Cal

We know very few people who actually own their cars now. Most prefer to lease and give them back after three years for a new one. We have always bought ours and run them until they become unreliable. My current 2005 Nissan Almera we bought when it was 12 months old with the intention of keeping it until it became unreliable. We have had it 13 years now waiting for it to become unreliable The OH bought himself a Hyundai I30 diesel earlier this year. Again we will keep that until it becomes unreliable. It is a really nice car to drive, nothing exciting but it eats up motorway miles effortlessly and it hardly reving at 70mph.

We have it rigged up to our spare 2.7kg Camping Gaz bottle. But it will take Calor or can take the little spin on type gas cartridges.

We have just bought one of these to use on our boat, well not on it but next too it if the sun ever shines. It is a gas BBQ, come grill, come oven. They get very good reviews and a friend has one which has prompted us to get one. So can we have some sunshine now please so that we can try it out?

So very true. For our sins we still fix or repair this daily after 19 years of ownership!

Is this not a problem with the yard the boat was from rather than Hoseasons?

Other navigation authorities manage to provide dredging programmes throughout their catalogue of waters. Why should the BA be any different?

We have moored at Marina Quays on one of the boats we hired Brink of Joy. Must have been 13 years ago. The boat broke down with catastrophic gearbox failure part way between Stracey Mill and Marina Quays. We had to get towed into Yarmouth and the boat that towed us got us there. The place was derelict of course but we were moored up and safe. The yard staff spent all day fixing the boat there and we spent the evening moored there. So we were there for a good few tides. Can't remember the boat bottoming out at all.

Some years we are lucky and have two kegs

Here we have our keg. Note the lack however of a skeg!

Hopefully no damage sustained to any boats!!

Loads of food storage in the fridge now. With the old fridge it was always a struggle and sometimes it was a choice between beer or food! It is the same at home. We only have a small fridge there and half of that is beer and tonic storage

Yes. We will certainly find the freezer useful when we are out on holiday. We also like to stock up with vacuum packed meat when we find a decent butchers. It is a decent size as well. Can't believe how much beer we can fit in and still have loads of space for food. Luxury compared with the old fridge.

We hired Viscount last year. Lovely boat and really gives a good idea of what can be achieved with these boats. Excellent refit which really makes her feel more modern than her age.

Good point.

The Engel it has replaced was quite efficient anyway but was noisy. But as you say it did struggle to keep cool on really hot days. The Waeco seems to have a lot more insulation so will hopefully be a bit better on that score. We were caught out by how much colder it gets as it froze the beer! It is on a much lower setting then the old fridge but still getting ice cold. Lord knows what the higher settings are for. We have it on setting two of five and the beers are ice cold.

We have a working fridge as well now. All the mod cons onboard NC Four hours of swearing, fibre glass itch, more swearing, pushing and shoving, more swearing, scratching heads, more swearing, cutting more bits out of the boat and more swearing later we had the Waeco in place. Have to say the effort was worth it though as the new fridge is much better. It fits more beer in it for a start but it is also whisper quiet and uses bugger all power.

We have moored at North Cove and not realised there is a pub or two within walking distance. Maybe one to try when we are down again next year.

The only way to stop the mould growth is to provide lots of ventilation. Ventilation keeps the air moving which reduces condensation which in turn prevents the moisture build up that the mould needs to grow.

Not exactly an ideal hire boat for the Broads!

Boating perhaps isn't for you then. It is essentially standing in a plastic tub in the water throwing your money into said water.

If it got to the point where I was really struggling to get on and off the boat then at that time it would be time to hang up the hat and find another hobby!! I am also a shortie, 5'3" and not claiming to be the most agile but can't really think of a time on the Broads on our own boat or a hire boat where I have struggled to get on or off. Climbing the ladders at Great Yarmouth at low water Springs was not my most enjoyable experience I will say but neither was it overly difficult.

It is horses for courses and only you can decide what you want from a boat. We have a single engined sports cruiser which some on here would claim to be the spawn of the devil and completely unsuited to inland waters. However in the last ten years that we have owned her we have used her extensively inland, not just on the Broads but also for estuary and coastal cruising and she suits us down to the ground. We manage perfectly well without the need for a bowthruster, but then again we have had plenty of practice with her by now!

If the person getting off with the ropes is struggling then the person at the helm really needs to get the boat alongside and under better control. In our case it will usually be Liam at the helm and me doing the ropes. He knows that I will not step off the boat until he has it under full control and close alongside where he will hold it until both bow and stern and any spring lines are secured. No tugging and pulling at ropes or the boat. Let the boat do the work.

It is surprising just how many people you find on boats who have no interest in learning how to handle it be that driving or mooring up. We made a point of both of us learning how to handle our boat and being able to handle it on our own without another crew member just in case one of us falls ill during a cruise. The other can then take it home single handed. Good job too because there have been two occasions now where Liam has been taken ill and I have had to get the boat back to base alone!

All credit to Richardson's for offering boating for all budgets. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find level entry two berth budget boats on the Broads. Everyone has to start somewhere.