their third dose.

I believe it is because it needs to be passed into law. It is done quickly using emergency powers but still has to go through some process. It then has to be fully voted on by the MP's retrospectively within 4 weeks. As someone who didn't stop wearing a mask I understand your frustration. Just because the law said you didn't have to, it didn't make me stop. Likewise just because you know it's coming in on Tuesday doesn't mean people shouldn't use common sense and start wearing them before then.

Generally speaking you don't find many people eating or drinking in a supermarket which is quite hard to do whilst wearing a mask. I would suggest that once you have found a table and sat down, then generally speaking you get a lot less people passing very close by you then you would in a busy supermarket.

I couldn't agree more with that statement, other than to point out that even the fully vaccinated can still carry the virus and pass it on, and there are still many with immunity disorders who through no fault of their own can not have the vaccine. Therefore anything that people can do, whether required by law or not, to prevent the onward transmission of the virus is a bonus and a big help to protecting those that the vaccine cannot protect.

As with many things we only get to hear the horror stories. 25th November was 6 months since my second dose of the vaccine. As soon as the government announced that you could make your booking once it had been at least 5 months since your last dose I checked online and was able to secure a booking for the 25th November at a mass vaccination centre 5 miles from me. The centre was well organised and well run and I walked straight in, was jabbed within 2 minutes of arrival and then sat for the 15 mins. It couldn't have been easier or simpler. Well done NHS. It is a massive undertaking and there will be some issues and logistical problems, but please be patient with the NHS. One thing to bear in mind is that the initial roll outs were mainly completed using AZ which is easier to store and transport. The boosters are using Pizer and Moderna. I'm not sure about Moderna, but the Pizer is a lot more difficult to store and transport and is best suited to use in mass vaccination centres therefore finding a centre 5 mins from you especially if you live in a rural location might be more difficult. I had AZ as my first two doses and the booster was Pizer which did leave me with joint and muscle pain for three days but is nearly gone today. A small price to pay though. Edited to add: As for masks becoming mandatory from Tuesday. Some of us never stopped wearing them in shops and on public transport so no change for me. Personally I welcome the move. I've not had a cold or flu since March 2020. The longest period I can recall.

What's wrong with a tin of de-icer, an ice scraper, an old credit card or leaving a cloth over the screen over night? Your screen will only defrost once the engine has started to get warm unless you have an electrically heated windscreen. The worst way to heat any engine is to just leave it idling for 5 mins to warm up. An engine is best heated under load by driving. It's also not very green to leave your engine ticking over for 5 mins wasting fuel.

Ex Jaguar, you can just about make it out on the back by the bike. I said one for UncleMike because before he was called UncleMike, he was called Chameleon after he's boat and before that he was called Jaguar after a boat he hired often from Alphacraft.

One for UncleMike spotted on the Regents Canal yesterday.

That's some diesel usage!!! Whilst I'm sure there was no speeding involved, I would imagine a lot of cruising was done at close to the speed limits? with the consequent penalty in fuel usage. I estimated that the above journey would have cost me about 55 litres with some limited heater usage. I worked it out as follows, The Bure to Wroxham bridge is 26 miles x 2 = 52 The Yare and Wensum to the yacht station is 27 miles x 2 = 54 The Thurne to Potter bridge is 3 miles x 2 = 6 The Chet is 3.5 miles long x 2 = 7 I guessed at Fleet Dyke and a cruise around the inner Broad = 10 miles The detour into Ranworth and back 3 miles The detour into Rockland staithe = 4 miles For a total of 136 miles. At this time of year my boat would do about 2.5 miles to the litre with limited heater running, so 135 divided by 2.5 is 54.4 miles. At my last fill up in September I'd done 183.5 miles since the previous fill up, which hadn't been brimmed to the top, and got 72 litres in giving 2.55 miles to the litre. It would have been a shade better if the tank had of been completely full on the previous fill up. I normally work on 2.6 - 2.7 for Summer running. Winter running is more like 1.9 - 2.1 due to heater usage.

I wonder if some of this could be linked to recent events last year which are still being investigated by MAIB? I've seen a lot of posts on Facebook this year asking about handover and do you have to have the formal handover even if you've hired many times before. The answer has always been that this year hire yards are insisting on a proper handover even if you have hired before. Richardsons have even made a point about this in the press recently. The point is that if every hirer is having a full handover then surely unless there has been an increase of staff on turnaround days, then something has to suffer somewhere. Are less engineering hours being spent on pre departure engineering tasks with perhaps more of those tasks being left for weeks when the boat isn't on hire, or the Winter maintenance period, in favour of spending more time with the hirers on handover? I don't know why, but I feel I need to say this is not a criticism of the hire industry, but plainly labour only goes so far and can only be completing so many tasks at any one time. Is handover maintenance suffering as a result of more time spent with hirers at handover?

OK I'll take the bait, here's a couple more for you, Which fish dresses the best? - The Swordfish - It always looks sharp! What do you call a fish with no eyes? - Fsh!

Just let me know if you want any more!!!! No please no!!!! Why was the sand wet? - Because the sea weed! What's the worlds laziest fish? - The kipper! Which sea creatures cry the most? - Whales! Why did the fish cross the road? - It was the chicken's day off! What is an eel's favorite dance? - The conger! Why couldn't the clownfish afford a house? - Because he didn't have anemone! Where do fish go to borrow money? - A loan shark! What did the Sardine call the passing submarine? - A can of People! Why are Sardines the stupidest fish ever? - They climb into tins - Close the Lid - And then leave the Key on the OUTSIDE! Why is a fish easy to weigh? - Because it has its own scales! Which fish is the most valuable? - A Goldfish! Why are dolphins cleverer than humans? - Within 3 hours they can train a man to stand at the side of a pool and feed them fish! Where do fish stay on a campsite? - In tentacles! Where do fish put their rubbish? - In a Whaleie bin! Where does seaweed look for jobs? - In the 'kelp wanted' adverts! Where do fish go to watch movies? - At the dive-in! Why do fish not like computers? - Because they are worried about getting caught in the Internet! Where do baby fish go every morning? - To plaiceschool! Where do fish go to complete their education? - Finishing school! Where do you go to meet the best Fish? - It doesn't matter - any old plaice will do!

3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine It's far easier to say MDMA, or more commonly known as ecstasy. I wouldn't be advertising having them delivered though

Depends on whether they're able to leave! It could be The River Garden tonight and The Town House tomorrow. I wonder if there are any hangovers this morning?

If you tiss the mide have just a tother rund

I believe the downriver end is 1 or 2 inches higher or better clearance than the other end. Looks like the two previous high tides were above prediction as well as the previous low tide.

Chalk Hill Brewery. The pubs actually called The Coach and Horses. Well worth a visit.

There are worse places to be stuck than Thorpe, plus you could always walk up the road to CHB a pub well worth a visit. There's also plenty of busses that go along that road into Norwich itself.

But that is not strictly true. A resistive load will cause heat at the point of resistance for instance a light bulb is a resistive load and glows from the heat produced at the point of resistance i.e. the lightbulb. As Griff has already acknowledged the problem wasn't using a fuse, it was using the incorrect fuse rating for the circuit it was protecting. I'm not trying to be pedantic, but fuses are inherently safe if used correctly. Trips are generally more expensive and convenient because they can be reset. If Griff had used a trip rather than a fuse, then the inconvenience of keep resetting the trip would have led him to replace the trip for an uprated one of the correct rating for the new pump. However simply replacing the fuse for one of the correct rating would also have removed the fire hazard. To expand further on what I'm trying to say, it makes no difference if you use a 10A fuse or a 10A trip, if you have a bad connection in for instance a spade terminal onto a pump that is providing resistance and therefore getting hot when you try and draw more than 4 to 6 amps, then the terminal will get hot, and possibly present a fire hazard, and neither the trip or fuse will blow. It is equally imperative that all aspects of your electrical system are properly installed, maintained and regularly checked, especially in such a hostile environment as a marine one.

The current terms of hire on the Richardsons website actually has three types of deposit! 1. The good old fashioned Damage Waiver Scheme. It does say there will be an additional fuel deposit as well to pay. The waiver is non returnable. 2. Fuel and Security Deposit Scheme where you will loose some or all of your deposit based upon any damage caused, but limited to the cost of the deposit which is £300. Slightly confusing because it says if you cause damage in excess of £300 you will not be asked to pay anymore, but you will be charged for any fuel used. So although you have paid a fuel deposit, effectively if you cause damage there may be nothing in the pot to actually pay for fuel used and you may still receive the bill for fuel. 3. Additional Deposit Group and Party Booking All male, female or young crews will be asked for a security deposit of £50pp on arrival at the boatyard. Presumably declaring yourself as binary or gender neutral should exempt you from that one?

I assume by voltage trip you mean the resettable circuit breakers? These do not sense voltage but like fuses are rated to trip once a certain current is exceeded, unlike fuses they can be reset. The main difference is that the way in which they operate to break the circuit does not generate much if any heat. A trip is wired in series with the circuit which means it has no concept of voltage. To measure voltage or to sense a voltage drop or gain you need a neutral or earth to read the potential difference against. Therefore if a trip only has two wires, one in and one out it is only measuring current. The main difference apart from the fact that a trip is resettable and a fuse blows and then needs to be replaced is their method of operation. A fuse is basically just a thin piece of wire sized to melt when too much current flows through it. Fuses will allow slightly more current through than their rating for a period of time and they will gradually get hotter which in turn increase their resistance leading to the eventual failure or blowing of the fuse. However the heat in the meantime can be a problem as demonstrated in the pictures above. Fuses really work at their best when a sudden short circuit occurs and they blow immediately. They are not so good when running consistently at slightly above their rating. Correct sizing of the fuse is important here. On the other hand a trip generally works in one of two ways. Either a bimetallic strip that will bend as it gets warm and eventually will bend and break or trip the circuit. The actual contacts are rated far higher than the trip and therefore do not get hot and the bimetallic strip will bend at relatively low rises in temperature, certainly before it gets anywhere near hot enough to do the sort of damage you see above. The other method is a small electromagnet which is sized that once enough current is being drawn through the device the magnet becomes strong enough to pull the contact open and thus break the circuit. Again the whole process is relatively heat free.

I would say that was a close shave there. Two lessons to be learnt there. 1. Always keep at least a couple of spares of each rating of fuse. It is so tempting when a fuse blows and you don't have the correct size replacement to put in a slightly higher or lower rated one. Things work and you remind yourself that you will purchase the correct size and replace it at the next opportunity and then a few months pass and it is still in situ and not properly protecting the circuit. 2. When ever replacing a component of the circuit such as a new pump, or light etc. Always treat it as a complete new installation. Check the power requirements of the new part. Check whether the current wiring is still sufficient. Check whether the fuse needs to be downrated or uprated to cope.

To be fair I do my best to keep it clean and apart from the dipstick the only other thing stored in there is a spare temporary mooring rope which is used as an extra spring in some mooring situations. The gas locker has a couple of aluminium braces near the top which keep the two gas bottles in situ and the dipstick and rope just sit across the top of those so they are handy to get too and kept out of the water.