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dom
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Posts posted by dom
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On the plus side, there's probably a lot less work getting her back in order than there'd be with something more modern!
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21 minutes ago, catcouk said:
Serious question: Why does Somerleyton ask for donations towards the upkeep of the mooring? Isn't that what the river rolls are supposed to cover? The little column to the right is a donations request box.
It's a controversial subject. BA are clearly having funding issues, so it's a means by which to beg for money to top up their coffers. I suspect the plan was to install them at every non-chargeable mooring, but this one came in for immediate scorn with a particular campaigning organisation - so they may have had a change of heart. Equally possible they may start popping up elsewhere.
Interestingly, I notice BA are recruiting for a senior accountant, reporting to the Director of Finance. I'd suspect they're employing someone as a scapegoat to protect the FD and CEO from the rapidly increasing scrutiny which BA's finances are coming under.
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The Police were involved, so it may have been done under their instruction.
I suspect they could probably cover any defence with Section 2 of the Broads Authority Act anyway, specifically making a special direction to stop it "interfering with the reasonable use or enjoyment of the navigation area by other vessels or persons".
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Certain people also need to be distancing themselves from it, before it backfires. Unfortunately, I've tried telling them this but they don't have the sense to understand.
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5 minutes ago, Smoggy said:
Same person?
Yep. Same one who had a boat fire at Sutton some years ago too. And also the same one in the electric post Youtube video.
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What goes around, comes around.
I doubt the fishermen incident went beyond a few stern words from the Police but, if it did, that'll probably bring the matter to a close.
There's still more to the story.
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I don't think crossing Breydon itself in the dark would be too bad. Just make sure you have a decent spotlight (and a spare!), keep picking up on the posts and stick to one side of the channel.
The bits at either end are another matter. Entering the bottom of the Bure is not something I'd be in a hurry to try. Vauxhall Bridge in the dark would be pretty scary, although I suspect possibly never fully dark around that area.
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52 minutes ago, kpnut said:
I was surprised to see a couple of rhododendrons flowering in that colourful garden of the house next to the How Hill property. I had taken a purposeful look out as it’s my signal to go and visit the Secret Garden. Toward the end of my next trip it’ll be at its best I reckon.
I saw pictures of rhododendrons in flower up at Sandringham earlier. Some up there are more like trees. There's a drive through the woods into the back of the car park, which is beautiful at this time of year. It seems to have been constantly closed since the queen's passing. I'm hoping Charles follows his mother's example and keeps it open.
Sheringham Park was always stunning at this time of year. Apparently the rhododendron collection is "nationally important".
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Definitely a cruiser. Having raced similar, it's far from easy to capsize.
One of the rangers has just confirmed that all onboard are safe and well.
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16 minutes ago, catcouk said:
Anyone know what a boatyard would do if you couldn't get back on time due to a closure? I assume they would send someone from the yard to pilot the boat.
Back when I worked in yards, every boat was booked out every week in season, so there was no option but to move heaven and earth to get a boat ready for incoming hirers. Closures didn't happen in the same way back then, but if one had, the boat would have gone across with a yard worker and you'd either have gone with them or got a taxi and met them the other side. If you'd been held up and it was approaching turnaround, all your gear would have gone back to the yard in a pickup and you'd have followed in a taxi whilst a yard worker motored non-stop back to the yard - quite possibly with cleaners on board.
The bigger issue was always damage. There wasn't the luxury of a standby boat, so it just had to be fixed. Worst one I saw was one of Summercraft's old wooden cruisers. It had a protruding wooden toe rail and the hirers had managed to catch it on something, peeling up and breaking off several feet of deck. Work started at 9am and she was back out on hire that afternoon with a newly fitted section of deck, albeit a few hours late.
We never had a sinking, but I saw another yard have one, which caused major issues. They'd have no choice but to cancel a full season's worth of bookings. My mum worked for Blakes and no doubt had to deal with similar on occasion.
These days, sadly, as Grendel says, they'd often have substitute boats available.
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It closed earlier, but only for a fairly short time. It was published on BA's Facebook page.
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The picture on Facebook shows it upright, but down at the bow. The aft well is all above water and it looks like a decent salvage pump in the front end might even have it afloat again.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10211337626512841&set=p.10211337626512841&type=3
Maybe just needs an airbag to get the deck above water level.
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As long as the crew are all OK, the rest doesn't really matter. No sign of damage in the Facebook images so far, so hopefully Hunters might have it back afloat fairly quickly.
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2 hours ago, marshman said:
I wonder why they died out so rapidly then?
Probably rodenticides becoming more widespread.
Either that, or gamekeepers shooting them. I shoot, so wouldn't suggest the latter happens amongst reputable keepers these days, but standards were different back then and Kite do seem to quickly build numbers and become problematic.
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1 hour ago, Mouldy said:
Which is why we spent a bit more and bought a Karcher Professional window vac. According to the blurb, it can be used at any angle, even upside down and it actually works. No leakage, even used upside down.
I did the same with the WV1, but still had similar issues. Not sure if the more expensive WV6 is better developed.
Interesting comment direct from Karcher:
If using the vac in another position than vertical the device has to be put in vertical position in between so that the water can flow into the tank. Ensure that the water tank is completely empty prior to using horizontally.
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45 minutes ago, Bikertov said:
I need to reseal the joint between the sink moulding and bulkhead in the shower/heads on A Frayed Knot
If you've not already got one, buy a sealant finishing tool before you do the job. I bought the blue pack of 4 off eBay for about a fiver and it makes the job so much easier/neater than a finger/spoon/etc.
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One tip with most brands of window vac - try and keep them upright in use. If you invert them, water tends to make its way into places it shouldn't be, eventually resulting in premature failure. Not sure why it's so difficult to waterproof them properly, but they all seem to suffer the same issue.
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2 hours ago, kpnut said:
Following the well defined paths across the fields we came out on the lane to the Radar Museum. And then took the diagonal path to Neatishead Rd just up from Ropes Hill crossroads.
That field is part of the farm which belonged to the late father of one of my best friends at school, who I knew from the age of 4 or so. They were Gedges - I suspect quite likely related to the Jimmy Gedge who used to work for Vaughan.
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27 minutes ago, catcouk said:
I was somewhat fascinated by the activity around the Cantley works. Having only past by once as an adult (and many times as a child), my memories are of an almost abandoned industrial facility. Not today though – loads of people, lorries, a forklift, and flashing lights.
This time of year or later on, it'd normally be largely abandoned. This year though, the widespread flooding has meant that the sugarbeet "campaign" has been later than normal, so there's probably still lots of processing going on.
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3 hours ago, kpnut said:
He did like the bikes that Broom had provided so they could go and explore the lanes though.
It'd be good to see more thought given to this type of thing with hire boats. If we're going to have huge boats which sleep relatively few people, could we devote less space to oversize cabins and bathrooms and instead incorporate a "garage" for full size bikes or kayaks?
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1 hour ago, Mouldy said:
Just checked the government’s flood earning website and it’s quite colourful
Just checked and my mother's is within the alert area again
The colour choice on that map is a nightmare for anyone with impaired colour vision.
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28 minutes ago, YnysMon said:
Could that bird be a red kite? My son spotted a couple of birds that he thought were red kites when we were on the Broads last month. I read somewhere that they are starting to appear on the Broads, which is probably bad news, as they could push out marsh harriers. Red kites are becoming a pest in certain areas of the chiltern hills.
If you see a bird of prey flying in the Cambridgeshire fens, half the time these days it's a Red Kite. Hamerton Zoo recently counted 42 at once, as they scavenge meat destined for the big cats. There's a waste site nearby and there's an almost constant cloud of them circling above it like vultures. Supposedly, there's something like 40-50 breeding pairs around here, but it's obvious that it's far more. It's easy to see why they became persecuted in the past, as no doubt they'll drive other bird of prey and possibly some corvids out.
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Beccles mooring fees are now £20 side on, £15 stern on.
Oulton Broad stern on with power £16, side on, up to £30.
The surcharge for power at Oulton is £4.50 - £5.00. I'd question the legality of this, as it's obviously selling electricity on at a vastly inflated rate.
It's not that difficult to come up with a route where a family on a larger boat could incur £112 in mooring fees in a single week.
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1 hour ago, Happy said:
£4 would not seem a lot to pay and no one is forced to use it are they.
Not strictly true. There are people who rely upon access to a water supply year round, and facilities are limited during winter months. During extreme conditions, people do tend to get left with a very limited choice, if any.
I appreciate the capital investment issue - so let's say £4 represents a £2 surcharge for equipment. If a conservative 8 people use it:
8 x £2 = £16/day. £16 x 7 = £112/week. £112 x 28 weeks peak season = £3136 income.
£400 for a meter, a very generous £1k to install = £1400 expenditure.
£3136 - £1400 = £1736 profit, just in peak season, just in the first year and assuming only 8 users per day. I'd suggest a lot more people use it, others use it all year round, and the water used isn't anything like 1000 litres per user. Year two, the majority of the income will be profit, save for a small contingency for maintenance. We're also making profit of £1 per fill on the water itself.
£4 in and of itself isn't a lot of money - but it's the cumulative effect for both private and hire boaters which is the issue. £4 for water, £30 for a pumpout, £10-15 per night to moor. Add that lot up over a week or two and it can be a significant sum on top of the cost of an already costly holiday.
If you drive an Audi or BMW and hire a 40ft+ boat with 4 berths for 4 middle income adults, you probably won't care. But the hire industry relies upon the working class young family with kids, not only for immediate income, but also to introduce the next generation to hiring.
Unfortunately "only £10 to moor", "only a few quid for water" and "£30 for a pumpout isn't so bad for an unpleasant job" does seem to be creating a death by a thousand cuts for boating.
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Sutton Protest.
in Broads Chat
Posted
It's only going to get worse. Bits of the Cam/Great Ouse network are rammed with them due to the excessive cost of housing in the area (although it seems to be levelling out at insane everywhere now). Bits of London canal network have towpaths lined 2 or 3 deep with them.
If you frequent cheap/free boat groups on Facebook, there's a steady trickle of people looking for free boats to live on. Invariably, they tend to have fake names on their Facebook profiles, so are clearly hiding from something - presumably either debt, the law, or both.
I have every sympathy for someone facing homelessness, but find the whole "liveaboard as a solution to poverty" concept annoying and objectionable for a number of reasons.
Firstly, I think these people are just going to go from being on the edge of society to well beyond it - and living on a boat without the means to sustain yourself is going to be utterly miserable, probably worse than squatting on land. Secondly, the Broads (and other waterways) shouldn't be a dumping ground for society's failings - and particularly not when £8m+ a day is being spent housing people we're supposedly providing asylum to. Third, it results in a trail of abandoned boats, falling apart and sinking, the cost of which ends up with legitimate boat owners - BA appear to have paid around £2k most months last year for related issues. Lastly, with no means of income, it's obvious a certain amount of petty crime and drug dealing is going to follow.
Unfortunately, organised facilities would come with various ancillary requirements - BSS testing, insurance, paying council tax, etc. The people involved are often barely above vagrancy, so expecting them to pay is unrealistic. Lump a load of non-conforming people in a single place and you're also aggregating a load of social issues in a single district. If you try and spread it out, BA are already struggling to maintain a network of moorings for legitimate users.
Just to add, none of the above is a reflection on legitimate, working liveaboards who make a conscious choice to live the lifestyle whilst remaining within the law. I suspect there's a good chance I might end up amongst them when I eventually retire - another growing trend which probably does need more consideration, especially around granting planning for residential moorings.