H.m.p. Oulton Broad?

[JennyMorgan]

I'm not aware that anyone has ever fallen out of a dayboat from Oulton Broad so I can only guess that bars being installed on some of the local dayboats are for imprisoning wayward children, containing rampaging Yorkshire men or repelling rampant young ladies from Essex. 

[Wussername]

It's a cattle float!

[JennyMorgan]

Ah ha, that explains the term 'cattle class'. 

[ExSurveyor]

Elf and safety gone mad 

[JanetAnne]

Nice to see some new (to Oulton Broad at least) day boats arriving. Some of last year's fleet are looking so tired even the aforementioned rampaging Yorkshireman couldn't wake one!

[Vaughan]

How are you supposed to get onto the foredeck, for the bow line?

 

[Wussername]

You are on the horns of a dilemma.

[Chelsea14Ian]

As most of you are aware. Sadly some yoyos on day boats would  fall out if it was 12 foot high.

Ian

[Vaughan]

Actually I think this may be a conversion for the handicapped, but I can't see what it is supposed to achieve.

[Broads01]

The boats look tired and uninviting,  with or without the railings,  not what I'd choose for a relaxing few hours. 

[SwanR]

What  a shame. That could be such a good place to take a day boat from ... or are they waiting to be fine tuned to take part in the power boat racing?! 

[BuffaloBill]

Have you seen some elderly people trying to get on these dayboats?

Anyone with a slight disability will welcome this I'm sure. With the tidal

rise-and-fall around 3ft at OB, this will encourage those who are less

steady on their feet to be able to get on and off these boats without

the fear of falling. Well done to whoever came up with the idea.

[MauriceMynah]

If this has been done to help the physically challenged (Is that the right term?) then great, good luck to them, I'm all in favour of 'access for all', but if it's been done for H&E reasons then someone needs holding under Oulton Broad with a boathook.

[johnb]

We have a friend who has quite  bad mobility problems and only last night her husband was saying how much they enjoyed day boats but getting on and off is a big problem. The picture seems to show a ladder going down to the boats, are there floating pontoons or there always be a  step down into the boat (apart from inside the boat itself)?

Thanks for any information. 

[JennyMorgan]

The rise and fall is not a factor as hires can board from a floating jetty. Re tired boats, they are, some I know are over forty years old because two of them I helped build. However, a number has been redecorated over the winter. I'm not sure that it is a disability issue although it may be, more an excited young child standing on the seats issue. I think that I'm right in suggesting that the boat is question is a Sea-Master and the two in the fleet now have these railings and both have a very low freeboard. I would hate to view the world from behind bars, we shall have to wait and see what Joe Public thinks of them. As an individual with galloping access problems I wouldn't want the railing around the outside but a hand rail, like the boom on a sailing boat, can be very handy.

[JennyMorgan]

Just now, johnb said:

We have a friend who has quite  bad mobility problems and only last night her husband was saying how much they enjoyed day boats but getting on and off is a big problem. The picture seems to show a ladder going down to the boats, are there floating pontoons or there always be a  step down into the boat (apart from inside the boat itself)?

Thanks for any information. 

John, there are steps down, or up if you prefer, but mostly the boats are hired from a floating jetty. For a people with real access problems then there is a trip boat called Waveney Stardust that works out of Beccles. She is entirely disability friendly having been built for that purpose.

[johnb]

Thank you Peter.

[JennyMorgan]

Re Waveney Stardust find info here:

http://www.waveneystardust.co.uk/about-waveney-stardust/

You need to be able to sing though, we sometimes hear the old biddies singing their hearts out, all the old, predictable favourites, They may be old but they know how to enjoy themselves and no MP3's either! 'It may be because I'm a geriatric old codger that I luv Lundun Tarn, boom boom' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

[imtamping2]

They are not handrails ,I think they are fixing points for Grace's handcuffs.....

[JennyMorgan]

10 minutes ago, imtamping2 said:

They are not handrails ,I think they are fixing points for Grace's handcuffs.....

No shoe shops in Oulton Broad.

[imtamping2]

Just now, JennyMorgan said:

No shoe shops in Oulton Broad.

We ain't talking shoes here ...........

[JennyMorgan]

Just now, imtamping2 said:

We ain't talking shoes here ...........

Why else would Gracie come to Oulton Broad? No wine bar, no shoe shops and no confectioneries. Okay, so the local car park has a national reputation , maybe !!

[thingamybob]

Why would one want to repel "rampant young ladies from Essex"?

 

[MauriceMynah]

Anyone not from Essex

[JennyMorgan]

30 minutes ago, thingamybob said:

Why would one want to repel "rampant young ladies from Essex"?

 

Allegedly very demanding and not cost effective. Apart from that white sling backs & Norfolk mud don't tend to be compatible.