MauriceMynah

The trouble with using toothpaste is that for it to be really effective you need to do it last thing at night and first thing in the morning. Take the boat to the dentist and get a second opinion.

Not exactly full of details is it?

The NBO awards ceremony was held on Saturday 25th of this month at the Broadshaven public house Potter Heigham. An enjoyable evening but I can't remember who won what apart from... Best large boatyard... Richardsons. Best small boatyard...Freedom. Best moorings...New Inn Horning Best Food... New Inn Horning Best Beer... White Horse Neatishead (I think) Best dog friendly pub... The Dog inn Ludham bridge

Tim, I think your wire wool needs sharpening. This is a specialist's job that harks back to the days before the throw away society we now live in. Now the good news. Although it's been many years since I last did it, you are in the company of a fully apprenticed hack saw blade re-toother and wire wool sharpener. Send me your wire wool and for only £25 per metric oz, I'll have it as sharp as the day you sent it to me.

I have a better recipe for success with varnishing. 1 boat builder/restorer. 1 tin of above's preferred varnish. 1 of above's preferred brushes. 1 wallet. METHOD. Give brush and tin of varnish to the boat builder/restorer. Take wallet to nearest bank and fill it. Then take wallet to nearest decent pub and relieve the wallet of some of the weight. Wait for Boat builder/restorer to join you there and relieve wallet of remaining weight. SIMPLES!!!!!

BaitRunner, I'll answer that one as soon as I can get my face out of the deep freeze

Nah Frank, I was too busy at diplomatic collage to read books like that!

I remember my comment about the decor when I was asked by the young lady behind the bar what I thought. "I find it vaguely reminiscent of the gentlemen's toilets at Kings Cross station, only without the warmth." She no longer spoke to me!

I remember as a kid I put my tongue across the track of my scalextric and pushed the go button! What a prat, it hurt quite a bit. However, just to prove I was a top level, 22 carot prat, I did the same thing again a year or so later!!!

Beware of cheap solar lights. I bought some (12 in all, 4 each of three different makes) in the spring, before the summer was half way through the whole lot were thrown away as useless!

I have to admit, I really do not know which way to lean on this. We know that the broads isn't a National Park. We know the difference between being a National Park and being a member of the National Parks family. and we know that we object to it becoming the former but do not mind the latter. Personally I am grateful to Peter (Jenny Morgan) for keeping his ear so closely to the ground on this subject but that in itself might be a two edged sword. We certainly don't want to fall into the "Cry Wolf" trap. Every time the B.A. mentions National Park in any journal, we gird our loins in readiness for the impending battle. This is not wise! We need Peter and others of a like mind to keep us informed, and perhaps it's worth having a section dedicated to this cause, but we must avoid the headless chicken response. I well understand the feelings that calling it one doesn't make it one, as well as the counter feeling that calling it one might be used to conceal the attempt to make it one. So what, as a member of this forum, should I do about such posts. I don't know! For my part if the weight of evidence is sufficient, I could only advise writing to various appropriate MPs asking them if there is any way of stopping this unelected quango from wasting money persuing this pointless and expensive exercise. Perhaps they should consider the costs of this re-branding if the only result is to make them undo all the sign-writing and letter heading shortly afterwards. Could our elected masters remind them of that? Again I don't know. Finally, I hope we can keep this thread in the forums spirit and not let it fall into another series of personal slights. Last time that happened we lost a highly valued member.

I too try to avoid mismatch colours on cables, but to be fair, Strows photo looks to me like Brown not black cable coming out. Whilst understanding the difference between Live and Positive in wiring, I would accept this as a compromise as long as there is some sort of notation of this coding somewhere.

Doesn't anyone make a screw terminal block for marine use where all the metal parts are brass?

Advantage of the "dump through" system is that you can easily see when the tank is getting full. One disadvantage that I have found though is flies. If the blue isn't strong enough (seems to be a problem with the powdered blue) and flies start to breed in the tank, it can be most unpleasant when you open the trap and a dozen or so of the little chappies fly up into your face. Some form of insecticide is needed to be blended with the blue!

Bog standard reply!

There are several different schools of thought on the safety aspect of boating, some more valid than others. Mine is very simple. All water is dangerous, some areas more than others. Do not be fooled, the Norfolk Broads is water therefore it is dangerous. HOWEVER... Respect it, don't do stupid things near it and be aware of your surroundings at all times and the dangers will be minimized. Compared with other waterways, the Broads are as safe as one can reasonably expect, but this fact puts essential disciplines into sharp relief, one in particular. You are responsible for your own actions. No one else, not the skipper, not the hire fleet, not even the tooth fairy! You are. In the example given above regarding the lady falling off the swim platform, she broke one of the cardinal rules. One hand for you, the other for what you are doing. If for some reason this isn't possible then a hugely heightened awareness of any danger is necessary, and far greater caution needs to be exercised. We don't want to frighten anybody away from the delights of boating but to encourage them without highlighting this fact is not to be advised It was thanks to Wussername's friends quick thinking and quicker acting that the disaster was avoided but like it or not it was the lady's lack of caution that put her into danger. I will accept that the boat's design was a contributory factor, but this should have been considered by the lady when she chose to stand somewhere where she could not hold on. There have been many cases where a boat's design is such that safety has been given second place to aesthetics, for example the Pulpit rail on a small boat can be so small that acts as a trip hazard but has no benefit other than looks. Whoops, that turned into a bit of a rant!

Thanks for that info Alan, a quick couple of questions I have. 1. Does the gas cylinder have a "best before" date on it? 2. Will that date be the same as the firing mechanism? (assuming neither hes been used or replaced before) and 3. What should be done with the out of date but not used cylinder?

Well I suppose this thread will do for that, permit me to start. The other day I saw a frog queuing at a drive through Macdonalds. My question is... Am I correct in saying that this normal behaviour for a frog as they like their food on the fly?

On a floating pontoon you are correct, the strop length would not need to allow for widely differing water levels, only on fixed piers and bankside moorings will the levels vary and allowances need to be made.

I have noticed recently the increasing number of questions being asked starting with terms similar to, "I'm sure that this is a daft question but..." May I possibly be allowed to give some examples of some very sensible questions that the askers worried might be thought "silly". They were about ropes (very important) whether fish caught on the broads may be eaten, also very important, especially if you are the fish, and charging things from the boat battery. There are of course many many others. Somehow this forum needs to get across to the newer members that no question about boats or boating is silly and I find myself wondering how many questions are not being asked for the risk of being thought as such. Boating as such is not a high risk pastime but every question that is asked and answered lowers that risk level still further (unless they listen to my answers!) So my (not) silly question How can the forum best put that across?

I know those as "Mooring strops" and have them myself at Hickling. It makes coming in to the home berth very easy, but don't forget to allow for flood conditions and drought, the whole range from the highest of water to the lowest.

It's really a case of what feels comfortable to you. There will only be rare occasions where you will have to pull really hard on those ropes, but when those occasions happen, they will be stressful and there will be risk factors involved. In those situations it's no time to find out that you can't put your 'all' into pulling the boat, but those are the times when the thickness of the rope is of paramount importance. Go for a soft rope like nylon/polyester and avoid polypropylene. Polypropylene soon becomes uncomfortable to handle, it's only advantage being cheapness. As for length, well that again is debatable. I like a boat and a quarter but that's because I'm normally single handed on board. I tend to have two bow ropes, one down each side and two stern ropes one on each stern bollard. I used to have two on each stern bollard one for linear mooring and one for stern on as that arrangement tended to avoid getting tangled up with the canopy if cruising with it up, but I had bigger bollards in those days. (Gracie/Timbo behave yourselves.) I think your best option is to go somewhere like Norfolk Marine ask advice and feel the ropes and take it from there. Finally, that was a far from "silly" question.

The only disadvantages I can think of would be extra mooring fee/BA toll and perhaps making stern on mooring tricky. On the plus side, easier to get aboard should you fall in. protection for outdrives/outboards and somewhere handy to put muddy shoes!

My rules of thumb when working with electrics... Try it. If it gets hot, try something else. If it gets VERY hot, try something else quickly If it doesn't work but doesn't get hot try it with a bigger fuse. Still no luck, use a nail. If it still doesn't work, doesn't get hot and you're using a really big nail, you didn't want one anyway!

The toll booths that exist must need a considerable number of people there to maintain them, to assist motorists, to police the system and generally to be there to sort out problems. The automated system being introduced will save vast quantities of both time and money. I am totally confident that this saving will be passed on to the motorists by reducing the tolls charged.