Hard Ahead, Hard Astern!

[JennyMorgan]

Members of the Brundall Navy are congregating, as they do, at Oulton Broad for the Annual Charity Gala Day. Great, lots of flags and tipsey boaters. However, getting here is a problem for one or two of 'em. It is Oulton Regatta Week & there have been lots of sailing boats out there. Vroom, vroom, enter a by now classic three decker complete with all her covers up despite the Benidorm sunshine! Had the owner reacted a hundred yards earlier and veered just a little to the left then she would have passed astern of the racing fleet with little or no inconvenience to herself or the competing boats.  Oh no, this is the way that we always cross Oulton Broad so the owner mixed it with a fleet of racing dinghies, none of which welcomed the unnecessary intrusion. Hard ahead, hard astern, his diesels roaring in protest, just for the sake of a minor alteration to his course. Not the first time that I have encountered folk who struggle with the concept of having to alter their course, so inconvenient!  Not once did I see a hireboat having problems, just a petulant privateer.

[Poppy]

What!? Pass behind those damned sailing things??  Why the H**** would you expect me to do that? It's THEIR place to get out of my way. Have they no idea how much this thing cost my company ???

[Hockham Admiral]

It is purely ignorance, Peter. Don't let them wind you up.    

[ChrisB]

Perhaps the poor fellow had forgotten how to cancel the Sat Nav controlled Autopilot.

[imtamping2]

I think your being unfair....... do you realize he set his throttle position 2 hours ago.....way before those flappy things were about...

[Chelsea14Ian]

I always enjoy encounters with sailing boats.When Marina and I first went solo.Alan and Dave also had a boat.A woodie.Alan popped back to take an exam in London.So we met up with Dave he waited for us at the lead up to Oulton  and let us go first.Which I thought  strange,then I saw Oulton well some of it.It was sails everywhere .I stuck to the edge and lost track of how many boats were there.Think I only raped one or the problem  was I was almost in someone's garden having no where else to go.I bet you were there Peter.Back to your first comments good old Brundall  Navy they never disappoint

Ian

[Viking23]

On the subject of The Brundal Navy, we have often seen them rafted up over the weekend on Bargage, often wrongly called Surlingham Broad, which is off to the side and not navigable excelt to canoes and small dinghies. 

They have clearly cruised all of 150 -200 metres to get there from their moorings. A quant pole could have been used to move them. Short cruises to big engines is not good for the engines at all. They have a long way to go before they can give them a run on Breydon. 

They could probably do with say a third central engine of around 30 hp to do their river cruising.

I wouldn't say no to owning one, but if it was sea worthy, then it would get a few trips a year lol.

Richard

[ExSurveyor]

48 minutes ago, ChrisB said:

Perhaps the poor fellow had forgotten how to cancel the Sat Nav controlled Autopilot.

You just can't get decent crew these days darlings

[JennyMorgan]

34 minutes ago, Hockham Admiral said:

It is purely ignorance, Peter. Don't let them wind you up.    

They don't John, more likely to amaze or amuse. Having to deviate from their intended course does seem to be an anathema to some. even see it between motor boats. Is it because they really don't have a clue, only leaving their moorings at Bank Holidays and funerals? I really don't understand this reluctance to alter course or even to learn, far simpler to take the hard ahead, hard astern option. Still, it raised a cheer amongst us spectators!

Regarding learning, why not? A very tasty Broom 380 I think it was, came through from the salt side at Oulton Broad. As he left the lock he pushed the wheel over, like driving a car, so he'd head by the shortest possible route for the yacht Station, only he did it far too early, swung his stern and clouted his aft quarter on the brick work, that pretty soon took the shine off his expensive gel coat. I felt quite sorry for the boat! 

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Viking23 said:

On the subject of The Brundal Navy, we have often seen them rafted up over the weekend on Bargage, often wrongly called Surlingham Broad, which is off to the side and not navigable excelt to canoes and small dinghies. 

They have clearly cruised all of 150 -200 metres to get there from their moorings. A quant pole could have been used to move them. Short cruises to big engines is not good for the engines at all. They have a long way to go before they can give them a run on Breydon. 

They could probably do with say a third central engine of around 30 hp to do their river cruising.

I wouldn't say no to owning one, but if it was sea worthy, then it would get a few trips a year lol.

Richard

They go further than surlingham broad I've seen them get as far as coldham hall 

[Guest]

See twin engines and a bow thruster are no match for skills and common sense 

[JennyMorgan]

4 minutes ago, Ricardo said:

See twin engines and a bow thruster are no match for skills and common sense 

Very useful, in the right hands though.

Warping a boat into a tight marina berth can be such a chore.

[Guest]

Just now, JennyMorgan said:

Very useful, in the right hands though.

Warping a boat into a tight marina berth can be such a chore.

Oh I totally agree in the right hands , thing is it means there's more to learn and you just can't do that if you don't cruise very far or very often .

Your right about tight marinas I remember my berth my narrow boat had in Yorkshire basically like threading a needle 

[lurcher]

will there be room at bramerton this weekend then?

[High6]

Backwards, forwards, stop, start, left and right, duckin' under, leanin' over and goin' around - that's the whole point of it. Their loss!

[JennyMorgan]

3 minutes ago, lurcher said:

will there be room at bramerton this weekend then?

Oulton Broad and the Brundall Trundle will be a tad too daunting for some!

[VetChugger]

7 hours ago, Chelsea14Ian said:

Think I only raped one or the problem  was I was almost in someone's garden

Really?? taking on a pirate role were you? Did you manage to get as far as the pillage then?

[Chelsea14Ian]

Silly phone should  have  said tapped 

[addicted]

11 minutes ago, Chelsea14Ian said:

Silly phone should  have  said tapped 

Must be out of the same stable as my evil tablet!

 

 

Carole

 

[dnks34]

I often hear the term Brundall Navy but who are they?

Is it a specific group of folk all with grey hulls from Brundall?

Or is it anything twin engined and opulent moored in Brundall?! 

Ive come to grief on the odd occasion with sailing boats on oulton broad but not atleast trying to stay out of thier way is a bit ignorant.  

However I do feel at times they aim for you and then wherever you go to try and avoid them aswell! 

[Chelsea14Ian]

By an large its people  on gin palaces moored at Brundall. If like me you take the boat out at weekends.You will see them on boats. A few days later they will still be there.the hulls in the main are white.Now and again  they do move off,then the fun begins.Thats the Brundall  Navy.

[vanessan]

Try mooring at Cantley or Hardley Mill/Cross on a Friday late afternoon and evening. You will see many large (and some not so large) boats heading downstream usually at a fair rate of knots creating a fair amount of wash. Some of them are courteous and slow for moored boats but not many. Sunday pm most of them trundle back upstream again. 

[JennyMorgan]

4 hours ago, Chelsea14Ian said:

By an large its people  on gin palaces moored at Brundall. If like me you take the boat out at weekends.You will see them on boats. A few days later they will still be there.the hulls in the main are white.Now and again  they do move off,then the fun begins.Thats the Brundall  Navy.

I don't suppose that there is a definitive requirement for being a member of the Brundall Navy as such but I'd agree that many of its 'members' probably do have large gin palaces but to that I would add the word 'clueless' in regard to the owners. If I'm honest there are some very fine looking GP's at Brundall and without doubt some of the owners do actually know their stems from their sterns, even their ports from their starboards, but there are others who clearly don't and probably never will bother to learn.  Strangely enough there are no other, similar 'navies' on the Broads, only at Brundall! Only my opinion!

[Chelsea14Ian]

All in all I love mooring at Brundall,it's a good base for us about 2 and half hours from home.In the main peaceful interesting on Hand over.For sure if I had the money  I would buy A bigger boat,but would try to get the most out of the boat.For fun I would  like a RIB

[MauriceMynah]

Terms like "Brundall Navy", " Brundall Trundle" and "Gin Palace"  are all rather generic and difficult to pin down for an actual definition. Suffice to say that Brundall probably has the greatest concentration of big sea going magnificent craft on the broads.

For as long as any disparaging comments are firmly tongue in cheek (tinged perhaps with a hint of envy) then I'm happy to use the terms.

I remember my mother at the Earl's Court boat show back in the early 80s, looking at one of these 50' Princesses, and saying "Well it's very nice but where do you keep the mop?".