BroadAmbition

Love It, Love it. Especially the dog Griff

Oh Wow and wow again, taleteller. I have liked your post - Obviously - but wanted to click the 'thank you' icon too but couldn't, So, Thank you. Your monica 'taleteller' is absolutely spot on. We have missed not having someone of your talent in here for ages now. So Welcome to the NBN. Well chuffed to have you onboard, and you must keep it up now you have whetted our appetites. Your first instalment could have so easily been my childhood years exactly, (I was born in 1960) only as well as a black and white TV my Mum and Dad did have a family car and not many did in our village, kindly bought for us by an aged Aunt as way of welcoming the first born to my Mum and Dad - Me (I had a still born older brother). Great first instalment - More please, Griff

Helen, you are welcome. I would never ask a Lady her age. I'm 58 and if all goes to plan will make 59 this August. I have literally thousands of photo's many of them on slide up our loft, yes I also have the machine to convert them to digital. There are also some cine films somewhere I believe too. My issue is trying to find time to process and sort them all - Lazy / poor excuse I know, but there you go. Griff

It does look rather good n proper like. I hope it has had copious amounts of 5 star cuprinol on it too Seems a shame to cover it up with new planking after all that effort and expense. At least you have the photographic evidence to look back on Griff

Hi Rich and welcome That's proper infuriating, hope your insurance is providing you with a new one, even then your loss of NCB will sting a bit See you afloat Griff

Today I had a day orf from my normal working routine. I had a funeral to attend to in Chesterfield The deceased gentleman (Ray) was a long standing friend of my late Dads. Ray died this month aged 88. I have not seen or been in contact with Rays family since the late 70's. So there I was at Brimmington crematorium. During the service I was astounded to hear that Ray had 16 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren - They have been busy. The name 'Harold Griffin' was mentioned during the service and that his eldest son was here today (That was me of course) We then went onto the Chesterfield football stadium for the wake. There were dozens and dozens of photographs of Ray and his family and mates as you would expect. One in particular caught my eye, A photo of my Dad onboard Admiral VII. I sent the photo to my daughter / son as you would. Nadine asked how on earth was there a photo of her late Grandad onboard 'B.A' I explained to her that it was not 'B.A' but that we had modelled 'B.A's galley doors on the doors that were fitted to the Admirals and that they looked the same as they would do so. I knew Ray and his late wife Cath and most of his offspring way before I met my MrsG, I would have been about 12 years old and upwards It was some emotional hours for me during that wake and I was so glad to be there. I have invited Rays sons/ daughters onboard 'B.A' for a trip down memory lane as and when. There are six of them plus partners. Many of his offspring spent many holidays afloat with our family, Herewith my Dad onboard Admiral VII sometime in the 70's. The photo you see is taken from my phone so the quality ain't that good Griff

Grendel is bang on the money- Show off Chaps - Why do our Ladies jump to conclusions or immediately go off into t deep end, or engaging mouthpiece before brain before transmitting? Or simply ASK? I will digress here once again, I recently found out at my grand old age of only 58 years and having been married for 32 of them. You know that a lot of Ladies often grip / rest their chins in their right hand or sometimes bite their bottom lip whilst frowning, Do you know why they do that? - well I now know (Every day is a school day) and I am willing to share it with you. They are having a deep thinking session and they hold their chin / bite their lip to try and stop themselves interrupting themselves whilst thinking! - Come on Ladies - You know its true! Anyroadup where was I? - Oh yes, that new piece of Oak. At risk of death I had to really concentrate and avoid sounding as though I was patronising and explain a few facts to my MrsG. The mantelpieces she sees on Ebay do not come out of a tree finished like that. Nor does our Oak furniture in our lounge simply get cut and put together and look like it does. No, I explained that our lump of Oak needs to be conditioned for at least a week indoors and become acclimatised to the temperature / humidity of our house. Then it has to be cut to length, then any shakes have to be glued under compression and again left for another week. Then she has to provide me with a picture of the finish she wants, that is moderately worked / scalloped / rounded edges etc. Then I have to take lump round to the Wizards to run it over his bench planer to square it up. Then commence with the scalloping / edges using tools both power and hand as I see fit. Then it is 80g paper on the DA sander followed by 240g. Seeing as it is indoors no need for 5 star cuprinol. Then get set to with the Danish oil to give it a finish to match our current furniture. Then I have to purchase a hidden mounting system and 'Let' it into the timber where it will meet the wall to ensure a snug fit with no gap. After all that has been done, then she can at last put her dust collectors in it (O r m a n e n t s) and I may be allowed out of the dog house and back indoors. All this whilst I'm prioritising on the important stuff - 'B.A's new mast I'll keep thee posted Griff

So I'm thinking to mysen, why are we about to exchange a lot of English pounds that I could better spend on 'B.A' or cartridges or go go juice for the Tiger for a timber mantelpiece? Especially when whatever she chooses on line will be too small or too big, not made to measure, not the right colour / type of finish. Timber is my thing (Along with a few other hobbies). Surely I can do better and improve on one rather than ordering one off the shelf that is a 'Make Do' ? So today on my travels I called in at Donny's best known timber merchant. One large piece of Oak in exchange for £60 and its in the back of the van. Now I'm in a risky situation here as I have not discussed this with my home improvements officer but toooooo late she should have made a decision / pulled the trigger which she hasn't done. I took it home and put it in our lounge to acclimatise itsen for a week or so before I get set to on it. 'High Darling - your new mantelpiece is in the lounge' - thinking I am in line for plenty of brownie points here Not a bit of it:- 'It's the wrong colour / grain and I wanted it moderately worked on the edges and rounded corners, it does not match the present Oak furniture we have in the lounge - I'm not happy, don't like, don't want it' (You can just see a piece of our current oak furniture to the right of the 'new' Oak) Basically - She has the face on and I'm back in the dog house - which in our gaff is outside with no heating. Macie never spends a day let alone an evening in there, whereas me? - I'm on first name terms with the place Griff

Update - Ten days gone by and license still clean - Will soon be approaching a record. Right, the photo you see is our freshly decorated lounge, in particular the chimney breast. That is a new mirror - the second one as the first one was delivered with a broken centre mirror so they had to send us another one. I have since replaced the original broken mirror and daughter has claimed it - Another job for me to do it go round and hang it for her. Anyway I digress, MrsG proclaimed that she wanted a large timber mantelpiece fitting below the mirror. Griff

Sigh - Re think on the height of the yardarms #3 coming up then! Anyone else? Btw a pair of forumites have come forward requesting the original mast be donated their way so the mast is now spoken for, which I'm glad about as it will continue to ply the Broads and be seen by many, although I might just find myself doing a few alterations to it on their behalf before I hand it over to make it more user friendly for their boat Griff

That's a fair point I had not considered. Might have to do a rethink on the design then Griff

Springs? - Ah yes, but what type? Tension, compression, leaf, coil? (Also steps back and waits . . . . ) Griff

Understood. The new mast will be exactly the same height at the present one but the yardarms will be longer, thinner, tapered and raked aft Griff

Andyhewitt - As SwanR stated - Have a look at the captains blog on youtube - Should tell you all you need to know Griff

Polly, I think its just to keep me on the hop with the model, The same thought did cross my mind as it does whenever we do an upgrade to 'B.A' that changes her outside appearance. The spine, yardarms and teardrop flat top will all be teak. The spine will have three elongated holes with rounded edges in it, this will decrease the top weight. The yardarms will be thinner and longer raked aft slightly again reducing top weight. The 'No Name' timber will be fwd and aft capping battens wider than the spine fixed top to bottom. These will both add strength. The aft capping batten will be permanently fixed in place. The fwd one will be removable fastened with screws in cups. This is where the cables will run for the anchor light and fwd steaming light along with a coax for the tv aerial leading to a small inconspicuous fixed bracket on top of the teardrop adjacent to the anchor light. We are changing the mast as over the years it has become apparent that it is way to top heavy. Some girly and senior crew struggle with it unless they stand up and get a good grip of it. It has done its job but along with a lot of items onboard 'B.A' over the years we have come to realise that we can improve the look and function of the mast so a new one it will be. We are all looking forward to the result, I'm also looking forward to working with quality hardwood - And of course marvelling over the Wizards wood butchery skills (Damn show off that he is) Oh and BTW - If anyone wants a mast for their boat, then 'B.A's original one is going free. You will need to purchase two nav lights as we are transferring them over along with the 4 x pin plug. And yes as it is now around 14 years on the go, it could do with a rub down and re-varnishing, You might consider cutting down the yardarms to reduce top weight, cut some holes in the spine etc - but be mindful of the cable in there Griff

Good answer Polly We don't do 'Seasonal' varnishing - thank goodness. Nope, what I am referring to is a new mast for 'B.A' The chunky planks in the photo are genuine Teak, the thinner longer planks is our 'No name' hardwood both next to 'B.A's current mast and both up here at home with me. I took them round to the Wizards workshop last week and we have at last made a start. That is we have designed and drawn out full size the new mast that will be. Thing is doh ball here forgot to photo the drawings but will rectify that one during the next session along with progress Griff

And so it begins . . . . . Griff

The Eberspacher issue onboard Indy is a real Bugler it really is and one that Robin should not having to battle with. Of course me and Bro' could go onboard at any weekend and sort it. We could trace all the cabling / connections / fittings that the 'Professionals' that is 'Esper' carried out an sort it once and for all - We may yet have to and be glad to do so. However that would invalidate any guarantee issues that may arrive in the future but we are on standby if the call comes. What I don't get at all is how Panks seem to know the unit has done 800 x Hrs - Just how the hell do they claim to know this? Is there some monitoring system that gives them a readout that it has done 800 x Hrs especially as they have not opened up the unit? - You couldn't make it up! - But someone has. Then there is the statement that every 1200 x Hrs it has to be serviced by a main agent - Nowhere in the printed word or verbally does it state that this AAARRGGGHHHH Besides stating that every 1200 x Hrs of use the unit has to be serviced to maintain the guarantee? 1200 x Hrs ain't a lot when one applies simple arithmetic. Let's take a average autumn / winter, say from October through to March. That's six months when one would expect to be using the onboard heating system. Six months. Now lets be generous and assume that one only uses the heating system during the hours of darkness as we all know during daylight hours in the winter it is proper warm and one does not need any onboard heating. Six months of say from 1700 through to 0800 = Thirteen hours per day. That means ninety two days of using the onboard heating system - Ninety two days is only 3 x months! So on light use (Not using the heating system during the warm daylight hours in the winter) and it requires an authorised dealership service - Really? Bl00dy hell, not very robust or reliable is it? The Mikuni system onboard 'B.A' gets serviced every two years (By me or Bro') whether it needs it or not. That is opened up, cleaned out, new glow plug, checked etc and never an issue. Just how many hours of use does our heating system get used over two years - If we have girlies onboard, especially the southern variety with illegally short skirts we can get through 1200 Hrs in weeks! Then there is the standard of 'Fit Out' that Esper employed - Abysmal, and I have had to deal with it. Not secured, clips / vent just pushed together, no attention to detail, lagged only where you can see the pipes etc etc and this Esper outfit is a recommended franchise by the manufacturers / suppliers? - then the lack of paperwork and guarantee giving the suppliers a 'Get Out'? Not to mention the fuelling issue that cause diesel contamination inboard and cost a kings ransom to correct. I'm disgusted by the whole issue I really am. Robin really should call it and get tough but I can see where he is coming from - He knows the legal side / consequences fa better than I do. Me and Bro however know the practical and straight talking side far better than Robin does. If I have to get involved - then good - It'll get sorted one way or another. I can feel a proper argument approaching. Don't make me angry, you won't like me when I'm angry Griff

It could well be. But why do it? Why remove fenders manually or by air brushing? - To show them off to their best? - Surely not! Griff

Welcome onboard. Me - No but no doubt there's plenty in here that can, Griff

Ropes - Yes Ropes - Not sheets (Or hawsers especially wire ones) Now that is a different topic to Fenders up or down and I suppose should have been on a different thread. Some forumite stated that it was an aesthetic thing to cheese a rope down - Well for me I disagree entirely with that one. The ability to coil a rope, stow it away or hang it up on a convenient bulkhead just ain't practical on a very high percentage of Broads cruisers. So what does one do? Just chuck it on deck in a heap anywhere will do, it happens and so what? Just coil it down any old fashion and leave it on deck anywhere will do, it happens and so what? Well, I will advise some crews of so what and what can / may and has happened and as sure as the rivers ebb to sea will no doubt happen again. Btw - This ain't a rant or an RN style order, it's just advice that be taken or left. It's just my personal take and how I or my crew do seamen evolutions whilst onboard any craft. Its a safety issue not aesthetic at all. 1) Safety for crew primarily. If a rope is loose on deck and you stand on it, the rope will roll underfoot, crew members can then lose footing/grip and over the side they go, probably hitting part of their body on the boat on their way into the wet and crinckly stuff whilst they are at it. 2) Coiled down and / or loose, if it is proper windy then said rope is going over the side, around the prop and that's as far as you are going. At best with propeller cover it's inconvenient / embarrassing at worst its damage to the drive gear and a ruined mooring rope not to mention a craft underway with no means of stopping and decreasing answering to the helm. I forget just how many times a year I am calling out to passing craft that have a stern rope trailing in the water behind them, crew blissfully unaware, just waiting for them to stop / go astern and bingo, even worse get it caught around another craft We always cheese down mooring ropes - Always. Firstly:- For crew safety. A rope that is cheesed down - You can stand on it all day long, on purpose or by accident and it ain't gonna chuck you over the side or get wrapped round the boats prop. Secondly:- For boat safety. And yes, Thirdly and lastly:- It looks ship shape and Bristol fashion - That's just a by-product of points 1) and 2) one that I personally quite like A cheesed down rope never ever gets kinked either on using said rope if one picks the damn thing up correctly before deploying it. I rarely get exasperated with my crews unless they insist on picking up a cheesed down rope incorrectly time after time and putting kinks in it. Again, some craft don't lend themselves well to cheesing down a rope, but at least stow them safely or in a fashion where they can't do harm to crew or the boat at the very least brief the crew there is a loose / coiled rope on deck Griff

Fenders up or down? For me it's a personal choice thing. Snobbery as someone said it most certainly is not - well not for me personally or any of my crews I would hope either. I would take issue with anyone that thought of me as a snob - really? Where I came from or how I got here - Not gonna happen There is a safety issue here too, some craft just don't lend themselves well to having fenders on deck and of course some crews are not able bodied / too senior to lift them even if they wanted to. Then there is the boat safety to consider. I have seen on more than one occasion fenders left over the side getting caught on other craft / banks / trees etc which has ended up causing more damage, best one was the dyke down to Neatishead staithe when a cruiser passed a sailing yacht and a fender caught on one of the wire shrouds - that made a pickle and could have been dodgy for the crew too. We see no end of fenders floating into the wet shed that have been ripped off somewhere out on the rivers and most of us have seen them merrily bobbing along in the rivers unattended. To my ex-Rn Port and Stbd lookouts, craft look better underway with fenders up. The brochures that the hire craft companies provide you may have noticed that most of the photographs taken of hire craft are with fenders up or removed entirely I was just brought up both on the Broads and in the RN to always lift fenders whilst underway. For me it's like not brushing ones teeth in the morning, or setting off in the car with the boot / tailgate up - it's just not right, doesn't look right and doesn't feel right but I stress that's just me - it's a personal thing. We always lift fenders onboard 'B.A' and any hirecraft Lads week included and will continue to do so. If other skippers / crews want to leave them down - then that's their choice and it bothers me not a jot, the only time it does bother me a slight iota is when I see them dragging in the water causing noise / turbulence etc but I would not dream of pointing it out to said craft. As for lifting them when solo cruising - Well when I am solo cruising - Then the fenders whilst underway are - Yep onboard deck, it ain't difficult, just a bit more forward thinking / planning Griff

Fenders Down whilst underway? Griff

Now where is Griff when you need him! Present and correct Mr Treasurer Sir. As are 'B.A's fenders whilst underway Griff

Beware of some of the vendors at Beccles Griff