SPEEDTRIPLE

No, they would`nt have to, all the schools would be closed due to Health and Safety.

Hi all, A merry Christmas from Karen and me. Breakfast is our customary sausage rolls with a mug of tea, followed by prezzie opening then off to the in-laws for the rest of the day. Wherever you are, or whatever you`re doing, we both hope you`re having a wonderful time, and our thoughts are going out to those who are less fortunate than us. Have a good one all ...................... Neil.

Not long, not long?, Monica, it`s about time you had a good long chat with Howard (Norfolk Nog), or better still, take notice of his superb tale of his VERY recent 2 weeks on one of Bridgecrafts boats. No need to wait for long daylight hours, all that does is encourage the grockels. I was well and truly awakened to the delights of the Broads out of season last month. At this years shareholders AGM, i pulled the same early November week for 2016 as we had this year, and to be honest, i`m really looking forward to it.

Hi Iain, Why does everybody knock Michael Fish?. Yes, he said there WAS`NT going to be a hurricane, and guess what, he was RIGHT, there WAS`NT a hurricaine. There was however a severe storm with hurricaine force gusts. To be properly termed a hurricaine, i believe the winds have to blow constantly at over 90mph for a period of half an hour. I may be wrong, but i`m sure that`s what was explained to me after the 87 storm. Even so, there was NO hurricaine in October 87.

Hi Vaughn, and welcome from me too. I love mooring at Womack water, and Ludham is a great little place too. Which yard did you run, was it the one Iain mentions above, which i think was called Ludham Marine, whose boats were all named after breeds of deer, such as Ibex, Kudu, New Impala etc, or was it Womack boats, who`s boats i seem to recall had names of Knights of the round table, eg Sir Lancelot, Sir Bedivere, and Sir Tristram?.

The lowest tide we`ve ever had at Reedham was when we were on Swallow i think 3 years ago. I was seriously starting to get worried when i saw the quay heading HIGHER than Swallows coachroof.

Whereabouts are you Swan?.

We`ve not had any rain, but the wind is blowing well.

In the past we`ve taken advantage of early booking discounts on holidays, but these days, whenever we book a cottage , most of the time the deposit can be as much as 50%. Personally i like the idea of Andy`s (Freedom) way of 15% off if you pay the lot at time of booking. The problem with low deposits for early booking is that all you do is pay the rest with the remaining balance. I`d rather pay half, then you`ve got a much smaller balance, but then i`m a lot better off these days, and others may have to plan an ever tightening budget?.

Jesus Howard, i think you should have called this thread "Howards pub cruise" Seriously though, i`m quite envious of the weather. We had a few good days, but not as many as you. I think i`m going to swap our weeks on Lightning for whatever weeks you have, because you always seem to get the sun. Some great pics, especially the one of Rosie Leas. I hope you went in for breakfast in the morning?.

Absolurtely spot on Ian. I only said to Karen this morning how they were predicting it as "Snovvember", but while we were on Lightning from the 7th - 14th, on a couple of days we had warmer more sunny weather than when we there in May / June. We had the heating on in November, but only on low. We only had 2 days when we lit the woodburner, but even that got too hot, so we had to open a window to cool the lounge down.

It`s all rubbish anyway. On one of Neil Olivers "coast" programmes, he was diving many miles of the Norfolk / Lincolnshire coast. He was diving in deep water, and was filming tree stumps on the bottom of the North sea. He went through the history of how the UK once was linked by land to continetal Europe, and that the North sea was once a small estuary, and the english channell did`nt exist, as it was all once solid land. Yet over many thousands of years, the natural slipping and moving of land through tectonic plates etc resulted in the North Sea and English Channell as we know it, and it`s continually moving to this day, and for thousands of years in the future. Deisel engines, or ANY internal combustion engines have nothing to do with rising sea levels. That is what is known by politicians as "the incovenient truth". Time to have a serious look into raising Pottor Heigham and Wroxham bridges i think .

One other thing is that all a boatyards in house maintainance is actually costing the yard. If you take two identical boats, both need to have their anti fouling done, but one is a private customer, and the other is a fleet boat, the customer pays the yard to do it, whereas the fleet owner pays to do it too, resulting in substantial outgoings, rather than substantial income for the same job. I was told by one yard owner, he would rather be paid for working on someone elses boat, rather than paying to do his own. I totally agree with Ian (Senator) on the hirefleet multiplyer, it`s well outdated now, and just another expoense to a yard providing private owners with services, and work for local people. Some yards are pinching everything to the bone just trying to stay afloat (excuse the punn), so considering the income a fleet operator brings to the area, it would be good to show them gratitude by scrapping the outdated multipyer. If a private boat was used for the same number of weeks as an equivalent hireboat, how would people feel if the BA suddenly presented them with a demand due to increased use of the rivers. There is another scenario that concerns me, but i`m not prepared to post it in open forum, because the BA mafia read this forum, and it will only give them ideas.

It`s just another sad story from a sad family really Griff, His dad died of alcahol abuse, but was much older than Andy was, and his mum died of cancer several months back. He has a brother, who is now all alone. To be honest, this year has not been good for Karen and me, with the loss of another friend, who died in childbirth. She was only 39. 2015 has in some ways been a good year for us, but in some ways it`s definielt been a year to forget.

Yesterday i found out on facebook that a friend, who i had`nt seen for a couple of years, had died suddenly in hospital after a short Ilness. 6 years ago (remember that), he was warned by doctors to give up alcahol, or he would be dead within 3 months. He was so shocked and scared, i heard he never touched another drop. He was married 3 months ago, went on honeymoon and did`nt feel well. After they returned, he went to his doctor, and was refered to hospital, where he had been in several times, and was in hospital when he died on Friday. Now remember, he was warned off it 6 years ago, and although he may not have died through drinking at the time, this had a drastic efect on his ability to fight off serious illness. ..................He died at the young age of 38.

Absolutely none where authority is concerned John, however, with so many of big buisnesses needing to make cutbacks, without losing output, they`re now finding the best way to do it is to get rid of "the old boy network". I was told many years ago that a typical high volume production industry would have around 60% of its staff in non productive positions. I did hear a couple of years back that the ratio is now on average around 4 - 1. I`m not surprised so many British buisnesses are shipping out and going overseas. Having said that, our company has just announced it`s been bought out by the Chinese, so we are now all concerned about our future.

Hi Matt and Roy, seeing as you`ve given them a glowing report, i might just try them. Could you pm me the details, also if possible Matt, a copy of your checklist if that`s ok?.

Cuts in funding does`nt nessecarily mean a worse service. The one thing big buisness and authorities always do when funds are reduced is to cut services, but why?. With so many executives having astronomical salaries, bonuses, and share dividends etc, it would be better to cut them, and keep paying for services. All too often do we hear that an authority, or a buisness sees a reduction in funding or profits, but who do they get rid of to cut the defecit?. It`s always the employees at grass roots level that suffer job losses, when it would be more cost effective to do away with overpayed executives. In my company, a recent top level management shake up, with a completely different operational philosophy resulted in many of the upper middle management being "asked to leave for a substantial pay off".if you know what i mean. Several of those that are eft have said they`ve made a mistake, but the company is working more efficiently, because their private little over budgeted empires no longer exist. However, none of the shop floor production staff have gone, in fact, they`re looking to increase production staffing levels. In most cases, unnessecary levels of non productive management actually do more harm than good to a buisness, by taking nessecary funding away from more important areas.

We bought a copy 2 weeks ago when we were up there. I totally agree, that`s why i started this thread. I do believe that fleet operators could stretch their season by a couple of weeks or so, but as you say, Andy has given some very valid reasons why it might not be feasable. However, when you take into account people like Howard (Norfolk Nog), and others like him, if you predominantly hire from one fleet, and have demostrated to that fleet operator that you are very competent, and always look after their boats, i think that it may be a good idea to leave the maintainance of one or two popular boats til last, to allow those that love to cruise out of season the chance to do so. If however that is NOT going to happen, then buy into a syndicate boat, we cruise all year round.

I think that last line says it all. Any pub is a struggle, so a pub with limited access is going to be even more so. If however, the pub was bought with freehold by someone with a lot of investment who could either lease, or buy some of the surrounding land, it would make an ideal riverside touring caravan and camping (glamping) park, also with a possible B+B. The downside is the transport links, or lack of them, which will always be the fly in the ointment. I can`t honestly see the local authorities going down the route of building a road, and the utility companies upgrading services for only a pub. Build an estate of so called affordable housing, and they`ll throw money at it. Does anybody think it would be suitable for a tesco express?. .....................I`l get me coat.

I was only 3 months when we moved to Gravesend, but had vague memories of going back there when i was young. We lived in a detached cottage called "Petmar Cottage" and i believe, lived next door to a lady called "Dolly Budd", and my dad was very good friends with her son whose name i think was Terry. I remeber there was a pub called "The Neville Bull", which we went to when i was in my mid teens, and the landlord or lady called Terry and he came round. The last time i saw the old cottage, it had been split into two dwellings, and one had been extended, and rather badly by all accounts, as it had an enormous crack from under the eaves down through the foundations. The crack was so big, you could get your fingers right in it. I occaisionaly wonder what the old place is like now, probably in the middle of a housing estate?.

Too damn right we are. I was born in Birling (just west of Snodland), brought up in Gravesend , lived near Leeds Castle, moved to Northfleet, but have been down here in not so sunny Dorset for just over 9 years. And not a bit of Essex in me lolol.

There always used to be a pub on the riverbank at Tilbury called "The Worlds End"...................enough said. Why do i think there`s going to be a plethora of "Essex Girl" jokes?. OK, i`l start with one, Q What do you call a 15 stone Tilbury Girl?. A Annorexic

Looks like we had the right week to be on Lightning?. We came back a week ago. Mind you, the drive back was a nightmare, with torrential rain at times. I find it very strange, when we go to the boat, we always leave at 6am ish, and the drive up is alway enjoyable, and never seems to take long. The drive back however, exactly the same route, always seems so long and labourious, and very tiring.

Thanks folks, i may be contacting them regarding a quote. I would imagine due to their location, that Custom craft will be very exspenive, so it would be better to get as many quotes as possible.