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MaceSwinger

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Everything posted by MaceSwinger

  1. I'm fully qual'd up as a diver, payment by strong rum and Gregg's Steak Bakes only though please. Can supply my own shovel and hire you a deck chair too.
  2. Recently we saw a thread on what happens to GRP boat hulls at end of life and I can't help but think of similar issues with thr battery arrays needed on EVs. The extraction process for the minerals and metals needed to make batteries is hardly green, and then slapping them into a giant piece of plastic seems a bit odd to me. It was proven conclusively (excuse the lack of a citation here, but I'll dig one out if I need to) that early hybrids were far and away more environmentally damaging than by big, hairy, diesel Jag over their respective lifetimes. As for the mooring question; that's every bit as daft as a recent suggestion I saw on Faceplant that private boats should get priority on BA moorings over hire boats. Imagine that: busy evening at Ranworth and a conventionally engined cruiser has gone in early to guarantee a spot. Someone sidles up in the electric boat close to sunset and tells the diesel boat to sling their hook. I can say with absolutely certainty the response would only be 2 words comprising 7 letters, 3 of which would be 'F'. And finally, with regard to being 'ICEd', I travel a hell of a lot, and l know most of the main services between Catterick and Portsmouth very well. I can't think of a single time I've seen an ICE vehicle blocking spaces on a charging point. I genuinely believe that electric will become the norm on the road, but there is a hell of a long way to go yet. As for boats? An electric day boat I encountered last month had a 9 hour hire and the batteries were down to 25% having only cruised Ranworth to Wroxham. There are cleverer people than me above who have out numbers to the problem, and it spells it out very clearly. Sorry, but the whole thing whiffs a little bit of smug elitism to me. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  3. I was having the same issue on my PC last night. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  4. Probably very true Paul. With my opinion of Charnwood BC I'd also suspect that they disallow some things because they haven't figured out how to charge for it. If it benefitted the bleeding uni I guarantee it'd still be going on though! I know that cricket ground. It used to be the 3M sport and social club. I assisted on the big fireworks display there once or twice many years ago. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  5. The beds on our most recent hire were very hard, being little more than a block of stiff foam. I believe some yards fit proper sprung matresses, but my parents go as far as to take a memory foam mattress topper with them!
  6. I live about 200 yards from Charnwood Water in Loughborough and I only grew up about a quarter of a mile away. Every year we used to have a raft race on the lake, with local businesses competing on a variety of rafts of their own building. Some were very well put together (including the ones from my dad's business at the time) where as some were nothing more than a couple of 50 gallon drums with a polyprop chair yoked to the top! That all died a death in the late 1990s (I think). The council decided it safer not to use the lake (an old clay pit of Tucker's Brick Works) as there were some old industrial structures left and that was that. The lake goes largely unused, with all water based activities banned on it, except for model boats. Very, very sad. To my memory there was never a single death or serious injury in the history of the event.
  7. If you pick the right 2 berth boat there'll be no need to go bigger. My wife and I had a 3 berth boat last month, and whilst the bed was a little short (I'm only 5'9 and my feet and head were touching a bulkhead either end!) there was plenty of room on board. All three berths were in one cabin in the bow. Overall it was a nice enough boat, although I'd be loathe to recommend that particular yard, who will remain nameless. Some of the 'bathtub' style boats are fitted out to provide spacious accommodation for 2, some even going as far as having 4 poster beds! The same principles apply to handling a boat whatever the size. They all steer from the back when you turn the wheel. Bow thrusters can make life much easier when mooring or leaving a mooring, especially if the tide's running or if it's windy. We did a week in October a couple of years ago and whilst it was quite cold at times I think I actually preferred it to summer. There's a certain beauty to the Broads that time of year, with low hanging mist and the sun lower in the sky. We hired Brinks Duet and I thought it perfect for that time of year, with a large and airy wheelhouse, but 'real' doors and walls instead of a fabric canopy. It gave a fantastic field of view without being exposed to the elements; it even had a nice, big sunroof for the sunnier days.
  8. I was very surprised on both passes through Irstead to see the pretty BA boathouse closed up with the launch inside. With people off a day boat swimming from the BA moorings it might have been nice to have had a ranger about! Come to think of it, I only saw one ranger the whole week we were away.
  9. Is it not specified in the by-laws that just cresting excessive wash is an offence in itself? I can't remember if I read something along those lines. Sadly our experience last month was that of lots of boats all at full chat kicking out lots of wash. I'm fairly convinced that majority of Ricko's and Woods' boats only have 2 throttle positions: closed and wide open. Not to say that it's any fault of the yards of course, and there are a hell of a lot of Richardsons' boats about which would explain the apparent prevalence of them speeding. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  10. I was thinking the same. Not really Wroxham as much as Wroxham Broad and the surrounding area! @Cal I must admit I'd forgotten all about Irstead, but that's a very good shout!
  11. The cruise into Wroxham from downstream is lovely, but I'd go for Horning overall I think. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  12. I actually found the the Sumatras that Brinks hired as Sonata was pretty good for solo crusing. Open rear deck, long enough warps to lie down the (very small) gunwales, electric mudweight and decent all round visibility with the canopy removed (although that was a right ballache!) Sonata was the first boat I solo'd, and although I'm not a novice, I didn't any real trouble, even if there was enormous scope for it! Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  13. It was Cherry Tree we stayed on and I must say it was torturous being so close to the water and not being on a boat, especially walking to the Fort and seeing the river and Goodchild! Probably didn't help that I finished my weekend off by looking at brokerage in Potter and Brundall after shipping my wife off with my parents before I drove back to Sandhurst. Talk about back to earth with a bump! Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  14. I'm more concerned with the immediate assumption (from what I hope is a minority) that anyone on a hire boat is clueless. One chap I chatted with a couple of weeks ago, who owned his own boat, had spent considerably less time at the helm than even I had. I'm fairly sure a great deal of owners bought a boat after hiring at least once. I've no interest in starting a private vs hire argument, but I saw plenty of absolutely dreadful bost handling when I was away and it certainly wasn't confined purely to hire boats. Everyone has their first time somewhere. Elitism and snobbery has no place on the river. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  15. South Walsham for me, beautiful location. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  16. At 24x12 It's smaller than the boat we had and it doesn't float! It's been a long time since I've stayed in one; I don't mind the caravan but I loathe parks like this, it's the same with Waveney River Centre too. The whole family's here though, so it's not so bad. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  17. ...in a static caravan [emoji33] We only drove back to Leicestershire from Brundal, after a lovely week afloat, and we're back already. I must say it was strange driving over Breydon Bridge and Postwick Viaduct instead of cruising under it! Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  18. However that scaffold is footed it was wobbling a goodun when we cruised past on Sunday, with a geezer on top I might add!
  19. There was plenty of room still when we passed a couple of times last week. That said, with the high tides we had some of the moorings were under water! Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  20. Earliest start we had was 0600 to catch the tide at Yarmouth...I wasn't popular with the wife... Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  21. Absolutey +1 to this! I took an OL40 with me this year for the first time; utterly useless compared to a Heron map for boating, but incredibly useful for once you're moored up. Wish I'd had it when I was solo a few years ago and got utterly lost trying to walk from How Hill to Ludham. I only wanted a pack of fags
  22. I was absolutely amazed that there was even room in the basin on Sunday afternoon! I only cruised in just to have a nosy but nearly stopped just because I could!
  23. I came back on Monday, and in the week I had I only saw one instance where any of that might have been relevant. Fact is many of these "no mooring" signs have been up for years, along with signage warning of "construction works" in one place that's been there for years, with no visible work happening. Maybe I'm being cynical but it sometimes seems a bit "this is my land, I'm not using it but neither can you". Obviously it's the landowner's prerogative to allow or disallow mooring, but I must say I get fed up with seeing the signs, and I find it especially irritating when it's just scrawled, barely legibly, across a quay heading. If you're that bothered and take such pride in your mooring at least get a proper sign made up
  24. I had the large rump steak at the Ferry House on Sunday night (last night before handing back first thing Monday) and it was roughly the size of half a cow! I'll echo what oldgregg says about the New Cut. I've been through at all states of tide and I've never felt it necessary to go through at slack. Having said that I don't generally mind punching the tide too much. Which is exactly why I went through GY at about 2mph last week
  25. During my week afloat I spoke to a lovely couple who were on their first ever visit. We were moored at St Benet's and they'd just picked up from Barnes before cruising down. He mentioned several times about how annoying it was to see so many 'No Mooring' signs everywhere and I share the sentiment. I've always said if I owned a piece of land with a quay heading I'd gladly let anyone moor there as long as people remained respectful. I wonder how many people just see moorings as a liability; if you've put a sign up saying no mooring and someone ignores and subsequently damages their boat or themselves, are you absolved of any responsibility? Whatever the answer is, it is frustrating.
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