SPEEDTRIPLE

We hired her sister ship "Orion" in June 70 when they were only a year old. She was an absolute stunner, and handled extremely well gliding through the water leaving hardly any wake. Sadly, she was sold off the broads and (i believe) went to the Thames and was for sale on one of the brokerages a few years back. They were trying to sell her as a house boat, and had been completely wrecked inside. I`m sure it was the Orion, as at the time, i`m sure all the others, "Vega, Sirius, and Castor" were still on the Broads. Id love to know if she is still around and what state she is in, anybody know?. As for the clip above, sorry sakibanski, but for your crew member to mess about on a small pitching fordeck in a choppy sea like that is just irresponsible. God forbid he fell overboard, although he`s wearing a lifejacket, he`s not wearing appropriate clothing for such a trip, let alone dance about on the deck without holding on.

My day today starts with me still being loaded up with cold. The worst bit is not sleeping most of the night with sinuses so blocked, you go to bed with a headache, and wake up with the same one, but that's if you are lucky enough to actually get some sleep. What I need is to be steering Lightning out on the open rivers from up top, fully rapped up taking in plenty of that fresh Norfolk air while drinking a steaming hot mug of fresh lemon juice sweetened with a couple of spoonfuls of honey. The lemon and honey is already being consumed, but sadly 250 miles from the Norfolk Air.

Some really great models there Vaughan. While talking railway's, I know a lot of people on here think Facebook is the anti-Christ, but there's an excellent Facebook group about Norfolk lost railways with some superb photo's of a time we'll never see again.

Sorry to hear that Griff, you have our sympathies. I remember when we had a West Highland White called Snudge. We got him around my 11th birthday in 69, and he came with us for my first trip on the Broads in June 70. Sadly we lost Snudge to Cancer in lat 81 at the age of 12. I got more upset when we lost him, very much more so than when we lost close family members. I hpe Macie dog is looking down on you from above saying thank you for a good life?.

Nowhere near Norfolk, but down here in our village (West Moors in East Dorset) we have an excellent butchers that we always use. They sell mostly locally produced meats, home made pies, free range eggs, as well as a lot of speciality cheeses (yes Alan "RB" it`s where i found Black Bomber) etc, where you always have difficulty finding elsewhere. If you live in a small community, it`s vital to shop locally to keep the small community businesses going. Yes you may pay a little more at a proper butchers, but we`ve always found the quality of meat etc far superior.

Hi Matt, and all, I`ve just received an e-mail from our chairman. Lightnings restriction re Potter Heigham bridge is purely voluntary amongst the owners, but has no baring on insurance. Basically, we CAN take Lightning through, but if anything happens, or Lightning gets stranded through tidal restrictions, the owner who took her through (or attempted to) is solely responsible. I suppose with this in mind, the owners of the day (before my share ownership) decided on a voluntary no go through Potter Heigham Bridge, a move i would also support. Unless they raise it, or blow it up of course

Hi Matt, To be honest I don't know, all I can think of is that it was a voluntary restriction on cruising ground due the the risk of possible damage which was agree'd on earlier in the syndicate before I bought into it. Now you come to question it, i'l ask our chairman and find out, it might make insurance a bit cheaper?.

It will NEVER happen to me, we NEVER use Amazon, or Ebay, of any other of the on-line trendy shopping systems. Go to the shops to buy things, and keep people in work.

Your post comes across as a bit sarcastic Vaughn, i hope i`m wrong?. With regard to your post above, Correct me if i`m wrong, but If you read Lakesailors post on page 1, later quoted by Simon (Broads01), you will see he does NOT say they will be moving the fleet North, he merely says "I wonder", which is questioning. I think his question is very valid, as operating one company`s fleet out of two yards is not exactly what you would call cost effective. If it were, i doubt Richardsons would have closed their Acle yard?. Aston boats at the height of the hire boat industry operated from Loddon and Beccles, but after the downturn in the popularity of hire boating, they then closed down their Loddon yard as it was no longer cost effective.

Absolutely superb write up Malcolm, and some really great pics. We`ll be on Lightning mid March, so hopefully, we`ll see you then if you`re afloat.

That would mean a definite move of Lightnings mooring then .

The later Buccaneer range had narrower decks, but a substantial cut away from cabin sides to coachroof. Lightning has exactly the same and was designed to go through the blockage, and she was built in the 90s. Sadly now it will hardly ever get under. But even if she could, our syndicate rules and insurance does`nt allow it. YOU`RE ONLY SUPPOSED TO BLOW THE BLOODY BRIDGE UP. Taken from that great film "The Italian Job", though very slightly modified.

Absolutely spot on. Some good friends of mine worked in a well known local tyre centre when i lived in Gravesend. They told me that if anybody used one of those tins of sealent, it meant a new tyre immediately as they`re not allowed to do puncture repairs on that tyre due to the incompatability between the gunk and the puncture repair adhesive, along with the patch adhesive. Originally, when a puncture was repaired with a bottle of gunk, and later properly repaired, the patches would peel off inside the tyre. It`s also worth remembering that these bottles of gunk can cause a molecular degredation of the tyres raw materials resulting in the risk of a complete delamination or blow out, which is why you should NOT use them for any length of time. Imagine that happening at motorway speeds?.

Hi Simon, I wonder if you would get a full refund if you canceled your booking due to the relocation of the fleet?. If your sole purpose for booking from them is to be on the south rivers, i would have thought you would be within your rights to cancel the booking and get a full refund so you can hire from one of the other four southern fleets?.

Unfortunately, out of town superstores and on-line buying has killed the village shopping. Everybody moans about it, but look at how many buy on-line at every opportunity. You can`t have your cake and eat it as they say. Village shops are not there just to look pretty, they`re a vital local amenity.

That`s what we found when we went there in June, so we came straight back out again.

Is Throwers the shop opposite the pub on the North side of the main road?. If so, that`s a real shame, as village stores are extremely vital to be kept going. We ALWAYS use village shops whenever we`re on holiday somewhere, use them or lose them.

Taking the words from Michael Caine in the Italian Job, "you`re only supposed to blow the bloody bridge up". I can only hope

I`d be more than happy to see some restriction on developements around the Broads, so hopefully the BA will tighten up on things. It won`t be long before we`ll be cruising through nothing but riverside cottages at Wroxham and the like, with no moorings anywhere, It`s bad enough now.

I`m sure people on this forum have already said that NBD DON`T allow private boats to moor full stop, never mind the changeover day issue, has anybody had any experience?.

I can remember Stephanie when we hired "Tower Bridge". She was very friendly and welcoming, and had a nice smile. She had longer hair back then. Well done to Bridgecraft, the well deserve it. An excellent family yard, with a great range of boats, and give excellent service.

It reminds me of when Richo`s bought the Stalham fleet back, though the bunch that bought it from them in the 70s did`nt grow the business, more like clearly destroyed it, getting Richo`s a bad name, so they bought it back and invested very heavily on renovating most of the boats, some of which were beyond help.

Seriously though, Brooms are dredging out their mooring basins and using to spoil to infill some of the low ground levels behind their moorings.

At least SOMEONE is doing some dredging

Hi Howard, we often drive by Wimborne down here in Dorset, and around that area is regarded as flood plain. Quite often we drive by and the fields are as your pic. The one thing that i often wonder about is the river Waveney past Geldeston Lock, as the river beyond holds a level the same as before the lock. Did the river rise above the lock, or did it drop and run a lower level between Geldeston and the next lock.