Viking23

As we get older or have issues, I would now choose one with a single level. Access via a forward well, access to a rear well. No canopy, but to keep the weather out and increase the living space fair enough, but I don't want to have to make the effort of putting a canopy up when it rains or overnight. Pain with our river cruiser, especially during the cooler evenings, as the canopy stiffens. Sliding front canopy, or two halves even better, but many are quite draughty. Seperate large made up double with ensuite, bunks for the grand kids... etc Bathtub type seems to tick the boxes, or a Safari 25 with front well would do. Not going for the looks, more utility. Had we got 5 + years of boating left, then we would have upgraded. Spring Horizon, or Golden Horizon, type, since we have hired these in the past would be quite suitable. I think they had what is called a Triton hull. Had we got 10 + years, then maybe something that would take us out to sea and let us visit the Thames from the other direction. Richard

I would start off with a design like this... Make it from say wood 35- 40 mm thick, rather than nuts and bolts, use prong "T" nuts (screwfix/Toolstation) or epoxy in some M6 or M8 nuts, then a knurled knob on the end of some all thread. Richard

If you are a dab hand with wood work, and the clamp is to be only used for a small table, then it wouldn't be that difficult to make one out of hardwood, and use a knob with some all thread, or a long coach bolt to tighten it. With some nice rounded corners, and varnish to match your cockpit interior, could look really well, and that it had always been there. Cheap as chips... if you have the skills and an odd hour or so to spare. However... commision someone to make one, then the aluminium clamps might be cheaper lol. To boat on a budget requires the owner to invest time and resources and to do as many jobs as they can. There are certain jobs, like working with gas and petrol, and in many cases electrical installations, that should only be done by qualified and experienced tradesmen. Hope it helps. Richard

On the subject of The Brundal Navy, we have often seen them rafted up over the weekend on Bargage, often wrongly called Surlingham Broad, which is off to the side and not navigable excelt to canoes and small dinghies. They have clearly cruised all of 150 -200 metres to get there from their moorings. A quant pole could have been used to move them. Short cruises to big engines is not good for the engines at all. They have a long way to go before they can give them a run on Breydon. They could probably do with say a third central engine of around 30 hp to do their river cruising. I wouldn't say no to owning one, but if it was sea worthy, then it would get a few trips a year lol. Richard

If an electric boat turns up after 6pm, then the BA should be called, and they can use their judgement to evict an innocent boat. I would not move on a whim. However, there are no BA partrols at 6pm, as most have gone home. doh! For medical reasons and the need to have instant road access for emergency hospital care then I would be put at risk if I was moved on and had a mud weight mooring or a wild mooring. There are also less able people with poor upper body strength, that can't use a manual mud weight. Then should dog owners have priority at land based moorings? No... first come first served. Join the queue. BA please provide more 24 hour moorings, most with electric posts please. Richard

Most of the electric fleet explore the area above Potter Heigham bridge, and what a way to do it to. However, there is not a single electric charging point north of the bridge available for public use. Not encouraging electric boating is it? and looks to me that the electric points are only there to support gassless boats, many of which can't get under the bridge anyway, so no chance. Whispering Reeds was listed as having one, but talking to the owner, is not now available to the public. When I contacted the Broads Authority, their response was that they had no intention of adding these in the forceable future north of Potter Heigham. Maybe we should lobby the BA more. Richard

I think these roadside speed indicators on the approach to villages are great, it becomes a competition as to who can get the highest score in a 100 m drag race. In our village they were located on the hill coming up to our village, this is a straight road so included a "Hill climb" competition to. I'm not sure this really went on though.... just my weird imagination. I wish we had these on the broads, I would calibrate my rev counter vs speed over land, preferably both up and down stream. This would help to prevent further incidences of speeding, if you really know what the rev counter represents. Yes you can do this with the 1/4 mile markers, 1000 revs = 4000 revs= etc, do some simple maths and you have an algorithm for both up stream and down stream. or use GPS for instant information. Surely for the price of a co alarm we can have accurate speed information. So if a boat is fitted with such a device, ( 2 needed if dual helm) and the authorities log a speeding incidence, then go to court do not pass go... well instant on the spot fine. Done and dusted at the location, BA bring in loads of dosh, which they can use to lease more moorings, and employ more rangers out of hours too, to bring in even more revenue, self funding, everyone is a winner. I am sure many boaters or riverside properties, would allow the odd ranger to sit in their forward well, or sit at a table for a few hours to witness the speeding. Richard

So these so called do gooders armed with uncalibrated speed detection devices are making a best guess as to whether a boat is speeding or not. So armed with 35 seconds of amateur video, just exactly what are they expecting to do with that? They would get laughed out of court if a private prosecution was taken out, and the BA would probably need another third party with alternative evidence to support it before they took on the case, and if they did, it would probably go no further than the "Blue Book". So what exactly is the point? I would be intimidated by such violation of being videoed by third parties, that I might just moor up by them, and ask them what they were doing, videoing the complete interview on video at the time of course. I recon they wouldn't like that either. My goodness, what are the Broads becoming? I thought this was a holiday environment, people relaxing, in the end we end up compiling conflicting evidence of alleged offences, for our defence. Last November, due to health and logistics reasons, we moved our boat to the Thames at Oxford. When I read about all the aggravation in many of the posts, stag parties, running engines after hours, fewer moorings, etc are only a few of the issues causing confrontation, then I am so pleased we have moved. We have not yet encountered the full wrath of the Thames, if indeed there is any, as in main season, this is probably happening well South of us, in the Henley Windsor area and more towards Teddington, but our aim is to try this area in September, health permitting. The biggest confrontation with the authorities on the Thames is caused by overstopping liveaboards, who are often more likely not to pay their EA river fees either. I would still like a week on the Broads though....despite this. Richard

Who remembers the cascamite powdered glue? You mixed it with water, and one of the tricks we soon learnt was adding saw dust to it to thicken it, more like a filler, lol... Filled all the gaps in the joints lol. I could do mortice and tennon, dovetails, halving joints, and my challenge, sloping haunch mortice and tennon. The main secret to good joints is well seasoned wood and very sharp chisels. Richard

We have a fiamm triple headed diaphragm water pressure pump, similar to the one that runs our taps and shower. We have a coarse filter in line, I clean it every few months, or when slow to drain. It can run dry, fairly quiet, and drains quicker than the shower pump can fill it lol. So... it is nearly 30 years old, still original diaphragm, last season I stripped it to see how it was fairing, and it was as clean as a whistle, valves clear, and no build up of crud. I carry a spare water pump, that would either replace the main water pump, or double up as a shower drain pump. I could use it as a deck wash down pump, stick a filter on it ... If I brought it home, it could replace our water harvesting pump lol. One spare, covers lots of options. Richard

A couple of years ago, I emailed the BA to ask if I could use the demasting moorings at Potter Heigham to lower my windscreen, on my River cruiser. The reply was encouraging, yes you can, as long as you don't take the opportunity to go shopping and abandon the boat. That was basically the jist of it. We kept a copy of the email on the boat, for the know it alls... lol The same applies to rag and stick, demast then move on.

Thanks for that, the pics do work and..... WOW !! I wish I had the patience to do that... The father in law did a marquetry tray of birds flying over water. One he didn't start, was a broads yacht on the river. I think I might have that stored away somewhere... In fact it might have been a present we bought him, must be 30 + years ago. Hmmm... could or should I start that? More importantly... could I get around to finishing it? I think I need to find it, and see how the veneers have faired before considering that. If the veneers are ok, they will certainly be well seasoned. If all was ok, I could be convinced to do this as a project, and place the progress on the forum! I will need a lot of convincing lol. Wife said she doesn't want sawdust in bed lol... Could be an Autumn / Winter project.. Best regards, Richard

I can't comment in detail, as the pictures are not visible. If you look at the true cost of making something like this, even if you valued your spare time at the minimum wage, it would be a lot of money. The only way, in my opinion, is to get the satisfaction of having done the job yourself. This may involve learning new skills, and why not? I have done many jobs around the boat and home, that done as a hobby gives you great job satisfation, however, if you just looked at the number of hours, you could not justify doing the job at the real cost. Well I would do something like that for the immediate family, more especially the grand children, or if I supported a local charity or our local church, then you don't look at the cost. You do it for love. A way forward might be to scour the charity shops, get something close, strip the varnish or french polish and rebuild it. There is some great quality furniture out there made from conventional hardwoods. You just need some imagination. Richard

As a matter of interest, if you have BT broadband at home, you can set it up so you can receive other BT hotspots whilst out and about. At The Pleasure boat we often got a good signal, but normally we get onto the pub wifi. Will they let you tag onto that... You may not need any other account, if you only want access there, then if you also want free phone calls, then skype everyone. If this is possible, then I recon a forum member could be tempted to assist for free beer for the evening lol... This is only one option, but if you want full access to the internet and mobile phone network all over the broads, then forget that, you need to compromise. You can get free internet at most pub chains, and fast food outlets, after the first registration, say in McDonalds, then it automatically links at any uk McDonalds. Same for most pubs. Some of our hospitals in Staffordshire have free internet too. Hope It helps. I am on the boat on the Thames at the moment, can't get a free wifi link, so My ipad is tethered to my mobile phone network, using data at a fair rate, but within my monthly limit. I made my phone into a hot spot... A couple of key presses, and the odd password... linked. So lots of options. I NEED my internet these days. Keeps my mind off things. lol Richard

When we got our first boat 30 years ago, it came with a fiamm air horn, compressed air canister type, very useful at bridges, and since you can aim it anywhere, you can signal your intentions to vessels around you. We are still using it, it still the original gas cylinder etc 30 years old... Richard

Are you afloat, or using the staithe as a fishing platform?

Thanks Chris, the latest version is version 2 and Argos are insisting theirs are version 2. So thanks for the heads up. Yes I agree that Amazon do seem on the ball re bug fixing, and we are tail end charlies to the States, as they have far more options, which I guess will roll out to the UK. I wonder if they will do a Welsh version lol. Thanks Doug, yours might be slow internet, but we have fibreoptic with quite good speeds and can download films and internet clips without any buffering, and have 2-3 users on line as well. There have been issues with the earlier version 1, but also with the app. I guess if I do buy one, give it a week keep or return, then I think Argos would honour the return on the day. So if I get one, probably best from there, as apposed to returning it by post, then the supplier claiming they never received it. So I will wait for any more comments before taking a chance. I thank you both for your quick responses. I am quite techie, and find ways of getting around hitches and glitches. We have WiFi extenders, digital set top box linked to the internet, and even internet linked security cameras, but that does have gremlins lol... I do like gadgets, and even control the heating from the internet, I did my own simple system, not hive, as that still has bugs. Best regards, Richard

Due to my current situation, I am finding myself either confined to bed more, or sitting in a chair. Accessing the ipad is more difficult these days, and no doubt will get worse. A friend suggested getting an Amazon dot, the basic one for £49. However reviews are mixed, and most complaints are about the app rather than the device. So... are these units any good? Which app should I be using? for ipad of course. I like the idea of lying in bed, no glasses to hand, and simply asking questions on news, weather, maybe picking up radio Norfolk lol Any advice, good bad or indifferent greatly appreciated. I might be going out later and picking one up from our local argos, if they are any good. Many thanks, Richard

A few years back we saw quite a few large terrapins on the Bridgewater canal around Barton swing aqueduct. These were the size of dinner plates. It was thought that owners bought these as pets, and when they got too big, threw them into the canal. This happens a lot with exotic pets.

Certainly if the rope is long enough, it will take care of any normal tidal rise and falls. Why didn't I think of that lol... Richard

I quite agree, before you streamline the bathing platform, either find a better boarding ladder, some slide out from a housing. Or increase the fendering each side of the boarding ladder. Make sure the fenders cannot ride up above the boarding ladder area. The original design looks like an after thought, my advice would be to look at similar designs, or wait for a few forum members to post a few pics of what they have before making serious changes. In the mean time, do what you have to do to keep the weather out. Richard

I agree about Captain Tolley's creeping crack cure, it is a short term fix, for the simple reason, with respect to windows, the old sealant is still deteriorating, so unless you are prepared to keep doing it several times a season then the leak will continue. Yes I have used it, in fact over the years I have bought 2 bottles, the last one was £4.95 so quite a while back. I have not used it on any of my repaired windows. Every tool box should have one, but only apply when dry. Richard

Isn't the new Dr Who better named as Dr Womb... I won't take credit for that one, saw it on the news channel last night.

I saw the extended batteries for sale, you photo explains why they were an "L" shape. Very neat. I can see now why I too, have 3 radios, 2 baofeng and a pmr that can scan all channels and sub channels. For the baofeng, I bought the battery eliminator, just an empty battery case shell with a simple regulator in side, but not tried it yet, but reviews show that on some, the heatsink inside is too small, so shuts down until it cools again, so I think it might be out with the nut crackers to open the case and do my own electronics lol. or just simply fit a larger heat sink. Will see how it works first, probably be fine on receive or standby, and as it's only used for short lock operations, probably won't be an issue. All this equipment, and the only call we ever get is on the mobile from our daughter lol... Richard

Someone mentioned 32 Amp socket outlets, so I will mention again, if you use an adaptor 32 Amp plug to 16 Amp socket, that it MUST be fitted with either a 15 or 16 amp fuse ( or lower). Otherwise it is illegal. You are plugging in equipment rated at 16 amps, plug, socket, cable into a system that can supply 32 amps or more. A potential overload hazzard. Richard