SPEEDTRIPLE

You CAN`T moor overnight and sleep in a dayboat. Back in the 70s in the Broads hey day, most boats could get under the bridge because it still had decent headroom at alws. I rememeber reading a post elswhere, where one of the old Brooms "Admiral" went through with an airdraught of around 7ft 2ins, and the upper Thurne network was`nt anywhere near as busy as the likes of Oulton broad or Gt Yarmouth. The reason being was because there was`nt a lot to attract people, so what you had was a small group of people who wanted to spend a few days pottering around somewhere nice and peaceful, maybe for fishing, or maybe for just getting away from the crowds?. So why should it not be the same now, after all, with the increasing numbers of high ltop boats, and the number of hire boats being considerably LESS than in the 70s, i can`t see the problem. If local people don`t want any cruisers in those waters because THEY like the peace and quiet all to themselves, is`nt that a blatant example of selfishness?. The broads are for ALL as someone posted either yeasterday or today on another thread elswhere, or is that only if they suit YOUR SELFISH ideals. We all like to have things "our way", but in reality we can`t, so with this in mind, you might think to consider dropping the NIMBY stance?.

It does make me wonder why there is more than one Auhtority that oversee the running and welfare of the Broads, should`nt the BA be solely responsible?. If the BA were alone in this responsibilty, then it would be far easier for any legal claims or protestations to get things done according to their remit. I will always be very wary about the truth behind any authorities reasoning and preferences, because most authorities are run by men in suits with a personal agenda, which more often than not is against the wishes of the majority, or worse still, those that fund them. Could the very fact that the broads are overseen by more than one authority mainly because it`s a surefire way to overcomplicate preceedings, therefore allowing things to fall by the wayside, because of too much inter authority meddling. In the houses of parliament, they call it Philibustering, could the multi authority way be the desired way to ensure that actually, NOTHING really worthwhile gets done to save the BA and Natural England a lot of money that can be spent on "Executive jollies and expenses etc"?. Throught time, Authorities have always been good for Authorities, rather than good for what they`re actually there for. I have to admit though, it does make me suspicious as to why none of the Authorities want to do anything about Potter Heigham bridge, which would open up the upper Thurne waters, thus increasing buisness and industry opportunities in that area.

Strow, you really should get out more. :naughty:

I`ve often had the thought of a timber version of an Aquafibre 38 lowliner, with a white painted hull, and varnished upperworks and white coachroof. The perfect Broads boat made from the perfect materials, with the perfect colour scheme................................if you can afford the outlandish cost that is?.

Something else i think MIGHT be noteworthy is that it says for the 2015 season, and NOT for the 2015 season "and beyond". That hints at the possibility of changes for 2016, and possibly beyond that?. Still, it could be worse, they could always "re-brand" Oulton Broad. How about Oulton water park, or Oulton wildlife and country park, any other possibilities people can think of?.

Thoughts of Horsey Mere spring to mind. Was that "DEFENDING" our freedom?, i think not.

I totally agree, it`s good to see the smaller private family run yards gettin a good start to the season, especially those that are not agency registered.

There are NO dangerous roads whatsoever. The danger ous bit is the idiot behind the wheel. Yet more and more youngsters without the common sense to realise they`re NOT operating a playstation handset can`t distinguish the real thing from make believe, and still they are issued with full licenses after passing an outdated driving test. With even the smallest cars of today having the handling, braking, and higher top speeds of most sports cars of 40 years ago, the driving test should be completely updated to compansate.

And don`t we ALL know what a "NANNY STATE" this country now is?. Just a shame that "the full force of the law" is`nt used for violent offenders who assault our pensioners and kill for a few pounds. I doubt they`d be fined anywhere near that amount?. Put`s it all in perspective really does`nt it, speeding being such a violent and evil thing to do :rolleyes: YAWN.

Hi Bob, the only thing we go into a Harvester for is the all you can eat breakfast, which i have to say is very good. However, if a Harvester opened up in Loddon or Chedgrave, i`d still have breakfast or lunch in Rosie Leas.

Absolutely Brilliant. At long last, somebody has done something very worthwhile for local people. Yes, i know i`m FAR from local, but whenever we come to the Broads, we ALWAYS try to keep things local to the Broads wherever possible. Areal breath of fresh air that Swift . As for the coffee shop idea, Get Costa or Starbucks in there, and any local teashop, or cafe will soon be priced out of buisness, then they`ll whack their prices up, which is what they did in our next door village down here :norty: . KEEP THE BROADS A COSTA AND STARBUCKS FREE ZONE.

Hi Clive, so you obviously forgot to mention Wayford, Beccles old, Thorpe railway, and even St Olaves?. No high horse either, i just pointed out the benefits of the Design of the Diamond (and many other) range. I don`t seem to recall where i said Lightning was BETTER than anybody elses at all. I did say it was more suitable to the environment for which it was designed for though. Definitely a case of misquoting someones writing if you ask me?.

For a minute there, i thought you were going to say they`ve given permission to blow up the old bridge?, now that WOULD be good news.

Of course this could have been very easily avoide if they`d hired a boat specifically designed for broads use, rather than hire what is actually nothing more than a sea going cruiser with the upstairs window removed. Seriously though, i have no sympathy with anybody, hirer, fleet operator, or even private owner who get`s into dificulty with bridges, and encounters huge repair bills as a result. The Norfolk Broads are well known for their low bridges, and everybody knows it, so why make life difficult by having a boat which is not designed for the restrictions of the area?. Lightning was designed purposely to navigate ALL broads bridges, including Potter Heigham before it started sinking in the mud, and she has an inside and outside (upper) helm position, which offers fabulous views over the countryside. There are other designs like Lightning such as the Aquafibre Lowliner 38 and 44 variants, of which we`ve hired 2 of the 38ft versions, and i can vouch for the fact they give fantastic views and go under all the bridges (accept Potter, but these days very little else can), so there`s no excuse. One reason i can think of for people making mistakes is that most younger people cannot comprehend the use of feet and inches, having lived all their lives using the metric system. I`ve come across this with people in my industry (aviation) where Airbus drawings are in metric, but Boeing still use inches. We`ve had nemerous incidents where a unit should have a tolerance of a quarter of a MILLIMETER, but the operator has used a tolerance of a quarter of an INCH, resulting in an expensive re-manufacture. With that in mind, i can quite understand and forgive someone mistaking a centimetre for an inch.

absolutely spot on Paul. Great days which i never cringe about. It`s what made us who we are now.

For fans of 80s music, it`s very hard to believe that this could turn into this It`s scarey what many years and many inches can do for you.

You should have done what all good politicians do peter, and that`s take cash for questions :naughty: Mind you, you won`t get far on a couple of quid :

It`s good to be a ludite :naughty: :

Of coarse they`re paid, they would`nt take on that responsibility without being payed. And i bet they get payed very handsomely too?. As one of the scynics JM mentions, i can`t help but think this is just a "jobs for the boys" exercise, and giving them a massive hike in their salary and expense account.Of coarse, i MAY be wrong, but something deep inside says i`m not. As for the farmer who likes canoeing and bird watching, that in itself should be a glowing advert where his real loyalties lye?. Is`nt it good to be a scinic?.

Thanks for the replies folks. I`m not going to do it, but thought it would be good to find out if it can still be done. The reason for removing the turbo Clive is to remove another possible breakdown, but i remember hearing years ago that some, if not all, turbo engines usually run at lower compression than conventionally aspirated engines, so that`s why i asked if they would run ok?. It`s worth knowing about these sort of projects, especially on this forum, as if anybody is in the process of building, or restoring a boat on a budget, it might make a viable alternative to either a new, or fully reconditioned unit, and with so many used deisel powered cars being easily and cheaply available, it could make sense.

Personally, i prefer a good piece of creamy mature English cheddar, or if staying local, a piece of Dorset blue vinnie. Having said that, i`m rather partial to a nice piece of White Stilto with apricots. YYUUUMMMMMYYYYY. Getting back to the political discussion, whichever side you vote for, it does`nt matter, because these days they`re all in it for what they can make out of it. Years ago, you had Labour and Conservative, and you knewq what the (were supposed to) stand for. These days, there`s no difference, they`re all as lying and dispicable as eachother, and could`nt give a toss about the state of the country, so long as they can twist things to make them sound better than they really are. If you all vote for me, i`d make it so that you could only stand for election if You are over the age of 35 you`ve been working and paying tax for a minimum of 10 years you`ve lived in the seat you want to represent for a minimum of 10 years, so you know what is important to the area and its people you were born in this country you would NOT be allowed to be elected to ANY boards of directors. you will not have a criminal record you will NOT be allowed a second home and fiddle your expense account You will have a constituancy office in the local council building your seat will have a parliamentary flat in a parliamentary residents block.. You MUST resign your seat and stand for re-election If you change parties mid term, Can i count on your votes this coming May :

Hi all, i was looking at some cars for sale the other day, some of which were deisel powered, and wondered if modern day car deisel engines can be marinised like the engines of old?. I run a Peugeot 407 138 deisel, and while looking for a later model, saw several wth deisel engines (most 407 are deisels), which were going for well under £1,000. So that got me thinking, would it be viable to buy one, break it, selling all the bodywork etc on e bay or gumtree, and selling the engine ready for marinising, or even marinise it first, then sell it?. Also, seeing as most car deisels are turbo charged, how would a turbo engine run if you just ran it, but without the turbo?. I know it won`t give anywhere near as much power, but would it even run properly, due to it possibly being designed to be run as a turbo engine.

I have my own opinions on Jeremy Clarkson, but they`re NOT based on his screen pasona, they`re based on him being fiercely patriotic, and being a fierce supporter of our armed forces. He`s also a patron of many of the armed forces charities, and is a man who speaks his mind, and who like me, does`nt give a stuff about political correctness. One of the big issues with this is the very fact that Clarksons political views, and that of the BBC are vastly different, which have led to clashes before. The BBC is rotten with corruption, and many of its much loved presenters are in real life, the most obnoxious gready grasping individuals you could ever have the misfortune to meat. One of our family members has been in the entertainment industry for many years, and is good friends with many well known actors, actresses and presenters despite being very much unknown by the public himself, and to hear some of the things he`s told us is quite disturbing, which makes you understand why there are so many much loved entertainers going to prison for commiting some very vile offences of recent. There are other disturbing issues relating to the production staff at Top Gear, things like the Eenie meenie mine mo fiasco, which was not even anything to do with the actual broadcast, but for some strange reason, it was filmed, and used against him. I wonder how many of US have used that saying recently, but have we done so with racial intent,?, get real. Another point in question was the number plate on Clarksons Porche on the Patagonia special. The simple way out of that would be to find out exactly WHEN that car was first registered with the number H982FKL, and WHO registered it, but the BBC would`nt do it, why, would it have been proved that it was the production staff who registered it prior to being shipped out there?. Also, i would like to know, while they were filming, just exactly WHO it was who informed the Argetinian gangs of the number plate and it percieved relevance to the Falklands war?. The simple fact is the BBC is a dispicable orgnisation which should be closed down taking away the need for a tv license. Rant finally over.

Thanks Marshman, what i particularly liked abiout it were some of the photo`s were of the canalised sections which are no longer navigable. It`s surprising to see in the pictures, the upper Bure, and the North Walsham and dilham canal being so wide and open. Nowadays, these waterways are virtually streams surrounded by trees. The broads landscape has changed so much in the last 80-100 years.

I do think if a dinghy is below a certain lenght (9.9ft or 3mtr?), and is a named tender to an existing toll paying craft, then they should automatically qualify for an exemption, as should electric outboards, and small 4 stroke outboards, say 3hp max should only pay £25-£30. The trouble is, the BA would then want to raise the revinue lost on the above scenario elsewhere, and don`t we all know where that elsewhere will be?.