ExSurveyor

I find a menopausal lady handy

Most of them are still in the yard as of last weekend, untouched and unloved

I always drain the domestic water system, cover the engine in a thick quilt, fit engine heater on thermostat, fit dehumidifier on timer and small cabin heaters on thermostats. I also visit to stay at least once a month and have a friend living near who will call over if I ask. The boatyard are also great if I ask them to check. This is the first winter with the little boat as well, I have decided to take it out from December as I am less likely to use it and one less thing to worry about. I also hope Norfolkland has a mild winter

I am up for a very long weekend in early December ,, a long week the day after boxing day and another very long weekend at the end of January I have decided to take the little Broom out of the water in early December,

Hi Peter, If I had no shore power, was removing all soft furnishings and not using the boat over winter then I would ventilate, As I have power and use the boat all winter, a dehumidifier is great. I would have to make a couple of trips home with the amount of soft furnishings onboard. The Broom Scorpio had mould on the underside of the roof after 6 weeks, fortunately it wipes off easily from the grp .

I saw you as you went passed our mooring at Brundall Gardens, you did wave

"The Suffolk Fire and Rescue Services believe the fire was caused by a household dehumidifier and have warned boaters not to leave appliances unattended." That would kind of defeat the purpose of a dehumidifier. These units are used in households and boats throughout the country, never heard of any in the UK catching fire before. Do Hotpoint, Beco and Creda make dehumidifiers ?

Hi Cheshire Cat, saw The Corsican out on the Yare over last weekend, looking very smart indeed

All paid

Sitting on the Yare tonight ,, two hire craft have passed, well after dark with all internal lights blazing.

Perhaps rather than damaging speculation and repeating rumours , it might be better to wait for any business to make an announcement about their future. , just a thought.

9 in the first 24 hours

One for me please

So, really really ,, you know. Awesome .. This is the start of any conversation by a spokesperson ,, For goodness sake, get your message across without all this additional nonsense. I don't "know" it's your job to explain.

Frank, Dig deep, I have recently discovered the following, Re-chroming and reasonable never occurs in the same sentence ,, Very few re-chroming companies exist. You will be looking at 150 to 200 pounds for yours. I discovered a new found love of my tatty wheel insert and decided to embrace its heritage

Chatham historic dokyard is a great day out. Hms gannett, HMS Cavalier and the submarine Ocelot. Plenty of historic buildings and great displays. everything is accessible. We took the grandchildren down and only saw half first time, needed a second visit to complete it. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Sorry to disappoint you Poppy , according to Matron, the flu vaccine is dead, it can't give you flu but will not provide protection against the identified strains for at least 10 days.

Timbo, came back from Singers myself in march 1965, it was bloody cold here. The old man was a RM based at RAF Seletar. Happy childhood days out there.

MM, sounds similar to mine on Whitey, although mine has a hand lever to the rear rather than a foot pedal. I can check the make in a couple of weeks but sure it is a Jabesco.

I accept accidents happen, sadly a small portion of helms are plain stupid and make no attempt to understand how to handle a boat, when in doubt, give it full throttle or play the how close can we get game, or the oh look, the back end swings in a funny way. With a boat heading to you, you have little indication as to how competent they are and from experience have to assume the worst. I moor on a wide area of the Yare, on the river, last mooring with large signs saying, private No mooring, I work on the theory that if they look like they are coming in to moor, they haven't seen the signs they may not have seen my boat. I am cautious, not paranoid. That doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.

Very easy to say, unless you have to pick up the cost of repairs or find the time to repair the damage, time that could be spent relaxing onboard. As a privateer, I don't have the luxury of handing a boat back at the end of a holiday and walking away from damage. Fenders will reduce some slight scuffing but are no defence against a maniac helm, hire or private. If you have worked bloody hard to be able to invest many thousands of pounds in your own pride and joy I think you might have the right to be concerned if a helm is heading your way, I assume they may have limited experience afloat until they prove otherwise. Sadly you only have to sit and watch some boats continually ramming the quay head to realise some are idiots, too late when you are sitting doon relaxing to realise you have one heading your way. Rant over.

Robin, do you want a job

I have a cunning plan Blackadder, I will phone Brooms on Monday and suggest they get some spare keys cut

I pay about 50 pounds over winter for electric, that's battery charger, engine heater to come on at 3 degrees, cabin heater set to come on at 5 degrees and a compresser dehumidifier on a timer between 10 am and 4pm. I guess changing to a dessicant unit might save me 15 pounds a year but I will have to buy a unit at over 100.pounds more. I do measure the atmospheric moisture levels using my hygrometer with the dehumidifier running and it is kept below 60%. I know a dessicant unit would work better but the additional cost is not justified. It works well, why pay the extra. I have had no mould or mildew formation in five years and I leave all soft furnishings onboard for occasional use. A dehumidifier works well as a dryer if put in the heads with wet clothing .

I have a bit of knowledge of dehumidifiers and condensation and Robin makes some good points based on his research ,, however, in practice compressor type units will work well on a boat. Use a timer and buy one that will continue to operate if the timer turns off and then on again, not all units will. They will extract at around 8 degrees and work best with a small heater. I have used compressor types on both boats for years with complete success. Remember to cover larger vents in something bright to restrict airflow but obvious enough to see to remove when onboard. Small, less than 100 pound units are not worth the power to run them .. Crystal units are great for cupboards but not ideal for a boat that is left for 3onths over winter. They may be the only option without power available .. Anyway, Winter is months away