Minigem

Yes, you are correct. they are wonderful boats and long may the boatyard maintain them as a feature of the Broads. Incidentally, the owners are very helpful and proud of their heritage of preserving these lovely old boats. Even though my old tub is Tupperware they have looked after me and given me excellent service. MG

Hi Woodie. Welcome to the website. I think most of us started years ago on the Broads. Nostalgic I know but then there were proper boats then, wooden, centre cockpit, engine underneath, wonderful smell of hot oil and diesel and a proper galley. Oh happy days.

The last time I crossed Breydon in that sort of weather my little tub spent more time out of the water than in it! Good fun though apart from a mouth full of sea water half way across.

Yep, Wagon Wheels are a shadow of what they were today. What about sherbet dips? I don't think you can get them any more.

Gobstoppers! We had an English teacher in the fairly rough school I went to in Dagenham. However he had a way with the fairly unruly lads in my class and we loved him for it. We tended to behave for him and lovingly knew him as Jim. Eating sweets during lessons was a capital offence and he caught me with a freshly loaded gobstopper in my mouth. He called me out to the front of the class and said "what are you eating". After unloading my gobstopper I said "its a gobstopper sir" "hmm" he said "and how much do they cost" I told him that you could buy them for a penny each which he probably knew anyway. There was another hmmm and he said "that is good, for three shillings I could keep you lot quiet for a whole lesson". The whole class erupted in laughter. What a wonderful teacher, no wonder we usually behaved for him. Other things were everlasting toffee strips, Jubbly orange drinks, liquorice sticks, Angel Delight, Heinz Vegetable Salad, mum's syrup suet pudding, Jamboree Bags, Enormous Wagon Wheel biscuits, arrowroot biscuits. Funnily enough with all that grub inside me I was still like a rake and used to cycle four miles to school, four miles home for lunch (better than lunchtime in a playground full of yobbos), four miles back and four miles home every day rain snow or shine. I never had much time for sport and when the sports master (known as Jughead) tackled me about being useless, despite running six miles during a sports lesion I told him about my cycling and he did not have an answer for that. I was the fittest kid in the class. Happy days! MG

Now, that is a proper breakfast, especially with the black pud. That would probably last me three days. I have to look after my figure you know.

Being able to go out on my bike without being run down by a homicidal white van man.

Thanks.

Hi and welcome to the forum. I use a 3 mobile wi fi hub which usually does the job. If the signal is a bit low I put the hub in a plastic bag and hoist it in the air on my boat pole. There is supposedly a dead spot around Horning and I cannot get any reception at Ranworth although I have seen Vodafone phones working there. Enquire with the boatyard as some supply hubs with the boat. You may find it expensive however if your son is anything like my nephew who streams games like there is no tomorrow. Have a good holiday. MG

Apologies to any "bath tub" owners on this forum for my aforesaid comments which were a bit coarse. They spoke of attitudes I should have kept to myself.

Oh yes, I forgot about all the May hem that ensued in those years.

No, I said "old tub". Would not have a "bath tub" even if you paid me to take it off your hands.

Its a trailered boat and I use boatyards all over the Broads.

Give him a chance mate, he has only just star ted.

Ok Griff. Mind you, don't expect me to give away my favourite lurking in the reeds fishing spots.

Oops, sorry for keeping you all in suspenders. The old girl had been running a bit funny for some time and I just could not find out why. I am a fairly competent amateur mechanic and those sorts of faults are annoying. My last check on the engine before consigning it to the scrapheap was to remove the manifold to check if the gasket had blown between the intake and exhaust tracts. The gasket was ok but I could just about see down the exhaust pipe and there was a carbon build up there. I poked a wire down the pipe and found that it was blocked solid. No wonder I could not get full throttle when punching the tide across Breydon which is a bit worrying in stormy conditions. Due to a bend in the pipe and the blockage being right at the top of the pipe I had to remove the head to get the pipe out so that I could put it in the vice and belt the blockage out with a hammer and chisel. I took the engine out in the garden and put it in a bin full of water and it started first time and ran sweet as a nut. I put the blockage down to my very gentle running of the engine over the past few years, being content to poodle along at 4 mph even when the speed limit was higher. This year I will be braising up some sort spikey flexible thingy that I can put in a power drill and ram up the exhaust when I remove the engine's leg to check the water pump. That should keep everything clear in future. All's well that ends well as the engine has been decoked and de limescaled in the process and the valves were checked for leakage. Along with re setting the valve clearances and a clean up of the points (it is an old engine), fingers crossed she will give me a decent run this year. Owzat Griff?

In all possibility you could stick something such as Gorilla tape and also 3M do a good tape that I have used myself to bodge up my ageing cover until I eventually bought a new one after around a year. Basically, the saying which is very true " don't throw good money after bad". If you have access to a sewing machine or can sew it yourself or tape it up then do it unfortunately the cover will rip again where the stitches are as is evidenced in your pictures.. The cover is at the end of its serviceable life, UV has taken its toll as it does so just junk it and find some other way of covering the boat.

Wow! Thanks for the very warm welcome from the forum members. Now that the daylight is returning my thoughts are to getting my old tub tidied up, at present it has acquired a slight green hue but an afternoon with a scrubbing brush and a bit of soapy water will sort that out. The engine is already serviced and ready to go and is hibernating in my workshop until Spring. Last year it packed up on me completely and I was considering buying a new one but found a very obscure and difficult to find fault after many hours of expletives, bits everywhere, greasy black hands, purchase of a new coil which was not needed (a handy spare though) and some new plug caps and new plugs which also went into my spares box for the engine. In finding the fault I had to do an Henry VIII and took off the head and took the chance of removing all the limescale from the water jacket, its amazing how quickly that stuff builds up in raw water cooled engines such as outboards. Incidentally, that was not the fault. Happy days to come in 2020! I hope to spend four weeks on the Broads (no no no, not a National Park!) and hope to do all points of the rivers, of course, having a dabble here and there with my ancient tackle (no, that is not a euphemism!) :-0 . Obviously I will be cruising the Southern Broads but have had previous pleasure in seeing many Marsh Harriers there and an occasional Barn Owl on the marshes from the balcony of the Fishermans Bar. I have not been down that way for some time so information on the pub will be much appreciated. On a clear or slightly cloudy evening the sunset there is something to be really appreciated. Happy days to come!

Hi there. Been bobbing around for a while with the boat and my almost antique split cane fishing rods. Their owner is becoming quite antique too! You will probably find me hiding in the reeds looking for some big daddy bream or big daddy anything for that matter. I enjoy using my old fishing tackle which I have had since I was a boy back in the Stone Age and make my own floats out of bird quills in the old way. More is on my profile so please do have a peek at it.

If you are considering replacing the cover in the near future just keep patching it with Gorilla tape and save your pennies for a new cover. By the looks of your cover it is badly affected by UV and it is possible that if a proper patch was sewn on, the cover would rip again where the stitches are. Obviously, as stated in previous posts you will have to support the area that fills with water.