ExUserGone

Have to admit to hiring from a yard once and having very little clue as to how to helm a boat and far too much knowledge of the 'tutors' sex life and marriage problems as we left, a yard that has had a glowing refference in this very thread but it was 12 years ago and was much smaller then, the guvnor of the boatyard at ludham (womack water one) was great as we asked for some help getting into a mooring as it was between two private boats and he gave us a lesson and explained it so well it actually made sense, no more crashing, he just wanted a look around the boat realy but so helpful. The whole experience was so horrible we bought a boat a week later and been poor ever since...

As far as I'm aware theres nothing to say you can't fill up at the low duty rate and send a declaration letter and cheque direct at the end of the year when you know the percentage you have used for propulsion, after all you can fill out one declaration for the whole year if you use the same supplier each time and the supplier is only required to submit funds/declarations annually, the 60% is only a guideline for guess work, if you genuinely use more than 40% for domestic you can declare any percentage you want, I know live-aboards that declare 0% propulsion as they never move anywhere other than the nearest pumpout facility (which is still domestic use). Keep a log book of miles travelled and fuel used for heat/light/water and your covered. I've had red delivered to the house in large quantities and as soon as you say marine to the driver they don't care. It may be worth a call to your local oil supplier to see how they stand on IBC tanks, I think up to 2500 litres doesn't have to be bunded, my 1000 litre heating oil tank isn't bunded and thats never had an issue with deliveries, a bit of common sense on positioning near water courses and drains wouldn't go amiss though.

Sorry to hear of your bad experience, So how did it come to sink? It's actually incredibly rare for a boat to sink if even only vaguely maintained, don't give up on boating entirely as it's generally very stress free, different yards will give different levels of service obviously.

Don't believe all on that listing, it has mine down as wrong make and a wooden cabin, it appears to be just someones guesswork from a passing photo, RLM & Project are quite easy to tell apart.

If you have vhf breydon bridge can be contacted on ch12 for headroom of both breydon and haven bridges and conditions, check the channel is clear first though as it's also the ports working channel.

No need to shout! I assume 3 dongles get a reasonable signal around the broads too(I hope), can anyone confirm? @ Antares_9 reading your signature line I don't suppose you have the nmea standard sentences for engine monitoring devices do you? I have a little project in mind to display my engine temps on my chart plotter without buying expensive gear, I recon a pic could do it with a little sneaky coding for a very reasonable price, it's only ascii serial output after all, my plotter takes nmea2000 & nmea 0183 input. I don't fancy paying nmea.org's prices for a sub £20 project on a 40 year old boat.....

Doh! Don't answer that question, swmbo has found them within minutes of the question being asked, after weeks of looking and wondering.

Do the BA issue reg. number stickers with the toll plaques every year or just on first registration? I have some somewhere but beggered if I can find them...

I just recieved a renewal from the BA, £255 for a 31' boat, not bad considering the EA want just under £400 for great ouse and nene and an extra 10% if I want to navigate the extra 5 miles into cambridge, robbing ba5tards!! Only benefit is a 14 day visitor licence for the thames for free. As long as I get a mooring sorted I'll be round there in may and the EA can whistle for their money.

Thought I should just say a quick hi, registered on the other broads forum but just been pointed to this one, boat name is Leo Magill (as you have probably guessed by the username)and is a mid 70's RLM 31, it's an old tub but does fine for a bit of slow coastal cruising, usually based on the Gt.Ouse in Cambs. but like the occaisional foray to other waters when the chance arrises, hopefully the broads this season.

Thanks for all the input guys, plenty to think about.

Hi All I'm looking for somewhere to moor my boat during the coming summer season on the southern broads, the boat is an RLM 31 with 8' of airdraft so not behind low bridges, I'm normally based on the great ouse in Cambs. but fancy a season on the broads but returning back to gt.ouse for winter, any good places recommended? Dave.