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Charging Points at 24hr moorings


Hylander

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  • 2 months later...

It looks as if there is more information on this revision of the literature, listing most if not all the current places to get the £1.00 cards. I have to agree that the cards can be a pain sometimes to get a credit, try pushing the card in slowly, credit is achieved when you hear a click and the card is punched to show that it has been used.

 

Last year we had collected about 16 cards that would not work. at all I contacted the Broads Authority who sent me replacements.

 

When we use the posts I tend to loop the cable around the base of each mooring post back to the boat, this saves the cable going into the water and people are less likely to trip over the cable.

 

Regards

Alan

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  • 1 year later...

Rather than start a new topic, re charging points, I thought would add to this topic.

Why are there no electric hook up points above Potter Heigham Bridge?

Ok, in some older literature it states that Whispering Reeds have one, but if it is for public use, it is sited in a private dyke and is always obscured by moored boats.

We spend a lot of time above the bridge, as we can always get under, and as a consequence we spend most of our time moored up, except when cruising for 20 minutes to the next spot. As a consequence, our batteries take a hit, and ideally we would like a few hours on electric hook up.

Ideal places would be West Sommerton, or Horsey Staithe, Potter Heigham on the Martham side of the road bridge on the right, Hickling staithe is private, unless the Pleasure boat inn provides it.

I know there are some opposite Herbert Woods, but these are often full from boats unable to pass under the bridge, and we always feel vulnerable in a small boat where boats are attempting to turn or moor up.

Who should I raise the question with, should I ask the Broads Authority, if so would anyone else support this request.

Fitting Electric posts is not cheap.

The majority of the hire craft with electric hook up, for example, would be too big to get under Potter Heigham bridge to be able to use them.

So I can see why they haven't bothered, also for most electric boats on hire from PH this area above the bridge can be explored in a day, on one charge anyway.

Maybe I have answered my own question.

Any thoughts please.

Best regards,

Richard

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First of all, the link in the first post no longer works, as the Broads Authority has a new web site. This link should work.

 

To answer Viking23's question. The BA only installs charging posts on their own 24 hour moorings. In the case of those above PH Bridge, these moorings are Deep Dyke, Deep Go Dyke, White Slea, West Somerton and Catfield Staithe. Of these, only Catfield Staithe has an electricity supply anywhere near, and there is only room for 3 boats. You might try asking the BA if they would install one at Catfield Staithe. The owners with moorings there might well monopolise it, though (I don't know if the private moorings have any such facility at present).

 

I doubt very much whether it would be economically viable, or even possible, to run a supply to the other 24 hr moorings, given the expense and need to get landowner permissions.

 

Have you thought of getting a solar panel?

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Should not be difficult at the Pleasure Boat Inn as power is nearby. West Sommerton a bit of a long cable run there to the public moorings, so a possible voltage drop. Horsey, its years since I have been, but if the mill has power then puting power at the staithe should not prevent any problems at all. All this in my visionary mode and could be talking utter gibberish, but NOT the voltage drop bit! :naughty:

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Hello Richard,

 

Yes I guess you have answered you own question.

 

All of the electric posts on the Broads are provided by the B.A. or are provided by location owners such as pubs or marinas.

 

Here is a shortcut the link to the Broads Authority page regarding their electric charging posts:-

http://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/boating/facilities/electric-boat-charging-points

Regarding

Alan

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  • 9 months later...

Earlier this week I thought I would contact the Broads Authority regarding shore power / charging points above Potter Heigham bridge, as I raised the issue in an earlier post.

I suggested sites at West Sommerton, Catfield Staithe, Horsey Staithe, above the Bridge at Potter Heigham, and at Hickling Staithe, and the Whispering Reeds electric point.

I had the following reply, and with their permission they agreed that I could post it on this forum.

Thank you for your recent enquiry regarding electrical charging points.

The Broads Authority has just completed its 5 year strategy of Electric Pillar Installation and over that period we have installed 45 electrical charging points across the network. This strategy will now be reviewed to see the effectiveness of the points, usage and costs and to see if more can be done. The Broads Authority is committed to green boating.

The installation of Charging Points is very expensive, especially when the Mains electrical supply is not very close the installation point. We have recently priced up a Charging Point at Catfield Dyke but the supply is many metres away and requires being brought across the road, this work has to be done by Power Network, their costs along made this uneconomical for the BA to install.

We did install the charging point at Whispering Reeds, it was one of the first points to be put onto the network, but it was underused and made the running costs of the pillar and supply very high for the Authority, as it was on private land, it was handed back to Whispering Reeds. They now pay for and maintain it for their customers to use.

The other locations you mention have been considered by the BA, but issues like mains supply, private land and installations costs have meant these areas did not make it onto a priority list.

I trust this explains the situation in a little more detail.

Kind regards

Rob Rogers

Broads Authority

Head of Construction, Maintenance & Environment

I thanked them for their very quick reply to my query, and for allowing me to quote their reply. The fact that they have completed it's 5 year strategy on electric pillar installation, then that is probably it for a while. No doubt it will be reviewed at some time in the future.

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Given the virtually zero uptake of electric boating I wonder how the authority can justify any expenditure on electricity posts, especially under the current climate of cut backs, even the maintenance of existing posts. They have to win the award as biggest white elephant in the authroties history, even pushing Dragonfly Towers into second place.

 

Future electrically propelled hire boats are very likely to be self contained hybrid units, not dependant on shorebased charging facilities so there has to be a real argument for removing them and saving the money.

 

I do like the line "comitted to green boating", sadly this is a hugely costly excersise to demonstrate that point with no end result.

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I have never seen an electric boat at a charging point before, those that use them are craft with shore power to drive things like microwave ovens, electric hobs, ovens and even immersion heaters.

So if the alternative is to run diesel engines to provide enough charge to drive inverters, then I personally see these posts as a greener option, certainly quieter on busy moorings, or near to private residences.

They must earn their keep, as a lot of people connect to them.

We only have a small boat, but with an outboard that only produces 5 amps at cruising speed, we use them to keep the batteries at full charge, but North of Potter Heigham we don't travel that far between points, so we can drain the batteries, hence my interest in the shore power. Sometimes we nip back through the bridge, for a couple of hours to charge up.

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It is well nigh impossible to charge batteries properly to full charge  by running your engine ,unless you run for many hours , or fit special boosting regulators to your alternator

Therefore connecting to a post where convenient makes sound sense by prolonging battery life and ensuring max charge

A boat that never gets charged from shore power, will in general have to replace batteries sooner than those who charge from shore power

Its not easy to get connected at times so the posts are definitely well used .

Its particularly convenient on a miserable wet day to heat electrically and run a dehumidifier at night

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I think the system of electric points around the Broads is good – but the way to use them is rather archaic where one has to buy a £1.00 card that then has great potential to leave credit behind when you go.

 

It would be far nicer that you would get a RF enabled card (much like an Oyster card one uses in London for transport) and this is ‘topped up’ with credit.  Thus you touch in with the card and the hook up your power and use what you need, upon disconnection the proper cable however much has been used is debited from your balance – then it is ‘zeroed’ for the next boat to tap in and get their power. 

 

STOP PRESS – I just goggled and you can actually get such systems with cards and that accept them from Unicorn Systems - www.unicorn-systems.co.uk – these systems are then put inside the usual electrical posts and you touch the card on the reader to start the electrical feed and metering process.

 

post-534-0-97012400-1436362251_thumb.jpg

 

I have also seen many, far nicer looking posts than the white ones with their blue tops so often seen in marinas but also now by the side of rivers at moorings.

 

Once you have the cable provided, it is a shame one cannot have more electric posts giving a greater number of visitors to the moorings a chance to hook up – or perhaps have 2 or 3 to begin and then as finances allow expand the system at the same mooring location.

 

Of course some will hate the blasted things popping up in terms of looks and also as far as cables string along moorings to use them, but it means than engines would need to be run less on boats equipped with chargers for their batteries  and immersion heaters which means less noise at moorings and more comfort for those who have stopped at them.

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I must admit I'm a bit surprised how these require the full £1 as that surely makes it very expensive if you don't use all the power. Although I've not used these so can't overly comment.. But without knowing these, I would expect it like you say Robin that you "pay as you go" perhaps it was cheaper (and easier) to implement etc.

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The current system is easy to use, when you can get the posts to accept the cards. Keep it simple, most people using an electric kettle at night and in the morning together with the toaster and charging the batteries overnight will use the best part of a £1 credit. We will put the water heater on as well if needs be.  

 

As most of you know inductive loads such as elements all make the electric meter spin faster.

 

Regards

Alan

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I must admit I'm a bit surprised how these require the full £1 as that surely makes it very expensive if you don't use all the power. Although I've not used these so can't overly comment.. But without knowing these, I would expect it like you say Robin that you "pay as you go" perhaps it was cheaper (and easier) to implement etc.

 As they say, Alan... "And how much is a pint of beer?"

 

Perhaps that brings it into perspective?

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Indeed this current system is simple so long as you can get hold of the cards and over regular use that is going to be rather a lot of individual £1.00 cards – not to mention you arrive at the mooring, plug in and middle of the night the credit runs out and you find you have no spare card.

 

Having a single plastic card you touch in to active the electric feed and the amount is deducted off your credit (to me) is even more simple since you only pay for that you use and you would be able to keep an eye on your electric balance and top up as required.

 

I do sometimes get the impression that the Broads Authority for all their wisdom prefer to do things ‘as they always have been done’ rather than be very innovative.

 

This reminds me of a system I thought up some months back, where hirers and owners alike would be charged for using any formal mooring run by the Broads Authority by way of an RF enabled ‘smart toll’ sticker on the bow of the boat.  Upon arrival the signal is picked up by a receiver and the hirer would be billed for time moored and such be paid upon handover, for the privateer such would be billed upon toll renewal – no payment, no new toll.

 

The money raised would provide every formal mooring with water, electric points and rubbish disposal. It would also enable rangers to immediately scan a toll to see if it was up to date or not.

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It is well nigh impossible to charge batteries properly to full charge  by running your engine ,unless you run for many hours , or fit special boosting regulators to your alternator

Therefore connecting to a post where convenient makes sound sense by prolonging battery life and ensuring max charge

A boat that never gets charged from shore power, will in general have to replace batteries sooner than those who charge from shore power

Its not easy to get connected at times so the posts are definitely well used .

Its particularly convenient on a miserable wet day to heat electrically and run a dehumidifier at night

There are many boats around that supplement battery charging with solar and on board alternator controllers that make engine charging more efficient. That to me is preferable to turning a waterway into one huge ring main to facilitate boats that are over equipped with power hungry electronic gadgets.

 

I would rather the BA spent the money on stuff we really need - like more moorings.

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How is that when I put a £1 card in I get a pounds worth?  SOMETIMES... :cry: ...........................................................Why is it that whenever I go to a post more often than not its 13p or some other random figure in debit so I always only get 87p worth or so? it then cuts out when the money has run out. How do I get it to run over?!?!

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Come on people....Get a grip!

If you use £1 or £2 in cards for an overnight stop, Isn't that a cheap overnight?

I can't think of anywhere that I could stop with electric, even in a caravan for instance, for that price.

A cup of tea in a cafe nearly costs you that!

Doesn't Beccles YS charge about £3-£5 for the electric post?

It must cost thousands to put in posts, and if memory serves, they can't charge you more than it costs them from the supplier.

(Although I may be corrected on that)

Personally, I think it's cheap.

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Robins system is good in principle but surely the card readers then need a network connection to validate the card has credit. The current system is as cheap as it gets.

The cards are a pain and they don't always work. Even the ones on my marina I have had to get swapped out before as they don't like any form of damp.

I agree a £1 for leccy is cheap compared to obys or Beccles. And if it does run out surely it has done its job charging the batteries for a few hours. If you need to use a second card max it out with the fridge, charger, water heater, kettle and turn the stereo up to make up for the lack of engine noise!

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Sorry Guys, Although you know I'm very supportive of charges and we should pay for new features etc. I'm putting talking in perspective here, this is electric and shouldn't be confused with drinks etc. I also understand that it's illegal to charge more than it costs... and I'm comparing against my electric bill for my berth here in kent (which isn't cheap!).

 

Last MONTH I paid £18.27 for my electric bill.. £9 of that was a supply charge so I used 70 units at 0.12p (So £8.40 before VAT).. So in comparison to this I believe £1 a stay is therefore expensive as I have to pay that (if I understand this system) I know this means that there maybe the odd chance someone doesn't use all of theirs so I could get some free juice, although that's a bit selfish. Although one could argue the amount charged can include the supply fee (although I understand it should be separated and as far as I know ) and we should be paying our way blah blah blah, I do still agree with Robin that for me (as someone who has hardly any 240v systems on board so would only plug in to charge a laptop or something so wouldn't use much) it's expensive and therefore I can't really use it.. Although I admit I would rather the BA spending money on something else like a public mooring at Wroxham ;)

 

Actually I've just googled and noticed that these are aimed at Recharging electric boats so that may explain why it's aimed like this as I guess a quids worth of juice is enough to do a decent charge and you shouldn't have any left therefore in comparison to fuel is not too bad. 

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I like the idea of having a formal mooring that has all the services you need – and you would pay for that (say £5.00 per 24hr period) - sure the moorings would need data connections to them, good because then they could offer such data as a WiFi service to moored boats there would be bags of bandwidth to play with since the readers would send such small data packets.

 

Fines could be automatically levied for boats that had not departed, say after 25 hours at the mooring - freeing Rangers time to be used elsewhere and enabling a new revenue stream from people who abuse the moorings.  The system would of course be able to tell if a boat had returned within 24hrs at moorings which stipulate 'no return within 24hrs' and thus automatically fine those people too.

 

It would not catch out hirer's who had taken over a boat on Saturday that had been previously moored at a charged for location 24hrs earlier with another hirer on board. This is because once the last hirer of the boat paid their dues at handover with the yard,  the system would be 'reset' for the next hirer - despite the boat remaining the same.

 

It would be a major shake up - but all the technology needed to provide such is simple off the shelf stuff, no bespoke system would need to be created at massive expensive.  It would enable everything from Rangers being able to know if tolls had been paid, to deducting fees for moorings to even helping track approximate locations of boats for security. 

 

I would only condone such a system and payments, if there was good provision of current (and new moorings) they would have to have  well maintained quay heading and surfaces, then somewhere to put your rubbish, a water point and electrical points too (and WiFi as I mentioned above.)

 

Without that I see no reason why any charge should be levied.  These new donation points like I saw recently ask for a donation for nothing extra in return are I feel insulting the toll payers.

 

I think it is important to remember very little has in real terms changed with the boats that come to moor on the Broads, even the most fancy is still pretty basic compared to the average home. What has changed is us as a society expecting to be able to plug in and use what one wants when one wishes, not to mention being able to connect to the Web which is fast becoming a real necessity for many – like myself who without it to make IP Telephony calls, cannot make reliable calls over the incredible poor voice network that O2 provide over much of the Broads and non-existent 3G data services unless in major population centres like Norwich.

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