MauriceMynah

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.

Hmmm, Get out of Lathams free? or Decide to read a whole London Rascal post.... miss a turn! (Sorry Robin, couldn't resist it )

Looks like spam to me!

OIk, I've just had a few beers and I'm ready to defend my ideas right or wrong!!! Argument one against my idea seems to be... no-one will watch it so don't try! ..RUBBISH.,some will! Argument two.. you can't cover everything so don't bother covering anything! RUBBISH.. anything is better than nothing. We Can't afford it! ..RUBBISH. can we afford not to try? It won't work! RUBBISH who's tried? Never have I come up against so much negativity! I struggle to understand why people think that there are folk out there who would hate to watch a film that would have them crying with laughter. You think it wouldn't? Think about how some of the errors could be presented! If you don't want to try to address the problem then don't complain if your boat is the victim of a novices error. You say the boatyards don't do enough to help the newbie, well then, neither do you. As say, I've had a beer or three..... what's your excuse?

Quite some time ago there was a friend of mine who was restoring a riverside mill near here. He went into the woodyard and said to the young lad behind the counter... "I'd like 1000 feet of two by one please, to be delivered" "We sell wood by the metre these days sir" came the reply. "Well, I buy it by the foot" my friend said, walking out!

"Hi Steve, I wish I could get more at that price, ebay would be flooded with them" Could we perhaps rephrase that please?

Sorry Marshman, I have to disagree with you in one or two respects. If the film is entertaining enough, it will be watched by the very people who you think will not. Also, if Mr. Potatohead believes those ferry chains can be navigated over, he will attempt to do so. if he is informed (again in an entertaining way) that he cannot navigate over them, he will tell everyone that he already knew that and only a complete idiot would attempt to do so. The key word is "Entertainment" We all love to be entertained, even twits like myself, and there are only a few people who would watch something that was made to educate without entertaining. There are some, but they are in a minority. There will not be many who watch "You've been framed" thinking it to be educational, but I wonder how many viewers see it and think "Oh, I won't try that then!" Certainly none who would admit it! I don't know how much such a film would cost to produce, but if the result was a greater amount saved by the boatyards in repairs then it would be financially viable, and if it were to result in a reduction in injury, or even a life saved then... well... need I say more!

The idea of a "training DVD" was something I used to try to champion on the other forum, but with little (or rather no) success. Such a video would be watched keenly by the recipients if it were not only instructive but entertaining too. Some here might remember how business training companies used John Cleese in their training films. Such films were remembered purely because of their entertainment value, but this achieved the required objective of getting the message across. What I used to say on that other forum was that within the forum there was a wealth of knowledge and experience. the same applies to this forum. What is needed is for the likes of Clive and Andy to catalogue the incidents that most need addressing, those members here who are newer to boating to list their main worries and questions, and everyone else to list their own errors as well as those they have witnessed. Just as an example, think of the film "Airplane". That lasted just under 90 minutes with people watching it many times because they found it so funny. Had it also carried an educational message within its plot, it would have been incredibly successful in passing it on. No, Nobody here is going to stump up for a slick Hollywood production team, but as we draw close to the long nights of winter, whats to stop us working out just what we could achieve between us..... including how to approach the Reedham chain ferry? .

Nobody has mentioned CB as an alternative to marine radio on the broads! Ok, the 27/81 system is still full of foulmouthed idiots, but the CEPT frequencies are still pretty good.

I was looking for my Environment agency rod license the other day but couldn't find it. I'm now starting to doubt if I actually got around to buying one! That in itself doesn't matter thus far as I've not been fishing yet this year, but I rather hope to at the end of the month, so, my question is... How can I find out if I did buy one or not?

Over 200 people in under 24 hours signed a petition without sufficient evidence that there was a problem (and yes, I was one of them.) but I wonder how many more would have signed it had there been more of an issue. If nothing else this incident gives us an indication of the minimum number of people who are keeping their fingers on the pulse.

Whilst I take your point Viking, I disagree. I think it will be essential to include the very catchphrases you mention if it is to succeed in being a follow-on film. I think there will be enough opportunities for the cast to put their own 'take' on things but the characters and their catchphrases are synonymous. I am more concerned about the writer and director as I have not liked what I've seen of their works in those capacities. In my less than humble opinion I find Johnny English inane though not as dire as the re-working of St Trinians. I won't even start to say what I think of 'Mr Bean'. There was a kindness in all the characters in Dads Army that made the series work. This was David Croft's and Jimmy Perry's trade mark. It is this which I fear will be lost!

o <-------------<<<<< Coin!

I don't normally sign petitions, but in this case I have done so. I hope many more will too.

They're doomed!

How up to date is the Red Lion info? I went there a while back and it seemed to be some sort of "polish?" restaurant.

Kettle? KETTLE??? There never was a decent drink that didn't involve some sort of bottle opener!!!

"Modern day bands don't have the staying power the the old one have" Thank heavens for that !!!

For how long will you be on RT, I'm trying to get up myself next week (a neat trick if you can do it!) so if you are about ...?