marshman

You should try the Thames Estuary for a change then - 3 or 4 miles offshore and all of a sudden she comes the a graceful stop - or rather an abrupt one as you nudge the sand!! West Country is fine- but who stole the sun?? Try Greece/Turkey!!!!!

It seems to me, with respect, that this is yet another way of diluting the response - how many more differing watch or rescue groups do we need? Is there any real evidence that it will actually add anything to what is already available - or is it just another example of well meaning individuals and associations looking for something to do? OK that may sound very harsh but we already so many organisations involved in watching, search and rescue, and assisting, I have lost count! Why not join up with another one - or do people need to be in control of their own "patch"? As far as I am concerned the system as it now is pretty good - so why try and fix it? P.S. Dubarrys? It can ruin my old trainers or Roys Crocs if it likes!!!!!

Just seen a Westerly Centaur with working engine for under £4k. Says it all about secondhand small sailing cruisers - sadly more available than buyers! That sets the price really! Having said that, any boat will be worth what anyone will pay, and if someone wants a small Scanner, then it really depends on how much you want the money! Probably difficult to gauge the price - I would definitely get the engine running though! Without it - anyones guess to be honest - then you might be being a tad unrealistic. But don't listen to me - I am no expert! Check this website - noted for being towards the bargain end of the market https://www.andyseedhouseboats.co.uk/index.php

Must have gone up market since I left then - always pronounced as it sounds back then!!! Loose as in rattles - must be more poncy these days if they have changed the pronunciation!!! Bit like Clay and Cley up here - my old granddad would turn in his grave if he only knew how they now pronounce that nowadays!!!

Ian - where do we stop? How about a day for special volunteers, like RNLI? Whilst it may seem a very special day for those who have recovered and indeed for the relatives of those who have died, it just goes too far. Do you include special thanks to those in the NHS who, for one reason or another, have not actually been at work as they are deemed "vulnerable"? Or the nurses who are just doing their job elsewhere in the hospital but not on the Covid wards? Or the admin staff not at risk who have been working from home? Please do not think I am criticising but there are lots who need thanks - given the fuss that councils have been making just over reopening the bogs, how about the workers who work day in, day out in the stuff as it flows under the streets? Not even seen a mention of those guys but do you really call the lads hiding in their portacabin at the recycling centre "key" workers? No - like many they are just doing a job - well they would be if they would get on and open those damn places- but no! Some are still shut even now. Sadly given the nature of the place in which we live and our expectations, there are many who are deserving as they work in places I would not, and indeed would not dream of! But at the end of the day, its a job and searching out the deserving, might be more difficult than you actually think!!

Went past Coltishall Common yesterday lunchtime and there must have been 50 plus families doing just that!! Now whether they we all in one family groupings or not, i don't know, but the ice cream man was doing a roaring trade!

1m distancing will I suspect come some time soon - here in the UK we are a little out of line I think, purely because the average UK citizen could not work out what 1.5m amounted to!! So for the sake of argument, it was upped to 2m to be on the safe side!!!

Quite interesting at Ferry in that some of the boats have yet to have their winter refurb - either they are behind, but more likely they may be left until the winter. They may also be considering splitting the fleet in two only letting every other week and letting the boats "rest" rather than giving them a deep clean when they come back - that would allow the varmints to die of their own accord!!!

Has anyone ventured since lockdown above Coltishall Common towards the lock? I realise water levels have dropped quite a bit, and not really too concerned about that, but was wondering about weed growth this year, having had a warm spring and almost no boat traffic?

Of course younger children are less knowledgeable than the old - well sometimes MM!! And to be honest they know far more about somethings than you are ever likely to know! All those old blokes who can answer questions on WW11 aircraft are of little value these days whilst how to operate a smart phone is pretty endemic amongst the the young!! Going back to the OP, it has more to do with how geography is taught these days - if at all! It has nothing to do with place names on a map that many of my generation excelled at - even A level exams in my day included that!!! But doing quizzes as I do, very very few people of even my advanced age, know much about where is such and such a place is, so don't be too surprised!!

Why has no one made a fuss before about who appears on all the webcams - hundreds and hundreds of people have appeared on them before and recognisable and I don't recall this fuss? You all appear daily on those put up around the country for "security " purposes in town centres, car parks, and around our streets and yet you don't bat an eyelid!! Time to get a grip folks and don't expect too much help from those good (!) GDPR people - last time I heard that Dept had a miniscule staff and bigger fish to fry!! Has any individual or operation such as we are discussing yet been prosecuted, or even warned, for breaching the provisions - it seems this was a barrack room lawyers and indeed lawyers paradise who continue to benefit from"guidance" packs and way way beyond normal people such as you and I! You had all better just enjoy the cameras for what they are before idiots start removing them for fear of prosecution when you would all have only yourselves to blame!!!!!

That'll probably include PW weight training to lift all those mudweights for his Drascombe!!!!

Those fold up steps on the transom are all well and good but I defy any of you persons over a certain age ( probably 20 ) to get your foot up onto the bottom one when you are in the water, and then haul yourself up, plus wet clothes, out of the water! My guess probably only PW who works out regularly from his shed in the bottom of his estate. They just don't get over the problem of getting out of the water to actually get on the steps!!!!!

All well and good Pete, but if you need 5 steps to get into a Drascombe, you would need at least 15 to get onto Denham Owl!!!!!!! Back to an aluminium ladder OR swim to the bank and stand up!!!

It is just another excuse , like the buses, to cut services!! Around where I live I have spotted just how easy it is to cut services to "meet demand" or lack of it! Although I live fairly close to Norwich, lets pretend there is no demand and then we can cut the bus services - we used to get one every half an hour, then one an hour and inevitably one every hour and a half! The piece de resistance however is to change the route entirely but don't tell anyone so no one knows where its going and indeed reverse the route so buses to Norwich now go the other way - I think!!! I can hear it now - its had to be cancelled because of lack of demand! I know lets spend that money on increasing attendance expenses and more cycle lanes in Norwich itself - your fault you voted Green! The councils just take the p** the whole time! Fortunately Broadland are a little better in that they have not cut the garden bin service but how stupid can you get? The garden bin service is just an obvious easy win in getting your recycling targets up but lets miss that, again, and spend what we have saved in upping expenses and pension contributions which all seem to passed on the nod!

Well well Councils taking their responsibility seriously at last - don't tell me they will be opening all recycling centres soon!!

Thought they might have been as much use as a wet blanket!!!! Usually see them on sailing boats but even there, next to useless. You can get longer ones but even if you weight the bottom step they are still not easy either to get on, or climb up!! As you get higher it will press against the hull and you then cannot get your foot in - that just adds to the problem.Some of the metal ones have little legs to keep it away from the hull but they tend to be just 3/4 steps totally useless for your boat! I am struggling to see a proper and usable option - how about a 10 foot aluminium ladder you can stick over into the mu?/ At least that might work!! However as was said earlier, probably the best thing is to swim for the bank and/or search for an exit point! People fail to appreciate once you are in, there is seldom the need for a franctic hurry other than aiming to get out safely without spending a long long time in the water. As long as the jacket inflates you are never far from a standing up point and then that enables you to assess the situation safely without losing your head - even with a fancy ladder there is no way I could climb up these days so THINK about options and don't panic!

By all means use a mudweight to keep the boat still whilst fishing, but always move it to the bow with the other one,before turning in to kip.

And if you can, moor heading into the tide as that will control the backend more easily! It won't then wander away!

Methinks I was out on a different river yesterday - I thought it was reasonably quiet!!! There was plenty of moorings around as far as I could see - plenty at How Hill (3 boats?) plenty of wild moorings up the Ant below Barton, plenty above Barton, no one through the Bridge at Wayford (except me! ) and on that basis I suspect room at Gays and Neatishead. Was the Staithe full?? You either want quality moorings or you want the Ba to ignore renewal? I don't think I often hear people moan about the quality of moorings - its usually availability thats the beef!!! And as I said, without Richardsons finest out, there was plenty of room to go elsewhere! I guess you could even have mudweighted - there were actually two others mudweightin if I recall so I am sure you could have squeezed in. Incidentally I heard that Broadsedge are locking the gates at 16.30 - nice of them to impose their own unreasonable rules - enough to encourage berth holders to go elsewhere!!

OK I agree but could do better given a bit of logical thought!!!!!

Either that or bank online!!!!!

Been quite a few folks wandering around NYA already! Not sure sale of old broads boats will be affected too much - remember the total number of new ones is very limited which is why as long as I can remember good Broads boats hold their price. Its the ones they have to scour the UK for and not built for the Broads that will not be needed - like the petrol engined ones that still creep in still!!!

oops sorry about that post - not sure why I have a lot of space!!!

Two 22kgs as prescribed! My suspicion is that that figure comes somehow from the H &SE and with volunteers we cannot exceed that figure. There is another tucked away in the forepeak and a "special" used when in we go "south"!! Even though I have been around rhond anchors for years, I hate them - give me a good old stainless steel pin any time - I have never pulled one out! And as for "cheesing" ropes, never on any of my boats! I use to sail Thames barges many years ago and they were banned there - ropes need to be available in an emergency and "cheesed" ropes invariably end up with a kink. Let go the topsail on a barge with a kink in the rope and you will cause untold damage - same applies IMHO on any boat. Plenty of ways to safely coil a rope without making it look poncy! ( Sorry Griff! )