BroadAmbition

Cracking start to the day. Bright sunny and warming up. Now where’s my bacon roll? Galley slaves slacking, do they think they are on a holiday or what? Griff

Well that was a challenge, night nav + river mist. Now stern on at Ranworth island Griff

Crewed up. Sailed from wet shed at 2140 bound for Ranworth. Another night nav then Griff

Enroute, A17 approaching Kings Lynn, traffic somewhat busy Griff

I too off to work right now, carrying on with a kitchen/Dining room floor tiling, just about completed the kitchen wall tiling yesterday. Looking forward to catching up with one and all tomorrow Griff

With 8 x braid - 'He' might not either! (Methinks I have got me grammer wrong there) Griff

One way to help keep marine diesel emissions down is up to date and proper servicing. What also helps burn diesel more cleanly is to apply Soltron to the diesel tank, that is keep it conditioned with Soltron. Most if not all of us that do apply it, it's primarily to keep the dreaded bug at bay, However a nice side effect is that is helps for a cleaner burn, therefore better economy Griff

We too are aiming for Malthouse Broad late Friday night. It'll be a night nav from casting off at the wet shed, only fog has the capacity to stop us, though it could well be past 2359 before we arrive so may be Saturday morning, but we promise to be as quiet as possible Griff

Me, I'd be counting my blessings right now. Me too Griff

Timbo - Coz I'm feeling proper left out, would you be good enough to let me know about 'R.T's berthing rope requirements? Thank you, sir, you are a gentleman, better still a Yorkshireman! Never worry we'll get you 'roped in' too Gentleman - Debatable, Yorkshireman - Agreed, happy to be roped in. So is that a Yes Please or No Thanks? I have some 14mm 8 x braid soft Polyester in Navy Blue left over from when I recently renewed 'B.A' mooring lines. I have been trying to sell the surplus onto a gullible fool ever since but with no luck. I know why though, Oh yes indeed Sir. You see, splicing that 8 x braid stuff is a veritable nightmare and the work of a Lady Devil herself as I found out to my cost. If you answer is indeed a 'Yes Please' then against my better judgement, I'll take a deep breath, brace mysen and then I will get out my trusty hot knife, coloured sharpies, gaffa tape, fid then commit mysen to hours n hours of frustration on your behalf. Having discussed this with Doug, he recommends the following:- 1 x bow line at 25ft, back splice and a 10" eye splice 1 x Mudweight at 20ft, eye splice incorporating s/steel eye and a back splice 2 x Stern ropes at 14ft, 6" eye splice / back splice Now Timbo, RT is yours to make the decisions on. Assuming you want them, - Is the above correct or do you want to tweek them somewhat? Ball your court, or paddle in your puddle Griff

I do a visual check on the impeller every minor service and change it every at every major service interval - 750 x Hrs, we always have a new spare onboard Belts, other than a visual check and checking for tension I don't do owt. The flat belt that drives the 100amp alternator is now 11 years old having done 2'500 x Hrs and is in fine fettle (New spare carried onboard). The 'V' belt that drives the 65amp alternator and water pump failed at about 2'000 x Hrs or 9 x years-ish, I replaced this one whilst on the mudweight at Salhouse Broad en-route to Wroxham. A new spare is carried onboard for that one too Griff

Shorts? What shorts? All I can see is an eclipse! Griff

A special thanks go out to Ally who spent all weekend under the boat filling seams, with a little bit of help today she managed to complete the whole hull.  That really is a huge accomplishment and another big item ticked off 'R.T's - 'To Do' list. Well done Ally Griff

JM - I'm only sorry I can only 'Like' your post just the once, not to mention an emoticon thing for wholly agree Griff

Well done to all who attended, well done indeed. A huge respect box ticked. it was a challenge keeping so many people busy I used to sometimes have the same scenario back in the days of 'B.A's restoration when she was up here in our 'Boat Shed' Question - Are you going to organise another one sometime down the road? If so can we ( I ) have more notice please? Thanks, Griff

Do you know something? I sometimes despair I really do especially on this topic of the Lower Bure dredging. For those of us that can cast our minds back to the sixties and seventies when the then Gt Yarmouth Port commissioners looked after the Broads, there were a pair of large tracked cranes on each side of the Bure below Acle Bridge. They were there all year round on permanent duties of dredging the Lower Bure. The method used was the time honoured grab bucket and chuckit onto the bank system. The cranes did not operate 365 days a year but most of it and they were on station ready to commence action, they especially concentrated on the bends of the rivers. Hardly did one see a barge to transport the mud to another location. Now the above paragraph is not my opinion, it is not a theory it is plain and simple fact, one countless visitors and locals have witnessed and accepted as the norm Over the years I have talked to quite a few genuine 'Broadsmen' (And yes sometimes Women too) that work and live around the Thurne / Bure system. They have been on and around the water for decades, not just a few years. They tell me that in those days passage under Potter Heigham bridge was the norm and only exceptionally high tides stopped craft from making the passage. Indeed the two side arches used to be boarded up to deter attempts from dinghys and the like attempting using the side arches. This also is not my opinion, it is not a theory it is plain and simple fact one countless visitors and locals have witnessed and accepted as the norm Then the Blessed Authority came into being the two regular crane dredgers disappeared from their normal work stations. Slowly but surely over the years the Lower Bure has silted up, especially on the corners. You can witness this with your own eyes This also is not my opinion, it is not a theory it is plain and simple fact one countless visitors and locals have witnessed and sadly had to accept as the norm It's a 'happy coincidence' for the Blessed Authority that the then fairly new topic of global warming and rising sea levels came to their rescue. Now they could and did and still do blame less head room at PHB on rising sea levels, this in their eyes 'Gets them off the hook' with regards to dredging the Lower Bure. But because we have lost the power of the system being flushed out strongly enough like it used to do we witness silting in places like Hickling Broad, and even more so in GYA, even opposite the yellow posts and that hardly ever used to happen. Those 'Broadsmen / Ladies' I mentioned earlier state it is not rockets science, dredge the Lower Bure and the balance that the northern Broads enjoyed for decades will return. I for one agree with them. And here's a thought. Why not just dredge the Lower Bure, silted bends, Marina Keys, under the two bridges and opposite the yellow posts just the once. Do it properly. Then if it doesn't have a positive effect on the Upper Bure / Thurne, those Broadsmen will go and eat their hats and I'll join them. Oh but hang on a moment, the cynic in me shouts that the Blessed Authority know full well what will happen if the Lower Bure is cleaned out, it will show up shallow water all over the Northerns that they should have been maintaining way before now and expose them to howls of complaints from owners / hirers, anglers, Local dwellers, businesses etc etc - the whole shooting match and the Blessed Authority does not want that, they could not stand the heat. The last thing they want is to act on maintaining what we have. Nope, they want expensive follies like that proposed at Acle that the good Dr P. can have his name on a brass nameplate for time immemorially (Big Word) There are still some that say, even possibly believe that ceasing of regular dredging of the Lower Bure is no proof of higher river levels at PHB. Incredulously they even state there is no proof that ceasing of regular dredging of the lower Bure reducing the scavenging effect has caused the silting at Marina Keys, and down to the yellow post turning area. There are still some that believe that a pair of Penguins walked from Antarctica to the middle east to board an Ark too, not to mention the flat earth society that meets every year travelling from around the globe Here's the killer question for those who think / believe dredging the Lower Bure will have no positive impact on the Upper Bure / Thurne systems:- Why did the Gya Port Commissioners spend year after year after year with dredgers on site ready to go when silting started to occur on the Lower Bure especially on the bends. Just why did they do that if it would have had no positive impact? Your Honour - My case is rested ! Griff

Chuffin 'Eck, That lot in the photo would drive me to drink, I'd need the beer goggles on to even think about kissing that lot! Griff

It's now gone 0800, so I take it the volunteer workforce has handed in their station cards at Marthams main gate, mustered on the workshop shed deck for job allocations and are now 'turned to' ? Me - Feeling slightly jealous and somewhat guilty I'm not there helping out. However have to make the best of it so this morning from 0930 - 1230-ish I'll be at my local shooting ground busting a few clays as per the norm every second Sunday. If the clay ground had not been open today I had considered setting off at early silly-o-clock on the mighty Tiger and coming down for the day. Hopefully sometime down the road there will be another NBN working weekend and I can do my bit then. With enough notice I could ask (and hopefully get) some of 'B.A's Lads Week crew down with me too Timbo - Coz I'm feeling proper left out, would you be good enough to let me know about 'R.T's berthing rope requirements? I take 'R.T' could do with some new mooring lines, 14mm? Blue, soft three ply? Two bow lines, two stern lines and a mudweight line? - Instruct Doug to obtain the lengths required, let me have the details, I will then source, cut to length, back and eye splice and present the same to Doug when I see him in t wetshed well in time for R.T's launch. Hope this helps Griff

Wishing you all a busy weekend with top class banter. I’m enroute to Whitfield shooting estate with 7 mates for a team event for the day Griff

OP:- I would hope you just cool off for a while then carry on posting intelligent interesting rubbish along with the rest of us Griff

What's wrong with using 'B.A' as a 'Day Boat'? I have done so in the past and would do so more often if I lived closer to her Griff

I wonder if this may lead to confusion in any way? I think it will initially. I received the above via e-mail a few days ago now. I am a member of the BASC and have been for years n years. When the email arrived I initially thought, why are the BASC getting involved with fishing on the Broads? Not until I used the Port n Stbd lookouts properly did I realise my mistake Griff

There maybe a cheap hard standing or undercover spot I know of in Stalham. It could be towed aft of B.A’ on the Lads week too Griff

I am of the understanding that a Lake is a landlocked body of water. A Broad is also a body of water but is not landlocked and is tidal. To me where the confusion lies is that some Broads are indeed landlocked and non tidal, these imho should not be called Broads but Lakes Griff

Onboard ‘B.A’ it’s probably 60/40 in favour of being underway for me. During the Lads Week it’s more likely to be 50/50 Astride the nighty Tiger it’s easily 90/10 in favour of the ride Passenger flying 10/90 in favour of the destination however with MrsG it’s easily - nope, second thoughts, not going there Griff