marshman

The only carpets justifiable on a boat are Floatex carpets - which can be washed and incredibly hard wearing Mr Buttifant has two sets each for his yachts - one on one off and so replaced fresh weekly. But its £30 a sq metre!!!

Personally I don't think you will ever wear the wellies at all!!! If you have to wear them in the boat, then forget comfort and try and find where its coming in!! I used to use a pair when sailing so if you got caught out in a shower you could stick your wet weather trousers over the top but your not doing that! All you will need is the windscreen wiper switch! Its May so unlikely to be that cold and most moorings are dryish even if its wet weather!! Try an old pair of trainers or even sandals that will dry!!! Or if you must wear wellies try a £10 gardening pair from everywhere!

JM is of course quite right! They would soon have shifted over a bit if they had seen a boat or two coming the other way!

'Fraid I cannot answer that on their behalf - although I suspect if one doesn't want to do it, the others behind may well take a similar view.

I am sure all those boats wanting to could easily have got through and did not need to wait for the Navy to clear through!

Its not one way is it? 54' width enough for a boat each way and a couple of cyclists as well! They come round the bend and see people fighting for a place on the bank and think they would like to join them - shame there was not a privateer with enough gumption to just go on through, and like sheep they would then just follow and avoided the need for a silly picture!

Its been in the fleet a long long time and might be looking a bit tired which may be why its not gone sooner?

If you have any size hole, it won't be enough!!! But what it might do is cope with the normal flow into a bilge, such as a dripping gland ( yep we all have those - its an age thing!!! ) and also if you have a well at the back, that almost certainly will cope with that draining into the bilge!!! To be honest I would expect even a modest bilge pump to be rated at more than that but having checked Brian Ward, thats about par for the course. On balance I might opt for a bigger one - dont forget its your pride and joy! Shame to spoil it for a happorth of tar or whatever the expression is!

Hunters day boats are in fact out and in the dyke! But its is the skippered sails I guess that are not available - not the boats! If you want a sail in one and wander into the office with your card and ask Vicki nicely, who knows! I suspect its all about the cleaning regime on its return, but the dyke looks to be full of its fleet and if the dinghies are not available its probably that as they are pretty busy, they have not got around to establishing and organising a workable routine!!!

Andy - whilst I have many times in the past admired your contribution to the Forum and indeed the help you have given people, you do depress me a bit these days! You seem to look for the very worst in almost every situation and I cannot help feel that the this whole pandemic issue has got to you, perhaps more than others and unquestionably with some justification. This pandemic was none of our doing but even you must see we have to look forward and not try and see negatives constantly? I don't actually believe we won't pull through this, as we have to, - some like yourselves will no doubt have more difficulty than others but surely there must be a plus side and some reasons for being optimistic? You are after all still a yard proprietor and surely almost everything Maurice has said is right? I really find it hard to believe that you have not come across kids or adults, like this - or more to the point, worse? I suspect if this video had not emerged, and the boat returned in the normal course of events, no one would have been any the wiser - you listed all the faults and dangers, but in fact the net result was nothing happened that had an adverse impact on the boat as far as I am aware? Or am I wrong?

Of course you can drag - but only in exceptional circumstances! My only real advice is go up the the windward side of the Broad to get some shelter if necessary, but don't be tempted to leave the aft mudweight down overnight ( if you have one and you are using it to keep the boat steady whilst fishing) - just move it to the front and then you will have two down - unlikely to shift with two down I promise you!!!

As has been suggested by the last 3 posters, what a load of 'ol squit about bu**er all!!!!! I suspect all of those self righteous posters expressing indignation, have all taken part in similar activities in their late teens/early twenties which they pretend to have forgotten about. ( We, of course, will now get posts saying that they never indulged in such behaviour - yeah right!! )

I suspect it would depend - whilst not condoning it at all, no one was injured nor much damage doe, other than to peoples righteous indignation!

The costs must already exceed the value - sounds to me a bit like carrying coals to Newcastle!!! ( Yes I know there are no pits left open...!! )

To be honest, spending the money on a prosecution is no way to proceed either! The costs of even bringing a speeding prosecution have been mentioned previously and I seem to recall it well in excess of £1000 - all for what? Any guess what the fine might be? Possibly not even a fine but a community order - is that the best way to spend toll money? In principle I tend to agree but it would do nothing to dissuade others so in reality why bother with that cost when all you would get is at best, a slap.

I can see none of you have checked your Hamiltons - suggested in there which I have no reason to doubt, that it has a shingly bottom following an attempt to block it off many years ago. As I mentioned in my earlier post just to the north of the Broad where the channel enters the Inner Broad are some big holes in the ground known as The Pits, according to my old boy, and the land rises quite sharply there - well around 15' or so ( it is Norfolk! ) I shall have a nosey one day as it occurs to me that is where the shingle could have come from - would explain a lot!!

Well you picked well !!!! The Opal 28 or its many different variations is probably the MOST desirable boat on the Broads and it holds its value very well, indeed actually appreciating which is why when they do come on the market, they are expensive and don't hang around! I would not go into the market at the moment - NYA have sold so many boats that they have very little left and are resorting to putting even some of the older boats on their main sales pontoon. Don't be sucked in to paying premium prices and wait a bit until things have quietened down a bit - its not just the cost at the moment but lack of choice!l Don't necessarily be put off by what you have appeared to have already have discounted! For example whilst it would not be my first choice, I think I could even put up with an aft cockpit cruiser - of these the Freeman 27 are old but they have an excellent reputation. So if I were you, I would not be hurried but look at all boats in or around your budget; you might be surprised what boats you may have already discounted, have to offer!!! There is a compromise everywhere and in every boat! P.S. the Alpha looks ok but so it should - at double your budget!!!

Thats an interesting map of S Walsham Broad! I was always led to understand that it was the bit between the Broads which was known as The Weirs, not the whole of the Outer Broad. In fact it is the only place, Google Maps, that does call it The Weirs and personally, I think that info is probably wrong! Anyone know how it got its name? I knew an old boy in the village who used to swim in an area immediately to the north but inland a bit of the Inner Broad, which he said was known as The Pits. He said when he was a lad it attracted a large following swimming there, primarily because some of the girls used to take off all their clothes!!! Either that or he more likely imagined it!!

Going back to water, I have always drunk the water straight out of my tank without any issues! Don't forget that water in the tank gets replenished frequently, especially on hire boats, and with that in mind, would be quite happy! I am not sure if the filter taps make a lot of difference - if you are really concerned just boil the water first but I am still alive and kicking!!

Yep - you are right!

These moorings have always been problematical, due to disputed ownership.Somehow the EA have it in their head that they now own it and I suspect the BA are in an argument as to who they should lease them!!! The demasting moorings keep moving from one bit to another, indicating the issues that may lie below the surface, so to speak! So there are indeed moorings still available north of the Bridge, but they were shortened about 3/4 years, or more, ago. As well as those above the Bridge, there are still moorings below the bridge - but you have to pay for those I am afraid.

Looks like a garden shed on an industrial site to me - "boat" it is not!!!!

Well Vaughan, this link will bring back a few memories I suspect https://www.javelinuk.org/paul-wright.html Sailed a few Silver Streaks in my formative years off that slip!! https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x47d9fbc2790c6d11%3A0x1760f7af3e43f4d6!3m1!7e115!4shttps%3A%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMfi4UJUIkcw6979mfI5xKQ7tj1riELVgtcs-F7%3Dw219-h160-k-no!5sbuckenham ferry sailing club - Google Search!15sCgIgAQ&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipMfi4UJUIkcw6979mfI5xKQ7tj1riELVgtcs-F7&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjBxq3L8abqAhWJFMAKHR_6AJcQoiowDXoECBIQBg

Didn't spot the cottage! Perhaps they got fed up with redoing the sedge cap but then, how did they join the two? You couldn't just abut them or the join would leak? One picture, two puzzles!!

Look at that picture again and I am sure there is something I have not seen before. In the garden of the adjacent cottage are these strange stacks with poles in them - are these just drying stacks? it looks like 3/4 upright poles with the hay stacked up to dry it? It would seem to be the case but not sure I have seen a photo of such a thing?