LondonRascal

I have so much footage to share of the big out of the water works, but not being home with my big editing computer I just have not been able to edit and upload this yet. However, here is something I did tonight - sorting the rusty bottom of my fridge out.

These days there are far more miles covered and time spent on faster duel carriages, and also fast country roads than ever before - both in the learning phase and in the driving test. You also need to navigate with Sat Nav and not let it dictate to you - just guide you. You will then also have to follow some signs. I have not updated this thread but in the last two days more progress has been made, and today marked the first of the independent driving. This is where I am told where to go, but otherwise no other input is given until later. This moves up to actual 'mock' tests. These are not true mocks as there is no actual paper the Instructor is using to mark the pupil, but the conditions are the same and the punishment at the end is hearing if you would have failed (or good new passed). Today I would have failed. The first reason was I was on a quiet residential road, clearly marked as a 20 MPH zone. I then came to a larger, wider road and needed to turn left. I stopped at the give way line when a lady coming down the road flashed me - now you are taught to never believe that being flashed means go, so I did not - but she then proceeded to flash me again and 'wave' me out. Clearly this was intended for me so I pulled out, and once I had drove on the new road. The issue was I sped up to 24 MPH thinking it was a 30 MPH zone, but was actually still a 20 MPH area until just around another corner where it changed to 30 MPH. In a test I would have failed for speeding. The second failure was where we were driving along a 40 MPH open road, no traffic was coming up behind or in front and things were going smoothly, all of a sudden I spot a Squirrel running out from the right hand side of the road, quick glance in rear view mirror and a hard brake (not an emergency, just firm) and went from about 38 MPH to 27 MPH and did not hit the Squirrel. I was then told in a real test if that was to happen, regardless of animal, I should never avoid it as this could cause a car following me to brake sharply loose control or plain old hit us up the back, Only take emergency action if it is a person in the road. I would be seriously miffed if I failed my test because I did not run over an animal but would pass if I had. Hey ho, luck of the draw. Other than that its all being going really well. I feel confident even at 70MPH on the duel carriageway and overtaking. Parking is easy, but roundabouts - for some reason I need to think every time if I am going 'straight on' or 'second exit' to steer enough to the left and then to the right so I keep right over and hug the left hand of them, so long as it causes nobody else issue it would only be a minor, but could be a serious (and automatic fail) if it did cause someone else to move over etc. I have more practice on Monday and Tuesday, real mock test Wednesday. Once that is done, Thursday and Friday is London, Saturday and Sunday with my Mum and Simon, and will get some driving in there to keep a bit refreshed. Tuesday then is a 2 hour standard lesson with my Instructor and the next day Wednesday 3rd October is the actual test. I am not nervous yet, but I just feel I have been doing so well and putting so many long days into this I have come too far to fail now.

I like Brundall, because it is quirky. Everything about it could be that bit better but it is not and I like that. The village could have more choice not two Co-Op's, yet it has a handy Hardware store which are very rare these days. It has a Chippy, that like Reedham and Stalham is never usually open when you are about. Moving down to the river it reminds me of a 'posh' Potter Heigham, and I see the old yards who once hired boats, still alive with their small moorings now filled with private owners craft. I never hired from here, never even ventured south as a kid when on the Broads, so now seeing just how crammed in all those small yards were any small decline in numbers would have a rolling effect since everyone was letting the same type of boats at the same sort of price so those that retired did so, and those who moved over to a quieter life of moorings and some private marine engineering took that route. These days it caters for just about anyone. From the holiday maker in a riverside chalet, to the small boat owner right up to large sea boats moored in great lines looking splendid up top and with masses of growth at the waterline showing how rare their movements may be. Because of the diversity here it has a real community to it, be it summer or winter the Yare on a weekend is busy. You see the same faces on the trains, the same people around the yards and it all becomes a very nice place to spend time. The only issue is how hard it is for the passing boater to actually stop by and be part of this quirky corner of Broadland. It would make the perfect place to moor, head into Norwich on the Train and return to the boat in the evening, but alas it is not easy with limited visitor moorings. Great images though Dave.

Well I have no idea what has been going on here (or Facebook) with regard to me posting updates on learning to drive since I have been behaving myself and not checking my phone while at the wheel - seem something happened but moving on, what of today's progress? Things began well, if a little wet which was good because it gave me some experience of driving in the rain, how water droplets effect visibility on mirrors and even small things like the wipers which change things slightly compared to a dry day. I also was reminded to be cautious about stopping distances being increased and due to the wet roads the emergency stop part of the plan was postponed. Each time I venture out things have become more refined, from the get go I have been a very smooth driver with no sudden jerks, either when pulling up or moving off but now I am steering very smoothing, sure footed and making more confident move - judging speeds, distances and so on so no longer am I the slow learner dithering. I am not sure if these sort of courses are for everyone though, because there is so many hours of driving with only a single short break, but what it does mean is day after day everything is fresh in the mind a few days or a week has not passed between lessons and so the learning curve, while steep is rewarding for you can see real progress daily. We visited a different car park today, and I did a front bay and reverse bay park - the front bay went badly, because I ended up in the bay but not straight - that is allowed so long as your wheels are within the lines, but I was not very pleased, the reversing went better and so out of the different options the Examiner can ask you to do (only one) I think this would be my preferred maneuver. After this it was back out on the roads, varied from quiet residential to large main roads, small mini-roundabouts to larger more complex ones but then the 'issue' happened...You see, I had been asked to pull over to the left, and this I had done. I was then asked to perform a parallel parking maneuver when safe which I then completed too. It was after this I was asked to carry on when safe and did the usual checks and noticed a car approaching from behind. I did not move and waited, the car slowed and stopped. I then put my right indicator on, pulled out and drove off along the street. A short time later I was asked to pull over and was then told how I should not have indicated. This is a hot topic of ADI Forum's - when to indicate and when not to. Many argue it is far more important to have done a mirror and blind spot check and indicate even if you are in the middle of the Outer Hebrides with nobody and no cars around for miles than to either not indicate, or indicate and not have done a proper observation check. I was told that one must only indicate where it benefits others, even a pedestrian so the fact there was a car behind me, albeit stopped, I felt sure my use of the indicator would be of a benefit to them. I was told that I should not use an indicator if I am not in motion and about to pull out from a parking spot where there is nobody approaching from in front, but there is someone approaching form behind - such as the above case in point. However, what if you are waiting to pull out, say from a lay-by or in a long line of parked cars with traffic passing? Do you just wait endlessly until everyone has passed and then pull out without indication? She then said that if indicated and a car slowed down or expected me to pull out and stopped then that could be a case where I had caused another driver to take action they would not usually have, and put them or me or both in danger. I think this is going to be one of those things that you can debate a great deal, and is not going to be a winner in, for the sake of good order and keeping in with my Instructor any time I am asked to pull over to the left hand side of the road I will wait until nothing is coming up behind for I am sure if I do anything else I am bound to be reminded of today. The rule does not apply if something is approaching you though, then you need to indicate. Still if I do end up with the BMW then they don't come with working indicators anyway from the factory so it is not an issue

Driving Lesson Update https://youtu.be/QOLt3XavOVk

Well, another day and all went well. Confidence is growing and I am now ‘a day ahead’ to most pupils since we covered parallel parking, forward and reverse bay parking and the new ‘pull over to the right hand side of the road and reverse back two car lengths’. I found reverse bay parking far easier when I do this to the left as the bay line comes into view sooner in nearside mirror. It’s also handy to have an auto dipping mirror as you go into reverse and of course front and rear parking aids along with an auto hold handbrake - it leaves very little to worry about other than observing and manouvering. Did the above front and reverse parking six times and then moved on to parallel parking. Nailed that first time and four times after but was told I could be up to 3 feet from kerb and two car lengths away from the car in front to pass so my wish to do it perfectly every time could wait until after I passed. The concept clearly is you doing everything that is required and not much above, much like modern day GCSE’s - of its not in the curriculum it ain’t taught. Was a long day from 1pm to 6pm with a 15 minute break. I did not feel tired though and was pleased how much we did and the wind and falling debris added to the real life nature of things. We did small and large roundabouts, but I must watch myself as I am sometimes cutting the keeping to the left and straightening them out. I sill hate the square bottom steering wheel when doing lock to lock turns, it just feels so clumsy!

Today was the start of 35 hours of intensive tuition, in an and around Norwich. I am pleased to say it has gone really well, far far better than ever it was in London. I have a really nice car to drive, a brand new Audi A3 S-Line which you only need to look at the accelerator pedal and it is off - this actually is good because it keeps me alert to speed and judging it far more than the diesel Fiesta I had been using a year ago when in London. The only issue with the car is the steering wheel is not round, it has a straight bottom and this feels really odd when you are doing low speed turns but it is 'cool looking'. Faye is my Instructor, born and bread Norfolk and really laid back and chatty. She has a good lesson plan and everything is talked through prior to doing it, then we have a talk how it went and then repeat over until it is perfect. I have done very well compared to most having got in my first day up to dealing with the NDR round abouts at Postwick and my only issues have been on a slow speed left turn putting a bit too much steering input in and then having to correct this as I came out the turn, signalling with my indicator on mini-roundabouts and not checking my mirror on the exit of one of the roundabouts - things I am sure will come with practice as the week goes on. Long day tomorrow as will be driving for over 6 hours and 'finish' at almost 7pm but that is good because I can get some rush hour traffic under my belt. Drivers in Norwich are so different to those in north London, they generally signal, do as they are meant and seem to see speed limits and traffic lights as things to obey unlike in Tottenham where their appear voluntary. Tomorrow will begin with maneuvers, but since my last lessons the reverse around a corner and 'three point turn' are not longer part of the driving test so these will be missed off - a shame I think as both are pretty essential for driving. Bay parking both reverse and front in will be interesting but I am eager to get back behind the wheel. I think I've got this.

I've not had a boat surveyed myself, because I have read many from other boats and indeed previous ones from the boats I have bought. They run to several pages but end up with one important page - the one where they evaluate what is wrong on a scale of it needing to be put right as soon as possible to it can be done at the next opportunity the boat is out and being looked at. In my opinion you are more likely to run into issue with a river boat that has been through several owners because there is more chance they will have been tinkerers. There are some very knowledgable boat owners out there but equally there are some who are not and so while it might not seem obvious to you, to a trained eye obvious issues with electrics for example or plumbing will come to light and from past experiences with Survey's and reading Blogs on the subject it is these type of things that crop up more often than not. Gas bottles, lines and valves, or battery connections, security and wiring. Of course the main reason of having a Survey on a boat is structural, and that is why the boat needs coming out the water - has it got Osmosis and if so how bad? What are the moisture readings in the GRP lay up? Are there any obvious issues with the rudder, prop and shaft - play in cutlass bearings, rudder bearings and the like and from there inside to sea cocks, hoses and so on. I doubt any boat will have a 'clean survey' there is always going to be some issues raised, it is up the person buying if these are too costly to put right or if the seller won't lower the price because of them and then there is the value of the boat. Spending £5k on a £15,000 boat is a lot but spend the same of a £250,000 boat and it is seem as small fry. Much of it comes down to personal opinion on what is or is not worth putting right or spending out on only the essential items. It is why I am wary when I see terms like 'maintained to a high standard regardless of cost' and then see things like the engine fuel and oil filters are after market parts and not genuine manufacture parts. Sea Trials are not often included in a survey - and it is no good going along a river at 1,200RPM because if a diesel engine is going to work it will and if it has a big problem it won't. But how does the gear box sound? Does it slip between forward and astern, is there any oil in the engine tray, or around gear box - if so where has it come from? Does the engine maintain normal operating temperature under load and high RPM's? There are guys who will do a full river trial and have a multi-point check list to work through and can then issue you with a full report and part of this will include compression testing. Since you said "if I have my boat surveyed" I presume you are talking of one you own and not are interested in buying, so I wonder what a help a Survey would bring now other than if your Insurer has asked for one to be carried out.

It was there all the time, the official publicity shot (okay some Photo Shopping has been done) but we all missed it..The single blue fender to honour me.

Just back to the moorings. Thanks for the photos Colin and offer to see us at the pub too. I was keen to get back to the moorings as will be heading home sometime tomorrow. Great photos by the way! What I really want to do is thank the Forum for your help. Special thanks to Peter, Steve, Paul and Nigel for crewing and helping with fenders and so on. I have learnt a lot about Indy over the past few days and it is nice to have given her a new lease of life and really make her stand out. Charlie has as ever been the great advisor, helping hand and general all round great friend who kept us on track and motivated to get all we did done in the time we did. Loweatoft Haven Marina were great to deal with and have some lovely facilities for DIY boaters and a friendly bunch of people too. They are good value as well. There will be a video of the lift out the work we did before and after in due course too! Due to an issue at Reedham we actually had a train wait for us while we slipped through the bridge.

Do people really consider how a boat looks externally when booking..Or do they go for the fact it is new and has taken away as many compromises of boating verses short base accommodation? I think any new boat will be popular - just as the new phone, TV, Car, Kitchen etc etc are. I say this because you now have a massive social media prescence on the Broads and to many part of thei holiday is posting photos and updates at least daily, often several times a day. Being on the latest boat is clearly something extra to shout about. They are not ‘pretty’ they don’t have flowing and smooth lines but they have a bathroom that would not look out of place from a new build appartment, island king size bed, huge galley with everything including a ‘Pod’ coffee machine. Clearly plenty of Broads boaters will be willing to pay top dollar for this sort of boat.

Indy is going back in the water tomorrow at 08:15. We have a lock booking for 14:00 at Mutford to go into the Broads. If if you want to come along to Lowestoft Haven Marina let me know, we will be on a mooring there waiting until our lock booking and could do with a couple of handy peeps to help with fenders when we go through. You will if you wish, then join us on a cruise back to Brundall. There is a regular train service back to Oulton Broad North the closest station to the Marina if you arrive by car. Cheers ?

Did not bother. It was not too bad in my opinion and Jason has advised on if need to be done it would be a big job and outside out window of time. If they need replacing that won’t be a Norfolk job and at 30” won’t be cheap either.

She is now finished (exterior wise) as painting goes and will be launched tomorrow at 08:15 all being well with a lock through to Oulton Broad for 14:15. Here are some of the photos:

I have fond memories of the old Alphacraft and the small touches that made them so unique to other designs or even hire fleets. The stylised Union Jack on the rear, the quest to make a hire boat as comfortable as possible and ‘home like’. This might have gone a bit far when leaded light effect windows and wrought iron found their way into boats but they were innovative and of course the overall designs were the base of many other yards flagship boats of the day. As to Baracuda this was a special boat and I have recently been able to have a look at it. It is a shame when someone who did so much for the Broads and who’s skill and ideas helped indirectly many to enjoy holidays and go on to buy their own boats. It’s sad that despite all this the name Alphacraft is not still churning out boats. I do wonder what the next idea would be for an updated flybrisge ans centre cockpit from the Alphacraft stable may have looked like.

There are a number of things about Independence that make her very easy to handle given her size and weight but conversely a number of other things that make it a challenge for just two people. Take her ropes - just about managable by one person when dry, get them wet and it really becomes a work out to handle them. Even her fenders are the largest of the Polyform range and weigh several kilograms each and these all need stowing. It means somebody has a lot of rushing about to do when leaving a mooring and a lot to do when arriving at one and it is far easier if there is a minimum of three. Me on Helm and two dealing with fenders and ropes independence also has some big blind spots from either the lower or upper helm so guidance vocally from deck crew helps with safety too Having a bunch of helpers makes all the difference. I agree she is big for the Broads but makes very little movements on the rivers. I knew this when I bought her there would be such issues and am happy with this because she is a very capable passage maker. For cruising easily on the rivers I head over to Broad Ambition or Trixie at Stalham. I was keen for a short run down the coast but when I was told about a recent hold up with he bridges at Yarmouth and a deadline to reach the Marina for them to lift Independence I could not afford any delays we therefore felt the best option was a lock booking at Mutford so that became the he first option. I hope of course that goes smoothly as well and Reedham and Somerleyton swing bridges work smoothly too!

How to use a Rhond Anchor - Charlie shows how to set and remove one: https://youtu.be/L4mnZVzUEqU

Thanks for the above Charlie, will see you later tonight but to confirm that the first option that means you get a full days working on BA and we join Indy Thursday PM for an 08:00 departure from Brundall on Friday morning. I've been in touch with Nigel via Messenger - Steve will PM you.

That is correct but I don't like leaving the mooring at low water if I can help it as she is almost on the bottom here and also the St. Olaves end of the new cut is very shallow too. So I am aiming to head up there on a rising tide. I think on Friday around 11am ish is high water at Oulton Broad when I spoke to the chaps at the Yacht Station.

LEDs do die and some more quickly than others, and it is often not the actual chip that contains the LED but the dirver circuit and one of the major issues with LEDs is heat. They produce a lot locally, that is to say they do get pretty warm/hot. You will also find LEDs are 'driven hard' to produce more lumen's or they will not have much in the way of heat dissipation. This is why where possible I try to steer clear of light fittings that have a fixed LED in them where if it fails, the entire fitting has to be changed. Getting legacy light fittings which accept standard bulbs means you can put in LED replacement bulbs. Now the ones on BA are G4 spot lamp style and have been merrily going along for a couple of years now with no problems. On Independence I got some same, but brighter ones - these worked well - until recently three have gone 'funny' where the top half has stopped and the bottom continues to work this I am sure is because of heat issues where the same size LED is being pushed harder to make more light so I am going to get the same ones as on BA which have a proven record and use 4w each - but produce a light output the same as a 35w Halogen bulb.

It is time for Independence to come out the water and have her bottom scrubbed and a good look at things below the waterline. It has been anxious few weeks of trying to arrange everything but it is all booked in from Friday 7th September in Lowestoft. Originally we had planned to sail her out of Yarmouth along the coast and in at Lowestoft, but I heard on the grapevine that three boats returning from Holland were once again delayed at Yarmouth due to bridge issues. We really can't have delays as every bit of time counts as we are doing a lot of the things ourselves but also have a chap coming to finish off the superstructure polishing and do the entire hull while she is out the water. I have therefore decided go the inland route and have booked Mutford Lock for 11:30am on 7th September. This is going to be a bit of a squeeze getting into and currently it will only be myself and Griff onboard so he will be doing all the lines and fenders while I am at the helm. It would be great to have an extra hand or three. If anyone wishes to come along for the ride and lend a hand then please let me know below and I will get in touch with final arrangements as to times, but we will likely depart Brundall on the Thursday and end up somewhere half way for an early AM start on Friday morning. If you don't mind sharing bad jokes with Griff and can hold a fender and grab a rope your help will be gratefully appreciated.

Video shot on my phone of us getting back..

Wish my Toll was only in the £600.00 range, mines up there where it costs less to have a fine for not having a Toll. Back on topic, there are lots of these boats out there in private hands - and they are all still floating.. If I was you I would not be thinking too deeply about much in the same way as if this was a large costly sea boat, this is a river based ex-hire boat. It will have had an enormous amount of use over all those years, and even 37ft Bounty's will suffer with stern damage where hirers hit this area when mooring or departing, with a 44ft this will be likely more so and it is therefore important to look at what has been patched here. I know Freedom Boating Holidays have one on hire, but to get it in the condition she is in now took a lot of hard work and as works got underway more was found to do. So go in eyes wide open basically. It will take a lot of time and cost to do something simple like re-paint the hull and superstructure, lift the flooring and you may find rotting bearers under there, spongy GRP in the forward well could be an issue too. But how 'perfect' do you want it? It is perfectly okay at the moment and surely will be for many years to come so you know it is mechanically okay and on hire still - just have a very close look and dare I say, Survey done before you fork out your hard earned.

Today Shiela and I went on a bit of an 'expedition' having spoken here in the recent past about getting to Surlingham Staithe I thought we would give it a go. I had looked up various aerial photos and had a good idea of the direction we should be headed in along with the hope it would be possible. We launched Picca (the RIB) just freshly Tolled and headed off to Bargate. Initially things had not got off to the best of starts as I now have gremlins with the RIBs electrics, earlier the RPM gauge worked with the hour meter, but the speed and fuel did not. This caused us to head to Brooms for Petrol only to find there was actually plenty of fuel in the tank and it was a gauge not reading right. Now out on the river I had a fuel gauge working and speed but no RPM. Be that as it may we arrived at Bargate and headed into what I dubbed 'The Surlingham Complex'. This is a very winding series of inlets and it was pretty good going, nice and wide and we were at the top of High Water so had bags of depth. We took a quick detour into Kings Fleet, nice and spacious but lots of thick weed around and Lily Pads. Amazingly once we had turned a chap in his own centre console boat arrived. I then found I a very stiff gear linkage and no easy way to engage astern (in the Williams RIB there is no neutral you always have drive while ever the engine is running). He of course had no idea of this and we went right as he went left and fortunately he had a good old fashion outboard so could easily go stop. Slight issue out the way it was back the way we had come, this time doing a right - through a very narrow section with the Reeds touching both sides of the RIB but soon opened back out into a good sized dyke. We continued and it soon became apparent at the various turns and twists that on the ground and in the air are vastly different. Really needed GPS and Google Maps to keep us on track. We then came to the junction (if you wish to call it that) where ahead would be Surlingham Broad - no chance. To the left the main dyke continued but it was getting more and more touch and go as we went and soon we were having to push the Reeds to the sides as they came in and overhung the RIB. I called it a day for ahead I could see it got even more narrow. I then managed to get astern and we crept back, and seconds later lots of white smoke... I killed the engine, she was overheating and no warning lights or buzzer had gone off (another issue no doubt) but I knew what the issue was, a clogged jet intake which serves to both cool the engine and provide thrust. Here we were in a dyke no wider than our RIB and unable to turn, we tried to use our Oar and go out back the way we came but made no progress as the Reeds simply acted to hold us where we were. I was calm and thankfully Shiela was too, we decided to spin the RIB around using the Reeds to grab hold of, and with me tugging at the ones astern of us and Shiela doing the same at the bow we got the RIB facing the way we had come and then we took turns 'rowing'. Once we were out of the really narrow section things became easier. I then decided to get out the RIB on the tiny 'swim platform' and then managed to get my arm under the transom to the intake and started to pull all sorts out. Whole Reed stalks, various other water weeds and we then tried the engine again - she fired and we had drive but an unhappy impeller, engine off I was confident that we could call upon this once we reached Bargate but for now we would take turns using out Oar. I have to say it was actually beautiful to be there in silence, a place untouched with crystal clear water and yet we could hear a lot of traffic noise and the sound from the railway too - that surprised us. We also had the ebbing tide which was beginning to run and goodness what a surprise, it really does rush out the small inlets and we were being taken along at about 3MPH making the rowing work much easier. We got back to Bargate Broad and I got us under power and back to Independence. Here we lifted the RIB and was shocked to find still so much weed all up inside the inlet grill, I was also pleased to find a stainless steel 'prop' which sucks up the water and fires it out the back, so at least no rubber to have burnt out. We also found a plastic bag up there which had clearly been there years, this all clear back in the water time to give her a test. All was good and ran smoother than ever it has. So, what would be handy is a second Oar, even better a simple RIB with an outboard where you can raise it, clear debris and get on your way still. I would have loved to have been able to say you can do it, and maybe in the winter when a lot of the Reeds have died back, but as it stands there is plenty of depth but just too narrow for anything even a rowing boat would not work really so I feel it is only going to be doable with a canoe. I have a bunch of video, but that is on my 'main camera' - so here is a screen capture of 'the end' showing just how narrow it is... Calling it a day: How far we got:

Good to see you onboard, so to speak, have a great time cruising the Broads on a very nice boat :)