Viking23

If you think how long that model of pump has been used by Ford, ie during the late 50's to the early 80's and how old your engine is, and how long it has lasted, then replace like with like, unless you can buy a refurb kit, including the diaphragm. I bet you could buy all the bits back in the 60's and 70's, maybe still can, but for a new pump, the price is not that bad. If you fitted an electric pump, it's something else to go wrong, and wouldn't work well if the battery was low on capacity. I doubt that would last decades. Mind you an electric pump can't be as bad as the old mini ones, bolted onto the rear subframe, I remember tapping it many times with a length of wood when the engine cut out. First mod on the mini, was to install it in the boot, but when you think about it later, the pump created sparks as it used a pair of contacts, it was these that corroded, now if there was a fuel leak in the boot... Mind you the battery was in the boot too... creating an explosive mix of oxygen and hydrogen. Having said that, the floor of my mini was so rotten, it was well ventilated lol...

There is no doubt that Robin did very well in that situation, I'm not sure that many of us would have done any better in the circumstances. The mention by several posters of what could have gone wrong, has been very useful, I have learn't a lot from that. Many of us would have opened a hatch to look, maybe felt the temperature first, yeah right... So at least we will all think again. The cutting off the battery isolators, may have cut the engine on the modern boats, but maybe not on the older generation. This could affect what happens next. Attempting to restart the engine could have put a greater strain on the batteries and cabling, who knows may have caused a battery to explode, after all, lots of oxygen and hydrogen emitted from a battery during charging or discharging, one spark... Who needs gas...? Robin, had you not done what you did, and either bailed out to the first passing boat, or moored and ran... then the boat could have been a total loss, we may have lost all your earlier footage too... only joking, nothing is that important when lives are at risk. I think the boat yard owe you a great thank you, (maybe a chance to take her out again)... as that hire boat continues it's hire, after a few minor repairs. I would say, that since you were the only person on board, you didn't have to worry about other people, had your Mum or girlfriend been on board, I'm sure you would have gone about this a different way, no doubt considering abandoning ship... and having them ready to depart with their lifejackets on, in a safe place, maybe on deck. Your personal priority, I have to say, looking at the video, was saving the boat, which in many cases most of us would do. You assessed the risk, this was your risk, and no one elses. Had you cruised to Ranworth Staithe, you could have put other boaters at risk, should there be a fire, on the other hand, the emergency services would have been able to get to you, unlike Ranworth Island. This has been a great learning process for us all. Non of us could plan for this, we would have to face the unknown and think on our feet. Robin, you did very well faced with this, you appear to be so calm, but clearly worried. If I was on the crew of Apollo 13, you would certainly be a part of my crew. Well done, Richard

We have mud weighted overnight, the signs don't say you can't. I am using the signage at the entrance to South Walsham inner broad, as the reference, it clearly says no mud weighting. Fair enough, we cruise around the edge, or even go to the windward side, cut the engine and drift, whilst listening to the wild life, and of course keeping a watch for other boats etc. I often admire the houses around Black Horse Broad, with their sweeping gardens down to their private dock, but the whole lakeside experience must be spoilt by the amount of traffic speeding down that road, and the motor cyclists that appear to use it as a race track. You can see the amount of traffic on that road, in the gaps between the properties. I guess the residents get used to it, but for me, the Broads are about peace and quiet. Fortunately the traffic noise on the Broad itself, is not too intrusive if you are in the cabin, but does intrude slightly, if you are mudweighted, and just admiring the location.

Quote" ... "let he (or she) who is without sin cast the first stone" comes to mind." Then all of a sudden a huge rock hits him on the head and cracks open his skull... "OK mother stop showing off..." lol.

The importance of a voltmeter, is to monitor what the battery terminal voltage is, so you can see when it is being discharged, charged, or it's resting voltage. The best place for it, is across the battery terminals, but a voltmeter will take very little current from the battery, but over a few months can help to discharge it. The best place is after any battery isolators, but it might be more convienient to wire it after any ignition switch. I have two leisure batteries, and I have a digital voltmeter and also a digital ammeter on both, so whilst cruising I can see what each battery is doing, I can see if there is a net discharge, and also the resting voltage, even if one is off line. We have an electric start outboard, and even the start current goes through the shunt for the ammeter, often 100 amps. As our outboard rarely gives out 10 amps, it is important to make the most of what little we have. We also have a battery charger for each, and solar panels, so we can also monitor that too. Fitting a digital ammeter is more complex than a simple two wire voltmeter, as circulating currents in the return of the battery can greatly affect the display. The digital ammeter also requires a totally isolated 12 volt supply for each meter, but since this thread is about volt meters, I won't go into detail.

That might explain it.

Still got the broads toll sticker and toll reg no. by the look of it.

Also passed a moving boat on the wrong side too. Mind you yesterday we were on the Bure close to St Bennets, and a Richo craft, travelling at speed, tried to pass our boat between us, and the bank. We were only 3-4 metres from the bank too. Had he continued, he could have damaged his boat, as he would have to be scraping the bank to get past. A blast of the horn in his direction, and a positive wave, soon directed him to the correct side of the river. I think they had just taken over the boat, and couldn't work out that driving on the right, means overtaking on the left. I will give him the benefit of the doubt, and not mention the boat name. So, is there anywhere in the hire documentation that says which side you should overtake?

I know if we chose to have a sail boat, that every time we tried to go out, it would be as calm as the doldrums. Just our luck... here is another example... I tried to paint the front door on the house once, not a cloud in the sky, stood back to look at my handywork, felt a drop of rain, looked up, there was a small cloud about the size of a barrage balloon over the house... no others... ended up with an orange peel effect... doh.. Now we use Ronseal.... rainproof in 30 minutes... and it is lol, tested it several times.

Well you often see it with an iron topsail.... Albeit, a Honda 15 attached to a dinghy rafted to the side.

On the canals, you often see pulpits all bent up on GRP boats, as most overhang the bow by more than 6" . Normans were famous for this. On the Broads, not a major problem, but contacting a solid lock gate at speed soon makes them impersonate Kermit the Frog sucking a lemon lol. However, the bow fender was in perfect condition, as it rarely contacted anything. From our pulpit hangs two white acrylic boards that hold the toll stickers and id No. A pulpit can get in the way of deploying and recovering a mud weight, but is a last resort grab hold, should you slip on the foredeck. If you have a bathtub type with a forward cockpit, then a pulpit would have no great benefit, but if a flat foredeck, then some hand hold would be a good safety feature. In my opinion of course.

Running engines early is inconsiderate, but if their exhaust faces your stern, and you have a rear cockpit boat with canopy, then if you are not woken up by the noise, then hopefully the smoke alarm or carbon monoxide monitors go off. We have been gassed out on several occasions. The worst inconsiderate ones were at Ranworth Staithe, once one starts their engine, the others think it's OK for them, maybe in competition. I now observe where exhausts are positioned on neighbouring craft, but also their heating exhaust, that can be quite noisy too, and produce some nasties, just look at the black soot deposits around the exhaust. I reposition my boat if possible. On a few occasions half a mile away lol... but then I can travel at night, hire craft have to make do.

Money probably contains more germs than most things you handle on a daily basis. Who remembers when they used to put sixpences into christmas puddings? They were in your mouth before you found them.

You want to try walking to the petrol station, no car in sight... That really confuses them! Two people each with two 5 litre cans, but don't talk to each other, seperate transactions... sorted. Then walk hand in hand away from the counter...

I'm surprised they hadn't mentioned the Wherrie's jib lol I love the wherries.

I also avoid open peanuts in pubs, the seed tray in Indian restaurants and loose chocolates in Thorntons. There are too many people who are " walkers" who don't wash their hands after visiting the loo... No.1 and No.2 aghhh... Mind you, you can't always avoid it, they use phones, keyboards, hand rails, door handles...

What puts me off mobile food places of any kind, is thinking how they would go to the loo, and thoroughly wash their hands before serving me. If I am not satisfied with their personal hygine, or the cleanliness of their facilities, then I will not use them. If in doubt, prepackaged food is the way to go. In the case of ice cream, then Cornettos, or Magnums for me. Mind you, I have been spoilt, you can buy a box of four equivalent ones from Aldi for less than the price for one from some vendors.

In the past, we have always paid the security deposit when hiring and we always got the full amount back, and that's when you could self drive all boats through Wroxham bridge ( those that would fit according to the brochure) I must have taken connoisseurs through about six or eight times, and Golden and Spring horizon through a couple of times, I was disappointed that we couldn't take Dazzling light through a few years back, and we had to use the Pilot, but it was included in the hire fee anyway. Damage waiver is just another way the hire companies can pocket more profit, and that's why they are keen to do any third party repairs themselves. Maybe there is some middle ground here, where a refundable deposit for small claims or damage to the hire craft and a damage waiver can be implemented for more serious damage to third parties.

What is electrically safe in a non marine environment, cable sizes, currents and suitable fuses etc and can even be backed up with calclations, bears no resemblance to what the BSS requirements are, or indeed how they are interpreted. In my opinion, if you are going to start the job, then do it with the right size cables from the beginning. I had to redo mine, thinking that 16mm2 cable was suitable, and redo with 25 mm2 cable when I fitted a second battery. I even bought cable that was marked 25mm2 , as the new modern thin insulation cables are a lot smaller than the older types. To be safe, and be certain of passing the BSS, I would use Red 25mm2 cable from the battery to the isolator switch. Use Black 25mm2 cable from battery to a 0 volt busbar, (0volt stud). Adding a second battery would be easy, with a second isolator and again 25mm2 cable, using the 0volt bus bar for the second battery 0volt return. Even adding an inverter would be easy later on too. The wiring looms can then be connected on the other side of the battery isolator, and to the 0 volt bus bar. For safety, the wiring after the 0v busbar and isolator, need to be the correct size and be protected by suitable fuses, but after the isolator, any size wire, if suitable, can be used. The information above is from my own experience, and was checked and approved by a BSS inspector on the Broads in September 2014. Other inspectors may have thought differently, and maybe allowed a lesser system, I wasn't willing to take the chance, and have a fail, a delay in getting the work done, and then possibly paying for a retest. Do it once... Do it right. in my opinion. My first career, I was an Electronic Engineer, so I am fully aware of electrical systems, I can see where the BSS are coming from, but small boats with outboards and additional wiring can be a grey area, open to interpretation. I think the BSS "Outboard wiring loom" statement, probably refers to an outboard connected to a battery with no additional wiring. Oh... and don't get caught out with a battery that isn't securly fixed, and the terminals aren't sufficiently protected. Good luck.

When we had one battery, and an electric start outboard engine, we used 16mm2 cable from the Battery to the isolator switch, and to earth bus bar. We had no problems with three boat safety certificates. But when I installed a second battery, I used 25mm2 cable, as the Boat safety regs said battery to battery must be a minimum of 25mm2 and battery to isolator a minimum of 25mm2. It passed last year no problem. What I don't know is ... would it have passed with 16 mm2 ? When I placed the question on another forum before fitting the 25mm2 cable it was recommended that the wiring must be 25mm2. I also have an inverter, but only 800 watts, other than that, just normal lights, pumps etc. If the electrics are simple, then the outboard engine loom is deemed suitable, but with basic electrics, and a manual start engine, then I'm not sure what could be used and still pass the BSS I guess it depends on the inspector.

I thought they might be, as I have never seen them on the Hickling side of the bridge, so clearly aimed at those who can't normally get through the bridge with their own boat, or for day trippers. Clearly Herbert Woods can't see any changes being made to Potter Bridge anytime soon..

On the subject of webcams, and not wishing to start a new thread, but looking at The Herbert Woods camera, bridge view, I see there are four day boats, which to me, look like picnic boats. Have these always been part of the fleet, and I have not noticed them before, or are they a recent addition?

Keep Potter Bridge as it is, and buy a boat that will fit under it 99% of the time. That's what we did, and so far we have got under it 100% so far. We had less than an inch once lol, and at that point you realise it's different heights on each side ... Some of that could have been the water flow.

I have been looking for a side elevation one, and found this, still fairly steep though..

You've been watching Jim from the Royle family.doh