mbird

Dunno where you get yours from Gav, but they are £23 in Norfolk Marine. I have just found though that ther have started selling the Plastimo re-arming device (without the gas canister) for just over a tenner. Quite glad about that as I found out last week that three out of the four I carry on board were out of date!

A lot of yards do already supply the auto-inflate type, but not all by any means.

Beautiful shots

01/8/11 Southwold to Titchmarsh, Walton Backwaters Monday was a lovely sunny day, but with a stiff SSE breeze. We left Southwold shortly after 10:00 with the intention of poodling along at displacement speed for a little while to save a bit of fuel. There was a short chop on the sea from the east, but nothing too much and so we drifted along at about 10 knots with the tide. After about 45 minutes, I could tell Sue was starting to feel a bit off colour as she had gone very quiet. A quick radio call to Col and we got the boats up on the plane settling to a cruise of around 22 kts. The sea got much more choppy as we approached Orford, which is renowned for having some rough seas and overfalls. I was amazed, though to see a standing wave infront of us about 1.5m high and breaking! I thought I must be off course and headed for a bank, but a quick check on the charts and plotter confirmed there was nothing untoward there. I dropped off the plane not wanting to launch Serenity into such a big wave head-on, and was glad I had, as there was a big drop behind the wave and then two more of the same size. I don’t know what was causing the waves, but once through them, It was all relatively calm again. The rest of the trip was quite uneventful, and we followed our course down to Pye End buoy with no dramas. Sue wasn’t feeling too good, and so I made her take the helm to take her mind off her stomach. She didn’t want to, but within 2 minutes was feeling fine, and told me “I hate it when you are right†Charming! We wandered our way down the buoyed Walton Channel and into the Twizzle Creek before entering Titchamarsh (or “Titmarsh†as Lou insisted it was called) and finding our berths some 2.5 hours after leaving Southwold. That evening was probably one of the most memorable of the whole holiday, as all the boat crews were together for the last time of the holiday, and all took dinghies out to Stone Point to BBQ on the beach. Utterly magic! Unfortunately for crew HJ3, Col forgot to close his remote tank breather when beached and so ended up with a dinghy full of petrol! To be continued....

31/7/11 Lowestoft to Southwold Most of the boats were going to make their way directly to Titchmarsh Marina on the Walton Backwaters, meeting with Crackerjack en-route who was also going to London. HJ3 and ourselves had decided to put in a one night stop at Southwold, though, as it’s only a short hop of about 12 miles. As both ourselves and crew HJ3 are quite inexperienced, we thought that would be enough to give us a bit of confidence and to make sure everything was right with the boats, without the added pressure of being in a large group. The slower boats had already left before us, but ourselves and HJ3 were accompanied down to Southwold by Clany and Escape, who then carried on to Titchmarsh. We entered Southwold Harbour after having to wait around for some dinghies to exit, and were directed to raft alongside a very nice Fairline Targa 34, who was the only non-flappy boat there! Once tied up, Conner and Jay went off crabbing while Col and I set about passage planning for the next day. The furthest either of us had ever been was Southwold, so we wanted to get it right! Dinner that night was a lovely fish supper consisting of shellfish and various crustaceans the Sue and Lou had bought earlier. I was tasked with dressing the two big crabs and the lobster, while Lou was in charge of cooking the scallops, which she did absolutely perfectly! That night we discovered the phenomenon of “Spooky Looâ€. Sue had gone to the toilet in the pitch black and was surprised that when she flushed it, the water was glowing. I needed the loo as well, and was astounded by the bright phosphorescence that happened when flushing. All the flush water was glowing really bright, which I guess must be down to plankton in the water. Very eerie, and quite fascinating to see.

Some time ago, we opted into a cruise in company with friends both from this forum and another to visit London. As the time got nearer, we pulled out mainly due to the cost of fuel and lack of funds, but still had the two weeks booked. As Col and Lou (HJ3) had recently purchased Happy Jax 3, and were keen to get their bottoms salty, we decided just our two boats would head down the East Coast with no real plan or itinery and just see where we got to. The original cruise to London was still going ahead, and so the idea was to try to meet up with those guys at the start of the holiday before we went on our separate voyages. 30/7/11 Reedham Marina to Haven Marina, Lowestoft As our second-hand VHF had died the previous weekend, we had purchased a new Cobra fixed VHF which I wanted to flush mount. Most of the morning was spent sorting this, leaving a little while to then get ship-shape again in time to depart Reedham Marina at 15:00 to get us to Haven Bridge in Yarmouth in time for the pre-booked 16:00 bridge lift. Serenity and HJ3 were also accompanied by Ian, Heather and Rachel aboard Clandestine, and the bridge lifted bang on time. Ian was trying to save as much of his precious petrol as possible and so we all bumbled gently down the harbour with the tide carrying us and then out to sea. There was a bit of a swell, but nothing too bad once we were out of the harbour walls and a quick blast down the coast with a following sea saw us reach Lowestoft about 25 minutes later. Unfortunately a following sea translates into a beam sea on entering Lowestoft, but we got in with no problem, just a bit sideways! On arrival, some of the guys and gals going to London were already there (Osprey and Katakalousse) with only Escape missing, but they arrived later that evening. The evening was spent with a few beers, a bit of a pontoon BBQ, some Guitar Hero and lots of laughter. Lou managed to fall onto her boat, but luckily only one foot took a dunking!!

Doesn't really happen at Yarmouth Martin. What tends to happen instead is the ebb flow of the river continues until such a time when the flood tide can overcome it then the river rises. It's very rare for there to be no flow on the river at the Yacht Station due to the vast volume of water in the northern broads trying to funnel through a narrow channel. Indeed, I have been moored there before and the river level has been rising despite there still being quite a strong ebb current.

And it's got Suzi Perry

Hi Chip Yes, as trambo has said, the Stracey Arms ceased to be a pub a long time ago, became the Pontiac Roadhouse for a while, then a Chinese buffet, then closed! It has been empty for a long time now, but just recently some "Acquired for client" banners have gone up, but no work has started yet. I also agree about October being a lovely time of year. All my holidays on the broads used to be during the October half-term, and the weather can sometimes be surprisingly warm. Couple that with the lovely colours of the trees and Gelder Roses, it can be truly spectacular.

Here's a few snaps from the Lowestoft Airshow last Friday, with a forumite pretending it's his own personal flypast!

Love the pics Wayne!

Hi John Can you add us to the list please? Mark & Sue, Serenity, stern on is fine and not fussed either way about leccy for just one night.

What on earth is all this about???? I find myself unfortunatley agreeing with Smelly on this one (except his/hers very last statement of course ) As an ex-mod on here, I can confirm there are frequently debates behind the scenes about various subjects but all are carried out in a professional and level-headed manner, and so in that respect I suppose the mod team already is a sort of committee, particularly when it comes to organising events or fund raising ideas. However, this is strictly an internet based forum for exchange of information and communication, not a social club. The fact that some members, myself included, enjoy meeting with like-minded members on a more social basis, doesn't alter that in the slightest. I for one have faith in the current mod team and do not understand why there is a need to call for change. They are a diverse bunch, with boating backgrounds ranging from hirer to owner, river based to salt-side. What else do you need?

Like it Grant!!!

Had a quick look at the sea an hour ago and despite northerly winds and wind against tide, there seemed to be little swell but a bit of chop.

Are you sure John? I didn't think there was any restriction on any hire craft going up there, though I may be wrong of course!

I think all my favourite spots have been mentioned already, with the exception of Coltishall lock. Just continue past the Rising Sun pub and where the river forks, take the right hand channel (the left goes to the weir). You can moor against either bank just before the lock, which is end of navigation.

Your bathing platform Ian, or maybe resting on one of your jerry-cans??

You cheeking charles

Yep, we'll bring along some cobb-able grubbings too!

Can you try boosting the contrast levels? I like the sepia, but as Trev says, it loses impact as it is a little flat looking at the mo. Nice idea though!

Happy Jax 3 and us are hoping to exit via Yarmouth to Lowestoft next saturday Ian to join you all in Hamilton. From then on we have no plans!! We are just going to play it by ear, possibly catching up with you all in Titchmarsh before you depart to London.

Very sad news. Is that 2 or 3 so far this year?

I'd disagree with that from personal experience Strowy, as I think would a couple of other members on here with outdrives. I replaced the zinc ones on Serenity last year with aluminium, and upon inspection this year, they are certainly doing their job and the drive/props seem to be being protected okay. Admittedly, we have been berthed in brackish water so maybe the anodes are a little more active than if we were moored further upstream in purely fresh water.

Love the surprised look on the fishes face!