FlyingFortress

Cos I am a true blue. Can't stand the reds Anyway I thought the cheese eating monkeys are in so much trouble I would try to do my bit to help

Have decided to replace my Lister engine with a Nanni. The boat was built in 1994 so the engine will be from around that time. It is an LPW 4 40hp with a Newage gearbox. It is a first time starter even when cold. It does issue a puff of smoke on cold start but then runs clean. I can't remember the last time I had to top up the oil. It's next service is due 23/04/2023 and has been regularly serviced by Ignition Marine. It served 10 years in Bees hire fleet and has been in my possession for 18 years. It can be viewed in situ and running at my home mooring until we have to take it to Brundall on the 23rd of this month. I am looking for £1000 VID20220511120920.mp4

That's just our port. As an island nation, other ports are available. 🙂

Plenty of entertainment available there. Even better than the good lady that films at Ludham Bridge. A good trawl through The MAIB investigations will show up some pretty stupid stuff done by qualified Mariners as well. You will never hear me say all qualified Mariners are without their faults. If you do trawl through the MAIB site you will even find some stupid things done by my colleagues I will be the first to admit I have done some pretty stupid things myself. Thankfully not serious enough to warrant an outside investigation It's fairly rare though considering we were doing 10000+ Pilotage acts a year. Records are kept and hopefully we have learned lessons from any incident. Must remember to write in the past tense as I am now happily retired as of last month.

At least the ones at the junction of St John's and Brumstead Road's have gone.

That probably came over wrong with the addition of the I do genuinely look forward to meeting you. I am a regular visitor to Ranworth and I am sure you can figure out my boat from my nickname on here.

Really looking forward to meeting you Andrew. As we both seem to be local hopefully it will not be too long. I'm sure we can have some interesting discussions.

Night Vaughan. I hope my mudweight will hold

No . Nothing to contradict. Watching you tube videos is all you need to know.

But then you told me that parking a 400m Container Ship was easier than parking a Broads boat. It's like me telling you that driving a mobility scooter is harder than driving an artic. Do you have opinions on the poor driving stands of car drivers? Well coming from a commercial background I also have opinions on how a leisure industry operates. Coupled with being a leisure operator myself.

But Mouldy, we have found a solution. See Vaughn's post I don't think MAIB inspectors wear suits. Not really suitable for exploring the aftermath of Fires, sinkings and fatalities. I am well aware that you cannot take a Container Ship up the Thurne but I have been taking Broads Boats up there for some 30 years. Next you will be telling me I am unqualified to comment as I was not born in Norfolk. As you say there were no fatalities last year so all is OK.

But as Vaughan say's above. It's also prone to failure. I have no doubt it's cheaper and easier to install. There is a reason why brake pipes are not plastic.

Sorry Vaughan but I am still going to dispute your statement. All three boats I have owned have had copper pipes. Maybe if I list which hire fleets they came from may have some bearing. Hearts/Richardson's/Horning Pleasure Craft , Ferry Marine and Bees Showing my lack of knowledge once again in that I did not know that plastic piping was available. Why on earth would anyone fit plastic piping? No need to answer that BTW

Well stated Andrew I must add to my previous post. I have actually had steering failure on one of my boats. A block that guided the steering cable pulled out of the wood on my wooden boat. Fixed with a big screw.

Meantime. I also cannot comment on The AIWA but I will say that shipping companies ignore MAIB recommendations at their peril.

Vaughan I have to dispute your statement that hydraulic steering is not particularly reliable. In 21 years of sea service I can recall one incident of hydraulic steering failure, burst pipe. And in 22 years of Pilotage also one incident, failed microswitch. These are systems that run 24/7/365 when the ship is underway. I will add that there are dual systems on ships and there is always a procedure for alternating them so they get equal usage. Also 30 years of boat ownership at least 25 of which I have had hydraulic steering and no incidents.

A key recommendation has been made to improve the change over protocols on dual steer Hire boats and has not been accepted by The AIWA. Our member who has extensive experience of running hire fleets has provided a workable solution.

Grendel. I think Vaughan has just answered your question above. These outside professionals are not engineers they have the same qualifications as I do. I have actually interviewed for this job. But Give the problem to an engineer and hey presto you get an answer. From someone with extensive experience and knowledge of The Broads to boot.

That is why outside professionals are brought in to make recommendations. To look at things from a different perspective. Never a bad thing for any industry.

Maybe a business opportunity

So it can be done then.

My first 400m ship. All ships have a plate similar to this one prominently displayed So no it's much easier handling a Broads boat 😁

View from inside and outside the wheelhouse when turning around off the berth. She is not even full and it is much worse when she is ( boxed out) I will add (edit) I was second Pilot on this one so I was in a co pilot role so not actually handling to explain how I managed to take the photos. The UASC photo was taken by someone else and sent to me as I was Lead Pilot on that one.

The vast majority of ships are single screw with a direct reversing engine. No gearbox ,when you stop the engine, the engine physically stops. To go astern the firing order of the engine is reversed so the engine actually runs backwards. Bow Thusters are common but although some of the largest are 3000kw the effect on a large ship is very sluggish and tugs are used in addition. It could take an age to turn a large ship around in still water just using engine and bow thruster. Bow Thusters decrease effectiveness when there is headway and become useless when speed gets to around 5kts so very much diminished effect when stopped over the ground in a 4kt+ current. Stern Thrusters are fairly rare as is twin screw. Remember some of the largest ships are displacing ( weighing) close to 300,000 tonnes. It's all about the power to weight ratio. This is me at the office. Those tugs are 33m long approx 100' and all 4 of them over 80t Bollard Pull. Those containers are 40` long so each is a large truck. IIRC that ship is 18000teu so can carry 18000 twenty ft containers or 9000 40 footers. The largest at the moment are 24000teu

The principles are exactly the same. It's the consequences of getting it wrong is the biggest difference 🤣 Leisure craft are hugely over powered in relation to even the highest performance ships. Of course the windage is much higher as well. On some of the largest ships we calculate the windage in hundreds of tonnes so we have sufficient Bollard Pull available on the tugs.