mbird

Photos????, Nah, we found a pub . Only joking (partly). We had a great day out and there will be loads of piccies I am sure. My thanks to Bruce for his patience and guidance, and it was good to see so many people attend, and good to meet Pat (seaboater) at last.

Thank you for the kind words Clive, but I think I might just about get away with going down the new glass for the 50D route first. I think another body would certainly end in divorce! With regard to the hoover, I just told her if it's not sucking as well as it should, she'll just have to do it more often . I suppose I'd better go and get my dinner off the floor now

You and me both Col. I was particlarly intrigued by the original course of the Bure, which I had never spotted before, despite looking at the area on Google maps previously. I think I agree with Carol, and may have to get my canoe out

No, no Simon. I've just instigated negotiations with SWMBO for a 24-104 L lens (she needs a new hoover which may take priority I fear, that and the lack of work at the moment ! For someone of my level of competancy a 5D would be utterly wasted!

I've always had a fascination for astronomy, but never really persued it other than £90 on a cheap telescope. That enabled me to see the moon's craters clearly, and just about make out Saturn's rings and the horizontal bands on Jupiter but not at all clearly. I once managed to see the cloud nebula that is somewhere in Orion, but I have't that faintest what it's called. To be able to get photos with such clarity though, is quite frankly amazing. Keep em coming

Flipping eck Dave, that's amazing. Please post more if you have them, I find them fascinating. I only have a very cheap Tasco 'scope that I can barely make out Saturns rings with.

Great shot Paul. I never knew about the red bill until Jill posted it, but I've checked my piccies, and they are all little chaps!

Hi all Just to let those arriving by boat know, I have spoken to Darren at DRL Marine this evening, and he is happy for all members boats to moor on his quayheading. Most of his fleet is out, so there will be enough space for us all. For a small fee I am sure the shore power could be negotiated if required. See you tomorrow!

I don't think you'll have a problem at 11am on Saturday Col, as it is usually quite empty at that time. A fortnight ago there were only three boats there until about lunchtime.

I'll also be likely to bring my eldest sprog Simon.

Hi Clive I'm interested to find out what L series lens you have, and how it performs, as this is the next upgrade I am looking at. I had the original 18-55 non IS kit lens with my 350d, which was pretty awful (the lens, not the body), so I upgraded to the 17-85 IS lens (the same as you have up for sale I guess), which is leaps ahead. I'm not sure how the 18-55 IS lens compares to my original non-IS kit lens though? The problem now is that having upgraded to my 50d body, the 17-85 IS is left slightly lacking from a sharpness point of view. Sorry for the thread Hijack Trevor

Fantastic Paul, many thanks for your tutorial. I have a few pictures in mind to give that a go on!

Well done Col It's a great feeling when you finally manage to snap one of the little blighters....! I saw an Otter at close quarters two weekends ago, right in the middle of Horning. Guess what....NO CAMERA!

: You don't know how right your are David, and to cap it all, whilst we were crossing the Beach Boys came on the radio with "Surfin' USA", I kid you not!

Paul Any chance of a blow by blow idiots guide? I couldn't suss it using Paint Shop Pro, was that how you did it?

Hi Trevor To echo what Jonzo has already said, the bundled accessories will be of quite a low standard I suspect. The conversion lenses rarely give an acceptable result (my opinion only, others may differ of course), the flash will be a very low cost item which will not talk to the camera, and therefore be no better than the built-in pop-up flash. My biggest concern, however, is that the camera pictured is not a UK model. The 450d is not called the Rebel XTi in this country, but that is the American/Far Eastern name. I could guess these to be imports from Japan or China that should be destined for other parts of the world. Whilst this will not affect the function etc, I would be concerned if you came to make a warranty claim that you would be left high and dry, as I suspect Canon would not honour it as it was not an official UK import. You may also like to read the section at the bottom of the page which states: "This product is Manufacturer refurbished in NEW condition, in CANON Refurbished box, unopened, everything is keeping in the original manufactory status. This package includes the following warranty: •Warranty Length: This product comes with 3 MONTHS USA warranty. •Coverage: This warranty covers repair or replacement of defective product." The key words there are "refurbished" in other words a camera that has been remanufactured by Canon after a warranty claim where an exchange was necessary or something similar, and the "3 month USA warranty" Having said all that, the price for the camera body and lens alone is quite good (Warehouse express want £498 for the body and that lens as a bundle without any of the other bits and pieces) and most places are around £430 for the body only with no lens. That particular lens is about £135 if bought separate, so on the face of it, its not a bad price. I know what i'd do, and it would involve a berth that was particularly wide

No objection from me Colin. Is the dog okay to be left in the car for a few minutes just incase we stop at a pub that doesn't let them in?

The thing to remember about bathtubs and Breydon is that they ain't watertight. When crossing into the wind and waves, any large amount of spray will invariably find it's was through the gaps in sliding canopies and windscreens, making the whole thing a rather damp affair. Couple that with the fact that any water that gets into the for and aft wells drains straight into the bilge means bilge pumps have to work well. The shape of the bathtub hull means that any waves aren't ridden over, but slammed into, which can be very unnerving for the inexperienced, and it can take an awful long time to get across. Mind you, the best crossing I ever had over Breydon in our bathtub was last year on a very windy Bank holiday. Luckily the wind and waves were behind us, and we managed 8mph!

Oooh, ta Perry

No, it's still there and very popular, Perry. It's a bit pricey, but then that view is worth it! It looks exactly the same as your photo. We stayed in Troulos too, Andy, at Maria Yiannis apartments near bus stop 20. A bit too close to the road for my taste, but probably the most spacious and best equipped rooms we have ever had anywhere in Greece. The Troulos Bay Hotel will be our next accomodation (when we can afford it!).

We loved it, Andy. It was our first time, having done a fair few of the Greek Islands in the past, but it was my parents 6th time to the island, so it must have something!

Thanks Col

My apologies for posting these, but they are boat related, and I promise not to inundate you with holiday snaps! These were taken a few weeks ago during our holiday to the Greek Island of Skiathos. The Skiathos Harbour is awash with sleek yachts, most of which can be chartered: And also the odd stinky: I really wouldn't want to be in this blokes shoes if the coaster moves while he's still there

It'll be interesting to hear the results. I wonder if the fish in the Broads just wouldn't know what to do with a pellet as they aren't natural? I fished for and hour and a half on Womack Water this Sunday and ended up with 4 bream (nothing big but up to 2lb). The all fell to double maggot, but rather strangely there were no Perch or Roach as you'd normally expect.

Lovely looking boats Clive. Nice to see you've embraced the Ford "Kinetic Design" so they look like they're moving when standing still By the way, are you going to put beds in for normal size people? At 6'3" I find the newer design boats only cater for the shorties of less than 6' tall and us normal people are left squished up not being able to straighten our legs. When we were still hiring, we used Moonfleet and only their older boats had beds I could fit in. Not one of their newer designs had beds big enough. That was one of the deciding factors when buying our Alpha 32, the fact it had two doubles 7'0" long!