Mowjo

Jonny! is that a new boat I see you have there, or just one your dreaming about,,, Regards Frank,,,,

Woohoo! who's a lucky boy then, 10 minutes ago I opened the envelope with some paperwork that came with the boat we bought Saturday, and what do I find, the River toll has been paid for next year! I was going to apply for it today but had to pop out so forgot to do it, I wonder if they would have told me it was already paid, I'm really starting to love Crackers, that saved me £231.74, I wonder if next year they will just let me pay for the 25ft bit of water my boat sits on, at £231.74 I want my own personal Broad to use,, Regards Frank,,,,,

Mmmm! I just had a nasty thought! the Airshow is coming soon, this year we will NOT be going,,,,

Ok as mentioned here I don't hang about so here's how I came to now own Crackers a Hampton Safari MkII,, We sold our House and Cafe about a year ago and have had a bit of spare cash sitting in the bank doing nothing, it was our retirement fund, most days I take a walk to Oulton Broad as I only live 5 minutes away, Friday for the first time in 6 years the Wife says it's a nice day I'll come with you, were sitting at the Cafe having a cuppa when out of the blue she say's I miss the boat and would like to get another one, not wanting to disagree I said Ok, back home Pooter out to see whats about at the right price and what type of boat, wife says I'd like one one one level this time and the only boat that fitted the bill was the Hampton Safari's, I found two at Beccles phoned and arranged to see them Saturday, the one I was interested in was a MkIII but they couldn't get hold of the owner but was said as we were going to Beccles we'd look over the outside and wait for him to get back with a viewing time/day, one we saw needed a bit spending on it to just make it a tidy boat, the Mk III looked great, I get talking to a guy that moors there and he told me it had been up for sale for over two years because the owner wouldn't budge on price and that the boat also had water damage, that ruled out those two, while having a Cuppa and talking boats another guy mentions a MkII on the opposite bank that was up for sale again it looked good, right price, but the owner who is usualy is on the boat every day didn't appear, so we left a note telling him we were interested and our phone No, meanwhile I remembered that Neil mention something about one for sale at Potter, in the car off to Potter we head, look at the boat and didn't like it one bit, walking back to the car I turned around and looked back and saw what I though was another Hampton, back we go and there it was, no price on it and no Idea if it was actually for sale, nice and tidy on the outside and I already though it would be more than we wanted to pay going on the condition of the others we saw, Wife goes off to the office to find out about it, come back smiling and tells me the boat only came in on Wednesday and the hadn't had time to put it up for sale or do the Piccies, she then tells me they are asking £14,950, In my mind I'm thinking if the inside is as good as outside a bargain at that price, inside we go and my Flabber was Ghasted it was a beauty, and just needed a clean, being me i'm under the floor in the Engine in the Cupboards if I could get in it I was, Bilges were spotless and you could eat you dinner off the engine, I fire it up and it Purred, well for a diesel it did, next thing I look up and there's the wife with a big grin on her face holding a bit of paper, while I was probing she had been in the office and bought the boat fot £14k, and actually started cleaning the inside while I was in the office finishing the paperwork, Monday morning we paid the Balance jumped in the boat and Off to B/Edge we headed, Basicaly we started lookin for a boat Friday afternoon and were the new owners of Crackers Saturday lunchtime, In 24 hours we had looked at four boats and bought the 5th, I'm normally quick when I buy a boat as I can see past problems and normally change the boat interior to suit my needs, but this was a record time even for me,, The funny part is when we sold our Seamaster 813 about 18 months ago we both said we wouldn't be getting another boat, I think we lied, Thats the last time I take the wife for a walk, God knows what we'll come home with next time,, Regards Frank,,,

Neil! at Squillions of quids that the Euro pays out I doubt I'd miss the price of one of those,,

Antares apart from the cooker and TV which is going in to keep the boss happy, the rest of the stuff is just normal boaty stuff to basically improve our stays on it, I forgot you need all the bedding, cooking stuff, like pots and pans, plus other home from home stuff, the battery's checked out ok but they are getting on a bit so I thought I'd replace them anyway as a least i'll have peace of mind, as far as I can work out we have bought everything for the boat now apart from that timer which is on the to do list, the annoying thing is we had everything for the boat up until a few months ago, when the Boss said it's just taking up space so lets get rid of it all because we won't be getting another boat, think they call that Sods law, so off it all went to the Car Boot Sale where someone got some real good bargains, Regards Frank,,,,

Thanks Bill! it looks like it will be an end of year job now, The wife decided she needs/wants a new cooker first and I want three new batteries, it may happen before then as the wife feels the cold more than me, problem is being a new boat to us there's a few bits I need first, I say need I mean want, including Insurance the cooker and the other bits I have ordered I'm up to £1.5k and I've only been out on the boat for three hours,, Regards Frank,,,

Thanks Antares! I checked prices and they are about the price you say, I think the Boat has been in private hands for around 10 years, So the last owner must have had it fitted as it was done in 2007, I know it's ex Summercraft and they take good care of their boats, going by the condition of the boat I don't think the last owner used it much but he certainly should be proud of the way he looked after it, a couple of hours cleaning inside and it's spotless, I might fit one at the end of the season or before if the wife complains about the cold, neither of us feel the cold that much but now we have retired I want to do a bit of winter cruising, and I don't want to wake up and have to break icicles off my doodads, I had a shock when I saw the price of the Eber system and realised why I never had it fitted on any of my other boats, now I know why everyone checks E/bay, It was only a quick check but I found prices from £1600 up to £2600 for the D4 and I pressume there's fitting to be added to that,, Regards Frank,,,,

Thanks Antares I'll look into that, be nice to have that bit of heat on before I get up, are the timers easy to fit? and roughly how much are they??? Just out of interest how much diesel do they use, my Mrs asked me and I told her about a pint a year Regards Frank,,,,

Tell you what Neil! when I win this week I'll buy you a boat hows that??? Regards Frank,,

Antares! I was going to ask if there's a way to fit a timer to this unit so it will come on before I get up, But I decided I'll set the Alarm for 5am so the wife can get up and switch it on so it's nice and toasty when I get up,,, Regards Frank,,,

As long as It works John i'll be happy, personaly I don't watch much TV so could do without one on the boat, but at least I'll get a couple of hours peace and quite while the wife watches her soaps so it has an upside,,, Regards Frank,,,

Neil! I guess I owe you one then but on the downside I think I got conned with Crackers, today I went through the boat with a fine toothed comb checking everything, and found a couple of major faults, you just can't trust these brokers, the windsheild wiper switch dosn't work and neither does the toilet flush switch, I just has to go out and spend £8.45 putting the boat right I've a good mind to phone the broker and give him a piece of my mind, as I checked them before I picked the boat up and they worked, on the upside I dipped the tank and it has a full tank of diesel, at this rate it's going to cost me at least £10 to put this boat right,, Regards Frank,,,,

Thanks Antares! Now I know I'll try it without the ignition switchted on, I did accidently turn it on and and the light came on but turned it of quickly because I didn't know if I would damage it, I'll also check to see if it has a permanent live feed, I have the Warranty Cert and it says boat installation so it was a Professional installtion and I must say it all looks a very neat job, I have all the paperwork for it but I think you might win that £50 as there is nothing about it being serviced, so it was probably switch it on, yes that works, service done,

I found the site before I saw it posted here and rang the guy this morning, after reading up I had it down to either the DM log periodic or the Log 40, The guy couldn't have been more helpful but some of the stuff was a bit too techy for me, I told him I was on the Norfolk Broads and would be on a boat, he asked me to hang on a second while he checked signals and other stuff for the Broads, he came back and said the best one for me now is the Log 40, something to do with the signals changing lately anyway I ordered one at £22 plus 10mtrs of cable and the extension pole kit, While talking to him I asked about the Onmi Directional Aerials after lots more techy stuff he said the best place for them is in the bin, After I told him I travel all over the Northern Broads and the wife can't do without her soaps he asked he If I could make a few notes and keep him updated on how the Log 40 performs, once I get out properly I'll do that and post here how it goes and hopefully post it here as well,, Regards Frank,,

Bill! I have to admit there was an element of luck involved, The first boat at 13k was a lot of money for a boat that needed at least £3k spending on it just to make it a tidy boat, the next two we just couldn't get hold of the owners and then I found out more info on the MkIII at 16k, I was told the guy refused to negotiate on price, the boat had been up for sale for at least two years and also it had taken on a lot of water at some point, someone here mentioned one at Potter for 12k so we went to look at that one and it also needed 3/4k spending on that, and as we were walking away we saw Crackers that came in on wednesday and hadn't been put on the books or Photo's taken, it was up for £14,950 and was a good buy at that price but Judi got it down to 14K, looking at the ones we saw I reckon I could re-sell it tomorrow for 16/17k it's a real beauty and needs very minor stuff doing to it, I think £50 would cover the lot, it has a pump out toilet, heating the works, and you could eat your lunch off the engine, as I mentioned before it was like it was meant to be,,,, Regards Frank,,,,

Ok! Question from Me, I picked up my new boat today and it has the Eber airtronic M-D4 heating fitted, it was fitted in 2007 and was serviced a few weeks ago, I fired it up and it works just fine and fires out hot air after a couple of minutes, it only has the on/off/fan switch, but here's the question, the guy at the brokers said I have to turn the ignition on before I switch it on then once it's going turn the ignition off, is that the case of can I just switch it on at the switch, Next question! the manual says it has a fuel shut off do I need to turn this off or can I leave it on? because I had a quick look and can't seem to find one, I pressume it would be somewhere for easy access but I have no idea where to look,, Regards Frank,,,

Ok folks I know this has been done to death but I've been away,, The Mrs wants a Tele on the boat, but now it's all gone digital what is the best Aerial to use, the one that came with the boat looks like a normal domestic one but it's broken, I pressume I now need a digital one but looking on Maplins they do ones for strong signal areas and low signal areas am I right in thinking the Broads are low signal and will a normal domestic digital aerial be ok, on other boats I tried those omni directional ones from the cheap ones to the do everything expensive ones I even had signal boosters as well but in all honesty the best picture I got was from one of those suckered ones that I borrowed from a guy on a hire boat, so any advice Perlease,,, Regards Frank,,,

Picked the boat up today and even though it's only been two days the boats looks even better than I remembered, the Mrs started cleaning it before we even left Potter and the inside has come up a treat, I didn't realise how dirty it was inside but the Mrs said it was minging and she knows dirt when she see's it so it's 2 nil the the Wife, I havn't laughed as much in a long time because all my other boat have had a central steering position, but this steering from the front was a whole new experiance, I now think that those so called drunks all going over the place arn't really drunk they just have a front steering position, because I came out of Woods yard like I had just had 15 pints, all I heard from the wife was where the hell are you going, I was watching the front and the back was doing it's own thing, well that was my excuse! plus I told her I was testing the steering to get used to it, by the time we hit St Bennets I just about had it going in a straight line, we stopped at Ludham and I actually managed to turn the boat around, get into the mooring space "well it was about 50 yards long" and moor up one my own first time, but here's a little tip for you all! if you ever ask your other half to throw you the rope, make sure she's not on her mobile phone, because her phone ended up on the bank and the rope ended up in the water, anyway got Crackers back to B/Edge and I even manage to reverse it into the mooring space first try, and as my usual rate is around 1 in 20 i'm not sure if it was beginers luck or I'm getting better, what made it so amazing was because I'm not use to the boat I asked the wife to watch the back of the boat as I reveresed in, Now you will see why the name Crackers fits the boat and my wife, most people will shout to you go left a bit or right a bit, stop, go forward, just generaly shout instruction at you! but no not my daft Bat of a wife, she stands on the rear step and points where she wants me to go, Yup I have x-ray eyes and can see through the back of the boat and around corners, then she has the nerve to say why are you swearing at me, so if todays little venture was anything to go by we are going to have plenty of fun on Crackers,,, Regards Frank,,,,

You may have something there Jill! But I went for this one because it dosn't need anything doing to it only minor stuff, I think I've actually spent more time re-building my boats than I have on the water, the first one took me 4 years but I'm getting faster Dragonfly took me two years and Whitestar only 18 months which wasn't bad as I completely gutted it, I really enjoy getting boats how I want them but now I just want to enjoy my time out on the water, I have a few small jobs on Crackers like make a new rear door and re-varnish the inside, but nothing that won't wait until the end of the season,,,, Barry! nice to hear from you, the kettles always on so if you see us about on Crackers drop in for a cuppa, I havn't spoken to Jock since we moved but it's about time he was back on the water. last time I spoke to him he said he was hoping to have his boat all done for this season but he said that for the last few years,,,, Regards Frank,,,,

Hi Bill! the MkII at Potter Needs all new Rubbing Strakes as they are Rotten and I mean beyond repair, probably not that expensive Job if you do it yourself but if your paying a yard Expensive, it needs a repaint, also my spy at Potter tells me it's even worse inside, I think he means a tart up to sell it, cosmeticaly looking good but don't touch it without a good survey, he says he knows the boat quite well, at nearly 12k I think it could work out an expensive boat for someone, The other one at Beccles, Karoliner Jane is owned by an older couple and been well looked after from what I was told, it's a nice tidy boat outside and from what I saw just the decks need a bit of tidying, I don't know the actual price but It's just going on with Boatshed and should be on their site next week, I was told the owner would take around 10k for a quick sale, I love my spy's, and found out the other MkIII at beccles might have been partialy flooded at some point as there are water marks up the wall 4 or 5inches, If I hadn't found Crackers I would probably have gone for Karolina, as for the name I'm keeping it, I'm not superstitious or anything like that but I don't change names unless it's a stupid one and I think the way I do things Crackers suits me well,,, Regards Frank,,,

Thanks Folks! Bill I'm a Northener the only time I ever venture South is for the end of year reggata, south side is too quite for me plus over the years I've found lots of hidey holes North side so I can be in the middle of it or hiding away in my own little spot. Jonny! I think we will be back at B/Edge we spoke to David the other day and he has space for us plus I know lots of people there,,, Antares! I think we had a meant to be moment, I don't know what made me look back and see Crackers sitting there, and the odd thing is I already scanned the place while we were looking at the Tatty MkII, the wife never misses a thing and even she didn't see it, it may seem an odd way of buying a boat but in some way the boats seems to pick me, this will be my 6th boat now and everyone has been lucky for me and I've even managed to sell everyone for a profit, so I hope i'm as lucky with this one and enjoy it as much as the others,,,, Regards Frank,,,

Thats it I'm Back! Went to Beccles to look at at Mk III, not a bad looking boat nice ans tidy just a good clean needed, But I found out why the boat has been on the market for over a year, we got talking to a guy that moors there and he said the owner won't budge on £16,5k price, he then told us that opposite him was a MII for sale and the guy was asking 10k for it again a tidy boat with just minor work needed so left a note for the owner to contact us, then off to Waveney to look at another MkII, the owner was asking £14.5 k But we got them down to £13k but after thinking about it decided it was no go as the boat needed a complete re-paint and by the time I had a pump out toilet fitted the re-paint and other work done it would have eneded up costing me over £16k for what would have been a pretty average boat, so that was it came home for a cuppa Hopeing to hear from the Beccles guy as he goes to the boat everyday, suddenly I remembered Waterside had a MkII in so off to Potter we go, One look at it and without even looking inside I said no, to say it was a heap of crap was an understatement, The rubbing strakes were rotten as was the rest of the outside, now totaly fed up we start back to the car when out the corner of my eye I see another Mk II, walking back to see it I said to the Wife thats going to be an expensive one, had a look on the outside nice and tidy nothing needs doing, off to the office to find out the price and get the key, , guy there said the boat only came in Wednesday and wasn't on their site yet but they were asking £14950 so off to look inside apart from a general clean it needs nothing and is ready to go for the Old girl it was instant love, for me it was up with the floors, in the cupboards, checking electrics and anything else I could get to, the engine was spotless, not a drop of water or dirt in the bilges, always a good sign for me as it means someone took care of the boat, I said to the wife I like the boat but no answer so I carry on prodding and probing, after half hour the only thing I found was a small bit of mould/fungus in the wardrobe, Wife appears again waving a bit of paper at me, while I'd been checking everything she had been in the office and actually bought the boat for £14k, I said you idiot I hadn't finished checking it what if it was no good, her answer "when you came out of the engine bay and bilges you were smiling, that was good enough for me", scarey that woman knows me too well, so now we are the new owners of Crackers a MkII Hampton Safari, picking it up and moving it Tuesday, I did a bit of checking and found out it used to be called Goya Girl and is ex Summercraft which was even better as I know they take real good care of all their boats even thought it's been a few years the boat looks as if it hasn't been used that much and been taken good care of, so be Warned everyone stay off the river Tuesday as I'm on the loose,,, Regards Frank,,,

Thanks folks! one of the boats I'm looking at is the one at Beccles, seems tidy boat and what I'm looking for, trouble is the owner is a nightmare to get hold of , he's in Folkstone and didn't leave any Keys, but it's handy to know it's been on the market for a year could get a good purchase price on that one, The other one is on the Hampton Site, nice boat but no heating and a Porta-loo, And as I moor up on my Own I'm not sure about just the rear entry unless it's sunny and I have the Top down, But I'm sure I could get around that, I like the Idea of the well at the front of the III so I can fish, but if the price is right and I like the boat who knows, I tend to worry when a boats been up for sale as long as the III because they usualy sell quickly, anyway watch this space I'll buy something,,, Regards Frank,,,

Hi Jill! Been a while now, hope your keeping well and life's going good for you, looks like I have a bit of catching up to do but i'll get there, Regards Frank,,