Mowjo

Janice! that last bit is no surprise as H/W own Waterside boat sales as well, if you sell your boar from your mooring there your loosing them their 8% commission,,, Frank,,,,,

Janice! if the guy Matt is referring to is the same one I'm thinking of, he sold my Hampton 25 in two days, and he seems to have a list of people looking for good boats, it's a working yard so I don't know if they will clean it for you, we have visited him at Wayford quite a bit in the last couple of weeks and he seems to have quite a good turn around with boat sales, if you don't know him at first you will think he's a bit dodgy, Yes! Jon I know you spy on me! but he tells you it as it is if your boats C**p or over priced he will tell you, in my case he told me my boat was under priced and I came out 2.5k better off, I've just bought my new/old boat from him and he actually pointed out a couple of things I'd missed, I'll PM you his link then you can decide, as I said it's a working yard and looking at it you would never think he could sell a boat but he really shifts them, don't hold me too it! but I think that if you decided to use him he will even pick up your boat from Wroxham and take it back to his yard,,, Frank,,,,

Yup that would work! if you wanted to kill the Broads, we could even have traffic lights and floating roundabouts, why not mooring meters as well? then I could get rid of all my foreign coins I have left over, if I have to pay more I want more! Frank,,,,

They re-activated mine in Minutes Grendel, they have phoned before so I asked why they hadn't phoned this time and he said we don't have your mobile number, he was a bit lost when I told him I don't have one, then I went in for the kill and said how come I get a call at home at least every two weeks from your bank trying to sell me something but you can't call me to tell me you blocked my card?? he got me back with a classic we are a different department,, Frank,,,

Hopefully living quite close, the boat should all be Ship shape and shinny for the start of next season, one of the best bits is it's original gel coat so no painting this time, Whoopeeeeee! in the new year I'll have her lifted for a good polish, anti-foul and re-stain the rubbing strakes, just a few days work instead of weeks, and for anyone thinking of buying a boat, this boat is ready to go and perfectly usable, the only big expense's are a new cooker at £450,mains electric at £100, and the cabin lights changing to LED's another £100, Judi has decided she wants everything new, like bed linen, pots and pans, crockery and all the general stuff you need on a boat, the bill for all this has now crept up to around £1500 so be warned, Today I went to order something and my card was declined, I went demented Gerbil and phoned the bank as I knew I had money in there, the Bank passed me on to the credit card fraud squad, where they informed me they had put a stop on my card due to excessive activity, nice to know they are protecting my money but it would have been nicer if they informed me about stopping it, the worse bit was they kept giving me amounts of money and asking who I had spent it with, luckily my accountant Judi had it all written down,,, Frank,,,

Well! as the original remark was on my post I'd better comment! it wouldn't work! anyone that has been on the Broads for a few years will remember most of the yards did Petrol and there were little shops dotted everywhere, not always the cheapest but you paid for the convenience and the fact that they were seasonal, now you only have a few places like Roys and Lathams and the odd shop here and there, Petrol is only sold in a couple of places, mainly because most boats are diesel now, the profit on petrol for the yards just isn't worth it since the H&S got involved, no doub't the insurance would sky rocket on yards selling petrol, so if it was viable I think all the little shops and yards selling petrol would still be doing it, some of you may remember years ago the floating shop that used to cruise the Broads, at Wayford we had Pongo the mobile pump out man, all gone, now if you really want a little venture and could afford the insurance, here's an Idea! wherever I go on the Broads I always manage to find McD rubbish, how about a floating Burger boat? selling burgers, bacon sarnies all the usual stuff like teas and coffee, a money maker if I ever saw one, and yes I did actually think about it myself years ago, but after owning a Café I didn't want to go there, now another Idea if your a funeral director, how about last cruise funeral trips, you need a nice boat with the coffin rack on it, and you take the deceased and the family and friends on a last Broads trip, could catch on, and as I'm not allowed my Viking funeral I'd go for it,, Frank,,,

Thanks Richard! that is my one fear with flexies, the thought of 120 litres of water flowing through the boat scares me, mine in the front under the bunks, some how they managed to get it in and connect it all through a six inch hole, I'm going to make a bigger access hole, then hopefully I'll be able to make a water tight bulkhead and fit a small bilge pump in there just in case, I'll still look at fitting rigid tanks under the cockpit floor, I think I may be able to fit two smallish ones and link them together, twice the price but I'll feel safer, Frank,,,

Thanks Diesel, I did think it would work but needed a second opinion, if it works OK I might just replace the flexi tank as it's out of the way and I was surprised how cheap they are, at £70 I could even afford to replace it every couple of years, it's only 120 litres but as we have no hot water it should last ok, I did want to fit a calorifier but the boss says "whats wrong with just boiling the kettle?" Frank,,,,

OK! I need help again, my new boat has one of those triangular flexible bladder tanks on it, can I use it with a pressurised Jabsco Par-Max 1.9 Freshwater Pump??? The pump on it now is just a normal caravan type pump that works via a switch, I intent to try and fit a rigid tank sometime in the future so I don't really want to end up buying two pumps,, Frank,,,,

Iain! for get the stonecutter, if we can't get under Wroxham Bridge she can't spend money so my boating should be cheaper, I say should because a certain person told Judi two places we may be able to moor up for a few hours to go shopping, I was going to try the "We can't go too far because we may run out of Petrol" but I slipped up before we bought her and mentioned is has a 130xlitre tank, at least I'll get to use my Tesco fuel points now, I just have to work out a way to get the boat to Tesco's, Frank,,,,

Yup! we did it! bought a boat I never thought I would, Hardtop and Petrol engine, have to watch what I say because Jon spy's on me! we fell in love with the Birchwood 25 Exec at Jon's yard and bought her today, she's ready to go, it just needs a little tidy up, but anyone that's knows me also knows that I'll be making lots of changes and will be broke again, I'm honestly gobsmacked Judi likes a hardtop as she likes Wroxham and this one won't go under the Bridge, it was a case of instant love for her, I liked the boat but did every thing I could to put her off it, like saying about the hardtop and being petrol, but it didn't work, which means she really loves the boat and if she falls out of love with it sometime, I can say I told you so, she has had me on Tinternet all evening buying stuff for the boat, but at the last count of nearly £1200 I needed a break, normally if I buy a box of screws I have to explain what I need them for, but that's women for you, the boat is going to be re-named Kali II, I told my dog the next boat I got would be called after her, sadly we lost her last year but she loved it on the boat, now she will be with us on the boat whenever we go out,, Ok! I admit it, I do have a soft side but only when it comes to animals,, Frank,,,,,

Thanks Robin! I think Ady at Wayford Bridge makes them as well, I'll try him first as I like to support local trades where I can,, Frank,,,,

Thank Doug! I don't have a problem with the Petrol Engine I grew up with them, half inch spanner a packet of fag papers a can of WD40 and I can usually fix them, the flexi tank is quite small something like 15 gallons and as we do a lot of extended cruising I don't want to be filling up every day, the boat has a nice big triangle space under the front bunks where the flexi is so is prime for a rigid tank, while I'm here anyone got any idea of the fuel consumption of the Sea Wolf Engine??? Frank,,,,,

OK! boys and girls, I know someone here may have one but I'm looking for info on a Birchwood 25 exec, things like known problems, handling basically any info I can get, we walked away from the Seamaster 27, we walked away from the Elysian Madera because of pro shaft and flexi coupling problems, and today we walked away from what looked like a nice Seamaster 25, problem was it was perfect outside but inside I reckoned it needed at least another 2/3k put into it, they were asking 12k for a boat that in my opinion was only worth £8.5k, anyway to cut a short story long we have looked at loads of overpriced, c**p boats, but we had a look at a Birchwood 25 today, odd for me as it's a hard top with a petrol engine, it's a nice clean boat, not much needs doing apart from a bit of varnishing, and as I'm fond of telling people the boat just felt right to me and I think it was instant love for Judi, I'm OK with the engine I think it's a Petrol Seawolf, but other than that I know nothing about Birchwoods, another thing I want to know is under the forward bunk it has one of those bladder type water tanks, I don't like them and don't trust them so does anyone know how easy it is to change it to a Poly tank??? Frank,,,,,

Grendel! you couldn't have done much with one arm anyway, do you know I've never been able to find out your Mothers name!!! Frank,,,,

Erm! let me think!!!!!! Oh yes! GET, actually I can think of several things I might say but no polite ones,,, Frank,,,

I think the second word would be Off!

Thanks Timbo! I actually though of Tim last night, I'll pop in and see him next time I'm there, I prefer supporting local business where I can, Andy! when we bought my daughters boat two years ago, she couldn't come to view it so asked me to look at it, I took one look at the engine and electrics and told her I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole even though it had passed the BSS a month previous, the state of the engine put me right off it didn't look like it had been touched since the boat was built, I know the engine is nothing to do with the BSS, but the electrics were something else, they had used normal solid core twin and earth, there was Orange what I call lawnmower cable, and the fuse board looked like it was out of one of the BT green boxes, it was a bank of about 50 fuses on a carrier and where he hadn't used the previous cable it honestly looked like bell wire, unfortunately my daughter fell in love with it from the pictures and still went ahead and bought it, when she got it back to the moorings, I took a better look and found a bilge pump under the engine that went straight out the side, no filters or anything, next I looked at the gas locker, it was an old galvinised one, so I took the bottles out to check, how the bottle hadn't gone through the bottom I don't know! it was full of holes and you could see them just by moving the bottles, how the thing ever passed the BSS I don't know, the tester is pretty well known on the Broads but now if I see his name on a certificate I double check everything, and I certainly would never use him, Frank,,,

Thanks folks! been looking at a few ready made lockers and some of them are silly money, I done a bit of fibre glass work in the past so I may make my own, if and when I get time,,,, Frank,,,,,

Thanks Grendel! I did look at a lot of them but they only do 2400mm/8ft Long I need just under 9ft and it needs to be Iroko, Teak or Manogamy, but thanks for taking time to look,, Frank,,,

Grendel! get your coat! right Managed to find the Handrails, the ones on the boat are 25mm dia but in 28/30 ml brackets so a little bit wobbly but they have been on the boat since who knows when so I'm giving in and refitting 25mm round, they are from Sheridan Marine a Freeman Shop and as I dealt with them when I had a freeman the low price has really surprised me, http://www.sheridanmarine.com/product/freeman-mahogany-handrail Frank,,, Just need to sort out the Gas locker now unless someone knows where I can get the 28mm grab rail,,,

Sorry Dave! they are round and straight,, and I'm getting a headache trying to find them,, Frank,,,,

Get your thinking caps on boys and girls, I need help! first one! the grab rails on my new/old boat have seen better days and I'd like to replace them like for like, does anyone know where I can get replacements, they are 28/30mm round and 2100mm long, I know I can get stainless but I really like wood! Second! Gas lockers, do they have to be made of GRP, Stainless, Metal, or can they be made from Ply as long as they are airtight on the seams, mine hold two little diddy gas bottles and as we are out all the time I'd like to fit a new locker that holds two of the 15kilo bottles, I'll be lucky to get a week out of the two I have now, Frank,,,,

Peter! am I getting mixed up here?? are boatyard surveys the same as the one insurers require, I know what you mean about trust Jon pointed out all the things that need doing on my new/old boat, but I was under the impression that insurers needed a professional survey, I trust what the boatyard tells me because I know and trust most of them, it's the so called Pro Surveyors I have problems with,,, Frank,,,,

Peter! I think most insurers insist on surveys and I don't disagree that on a Woodie it might be a wise choice, what I want to know is what does a survey actually prove?? are they like MOT's and only valid until the car leaves the forecourt? if the surveyor misses something and a couple of months down the line your boat sank, how would you stand with your insurance company? we all know they will try anything to get out of paying out, so would they just say tough it was Ok when it was surveyed, as I said the BSS takes of the safety side of things so does a survey just tell you if your Woodie is rotten? Frank,,,,