SPEEDTRIPLE

I heard years ago that htey put a "rusk" in them to bind them together, whatever that means, but i think it`s more about cutting costs. Talking of Sausages, Karen and i went into a farm shop near Christchurch, and bought some of their sausages. If you by supermarkets "butchers choice etc etc", they were more expensive per lb than those from the farm shop, and the farm shop variety were much more tasty.

That might be the reason why they`re only making 3 Ian?.

Sorry to put this thread back on topic guys n gals, I go fishing on the Broads so i don`t have to sit through crap tv. It`s bad enough having to put up with all those rubbish soaps etc while at home, but on the boat?. That`s why i always like to go after mid June. As for Gracie............................ Shameful woman posing like that

I thought all the Krays got locked up?.

I like it John, "Hitched" As in "a round turn and two half hitches", or a "clove hitch", good old nautical terms.

How about "uncharted waters"?.

A great film, and another by a voice some may remember. As for the boat they`re on, Howard (Norfolk Nog) might recognise it, and its home yard.

What`s he ever done to you?, you`ll get him lynched.

On Thunder maybe, but hire boats are NOT permitted to cruise after dark Matt. I`l get me coat.............................

It will be a shame not to see you on the Broads anymore Ian. Should we be lucky to get Lightning for one of the meets, you and Heather will always be welcome aboard for the weekend. It was bad enough going past Reedham marina and NOT seeing Clanny in her mooring last year, now i think we`ll be having withdrawl symptms. Seriously though, we hope you have a lot of enjoyment out of your new boat, and new surroundings.

Yes, that`s fantastic service from a reputable buisness John. Sadly, when you visit Chandleries, the prices are often well over the top. Ican remember back in the 80s, a friend of my dads had a Finnsailer 35 (anybody remember those?), and had an oil change in one of the Marinas on the Mudway. He was charged a massive £350.00 for an oil and filters change, and that was more than 30 years ago. My dad told him he was being ripped off, so he went back and complained, and the marina immediately reduced the price to around £150,00. Amazing how the price can change over night?. Dads friend thought the original figure was the going rate, and just payed it, not knowing what was involved. I will say however, that the majority of the yards on the Broads are not in this league, but when you look at some of the commercial marinas, i think they can be a bit quick to charge a premium. It would be interesting to find out what yards would charge for a "short" engine service, by that i mean oil and filters, then you can compare the cost to a deisel car engine service. I bet the cost of oil filters for a boat engine from a chandler will cost considerably more than for say, a Volvo car deisel.engine?.

If i was still hiring, i would certainly have hired for a couple of weeks at the times of the meets. Sadly, this year, things seem to all come at once, and two family weddings can`t be got out of, plus we`ve already got a few things booked up previously. In June, we`ll get our allocation for 2017 on Lightning sorted, and will hopefully be able to swap our weeks to coincide with the 2017 meets. As i said, if we were still hiring, we would definitely hire in time for at least one of this years meets.

To be brutally honest,the "Real cost of boating", is the rip off prices we have to pay, as there is NO alternative. As i said above, a lot of accessories etc which you can buy away from chandleries, but are exactly the sam (yes, i know sometimes SOME boat related items have to be specialised) are vastly cheaper, and this extra cost is`nt justifiable in the moral world. If there was a cheaper alternative, which is widely available, people will, and often do, choose that option. The problem is, when you`re afloat, you need "that part", or "that service" straight away, with no alternative available. So the unscrupulous will prifiteer out of you, because they know you don`t have that alternative readily available. Boating need not be as overly expensive as it is, it`s just people tryin to make big bucks as quick as possible. We all know a few people, some use this forum, who give excellent service at a very competative price, but they are few and far between, and all too often, others in the boating world, may still not know of them.

For me, the real cost of boating is a price i can not afford. So, i went down the syndicate route, and another 11 1/2 owners help to pay for the privilage. I certainly could`nt afford Lightning on my own, unless i remortgaged the bungalow, which is something i can 100% promise i`d NEVER do. My aim in life is to be mortgage free before i`m 60, which is a little over 2 years, so with that in mind, outright boat ownership on the Broads is a pipe dream. I nearly bought a cute little Hampton 25, but worked out "the real cost" of ownership, which worked out around £3,000 per annum, and that`s without holiday costs. I could hire a Hampton from Rickos, for an all in price of around £500 per week, so how could i, or anybody for that matter, justify £3,000 for a boat we would use for a maximum 3 weeks per year, which we could pay around £1,500 in hire fees. I don`t think it realistic to ask how much more "the real cost" should be, but more like how much less can i make the real cost. One thing you forget to mention in the OP is that all these services etc are ther to make a profit, and consider anybody who owns a boat to be rich. The truth of the matter is you can often buy the same gas kettle, or 12v flourescent light etc etc in a caravan shop for considerably less than half the price in a chandlers. I`ve seen it and done it, so there`s savings to be made in examples like that, and the more people do save like that, the less trade the rip off chandlers do, so will have to drop their prices to gain back the buisness. If the caravan shop can make a good profit at less than half price, so can the chandler. As for your comment regarding refuse collection, it`s already being payed for by local council tax and buisness tax payers, so why should it be charged for again, just greed by a council who WON`T even consider cutting beaurocracy and jollies for the civil servants. No, the REAL COST of boat ownership for me is a lot less than it currently is, but i doubt that will ever change when most boatyards seem to work hand in hand, and keep the real cost too high.

Just checked Allans link, and there`s about 6 within an hours drive from us. The Dorset one at Canford arena is only about 4 miles away which i`ve been to before, and then there`s Beulieau (or however you spell it) which costs a whopping £8,70 to get in. We`ve also got 2 at Netley in Southampton, there`s Portsmouth, and Chichester, which is about an hour away. I`m planning on getting Mistral done up and sold this year, so i think the Dorset one is going to be a must. The problem with the Beuleau one is it`s quite expensive, and you have to park possibly half a mile away from the actual event.

Happens all the time in the Speedtriple house Gracie, whenever Karen can`t find something, i just look in the same places SHE has looked, and find it straight away. Us men are all heros, it`s just that SOME women don`t like to admit it .

Hi Allan, why not give Clive at Ricko`s a call, as they may be happy to sell off one of their older Buccaneers or Carribeans?. Just because they`re not advertised does`nt mean they`re not for sale, if you know what i mean?.

I know exactly what you mea, as i have done exactly that myself. I usually put a definite emphasis on a word or phrase by typing it in uppercase letters, which is something i`ve been doing for years. Some years back, JillR (aka "Miss Whiplash ) replied to one of my posts saying i was always "shouting" at people, which she thought was unlike me. I was`nt having a go at anybody, just trying to emphasise something in my usual way. Thankfully, these days, i think all the other forumites have got used to my turn of phrase, but i have inadvertantly posted a response to a thread which was meant to be a simple straight forward reply, but on reading it again, i`ve realised that it could quite easily, and sometimes was, taken in the wrong way. A simple misplaced punctuation can cause a post to be completely misinterpreted, and drop you in hot water. Often when i`ve done it myself, i`ve been in a hurry, and not had time to proof read it first. It also does`nt help finding it difficult to phrase something i want to say, yet get it totally wrong when i`ve written it.

Sincerest apollogies for my bad manners, A belayed welcome to the forum from me and Karen too Hak Mat.We hope you have some very enjoyable times aflooat too. Regards and best wishes ........................... Neil.

Every time we drive up, we pass the sign and keep promissing ourselves that we will visit the place next time we`re up. Is it worth a visit John?. Karen like the odd Whiskey, especially when she has a cold

Imagine trying to crosse Breydon in a wind over tide situation?.

It`s a massive problem in this country that there is NO investment in facilities to encourage up and coming talent. I was talking to a good Spanish friend and colleague of mine at work about Moto GP racing and why there are so many spanish riders in the worlds elite class. He said that the Spanish Governement put in a lot of money to the sport. The motorcycling media always takes pride in saying how the British Superbike series is the best domestic championship in the world, much like the idiots who believe in football, the British Premiere League is also the best domestic series. As for bikes, that may be so, but for the world stage, we need to have huge investment in the developing and encouragement in new talent, something sadly lacking in this country. Taking one sport, cycling. Who can say where there is a velodrome in England or Wales?. The only one i can name is i believe at RAF Cosford, and that`s on a military base, hardly open to the public. Another thing to consider is that when we do have facilities, even the most basic, more often than not, groups of youngsters are being told they can`t use them, so they lay there unused, and get torn down and re-developed into houses or a shopping mall.

There`s loads of them, where do you want us to start. Seriously though if it`s pubs you`re after, i`m pretty sure Howard (Norfolk Nog) will point you in the right direction. If i were you, and i was visiting for the first time, i WOULD`NT plan anything, just follow the rivers, and see what happens. If you plan on something using other ppeoples advice, you will more than likely have expectations, which may not turn out the way you expect them to. Just follow the rivers, and enjoy what you find.

Can anybody remember the old caraboats etc in various guises?. It looks like someone has brought the idea bang up to date

Be wary of secondhand spares and accessories though, their has been a speight of boat break ins recently, so your next bargain could be someone elses insurance premium hike.