Beccles Bound..

[Guest]

Cracking morning on the way to Beccles

[PAULG]

All looks very quiet 

[YnysMon]

Beautiful!

[Guest]

Very quiet, we are in the Yacht Station in Beccles and its less than half full.

[YnysMon]

Have all those pesky hirers from northern hire companies gone back ‘home’ then?

p.s. I don’t really mean the ‘pesky’, all our hires have been up north. 

[SwanR]

Might be that the majority of hirers are due back on Friday or Saturday. With so few hire yards on the south now, Beccles might be a long way for being sure of getting back to the north in time.

[vanessan]

Last month when we were out, we found the end of the week quite quiet down south. We assumed it was because hirers were making their way back to the northern rivers or back up to Brundall etc. Friday evening onwards got busy with privateers. 

[Guest]

We crossed Breydon Southbound this morning at 07:30am and I must have tried to turn back 6 or 7 hirers heading for Yarmouth (clearance was 7ft 3in), they clearly hadn't consulted the tide tables and had little chance of passage, most just shrugged their shoulders a proceeded. When we reached the split for Reedham/Oulton a Ranger was heading at speed after them.

[YnysMon]

That’s worrying! I hope the Yards will be giving people more advice about the Breydon crossing. I know it’s in the skippers handbooks but wonder if some people read them.

[tim]

Great Yarmouth tide times can be a problem for novices 

Im always paranoid about checking the clearance even when I have a low boat

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, tim said:

Im always paranoid about checking the clearance even when I have a low boat

Me too, our airdraft is 6'8" but I still ring the YS for the best time to pass through, a simple phone call is all that is needed and they are always cheery and happy to help on the phone.

[marshman]

It isn't difficult but you do need to think, albeit only a bit - I think all hirers get the Broadcaster and they devote a whole page to it!!! But of course they cannot be bothered to read it - they largely think that they know best I suspect.The publications don't recommend crossing at Low Water slack or thereabouts for no reason and members here should encourage that - and no its not just about burning more diesel!  If it doesn't suit, then leave it until it does unless you know what you are doing and are able to take responsibility.

I am beginning to think we should continue to draw attention to the fact that Yarmouth /Breydon can present some problems instead of posters often portraying it as a "doddle". But more importantly the need to wear life jackets at the very least when in the lower reaches and especially when attempting a mooring.Should be second nature!

[SwanR]

I don’t think they give out the Broadcaster to everyone like they used to. But we’ve often been asked on handover whether we intend to cross Breydon Water. We never do but I would surmise that if we were then they would give us the information about it. 

[YnysMon]

Maybe there haven’t been the outlets for it recently. Dave had a supply, we got be on Water Rail this year. Last year we picked one up in the Alfresco Tea Rooms in Ludham.

[Wussername]

Jean. May I ask what information. Do they all, that is all trial run drivers, give the same information?

May I ask what experience the instructor at Wroxham, Horning, or Stalham has of Grt Yarmouth, Reedham, St Olives. 

Indeed I am sure that many may be competent in navigating these waters, have they the skill, the time to inform the hirer.

Have they ever experienced these waters?

Is there a need to revisit the trial run in the light of events over the last few years to the present day.

Andrew

 

 

 

 

 

[YnysMon]

Andrew has a very valid point. It probably depends on the individual giving the handover and their training.

However, what stuck me in the first few motor hire handover that we had was the amount of information that just didn’t sink in. Our first one was on a Ferry Marina boat, and I recall asking Graham a couple of times afterwards...where did he say the **** was? We were familiar with boats  (Graham’s Dad used to have a small boat yard in Anglesey). We had also hired a Hunter’s Yard sailey the previous year, but we still found it a challenge to take all the handover information in. I found myself referring to the Skippers Handbook more than once. It was the same with NBD the following year. I think most humans have a limit to the amount of new information we can absorb in a short space of time. I don’t think I’m particularly deficient in absorbing new info, but anyway, that’s my experience.

I can’t imagine what it must be like to be a complete boating newbie and try to absorb all that information. Not just about the workings of the boat, but also rules of the rivers, Breydon crossing, etc. If you are particularly nervous about it, that’s probably another barrier to absorbing the info.

Just wow!

Any newbies reading this...don’t despair! I would just suggest trying to do some preparation in advance. It’s not that difficult really. There are so many videos and other online sources available to help you.

[Cheesey69]

It’s a bit like learning to drive from reading a book. 
There comes a time when you have to do it. 
sure, the handbooks handy when you need to know where the gas shut off valve is or fridge operating instructions. 
But that it ain’t going to help you moor. Not the feeling of it

The thing is, your on a massive boat and the pressure is on to go somewhere, to do something not inch around practicing stopping 

I started out at the very start of the season in the smallest boat my family could fit in and over the years gained experience and moved up the year and boat size because I knew I loved boating and my goal was to own one on the sea and here. 
To others, it’s just a holiday, no need for homework or serious thought because that ain’t a holiday that’s work

[JanetAnne]

I think the safest single thing you could do would be to produce a tide table that says "arrive at the yellow post at this time!"

We have tide tables that give times for Gorleston which need an hour added for low water at GYYS plus another hour for slack and then tables giving low at GYYS needing a single hour added. No wonder there is confusion and convoys of hire boats crawling past flat out at 1mph fighting all the way.

 

[Vaughan]

8 hours ago, Wussername said:

May I ask what information. Do they all, that is all trial run drivers, give the same information?

One would hope so!

When I was doing trial runs on the Broads I always told people, when going south, to try to go under Acle Bridge at the time of low water in the yacht station. That should get them there about half an hour after slack.

I tried it again last year, and it still works well!

[grendel]

no matter what time i aim to get there i seem to always be slightly wrong and end up punching the tide one way or the other, even if only for a short while

[JennyMorgan]

For all too many hirers it is all rather baffling. It is all very well telling newcomers to face into the tide when mooring but what is 'tide', what is a mooring? Obvious to all us clever Richards, but I have spoken to hirers and many don't moor, they park their boats. As for tides, errr, what are they? Yarmouth & Reedham could do with a few arrows saying  'park your boat facing this way', the arrows being adjusted by the rangers as the tide changes for example. A few 'lifejackets MUST be worn when mooring/parking' notices wouldn't go amiss either. 

[Cheesey69]

14 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

For all too many hirers it is all rather baffling. It is all very well telling newcomers to face into the tide when mooring but what is 'tide', what is a mooring? Obvious to all us clever Richards, but I have spoken to hirers and many don't moor, they park their boats. As for tides, errr, what are they? Yarmouth & Reedham could do with a few arrows saying  'park your boat facing this way', the arrows being adjusted by the rangers as the tide changes for example. A few 'lifejackets MUST be worn when mooring/parking' notices wouldn't go amiss either. 

Great idea

[grendel]

funnily enough i learned to deal with cold water shock when i learned to swim,  from about may each year we went to the local pool, this was an outdoor pool fed by the local river, so rarely got above 10-15 degrees, so i dealt with that cold water entry every time (afterwards we would be treated to a scaldingly hot chocolate from the drinks machine. swims were limited by how long you could stay in the water before turning blue.

So for me if i enter cold water i resist the urge to panic and kick out, its been ingrained as part of learning to swim, to be fair if every child had been taught to swim in an unheated outdoor pool, then i think it would help with the occasional dunking in a cold river that accompanies water sports in general.

[ranworthbreeze]

9 hours ago, YnysMon said:

Andrew has a very valid point. It probably depends on the individual giving the handover and their training.

However, what stuck me in the first few motor hire handover that we had was the amount of information that just didn’t sink in. Our first one was on a Ferry Marina boat, and I recall asking Graham a couple of times afterwards...where did he say the **** was? We were familiar with boats  (Graham’s Dad used to have a small boat yard in Anglesey). We had also hired a Hunter’s Yard sailey the previous year, but we still found it a challenge to take all the handover information in. I found myself referring to the Skippers Handbook more than once. It was the same with NBD the following year. I think most humans have a limit to the amount of new information we can absorb in a short space of time. I don’t think I’m particularly deficient in absorbing new info, but anyway, that’s my experience.

I can’t imagine what it must be like to be a complete boating newbie and try to absorb all that information. Not just about the workings of the boat, but also rules of the rivers, Breydon crossing, etc. If you are particularly nervous about it, that’s probably another barrier to absorbing the info.

Just wow!

Any newbies reading this...don’t despair! I would just suggest trying to do some preparation in advance. It’s not that difficult really. There are so many videos and other online sources available to help you.

Hello Helen,

It can be overwhelming at times and it is one of the reasons that information is put into the boats log. On Ranworth Breeze I wrote a detailed instruction document to aid any of our owners giving training to new owners; a copy is in our boats log as a reminder for all owners so they can refresh  where items are stored, the operation of all devices, cut off valves, spare ropes, additional power extensions, splinters and adaptors etc. 

I have only hired on the Canals, but similar information is always in the boat log and often a accompanying video.

Regards

Alan 

 

[floydraser]

10 hours ago, YnysMon said:

Any newbies reading this...don’t despair! I would just suggest trying to do some preparation in advance. It’s not that difficult really. There are so many videos and other online sources available to help you.

I think this is where the internet really comes into it's own; the BA have a series of videos on Youtube as do a lot of hirers. Steering novices towards these would surely ease things and improve safety.