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FlyingFortress

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Posts posted by FlyingFortress

  1. 26 minutes ago, FairTmiddlin said:

    Just watched the funeral

    How moving a service. What pageantry. Only the UK can do that

    R.I.P Ma'am

    Got to agree with that.

    As I have said before I am not a Royalist, but I found the whole thing very moving. 

    Mrs FF is a Royalist so she put the TV on to watch it. I surprised both her and myself in watching the whole thing until she left in the Royal Hearse. 

    Got to agree with the above quote that we really do excel at pagentry in this country.

    Thought the AB of Canterbury spoke very well of HM ,he obviously knew her well.

    We are at OBYS and only one boat movement throughout the whole thing.

    • Like 2
  2. 7 minutes ago, ExSurveyor said:

    What reference to other fora ?, I have made no reference to any.

    The longstanding agreement is between the two main forums and is to restrict copy and paste of posts between the two, its origins are lost in the mists of time but presumably to do with privacy and good manners.

     

    Ok maybe I am a numpty then.

    FB groups are not Fora. 

    Maybe I have been a member here too long as I do remember why this directive was brought in and it was nothing to do with privacy or good manners.

  3. 15 minutes ago, ExSurveyor said:

    Facebook groups are moderated, some better than others.

    I moderate three groups, one being the NBN fb group.

    I am puzzled that you can judge something you have never used.

    Fair point Mr Surveyor.

    I was under the impression, maybe wrongly now, that any reference to other Broads Fora would not be tolerated on here.

    If it is now allowed I stand rightly chastised.

  4. 29 minutes ago, Wussername said:

    I agree FF. However, every place is a bad place to have an incident.

    Evidently they have been coming to the broads for over twenty years.

    Makes you think does it not, could have happened to anybody.

    Totally agree.

    I just thought that with the very strong currents in that area it could have hindered any attempt to assist which it looks like it did.

    I was very lucky when I had to pull that boat out of the reeds a few days ago that the incident happened or near to slack water so I was able to position my bathtub in the correct attitude to pull them out without having to factor in the tide.

    Had the tide been running although I am confident I could have done it. It would have been a lot more difficult.

    I have no view of my Stbd quarter from my helm position so have to rely on directions from Mrs FF shouted from aft to fwd over the noise of an engine exhaust. Thankfully we have done this numerous times over our years on The Broads and she is very good at it .

    Our tow out was accomplished in just a few minutes even after I mistakenly thought they were broken down so configured for an alongside tow that we then changed to a more straight forward stern to bow tow out.

    • Like 1
  5. 2 hours ago, Mouldy said:

    I’ve only just moored (Pyes Mill to Womack Dyke - no stops) and been in a position to respond to this, so apologies if it’s a little late.  Not all of the information was in the public domain.  The boat can easily be identified by any Broads boat nerds as a Connoisseur.  The number and name are not on show on the pictures I’ve seen, so it could have come from Richardson’s or Woods.  That was all that was public knowledge.

    There was plenty of speculation on FB, someone even suggesting that it was from Ferry Marine.  The same person also professed to know why the accident had occurred, before any information had appeared in the newspapers.

    Frankly, debating speculation is utterly pointless.  Arriving at conclusions without facts on which to base them will only provoke unwelcome comments and give cause to the mods to intervene, as they already have.

    All too often social media tries and finds guilty before facts are known.  There have been several occasions this year that spring to mind, two of which were when boats have run aground on Breydon Water, which provoked much discussion, resulting in pointless calls for compulsory training for hire crews, which would simply kill the industry.

    It appears we now know the reasons for this sinking, by published responses allegedly from relatives of the crew,  but whether we ever know why something metal should have been submerged, I don’t know.

    I would rather this remain a friendly Forum with contributions from many members, rather than one where the only folk who contribute regularly are a couple of opinionated members, which does seem to be the case elsewhere.  We know the rules, so maybe best to just abide by them.

    May I politely suggest that you stop reading FB. 

    I do not that is why I come here for anything Broads related.

    FB is not NBN.

    NBN is moderated and while I don't always agree with the Moderation on here at least there is SOME control.

    FB is a platform I have never been on nor desire to read .

    • Like 1
  6. 21 minutes ago, jeffbroadslover said:

    Having read the reports has anyone heard if there has been any sort of search for an underwater object in the area?

    There must be some boats somewhere not too far away which have a sonar/fish finder device which may be able to "look" for anything which could be a danger to others.

    Jeff

    Jeff

    I think The BA would be on to this pretty quickly, well I hope so anyway as I will be going that way early next week.

    The area where this accident happened is frequently flooded around where the river narrows under the bridge. It would be hard for anyone who is not VERY familiar with this area to tell where the river bank actually is. Think about coming into somewhere like Reedham when the tide is over the quay heading. At least you have a clue there as the mooring posts stick up.

    Or indeed it could be what TeamElla said earlier.

    More speculation I know 

  7. Don't think anyone said it was easy Vaughan.

    Large yards such as HW have large teams of very skilled workers on tap who are used to doing total refurbs of older boats. When I have seen this done ( not at HW btw) the boat has been totally stripped internally except for toilets,tanks and running gear. It is then re built from floor up including all bulkheads and fittings.

    Obviously in the case of a sinking there is more work involved and I would not want to commit to a timescale but this work CAN be done in pretty short order if the will is there and it fits in with other scheduled work.

    As it is now late in the season this may effect the scheduling of this work but I am pretty sure we will see this boat back in hire next season if it is deemed economically viable.

    • Like 2
  8. 2 hours ago, ZimbiIV said:

    I hope this is not heading to another forum melt down.

    They usually happen after a boat runs aground/sinks.

    Trying to alot blame and/or fighting between members about the right to post their suppositions about blame/fault has caused many a problem here!

    We cannot know what happened unless the parties involved tell us the facts.

    These things occur, car crashes occur, acts of your god occur.

    Calm down and have sympathy for those that have suffered.

    paul

     

    A boat has got into difficulties in a very tricky part of our beloved Broads. 

    It has had a mishap that has resulted in the boat sinking.

    The boat is from a Northern boatyard

    It is damn near impossible to teach people how strong tides work when doing the show out when you are based North.

    The boat is wreaked but it belongs to a large Northern boatyard,  

    Another Northern boatyard that I am very familiar with would have recovered that boat ASAP and re fitted it inside 2 weeks if it was needed out on hire. As I am sure this one would.

    I have seen boats come in on a Saturday morning with awful damage and be turned around and out on hire that very afternoon. The owner of that yard who is btw a member here replied to me when I said that was impressive, said that was c**p we will do it right this winter.

    Some and I mean Some hire yards are truly impressive.

    Unfortunately some are not.

     

     

    • Like 3
  9. 59 minutes ago, JanetAnne said:

    I believe you'll find this was ultimately caused by the current, and sadly still ongoing, bilge pump strike. It appears that there is dissent within the bilge pumpers and empties union over pay and conditions. It also seems that the majority of pumps, or 'bilge content extraction engineers' as they now wish to be known by, have not been receiving adequate tuition during handovers nor given the opportunity to view the relevant videos. 

    To be honest, it seems that most of the effected pumps feel that they are being kept in the dark :facepalm:

    :default_hiding:

     

    Very comical post JA 🤣👍

    On a more serious note I stand to be corrected but the average Bilge Pump on a Broads Boat would struggle to cope with anything more than a very minor Hull Breach. I am sure mine would not. They are not fitted with Emergency Bilge Injection Systems (strange term IMHO) that larger vessels have whereby with some valve turning and blank removal the largest pump in the engine room, usually a water cooling pump for The Main Engine(s) can be deployed to counter flooding in the Engine Room.

    • Like 1
  10. 12 minutes ago, Smoggy said:

    Rogue fish have been spotted on that stretch with battery drills.

    Well someone has to start the rumours. 

    Sure they are not Krakens escaped from Breydon?

    Horrible place to have an accident like this glad to see they got off OK.

    Been a bit windy just recently so I wonder if that was a factor along with the strong tides.

    Just a few days ago I pulled a boat out of the reeds near Somerlayton that had been blown there.

  11. 1 hour ago, tim said:

    Thanks Kate, we got her from the RSPCA when about 6 months old, we were told she was a cocker, but I think there might be a little bit of something else in there, but we dont care we love her. She has issues with strangers but once she gets to know new people she loves them. We dont know her history, only that she didn't have the best start to life

    Unlike Finley and Purdey, she'd never leap from the boat, she too much of a coward. She loves being in water but only if she can walk in like a beach, even a 4 inch drop has her worried, she loved a paddle at Salhouse!

    My family has strong links with the RSPCA, granddad was chairman of the Maidstone branch for years, and my mum used to collect stray dogs on holiday and take them back to their owners or to the police, that's why she would never go abroad because in her words 'I wouldn't know where to take a stray dog to' 

    As kids we used to door to door tin rattling for them, I cant tell you on here some of the words I learnt from people who didn't want to give to animals  :default_icon_e_surprised:

    She sorry 

    • Like 1
  12. 1 hour ago, tim said:

    Thanks Kate, we got her from the RSPCA when about 6 months old, we were told she was a cocker, but I think there might be a little bit of something else in there, but we dont care we love her. She has issues with strangers but once she gets to know new people she loves them. We dont know her history, only that she didn't have the best start to life

    Unlike Finley and Purdey, she'd never leap from the boat, she too much of a coward. She loves being in water but only if she can walk in like a beach, even a 4 inch drop has her worried, she loved a paddle at Salhouse!

    My family has strong links with the RSPCA, granddad was chairman of the Maidstone branch for years, and my mum used to collect stray dogs on holiday and take them back to their owners or to the police, that's why she would never go abroad because in her words 'I wouldn't know where to take a stray dog to' 

    As kids we used to door to door tin rattling for them, I cant tell you on here some of the words I learnt from people who didn't want to give to animals  :default_icon_e_surprised:

     

    And a beautiful looking dog he is too 

  13. 10 hours ago, NeilB said:

    The boat I was testing and calibrating the assisted docking system on was one of these, we don’t have any involvement in anything much over 120ft on the leisure side.  Only problem was it wasn’t very windy for a good test but I have access to the boat for another week or so.

    image.thumb.jpeg.69015cf2c7ce97b688b6912b12d40f85.jpeg

     

     

    And very nice too :default_trophy:

  14. 4 hours ago, Bikertov said:

    I note from the BBC commentator how some of the Grenadier Guards have only in the last few days returned from active duty in Iraq. A reminder that they are not just ceremonial soldiers, but served Queen and country, and of course

    Quite

     

    Just as during the Falklands The Welsh Guards were not at top performance due to just returning from ceremonies duties.

    They are not all about B**"***t and bearskins. They are actually elite Infantry.

    Same as the cavalry regiment. They are actually tank drivers when not on horseback for ceremonies duties.

  15. 3 hours ago, NeilB said:

    The cheap ones used on most broads boats are single speed.  Proportional thrusters are quite common on sea going craft, some with run times of 10 minutes.  I was actually playing with one in the Solent today!

    Sometimes it takes, I would not say 10 minutes but certainly 5 minutes or more for a thruster to have any effect on a large ship particularly when going ahead. Bow thusters are most effective when going astern. This applies to small vessels as well. it's just that the power of thrusters on small vessels, like Broads Boats is disproportionately higher than large vessels . Likewise a Stern Thruster is more effective when the vessel had slow ahead speed. It's all to do with where the pivot point is on the vessel. It varies due to the vessel having forward or astern movement. 

    I can explain this to anyone who is interested 

    It takes 30 seconds or more for them to wind up to full power on a large ship even when they are some 3000 Kw  or more.

     In a port such as Felixstowe that has little traffic and little tide it's ok for a ship to take forever to turn around with one tug and a great big bow thruster. In my port with heavy traffic and strong tides ,equate Ludham Bridge to Reedham, it's why we put 3 or 4 tugs on the same ship. 

  16. Thanks for the replies folks.

    I had a conversation with some friends who were long term hirers and that was my understanding.

    Just for the record I had my BT installed probably 17 or 18 years ago and it is electric. Apart from one instance ,totally my fault, it has worked flawlessly in all that time.

    • Like 1
  17. Tim.

    May I ask a question?

    How does a hydraulic bow thruster work from the point of view of the operator?

    Do you have a lever that you simply operate or do you have to disengage the drive?

    From an engineering point of view if the boat is hydraulic drive then a diverter valve would divert some of the hydraulic oil to the thruster so does this reduce the amount of propulsion (fwd and aft thrust) available?

    Or do you have to disengage fwd & aft propulsion to allow the thruster to operate?

    Genuine question as my boat has an electric bow thruster .

  18. 25 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:

    FF - My thoughts too

    We fly a Gods Country rose on ‘B.A’s ensign staff. Have done so since her recommissioning back in October 07.  We’ve had no issues when out at sea or on the Thames during the QDJ
     

    (There’s a few other boats on the rivers do the same)

    Consequently I’ve yet to be summoned to a captains table or be keel hauled

    Griff

    So if the Officers of the largest port in the UK whose bossman was a former Commander of a Nuclear Deterrent Polaris Submarine didn't mind you flying a rose (albeit the wrong colour IMHO as a former resident of the other rose county) on your stern during the biggest pageant since gawd knows when ,all organized by a former colleague of mine.

    Why in the world would anyone worry about how and why a little boat on the inland waterways wears its Ensign?

    That and knowing your branch of the RN of which you Are rightly proud.

    And you also know what and why my boat wears.

    Notice I am using the correct terms now.

    :default_cool:

     

    • Like 1
  19. 1 minute ago, grendel said:

    its where i moor when i head for Lodden, the path to hardly cross is closed, but the path the other direction takes you to the village (you can use a permissive path that cuts across the back of the boatyards.

    Pyes Mill has always been a favourite as I said earlier.

    But there does seem to be increasing problems with unruly locals in all fairness I have only encountered it once at Pyes. It does seem more prevalent on the Staithe itself but as a dog owner I have rarely moored there.

    The permissive path is what I used today but there is also a path across Chedgrave Common which although signposted as dogs on leads due to grazing pony's I did see many dogs off leads walking that way so maybe no pony's.

    Will investigate tomorrow.

    With dog on lead I must add 

     

    • Like 1
  20. 7 minutes ago, Paul said:

     

    Incorrect.

    You cannot fly a flag at half mast on a pole or staff at an angle GREATER than 45 degrees off vertical, such flags should be removed. You should also not fly flags at half mast inside buildings, these too should be removed or may be dressed with black mourning ribbons

    I knew this would get complicated.

    Which is why I don't indulge.

    My flag looks very pretty on the back of my boat.

    And I am proud to say I served under the Red Duster for a very long time.

     

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