ranworthbreeze

Hi Neil, Personally it sounds a good idea, I am sure that your syndicates do have their own forums but at times it can be a good idea to get a different slant on the way other syndicates do things. You all know that I have in the past and will continue to share anything we think is a good idea with any of the other syndicates on the Broads. I will run it by the other mods to see if they are ok with setting up a forum under members. Regards Alan

A good picture taken in great Yarmouth. http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/crime/bear_spotted_sunbathing_in_great_yarmouth_1_3720083 Regards Alan

Hi Jon, Some very nice boats there, I wish I had longer arms or shorter pockets. Regards Alan

Hello Mandy, I bet you are thrilled too bits and will be counting off the sleeps until you get down to the boat. A word of warning, everyone's boat kit starts off very small, but after a short while seems to take up more space than the cloths you take. Regards Alan

I know the name of the water tower and where it is located, but I am not sure where you are. Regards Alan

Hi Neil, Maffetts is also one of the few places that offer Dive Insurance, we have had insurance with them for the last two seasons and we find the price at £65 is very reasonable, Regards Alan

Hi John, I only go on facebook when I need to, the thought of going on there to accept all these friend requests because they are a third cousin of someone you met in the high street 30 years ago does not bode well! Sorry friend but come the firing squad day, you are on your own Regards Alan

Hi Peter, At one time mooring was charged per foot/metre now, of course many moorings charge still by foot/metre but they also have a minimum size. Regards Alan

Hi Paul, There is space for about 12 boats all stern moor, very good moorings now with 3 B.A. electric posts (each with 3 sockets) so there is light from the top of the posts, a water point and public toilets. There are still bins in this location. As John says there is Rosy Lee's café (the last time we went in she made up a tray for us, but we refused her offer to carry the tray to the boat for us) a choice of 4 pubs, maybe the best chip shop on the Broads and a good DIY/hardware shop who sells useful stuff (like electric post plugs, sockets and extensions, larger walking stick rubber feet ideal for boarding ladders). Loddon is amongst my favourite mooring locations on the Broads. Regards Alan

Prince William to join the East Anglian Air Ambulance as a pilot from next spring, for the full story please see the following link:- http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/confirmed_duke_of_cambridge_will_join_east_anglian_air_ambulance_as_a_pilot_from_next_spring_1_3717212 Regards Alan

I have just looked at the Oulton Broad webcam, the weather looks a lot better than this morning and all the moorings look almost full at the Yacht Station, Marina and the Wherry Hotel moorings. I wish I was there. Regards Alan

Hi Tim, If I were doing the job I would make the spars from solid hardwood and machine them to suit rather than trying to steam them, the alternative would be to make some laminated spars which you could produce curved. The brass shims I assume protect the cabin sides, these would be an easy job for any engineering company. I would have a word with Jon at Wayford Marine. Regards Alan

Hello Paladin, I totally agree with your last paragraph especially on the A17 and A47 going to the Broads, but after saying that it is the people not the roads that are the issue, not driving to the conditions or having a regard to their or other peoples safety. Regards Alan

Hi Pauline, The eel we once had on a crab line in Devon, took the end of the line the metal frame and the weight off of the bottom. My bother in law was with us at the time still talks about seeing the eels head come out of the water and often talks about it. This one would have had your dad's arm. Regards Alan

Hi Peter, Thank you for posting the link, a intersting story that helps premote the Broads. Regards Alan

Hi Marina, The best approach when mooring is to just step off of the boat with the rope, never jump and be extra careful in wet weather,. Wooden mooring when wet can be treacherous unless they have chicken wire on the top (good for keeping your feet but not very good if you do slip). I had a similar experience to you, but in my case it was on the Trent & Mersey Canal at Stenson Lock, we were late getting back to the boatyard (it was the year when most of the piers were damaged in the mid to late 70's) high winds were hampering out progress and pushing us into the banks that we had great trouble getting away from, I broke the barge pole in half in one attempt. In the end I had to reverse back to a bridge and then keep almost full power on the engine until we managed to get back into sheltered areas. Back to the lock, it was now dust and the boatyard was just past the top of the lock, someone had moored at the top of the lock, I had to go over the back of their boat and get onto ours, I had one leg over a rail on the moored boat and the other leg over a rail on ours when the boats drifted apart, I was in danger of doing the splits, so I let go with both of my legs and was hung by my hands on the side rails of our hire boat, with my lower legs in the water. We moored up in the marina and both got dried, posted the boats keys through the letter box with a sorry note re the late arrival and the broken pole. We then headed home. We later found out that a number of their boats had not returned until the following day. Regards Alan

A word of warning to us all! For the story please see the following link:- http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/woman_injured_while_mooring_boat_on_norfolk_broads_1_3714249 Regards Alan

Hello Spider, Welcome to the forum from Tan & myself. There is nothing wrong with having the best from both worlds. Regards Alan

The trouble with these spammers is that they do not seem to grasp is that if they sent just one message to someone they may open the message, but for some reason they like to send multiple messages, which is a dead give away. My bin is overflowing most days,187 deleted so far today. Regards Alan

Hi Strowager, So you had a mobile brick as well, I still have mine somewhere a Phillips complete with a mag mount aerial. Our first computer was a BBC with a Torch dual floppy 5 1/4 inch drive, happy but slow computing times. Regards Alan

Hi Alan, The company we used for supplying our service kits is P.F.Jones of Manchester, Nuttall Street Old Trafford Manchester M16 9JA 016172 4755 www.pfjones.co.uk. That price I posted was for a full service exchange heater. We used to have the heating serviced by a company but at £600 per year was well over odds, but as we all know unless you can do any of the work yourself boating is a very expensive pastime. Regards Alan PS I have just seen Andy's post and I totally agree with him that the use of a diesel heater combined with a wet system is the best route you can go if at all practical. Narrow Boat lend themselves very well to wet systems because of the long walkways for hanging radiators, but if you have the space in a cruiser the I would opt for that type of system. We have never had a problem on a diesel or gas wet system, but have had problems on ducted air, the usual notices on these heating systems is switch on and leave to fire, if the system does not fire switch off and leave 15-20 minutes before restart, usually on hire craft we have been on there is no control for temperature. On Ranworth Breeze we have a D3 and we tend to leave the temperature control at 3/4 to full, our experience is that they do not like being set at lower levels.

Hello Carol, Thank you for the link and your insight regarding the Broads and its history. One would assume that the Broads in the past would have been very similar to the Canals where life was made easier with the use of new dykes to areas of work or workings. Regards Alan

We always seem to show the Yanks how its done, many years ago the yanks sent their smallest drill to Sheffield, the rumour has it that a certain steel works drilled the drill, tapped it, put a bolt and nut on it and sent it back to the USA. Regards Alan

I have just done a search, it would appear that the picture Lori posted was off of the Broadlands Memories website http://www.broadlandmemories.co.uk/page246.html The text associated with the picture is as follows:- Regards Alan One of the entrance dykes to Little Switzerland on the River Bure, dating from c1910. Little Switzerland is a series of chalk marl pits, located between Wroxham and Belaugh, from which thousands of tonnes of chalk was quarried during the 19th century. The channels leading off the Bure were cut to enable small wherries and lighters to get right up to the pits to load the marl for transportation around the Broads. The marl was apparently a useful aid to turnip growing when applied to the fields, and was also transported to lime kilns and cement works in the area. Quarrying ceased around 1875 and the steep slopes created by digging out the chalk were planted with coniferous woodland. It is also recorded that a mastedon, a form of prehistoric elephant, was discovered here in the early 19th century.

Thank you Clive for posting the picture, as Strowager rightly says this makes the clear sight of checking that the life jackets are fully armed and ready for deployment to the customers. This must make you a forunner within the hire industry with regards to customer safety. Well done. Regards Alan