SteveO

Just passing Salcombe. 9.6 knots.

I can see her on MarineTraffic. Sitting close to something called Blue Angel.

No, I am fairly old myself, but it is the pages and pages of irrelevant and possibly misinformed speculation that got to me. Imho if people want to have a long conversation like that, they should either exchange PMs or use the Chatbox feature rather than pollute threads like this. That;'s calling it as I see it anyhow.

The older I get, the better I was.

I have enjoyed watching the progress of this thread and the Captain's Blog videos that accompany it. Good luck with your passage to Norfolk Robin and Team Indy. Do you have AIS so we can monitor your progress? If so what boat name should we be looking for - Independence or her previous name?

2025

To say nothing of HOYCAOWYS

Our winner tonight was Lisa on 14 points, Second Was Janet-Anne on 9 and joint 3rd were Polly and Mike (Chameleon) on 7. Lisa is busy next week, so Polly has kindly agreed to do next Friday's quiz. Pretty good turnout with 11 people in Chat tonight, including myself. Thanks to all who joined in. Cheers Steve

Don't forget folks. Quiz tonight at 8.30pm Topics will be: - Norfolk 'n' Good - Banal Grandmas Road - Mottoes - The Demon Drink - The Final Frontier - General Carnage Expect easy questions, fun and banter. Link to quiz chatroom is: http://www.nbnquiz.co.uk/chat/index.php

I will be dressing up in my penguin suit, complete with tartan bow-tie and taking MrsO to a Burns Night event at a local hotel this evening. There will be haggis, speeches, poems and dancing til Midnight. I will most certainly be raising a glass to Iain's memory . I spent a very happy year living and working in his part of the world back in the 1970's and Iain and I often discussed people and places we knew in common.

Today, with skies grey and rain in the air, I turned my attention to my garage/worshop. "Let's have a wood-turning day", I said to myself. I have a nice half-log (Ash I think) in the woodshed, which is just asking to be turned into a bowl. First I looked at my gouges and chisels, which were blunt as button-hooks. Sharpening these "freehand" wasn't working out very well. "Wouldn't it be nice to have a jig which would help me to grind a consistent bevel angle on the cutting surfaces of these" I thought. I found a long piece of scrap angle iron, with a bent up end to hold the butt end of the tool being sharpened,, Next I cut a 6inch by 1/4 inch slot down the middle of one side of the angle so I can adjust for length, and hence alter the grinding angle. Not having a fully equipped metalworking shop, I did this the old-school way by drilling a line of holes, joining them up with a hacksaw and then tidying up with a file to make a clean slot. Next I drilled a couple of holes in the bed of my grinder and bolted the jig onto it under and parallel to the wheel, with bolts secured by wingnuts for adjustment. I set to and sharpened my gouges and did the skew chisels whilst I was at it. All went well. I found my piece of log, cut off the corners and mounted it on my lathe via a screw chuck. The newly sharpened tools did their job well and I spent about half an hour carefully roughing out a bowl blank from the log only to find, having removed the bark, a fine hairline crack, of long standing, in the wood. "Darn"! or words to that effect. The blank was duly "demoted" to the log bin and I came indoors to get warm. Ah well, you win some and you lose some.

It was probably the bloody elephant!

I think I saw some film on Facebook. Looked like the kind of day when you would have been better off toasting your feet in front of a warm fire, somewhere well inland. But these things have to be done.

As if in retribution for my previous comment, our garden has been taken over by Vulpes vulpes today. Not the wolf but a relative, the fox. We had at least two of them, coming and going all morning. I hope they are not planning a new lair.

It seems that I am in the chair next Friday. We had a good turnout yesterday and I hope to see as many of you as possible for the quiz next week. I will post the topics when I have worked out what they will be.

Nice work and a handsome cat too.

Probably because some prat with a zoology degree entertains dreams of letting them out one day. IMHO, there are good reasons why these blighters were rendered extinct.

We were very sad when you told us this news Sue. Pete was a lovely man and a good friend. Sadly, we can't make the funeral but will do our very best to attend the Broads send-off. What a bloody year! Steve

We are ensconced in the Swan at Horning this evening and will be doing the New Inn quiz, so can't join you. Good luck to all though!

As a would-be wood-butcher and embryonic wood turner, I never cease to be amazed by the amount of shavings and sawdust I produce. As a Yorkshireman, who doesn't keep hamsters, pet mice or other small pets, I am saddened that I can't find a use for them. Can this material be collected, mixed with some sort of binder, compressed, dried and burnt in a log-burner. Does anyone have any experience of this or any better ideas?

Thanks for the excellent account of your stay on BA Robin, and the lovely photos too. Good to see that a few boats were out and about over the Christmas and New Year period. Cheers Steve

My considerations would include: Spacious and comfortable beds. At the age of 64, I no longer get excited by the thought of climbing over Mrs O in the night, Comfortable seating and being able to admire the view when seated - can't always take this for granted in modern sports boats. There wasn't a comfortable place to sit in our last boat - so we sold it after a couple of seasons. Adequate storage for food and drink - been done to death already Shore Power - a personal preference, but being able to run a heater makes early/late season cruising more comfortable Heating, including water heating - so you don't have to run the engine when moored - antisocial. Somewhere to put your telly - that's just me. Easy to handle A decent steering position that allows you to see over the tops of the reeds - got bored of reed stems 20 years ago Access under bridges - Ludham and Wroxham at least Ease of access to the boat from your intended mooring Aft cockpit boats tend to be easier if moored side on unless there is a bathing platform - and they can bring their own problems. Plenty of battery capacity and a good charging system. Might as well be comfortable Affordability - Larger boats are more expensive to toll , moor and insure and it can be difficult to find permanent moorings for longer boats Inboard diesel engine on a shaft. Outboards are vulnerable to thieving, use more fuel, generally use petrol (fire risk) and can be a pain to moor stern on. Consider availability of spares/service parts for older engines. Budget - as a rule of thumb, I would buy the biggest I could afford Number of berths. Who is going to be on there with you, and how often? A Freeman 22 can sleep 4 people, but you have to be very good friends! Design: Personal preference, but I woud prefer a boat that had been designed for Broads/Inland waterway use than, say a sports boat designed for coastal use in warmer climates. Hope this helps. Good luck!

What a lovely blast from the past. Brings back lots of memories. Thanks Carol.

Oh great, another local brand will now end up being made God knows where out of God knows what. Given the low value of Sterling against the Euro and US Dollar, I am afraid we will see more of this sort of thing .

Sadly, this seems to be the story of British industry. Firms sell out to multinational conglomerates and their brands then become hostage to fortune, often finishing up with manufacturing in another town, country or continent. In the worst instances, you end up with the brand also being adulterated a la Cadburys. Time was when I would have always bought Colman's mustard regardless of cost. It was a good product and, in buying it, you were buying into history and supporting manufacturing in Norwich. Now I will buy whichever is cheapest .