TeamElla

https://www.calor.co.uk/news-and-views/press-release-cylinder-range?fbclid=IwAR2IxT-ehQXDQ7OAshroE28c8yoJCKBoefRsjrkFnGtVW7lhqsIksr2_bVI

What do you make of this? See the link and I suppose it's true. Flippin nuisance though as my gas locker base has been tailor made to slot in the bases of 2 x 3.9 Kg Calor propane bottles (which are a much smaller diameter than flogas bases)

Just remember to take cash as they don't accept cards (or at least didn't when we last had a pump out there)

I once built a display panel in the Engine Control Room with interface to the CPP System on a channel ferry, because the Chief Engineer wanted a visual indication of what the bridge officers were up to on the telegraph and how the CPP system responded. I was told that the CPP would automatically respond slowly to a change in bridge telegraph setting, so going from zero to full ahead on the bridge would result in the actual pitch slowly increasing unti it reached full pitch. Amongst other considerations, this is apparently to stop the sudden load from stopping the engine!!! (Actually they had a total of 4 engines driving 2 shafts). We all had a good laugh when I got it working. As I recall it would take something in excess of 10 seconds to add the full pitch (maybe more, my memory is hazy now). On the bridge they were using the telegraph just like they used to in the old days where a bridge telegraph just sounded bells and duplicated their settings on a readout in the engine control room. So we had the full ahead / full astern / ahead again movement on the bridge, followed by the gradual increase in pitch and before it had finished they were at it again and the CPP never reached it's set pitch until they stopped fiddling with the telegraph.

Look in the comments (past all the usual adverts), where relatives of the actual people involved have contributed:- https://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/news/boat-sinks-on-broads-at-st-olaves-norfolk-9278592 Wild speculation:- If the boat came to rest in the same direction that it had been travelling, the "unseen metal ripping through the boat" could well have been a collision with one of the rock filled wire gabons that line that side of the cut (further back towards Reedham). These have been known to slip down the bank and into the navigation in the past. This area has just been experiencing high water levels and some flooding with resultant stronger currents, which could be a factor in dislodging a gabon. Having said that, I have noticed that the gabons have been in much better shape of late, whereas a few years back they wete in a sorry state. They don't even need to be out of position to be hit if a boat passes too close to the bank, which is one of the reasons for the warning signs to keep clear of the bank there. However, the flooding would have to be relatively slow in order to come to rest where they did as the gabons must be a good 20 minutes further back down the cut.

I'll second that

How about this then........... IMG_3381.HEIC

I'm not surprised that the insurance cover is so generous. After all, what damage can you do with a canoe? By the way, the short visit toll for a canoe (without bcu membership) would otherwise have been £8.50 for up to 7 days

I would suggest that you join this organisation:- https://members.britishcanoeing.org.uk/become-a-member/ This provides a Waterways Licence giving block access to multiple uk waterways (including the Broads) where in each case you would otherwise have to pay a fee (even when canoeing). It also provides £10m liability insurance cover worldwide whilst you are engaged in canoeing activities. This then becomes irrelevant:- https://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/boating/owning-a-boat/tolls

Hello Grendel, His name is Bill. He used to be the mechanic at St Olaves Marina and still keeps his boat there. By the way, I was the chap on the bank handling your bow line. Nice to meet you Steve

We tried to fill up at Goodchilds a few days ago and they had no diesel (or what they did have was reserved for their commercial customers and operations), plus berth holders in their marina are currently limited on the amount of fuel allowed when it is available. --- By the way, they also have a label apologising for the fact that they now have to charge £30 per holding tank pumpout due to their massively increased costs for disposal).

I used to know what a buoy was until I went to America!

If you're intending to use that old 3 way fridge on gas all the time, it might be prudent to check whether the boat is currently using Calor Gas or not. If it is (and assuming that the miserable time we have had in getting Calor Gas bottles refilled over the past year or more is set to continue), you may well be better to swap over to FloGas or similar alternative supplier. Most forum members know that the company's stated reason for the supply problem is a lack of empty bottles. There are plenty of empty bottles out there but we want them filled and won't give them up without receiving a full replacement. Catch22 or what? Maybe they should provide a "refill your bottle" service if they are not going to manufacture any more new ones!

It has happened before:- https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/nov/26/stevenmorris.uknews2

Anyone interested might want to research why there is one Irish Ferry running out of Dover now instead of where it used to be based (and what they are paying the crew on board!)

The re-flagging of the Dover fleet started a year or so before Brexit as each vessel went in for annual refit. As a Contractor I was there to see it - Port of Registry changed each time from Dover to Limassol. In hindsight, it would appear to have been a sign of things to come. Maybe they had to make big savings but treating loyal employees in this fashion will never be forgotten

Left yourself wide open there Mark. (Don't you just know that someone out there is thinking up a smart answer to that! )

Marinas prohibit the disposal in toilet blocks (instead going to the expense of putting in dedicated disposal points) but that could be just to prevent blue being splashed about in the toilet compartments by careless individuals. Then again, have you ever tried to control the discharge from a portapotti cassette? At least those of us with pump out toilets don't have to worry about that but it does get expensive if you want to use the boat for just a few days at a time and always leave it clean. Who knows when you can get back to it in the current fluid Covid situation.

I thought that chemical toilet waste was prohibited from being discharged into public sewers due to the formaldehide in the blue, that needed specialist treatment (and that accounted at least in part for the level of pump out charges)

You could contact goodchilds and ask them:- https://www.goodchildmarine.co.uk/contact

Just to clarify (for anyone not studying the above info closely):- River Closure and Quay Wall Maintenance The bridge is correctly described as the "Acle Road" bridge but it's not at Acle itself By word of mouth, anyone familiar with the area (and not having access to the ordnance survey co-ordinates or the map in the official notification) would just need to know that this is adjacent to Asda at the Bure Mouth, Great Yarmouth So there's no problem for boats from the Northern Broads reaching either the Bridge Inn, Acle or Ferry Inn, Stokesby

I still paid the chap who I had arranged to come out and rescue us, since he was already on his way when we finally caught up with him very early next morning (on the other side of Breydon). Anyway, we've known him so long that we regard him as a personal friend so we also cooked him breakfast

Something to consider (based on personal experience):- The last place that you would want to be unfortunate enough get something wrapped around your prop is on the final stretch of the lower Bure. In our case it stopped the engine dead and rendered us unable to restore propulsion for many hours (and it happened between "Marina Keys" and Great Yarmouth Yacht Station - near dusk!) By the time I had brought us alongside with several swings of the mudweight it was dark and the initial slack water had just started to flood. To this day I don't know what we had run over as our rope cutter had dealt with it by morning. It had literally "gone away in the night."

Here you go:- cropping.ranged.behaving

They're both cheeky and opportunistic too (see first pic) I know that these pictures are very old, but the clarity of the water at WEST SOMERTON makes it a reliable place to find kingfishers. As with anywhere though, incredible patience is needed to capture a decent picture of one.