Jump to content

BA campaigns against engine running


Polly

Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, LondonRascal said:

What does it tell us?  At the end of the day money will always be the strongest influence and the quest to make more money comes at the expense of many other things in life and in the case of the Broads, it could well mean the demise of tranquilly.

Rascal, that is quite a post you have just made, and it maybe needs a separate thread to do it justice. I would suggest that the "demise of tranquility" probably started happening before the war.....

In France, where I worked for Crown Blue Line, we had over 400 hire boats, but only offered about 12 classes of boat in the brochure. We had bases all over France and some in Holland, so that regular customers, every year, could hire the same boat, but in up to 17 different cruising areas.

Look at old brochures of the Broads, and that is not the same approach! Yes, your yard belongs to Blakes agency, but in the brochure, every boat must have its own photo, and its own description, and it ends up looking like estate agents' windows in a high street! So everyone competes against each other, and every year it is "Look at me - my boats have showers" or "my boats have gas fridges" instead of an ice box. In other words competing against each other, instead of realising that you are actually competing against different types of holiday, such as packages to the Greek Islands. When I look at all the marketing opportunities that have been missed, over the years, because we couldn't seem to work together, I weep!

What you have said in your interesting and well considered post, is actually a subject which realists on the Broads have been agonising over for decades.

But this is not the History Channel and we must be practical. The age of the electronic gadget has arrived on the Broads and so we must work out how to live with it. It seems clear to me that if boats now rely so much on power supply to give their customers what they demand, then there must be a supply of "power points".

What we must keep in mind is that the Broads must be commercial : without revenue from tourism, there will be no funds to maintain them, or to stop their steady decline.

 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

54 minutes ago, Broadsword said:

 

I have suggested several areas where I think it would be very straightforward and am sure there are others - across the river from Horning Ferry; one of the two mooring stretches as you enter South Walsham; The moorings by the mill at Potter, before you get to the busy area by Herbert Woods; the upriver end of the Acle Bridge moorings, either side etc.  Sorry about my Northern Rivers bias!

Broadsword - the moorings opposite the Ferry are no longer leased by theBA and all of the others are not BA operated moorings. They are ideal places though.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the clarification - I wasn't aware about the change to the moorings opposite the Ferry... I thought the PH ones were BA 24 hr moorings, but admittedly, as it's my home base, I never use them!

I don't have much more to add to this discussion - but will keep an eye out for a further response from the BA...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Soundings said:

Another short post  Robin :-)

If that is the way it will go then that is the end of the Broads and, indeed, much of he nature that tries to thrive within. If that is what people want or are willing to accept (and in the name of profit) then that is very sad imo. Putting on tin hat - maybe conservation should be the premier concern of the BA. Certainly the desire of the yards to make more money at the expense of something special needs to be stopped.

 

 

 

 

In general, in my opinion you're almost quite right, Soundings. Almost but I would argue with some feeling that conservation is already the BA's premier concern. Your last sentence, spot on.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, SwanR said:

I have resisted adding any more to this thread for a long time. But all that seems to be happening now is people having a rant about the boats the hire companies are putting out. Do you mean to tell me that no private boats have got microwaves and all mod cons?

As I already said, many pages back, electric posts are not the answer even if you could get the power supply there, as some hire companies don't let holidaymakers take a power lead out with them, including probably the largest one of all.

This doesn't feel much like the Friendly Norfolk Broads Forum at the moment from a hirer's perspective.

We do not have a microwave, or a generator, our mod cons include an electric kettle, toaster and TV should we happen to be on shore power.

Boating is about what you make of it, watching the world go by, the odd conversation with like minded crews and the occasional brew.

Regards

Alan

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brilliant is posh, she has an induction hob hidden away for when we are on shore power, but the oven is bust (being fixed though £££)  and I wish I had stayed with two burners and Origo you know where you are with meths! ;)

Are we posh? Errrrrrr? Don't think so!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, JennyMorgan said:

In general, in my opinion you're almost quite right, Soundings. Almost but I would argue with some feeling that conservation is already the BA's premier concern. Your last sentence, spot on.

I knew you'd say that JM, and of course you are probably spot on in your assessment imo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 23 February 2016 at 10:27 AM, LondonRascal said:

I've gotta disagree about Broadsman being a quite boat externally as I have found them very noisy particularly when one passes you underway.

This is because there is only a small silencer between the engine and exhaust exit and very little space between that and the exhaust on the hull so there just is not the opotunity for sound to be reduced to the degree it could be without running the exhaust to exit further down the boat.

Frequency has a lot to do with ones perception of sound too - a low frequency sound is harder to 'place' as to where it may be coming from, and often more annoying than a higher frequency.  A good example was when aboard Brinks Rhapsody - while it had a Beta Marine engine, the exhaust was of the underwater sort, so you only had to deal with the noise of the engine coming through its soundproofed enclosure (this was small) what you heard a lot more of was the cooling fans for both the AC generator attached to the engine and cooling fans for the charging system.  Since these were of a higher frequency than an exhaust note, they caused a great deal less disturbance.

Some boats also have double silencer systems - a smaller plastic water lock will lead into a larger drum like metal pot (they can also be plastic) and result in virtually no engine noise leaving the exhaust just the splash of the cooling water.

There are however far far more boats out there - especially older ones with BMC/Perkins that do cause a lot more smoke and noise. In many ways therefore the older generation less modern boats will cause the most noise pollution.  Their heating systems will be older and perhaps have less silencing on their exhausts too, their alternators will be of a lower amperage and often only have one - meaning batteries take longer to charge.  With older strip lighting sucking more amps than modern LED units it also means the (on average) 2 domestic batteries will be 'well used'.

I have nothing against the running of an engine, even at a mooring but not really early in the morning and not in the evening it about respecting those around you - or doing as I try to, being away from other boats, or moored at the end of a mooring so should I need to depart early I am least likely to disturb others.

 

 

I agree sometimes at a reasonable time it may be OK to run the engine for a short time I would only do this after speaking to those around me to make sure it is ok to do so it's about being considerate to others around you so everyone can be happy if someone came up to me and asked if I'd mind them running the engine for a short time I'd respect the fact I'd been asked and would probably say catty on and thank you for asking 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

For details of our Guidelines, please take a look at the Terms of Use here.