SteveO

A very interesting programme and design concept. Thanks to the cold, dead hand of the Broads Authority, and their stranglehold on planning, I would be surprised if we see anything as innovative as that gracing the Broads.

Friday 13th April - Quiz cancelled. I won last week's quiz and was due to present this week's offering. However I will not now be available on Friday for reasons beyond my control. I will, however, run a quiz on Friday 20th, commencing at around 8.30pm. Of course, if anyone would like to step into the breach and set a quiz on Friday, please feel free. Steve

You can buy old master clocks that would drive your programmer from Ebay - from around £50, if you fancy a project.

Spot on Paul. The only one time I have ever used findings was to save a brew that went slightly wrong. Probably due to wild yeast or something similar getting in.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting that these brews would do you harm in moderation, but I do wonder about beer which is cloudy or has "off" flavours being passed off as a premium product. It was customer reaction to this sort of thing which gave "real ale" a bad reputation in the 1960's and ''70's , which led to the "keg revolution" that caused proper beer to all but disappear from pubs in some parts of the country. Beer brewed from wheat is normally cloudy, but there is no reason, apart from carelessness, why beer made from malted barley should be so.

Is it only me or has anyone else noticed that, as so-called "craft" beers proliferate, the number of cloudy pints and beers with "off" tastes has increased? Craft beers generally command a price premium. which I am happy to pay for a quality product, but some of the stuff being sold at the moment leaves me wondering. I brew my own beer and know that, with a bit of care, these faults can be avoided. I realise that "craft" brewers often try to push the boundaries, but I bridle at paying the thick end of £4 a pint for someone's failed experiment. Discuss...

Steer with the right hand. Hang the old chap over the side and aim with the left hand. Points awarded for clearing the gunnels. Honi soit qui mal y pense.

Very sad news. The way he shared his medical condition on the forum prompted many of us to get ourselves checked out. Sincere condolences to Richard's family.

Oh you mean the "s" bird.

It's Spring, Jim. but not as we know it.

I'd just like to do everything I have ever done one more time, in the hope that I could do it better.

Thanks guys. I have a set of vinyl names but I am reluctant to remove the original sign-writting as I feel that they are more "in-keeping" with the boat. I will deploy as a last resort, but in the meantime, will ask at Hunters, as Robin suggests. A lot of boats on the Broads still have sign-written names so there must be someone out there who does it.

The sign-written names on our boat are looking a bit worse for wear and require a bit of a touch-up. Does anyone know a reasonably priced, competent local sign-writer who does this kind of work? Royal Academy skill-levels would be fine, but can't afford Royal Academy prices. Thanks for any information you can give me.

It's not April 1 for another week, is it? Boaters ploughing up and down the river. Swimmers not always easy to see. Sea toilets from sailboats discharging into the water. Deep, cold. water with unpredictable currents. "All are welcome to take part" Doesn't seem very clever to me.

When you are roughing it, all you need are a Port decanter and a Starboard decanter.

I have a "down" on gate valves because a few years ago, I managed to drill a hole in one of my central heating pipes. I needed to shut the water feed off quickly but when I tried to close the gate valve that controls this, it was seized solid in the open position. It was a Sunday afternoon so I had no option but to call a very expensive emergency plumber. This was annoying enough in a domestic situation but you don't need to philosophise too deeply to see how this might be more than inconvenient when on the water. The cost of replacing gate valves with ball valves is negligible, if you wait until the boat has to come out of the water for another reason.

When we had our boat surveyed, we were advised to change the wheel type (gate valve) sea cocks for ball valve ones, on the grounds that the gate valves are supposed to be more likely to sieze up.

It all makes depressing reading. Do I really want to spend another long weekend with the boat heating on 24/7? With chidminding duties the following week and an overseas holiday booked for late April, it doesn't look as though we will be spending time afloat any time soon. Grrrrrrrr

My "smell memory" of Yorvik comprises of smoked meat/fish with a non-too-subtle undertone of poo. And that was recalled from over 30 years ago.

So many smells. I might have been a dog in a past life: On opening up the boat after a period of absence - a very faint but familiar smell of diesel, oil, heads and polish; Hot oil, steam and coal smoke from a steam engine; Malting, boiling wort and hops in the brewing process - best savoured large-scale in a brewery town like Faversham; The smell of light rain on dust after a dry spell in summer; The haunting, barely sensed smell of cherry blossom ; Baking bread or cooking a roast dinner. I could go on.

The best? Justabout all of them have been excellent bar two. The worst? A bathtub hired from east of PH bridge. It wouldn't start on the second day of our holiday when we were moored in the middle of nowhere and for the rest of the week, it was a constant battle between the bilge pump and the water pouring in through the stern gland. The second worst was a 37 ft bathtub which would not answer the helm in any more than a slight breeze - we got blown sideways down Womack water and couldn't do anything about it - and whose batteries were so poor that we couldn't run the heating at the end of October.

What's to stop them throwing Ms Hempsall off the committee again, if she continues to stand up against "nonsense"?

Our first night on the Broads was spent on a Hampton Safari which we had hired from Ripplecraft at Somerleyton in September 1982 or thereabouts. We loaded our gear on board in heavy rain and wind. Then it was time for our river trial, by which point you couldn't see your hand in front of your face for rain and murk. We landed the boatyard guy, soaked to the skin, and set off up the New Cut towards Reedham, where we arrived at around 5 pm. We went up and down the quay, but boats were double-moored all the way down. Eventually someone took pity on us and offered to let us moor alongside them. After tying up and sampling the various hostelries of Reedham, we spent a pleasant night triple-moored on the river. All things considered, not something I would willingly do today.

We have a 240v immersion heater element in our calorifier and can verify that it makes a huge contribution to creature comfort, without using an excessive amount of electricity. Well worth fitting if you have shore-power.

If I wanted to watch old men arguing on screen, I would tune in to the Muppet Show. Can we kindly get back to the original and much more interesting intent of this thread?