BroadAmbition

Brilliant. Don’t know how you do it Griff

Now back in the wet shed - Mores the pity. Sailed to the Island on Barton Griff

Of course plus CASDAH Griff

Crazy, NE - All the gear and no idea Ban pigeon control = no longer worth growing Rape = The Bee population suffers You couldn’t make it up. I take it NE have taken this into account? Or are they just using this exercise to cash in on issuing pest control licenses? Increasing production costs - Great move NE - Richard Craniums Griff

Cracking day out there. Stuff it, I’m off for a cruise to Barton Broad n back before I start. Therefore:- The Ship is Under Sailing Orders - HTHS TOOROTDCOTUD Assume NBCD Sate 3 Condition Yankee (go on then - work that lot out!) Griff

Onboard at 0105. 2Hrs 40 mins to do 162 miles inc a quick stop. Nice to see both Fwd and Aft Bilges dry on arrival. Planar fired up first touch as it should Time for bed, said Zebedee Griff

Sigh - Tiger didn't happen. Today however feeling much better, not 100% but I hope to be by tomorrow. Due onboard late this evening for few days through to Friday, attending to a few finishing off items Griff

Brundall Navy:- I’ll keep quiet now ! Really? Don't believe you, even if it is in writing! Griff

'My Day' - More like 'My Weekend' - which has just about been a total loss at this hovel. Bank Holiday weekend, not afloat so decided we get some of those diy jobs done around the house / garden / garage. No clay shooting this weekend either but I had promised mysen a few hours out on the Mighty Tiger It started to go wrong on the Thursday midday, I finished a tiling job, then had to visit a few clients for estimates etc and thought to mysen, heyup I have the onset of a cold coming on here. MrsG started on the same day too. Friday was a write off for both of us, Saturday felt slightly better but still rubbish, Sunday was worse and so was today. I can't believe I'm into day four and not shaken it off. I have got the new trellis installed in the back garden - taken me three days to do what I normally would have done in a day easily. The Mighty Tiger? - Not a prayer so my Lad took her out - twice just to make me jealous I reckon. The whole weekend has been wasted or the majority of it. Thank goodness we were not due to be afloat as we would have been miserable hosts for our guest crew. Still, I managed to get caught up with the Lads on the 'Grand Tour' I'd better feel an improvement in the morning otherwise I shall be firing off a strongly worded letter to my MP. But on current performances of that lot, I'd get more joy from a solicitor or housing estate agent Griff

Eastenders? - I remember watching it once, nearly lost the will to live - Never again Griff

Larger fleets, more chance I suppose Griff

They did offer advice, and its simple - Cut down on fossil fuel usage, eating red meat etc. Even the most hardened sceptics must slowly come to realise that climate change and warming up the Earth is happening year by year. Look at the wx right now - Hottest Easter on record apparently. Which is great but me and MrsG are in a right mess with some sort of cold thing. Day four now and it's not getting any better - Well hacked off Griff

Attenborough's 'Climate Change - The Facts' was a real eye opener - Shocking really According to the programme, the writing is on the wall, the world has only ten short years to change or the effects won't be able to be reversed Griff

Howard was on the case with another upgrade. This time a new DAB aerial that had been modified for us (See earlier photo). Fitting this was not difficult but yet again oh so time consuming. the chosen location was behind the Jack Powles pennant in front of the spotlight. That mean the deckhead lining in the Fwd cabin had to come down, along with the same in the Fwd passageway and both sections in the Stbd cabin. Four cables had to be run from the aerial back to the dab unit. An FM/DAB/Power/Earth return. Whilst the deckhead lining was down the the Stbd cabin the thermostatic controller for the Mikuni was removed along with it's associated wiring. New wiring and the new and newly sited Planar controller was installed. The TV booster, power cables and coax were removed, the coax being coiled up below the false cupboard bottom behind the bonded store cabinet for attention later. How is the DAB with it's 'Proper' aerial performing? - Just fine and dandy with dozens of stations now being picked up clearly - another success then. What else got done? Those deck lights - Now performing correctly on both Port and Stbd sides which is a bonus. The single switch that used to control the wheelhouse LED downlighter has now been replaced with a 3 x gang switch all 12v that light up when switched on to remind us to switch them off when not required, they control the new wheelhouse downlighter, deck lights and the aforementioned tv booster that is now out of the way behind the helms console (Still needs the coax running / connecting) The new 'Wizard' mast is fitted with nav lights wired up. However I'm not happy with the bracket and oak pad - Had to remove a fair amount of material from the pad, result it is too weak and the bracket is wobbling. I've got a redesign in my head to rectify this and hope to get onto this one on my next visit (Grendel it won't affect your models as it will look very nearly the same) One issue that got rectified that wasn't on the list. I've been noticing that one of the canopy support bows every now again was not sitting flush on the Stbd side when the sash side was raised and had to be moved / clipped down to sit properly. This had been happening for an age but I kept forgetting to investigate it. It came to light by accident during sorted out those sash side weights. The blasted bow was overhanging ever so slightly by a whole 1:5mm so was getting caught when putting the side up. Out multi tool, sandpaper, varnish - Job sorted - A lot of satisfaction from that one The hull got completed as per previous photo's, the skeg repaired - another one we didn't know about but that's what these biannual lift outs are for, a fair amount of tittivating too. However there is still a list of outstanding 'To Do's that require attention. 'B.A' should have been out in the sunshine over this Easter weekend with Captain Chaos and his crew onboard, however due to circumstances beyond his control at short notice - he couldn't make it. Myself n MrsG have had a weekend off at home getting on with outstanding DIY - However we have both gone down with the lurgi and have hardly accomplished much at all. Just as well we weren't booked to be afloat otherwise we would have had to cancel we have both been that poorly - and still am. It'll touch n go whether I feel well enough to get the mighty Tiger out for an hour tomorrow or not Griff

Yes well done indeed. Not so sure that Richo's would be the only yard to step up to the mark and 'Do the right thing' though. Bit of a sweeping statement is that one. To date 'B.A' has been bashed where repairs were required about three times now. Each time - Yes is was a Richo's hireboat. Each time Richo's have sorted it immediately, well to be perfectly honest they sorted it just once as I fixed it mysen the other times but Richo's did offer. Just remembered a fourth - a Martham hirecraft snapped our ensign staff whilst we were moored outside the Pleasureboat inn at Hickling. I dropped off the staff as we passed their place going back to PH. By the time we got under 'That' bridge, got moored up, put the kettle on, repaired ensign staff was back with us - Proper quick service was that, couldn't have asked for more Griff

So, the first job was to dismantle the wheelhouse, that is both large dressing sides with all the paraphernalia that is attached to them. Port side - 2 x 240v switches, magazine rack, fire extinguisher, first aid kit, step, one door, numerous screws and out it came to be man handled down under the hull for the rest of the week. Stbd Side, Cushion and backs, two seats, 12v wiring, heating ducting, stores below, 4 x way 12v breaker, numerous screws and out it came to be man handled down under the hull for the rest of the week. Then unscrew and lift port and Stbd sections of the wheelhouse deck. Now this was as much access as we could gain 'easily' to those four posts.That lot sounds easy when you say it quick smart. We then tied on a bit of cord between the two handles, using a weighing hook / scale measured the amount in pounds required to pull up a sash side - about 35lbs it was showing. Next job was to remove the timber faceplates but seeing as they went tight up behind the supports the deck supports they had to but cut using trusty multitool (Extra screws etc when they were eventually refitted). Now we could see inside the hollow posts, gain access to the lead weights / chains / pulley wheels. Well, that is to say we could with the aft pair, the fwd pair, access was much more restricted due to the helm console and the bonded store cabinet being in the way Howard got set too fashioning some lead plates to sit on top of a weight slotted for the chain. It soon became apparent that this was going to take an absolute age and we didn't have enough lead either. Robin on his iphone, sourced / ordered blocks of lead that were the correct dimensions to fit inside the posts. Each block was 14lb and they were four of them that arrived by courier the next day. Next issue was there was too much length in the new blocks to hang under the original ones. When the sides were fully raised, the bottom of the blocks would hit the hull planking with the chains going slack. On top of the original lead weights there was not enough room either, the new blocks would have fouled the pully wheel. So they had to be cut into around two fifths above and three fifths below. Top section had to be slotted for the chain to sit on top of the original. Bottom section had to be hung from below the original 'Letting In' aluminium straps on two sides of the original and new fastened with screws. This added 28lbs in combined weight to each sash side pulley weights. The fwd posts were a veritable nightmare, there was just so much gear in the way that had to be moved / cut / refitted, including 4 x coach bolts right through the bottom of the posts into the main fwd to aft mainframe stringers. I kept a rough check on how many man hours this 'Upgrade' had taken - 48! Can you imagine the invoice total for that lot if a yard did it? The main players involved in this one were mysen, Howard and Steve (Lads week crew) Steve spent two hole days on them. No end of times Howard was loosing the will to live muttering about all this effort / time just so the girls can lift the cabin sides up. I was really getting annoyed at times too. Everything just seemed to be fighting us every step of the way, plus reaching down working blind, dropping tools / gear constantly. Steve Gnasher Gooby however didn't get phased one iota, just kept on plugging away at it Out of all the maintenance / upgrades we achieved over our eleven days at the yard, this one was the most frustrating and time consuming by far. To look at them now - there is no visible difference whatsoever either. Still it's done and sorted. The result? - silky smooth easy lifting. drawback - We will have to re-learn and not shove them up so hard otherwise they will take off vertically and end up in the river! Griff

This no doubt has been reported elsewhere in here but I can't find it. Anyroadup a picture tells a thousand words. The location is the northern end of the 'Triangle' island between Sutton 'Broad' and the river leading to Stalham This wreck has taken up a popular wild mooring / fishing spot. Another great advert for first time holiday makers afloat. No doubt us toll payers both private and hire will end up footing the bill yet again to remove the damn mess left behind. It needs doing sooner rather than later before it pollutes the water way if for no other reason - and there are a few of them that springs to mind Griff

Another item that was on our 'Upgrade List' was to balance the wheelhouse sash sides. It's been bothering us for an age now, ever since we recommissioned back in October of 07 tbh. No end of times our Lady crew state ' Can you put the side up' (Cold / drafty is the normal whinge) The reason they ask is that they are too heavy to lift up easily, especially the Stbd one and the seating is between you and the sash side. The reason they are not balance correctly? - Well Jack Powles boat builders gottem right. However we had to replicate them and make new ones during the restoration. So we did (Well The Wizard did to be precise). We enhanced them, solid heavier hardwood (Iroko), proper glass, draft returns on the door frames, better locks, Oak dressing pieces etc etc. All this enhancing was fine, but as well as making them sturdier / stronger, it also made them heavier. We did not take this into account, therefore no more lead was added to the original lead weights that run down the inside of the posts on a wheel / chain system. As a consequence pushing them down is a one finger jobby, lifting them up however is, Brace yersen, assume the position and shove - Hard. This could not go on, we have been putting off this upgrade for an age now as we knew just how hard it was going to be. Now was the time however, it was not to be put off any longer Griff

Also if the Blessed Authority are really that tight on funding, why do they blatantly waste so much of it on projects well outside their remit? Just one example £30'000, yes that's right Thirty Thousand beer chits on changing signage all over the parish just to push out a lie Griff

I would too prefer annual tools from registration and not April each year. Nowadays it doesn't bother us too much as we just renew each year come April. However when we launched 'B.A' back in 07, had to pay a full years toll in the October, then another full years toll come April 08. No one likes getting ripped off, but when you know it before handing over your beer chits and there is nowt you can do about it - That sucks Griff

Photo of the partially installed New Planer heater unit. This is the 4kw version so its :5kw higher output than we have been used too. It also has a higher volume of air blown out per minute too. Early impressions over the Mikuni unit are positive and we can now confirm that it is a definite upgrade not a sideways like for like replacement. Whisper quiet both inside and out. The exhaust fittings and silencer are the original Mikuni units we left in situ. Howard found the fault with the Mikuni unit. The fault turned out to be simply one wire that had been chafed / then corroded through, how this had occurred - not bothered as no point. It was a very simple matter to fix the whole system then left well alone. What the heck, the Planer unit was there on site just begging to be fitted. It took hours n hours to retrofit the thing, hitting all manner of snags / issues along the way. Howard, Robin, Peter (Grendel) and mysen all combined to have a go at it over various stages but as always we got there in the end The fully operational Mikuni unit has been donated to our very own Wizard to fit to his tupperware 4 x berth situated on the canals. His craft is about 20ft-ish so a 3:5kw diesel blown warm air heater in his boat will melt his socks off in the winter Griff

Herewith the gap for the f/w tank (Freshly painted extra supports) and the gap aft where the Mikuni was and the Planar heater will fit. The white insulated round tank with the black band just visible at the bottom of the picture is the double walled calorifier Griff

So where was I? - Oh yes - fabricating a hardwood pad for the new diesel heater pump to be installed in the same location as the original Mikuni pump. This one being the optional upgraded 'Silent' version. It's a lot more beefier than the Mikuni unit. Herewith:- Griff

Now to my way of thinking, there was no way I was putting the tank back in it's location until I found some sort of reason as to why it would fail on a welded seam. Something was causing that seam to stress. Looking at the supports where it sits and there it was staring me in the dish. It was only supported underneath on two sides. Jack Powles craftsman sure had cocked this one up. What I surmised was that between being full to nearly empty, plus rocking / rolling (Sea time) the tank has been ever so slightly moving / stressing underneath it. On woodbutchery head, cut some hardwood, fasten in more supports, treat, then paint. Now to install the repaired tank - only I couldn't as the newly repaired plate had increased the size by a whole 2mm and it would fit properly Out it came again. Rabbit planer, chisel, sandpaper, paint and in it went. Fully connected up, tanks partially filled - All to the good. That little exercise had cost me a day and a half but only £25:00. Earlier I said some jobs had led onto other issues, this is just one example of such Peace of mind, it won't be happening again anytime soon. I was just relieved I had not yet commenced removing / replacing splines / caulking when there was nowt wrong with them. Had that happened then I really would have been hacked off Griff

Off in t van to the marine s/steel fabricators in Stalham. They repaired it at 1630 without any notice - Top lads. Back to the shed, half filled it with water - It was still leaking Next morning back to Stalham, this time they folded a plate over the entire length of the seam, seam welded that. Back to the shed - Tested and all to the good. Griff