ExSurveyor

Hi Grace, only just logged on as I am on the Broads . Riverside pubs are in short supply on the Medway.. We take our pub with us..... Might be worth joining one of the Medway cruising clubs, Hampstead and yalding cc and east farliegh cc both have land at wateringbury for members to moor on..

Hi Alan, can you remind me of that on Monday . This weekend is Norfolk boat cleaning, I still ache from last weekend on the Medway.

Have you met Dinger yet, the guy with the walking stick. His bark is worse than his bite. I do prefer the less regimented feel to BGM. The fees are nice as well.

Brundall Gardens is very secure, and is nearly fully refurbished. We are out on the river and have never had a problem. The fees are competitive and Sam is helpful. You will soon get the hang of mooring, people will always offer to help and if no one is around to help, at least they can't see you mess up..

Boating on the non tidal ( above Allington lock) is nice, not a patch on the Broads. The advantage for me is 30 minutes to the Medway, 3 hours to the Broads. We use the Medway for weekends and the Broads for long weekends and extended stays. It does mean two lots of boat cleaning though.

Craftinsure for me for over 6 years, £136 for a 32 foot 30k boat, seems very reasonable.

Thanks Mowjo, very useful and practical advice.

If I add the suggested two stroke oil to the diesel tank will it have any effect on the Eber heater that draws from the same tank ? The original 40 year old perkins 4107 (8) is still running fine, will it have had any mods in recent years that will protect against these problems, I suspect it had a full overhaul 5 years ago, Hydraulics and most other things look new and the heating is from 5 years ago. Hopefully if money was spent , they would have started with the engine and gone onto the hydraulic drive and heating. ( Calypso 28 circa 1973 )

I was just wondering why Jon had been quiet lately and found this . WAKE UP JON

Congratulations Grace, if you are staying on the Medway we may pass each other. I Will be spending the weekend cleaning EllieKnight up at Little Venice. The joys of boat ownership, I can always find a job to do.

If the devil cast his net in Kent, he would have a good catch, I'm just down the road in Walderslade ....

If you look on the wherry webcam and select old boat yard I believe that is the Hamton site. Mark

Not sure who is in charge, I had better ask Matron .

Judging by my attempt to get into Little Venice, ( upstream ) today I doubt that Gracie had any luck viewing this weekend, waders or dinghy required still on the Medway. Mark

Little Venice in Yalding has been evacuated again, 5th time since Christmas day.

Hi Grace, it was flooded last time and it must beclose again.

Hi Grace, sad to say Little Venice has flooded again, so far the site has not been evacuated, but the pontoons are not accessible. Regards Mark

I think (hope) this is all hype by the newspapers. Our marina owners spent years and 100k to get permission to expand the number of moorings, good luck trying to get thousands of homes in the area. Only a small area is prone to flooding and we do need to build housing somewhere. Regards Mark

Nice one John, if ever get to be a gentleman I would love one. Regards Mark

Finally managed to get onto the pontoons yesterday, the river levels have fallen but mud and damage is everywhere. The clean up has started and the flooded cars and vans cleared. Lifted the floor hatch to find the bilge full to just under the floor. The power blew on Christmas eve and seems to have damaged the charger to the domestic batteries. Being a Calypso, some rain drains into the bilge and is cleared by the pump, that is if the batteries hold out. The batteries were dead as a dodo. Bucket and saucepan put into use and 60 buckets later the batteries had enough charge to run the bilge pump to drain the last bits of water out. That was fun. New pump and float fitted , batteries charging with new charger and wd40 sprayed all over. Thank goodness for a handy supply of backup parts on board. New tarpaulin and ropes on order. Isn't boat ownership fun.. Regards Mark.

Jon, have you thought about making a claim for your ankle, where there's blame there's a claim. Oh look, that was post number 50 ...

Fingers crossed, waders at the ready for Saturday. Regards Mark

Just seen my boat on the news, good old Norfolk bath tub to th mid right side at the end of the pontoons. The site is devastated, hoping to get down on Saturday and help with the clean-up. The river level is still high and rising. Regards Mark

Since the change to digital I don't always remember to point the aerial in the right direction or even extend it up and still get a good signal. Before the switch, in the same location the signal was non existent. Regards Mark

Or better still, #dontuseit #cantuseit #dontwanttoknowhowtouseit