Bad Form To Fly An Ensign On A Hire Boat?

[Vaughan]

1 hour ago, JennyMorgan said:

Originally Brinkcraft was owned by a Mr Brinkoff, or however it's spelled. A gentleman of Swiss origin who advertised in his home country and from where many of his customer came from.

Maybe going off the thread, but interestingly Fred Brinkoff was the first to introduce customers from abroad on a regular basis. He did this by arranging with Blakes to have certain boats made available to his Swiss agency (Soler, I believe) and had the customers flown in every week on a Thursday. So he was the person who took the Broads away from Saturday only departures.

[JennyMorgan]

I can't give any examples but from memory I always understood that Mr Brinkoff was quite an innovative operator, not just Thursday changeovers. Perhaps Vaughan can be more specific than I.

[grendel]

3 hours ago, Timbo said:

Hand sewn by virgins (Griff and I get sore fingers from all that tapestry)

Haha ha ha ha - I havent laughed more all day - Virgin on the ridiculous you mean....   

[stumpy]

A couple of years ago we were chugging down to Acle when one of Clive's finest hove into sight wearing a 3 yard White. After a quick tutorial to Kathy sitting in the stern we dipped our Red to them and sure enough a junior rate scuttled to their stern and returned the courtesy amid great hilarity and thumbs up all round. The senior service gets everywhere!

[JennyMorgan]

The Senior Service does get everywhere but I have heard it said that there is nothing more useless on a yacht than a lawnmower, a billiard table & a naval officer. However, junior rates would appear to make up for that shortcoming !

[JennyMorgan]

Naval officers aboard a yacht.

[Polly]

Yes not a finest hour

[Vaughan]

3 hours ago, JennyMorgan said:

The Senior Service does get everywhere but I have heard it said that there is nothing more useless on a yacht than a lawnmower, a billiard table & a naval officer. However, junior rates would appear to make up for that shortcoming !

I had always heard it was a stepladder, a wheelbarrow and a retired naval officer!

[JennyMorgan]

A wheel barrow is quite useful when clearing the bilges of empties and the heads of inebriated crew members!

[tjg1677]

1 hour ago, Vaughan said:

I had always heard it was a stepladder, a wheelbarrow and a retired naval officer!

No - definitely  an active one............ a handbrake on a commode is generally of more use!

[JennyMorgan]

1 minute ago, tjg1677 said:

No - definitely  an active one............ a handbrake on a commode is generally of more use!

On a sailing boat a handbrake would be incredibly useful! Imagine being ensconced on a commode, contentedly reading a well thumbed copy of The Art of Coarse Sailing whilst devouring pickled onions, and the boat tacks. Without a handbrake the commode would travel with some speed across the cabin sole, coming to a sudden halt against the leeward bunkside, the contents defying gravity as the reader of the above book comes into violent contact with the lifting roof which in turn did as it was designed to do, all of a consequence of not having a handbrake. 

[JamesLV]

Lordy, what have I started! In all seriousness, thank you all for your comments, really nice to see such a busy forum!

[JamesLV]

if we chose to fly a duster at all, a Petroc Ensign it is I think (I was conceived in Cornwall and born in North Devon) so I'm safe enough with that!

[JennyMorgan]

After all this then I reckon you have got to fly an ensign! Perhaps a Red at the stern a Petroc ensign as a house flag on the starboard yard-arm.

Perhaps you could rig some sort of mast on the aft cabin roof?

http://www.usps.org/national/fecom/faq/flag/gaffpole.html

[BroadAmbition]

Flags / Ensigns / Pennants - Love em, one of my fave topics.  White ensigns onboard a broads craft? - Yes we have flown one on the odd occasion from 'B.A' ensign staff - proper wrong but who gives a toss?  It was an RN weekend afloat with all six crew members formerly in the RN and ex ships company members of D88 (HMS Glasgow).

I used to get somewhat irked re flags being flown improperly, trouble is that I see it that many times I would give mysen a permanent frown or angina, so an age ago now I decided not to be an 'Armchair Admiral' but to live and let live, as has been previously stated, the Broads is a playground and we ought not to take these things toooooo seriously.  Out on the High seas or sailing abroad things need to be very different, ship shape and Bristol fashion and all that, definitely no Irish pennants either.

We have quite a few different ensigns / pennants at our disposal, one of my favourites but not flown very often is the 'Gin Pennant'.  Sometime this year it will be flown again.  As per the norm probably by me - strange that.

I agree with Vaughan in the reason for hirecraft not having an ensign staff is due to breakages / damage.  We are now on our third ensign staff, first one was broken by a hire boat, second two by our own crew insisting on using it as a hand hold.  It is always the skippers fault for not removing it when berthed stern on.  Robin was skipper for the last misdemeanour but somehow I ended up paying for a replacement and I was a skipper of a Jewel of Light at the time- Still haven't worked that one out

Oh and the NBN pennant I have here in my office will from next month be permanently flown from 'B.A' tri-mast, not before time either I hear you say.

Griff

[Siddy]

We'll be flying the NBN & Yorkshire flags as normal, thats when I re order the NBN our last one was left on the front of Melody last year.

I will be watching the webcam in a few weeks to spot the first boats flying the flags, shows there out to have fun.

[Timbo]

Talking of flags and pennants I found another one in Uncle Albert's collection. This one seems to have the number 4521 hand written on the hoist, which I'm not sure is part of Dad's RN service number. Anyone have a clue what this one is?

And what is the best way of washing something that is red and white without it turning pink?

[Timbo]

Oh I say! Uncle Albert WAS a naughty boy! I've discovered the identity of the pennant...it is that of a Commodore of the Royal Navy. Now where could the old boy have half inched this one from?And dare I fly this one from RT? 

 

[tjg1677]

3 hours ago, JennyMorgan said:

On a sailing boat a handbrake would be incredibly useful! Imagine being ensconced on a commode, contentedly reading a well thumbed copy of The Art of Coarse Sailing whilst devouring pickled onions, and the boat tacks. Without a handbrake the commode would travel with some speed across the cabin sole, coming to a sudden halt against the leeward bunkside, the contents defying gravity as the reader of the above book comes into violent contact with the lifting roof which in turn did as it was designed to do, all of a consequence of not having a handbrake. 

 lolol I totally and utterly stand corrected, I never envisaged that scenario. Brings to life the meaning of being in the  s##t!

[Vaughan]

8 hours ago, Timbo said:

 

Wherever he got it, that is an old one! The red ball denotes the rank of Commodore second class, which was discontinued just after the War. A Commodore first class was considered a junior rear admiral, and wore that rank on his uniform.

As this seems a small flag, I suggest it was used on the ship's barge, when taking the commodore ashore.

[JennyMorgan]

So a second class Commodore only had one ball then?

Vaughan, might it also have been worn on a second class Commodore's staff car?

Timbo, could it be 'dry cleaned'? I suspect that there is a story behind the acquisition of said bit of naval bling, just a shame that we can only now guess it. 

[Vaughan]

40 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

Vaughan, might it also have been worn on a second class Commodore's staff car?

Staff cars would have a red plate with stars, on the bumper. In this case one star, equivalent to an Army brigadier, or a US brigadier general.

Only a field marshal, an admiral of the fleet, or a marshal of the RAF, gets to fly a union flag on his car!

Remember that these old flags are made of bunting. This may help in looking up how to clean them.

45 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

So a second class Commodore only had one ball then?

Correct. And a full commodore had no balls at all!

[Vaughan]

50 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

I suspect that there is a story behind the acquisition of said bit of naval bling, just a shame that we can only now guess it. 

A commodore would normally have a cruiser as his flagship. I seem to remember Timbo's father once served in a cruiser. This might make the connection.

[ChrisB]

20 hours ago, JennyMorgan said:

The Senior Service does get everywhere but I have heard it said that there is nothing more useless on a yacht than a lawnmower, a billiard table & a naval officer. However, junior rates would appear to make up for that shortcoming !

Not heard that one. 

I was always told "An umbrella, a suitcase and a Naval Officer"

[vanessan]

" We are now on our third ensign staff, first one was broken by a hire boat, second two by our own crew insisting on using it as a hand hold."

Maybe a pushpit rail would be useful then (thinking back to a recent thread on the benefits/drawbacks of)!!