Enjoying the series - a bit of a mega cruise on day 2! I'm looking forward to my first solo cruise on the Broads at the end of September - you've really inspired me to think I can do it having not been on the Broads for several years. Thanks Robin.
The first thing I would do having taken over the boat would be to do a couple of practice moorings - then your know how the boat handles, what the best way of getting off and on will be an so on. Then when you come to moor between two boats your be calm and not thinking how on earth will i manage this. I often leave a mooring in reverse, having first 'kicked the stern out' because I have nobody to help push the boat away from the bank so leaving backwards means I won't catch the boat in front with my stern as I turn away from the bank. Otherwise your soon find things just fit into place and have a great, relaxing time.
Hi Robin Where did you get your life jacket from ? I am going solo on the broads in October and would like one as it looks a lot better than the ones the boat yard give you and not so big, As i will be getting on and off bored on my own its better to be safe than sorry. Never been solo before. Great videos mate keep it up....
Hi mate thought you were not able to come back due to work commitments for a while lol.....Question.....brinks Royale or Duet?? have the latter for a week in October
Terry Dixon I'd say Duet since Royale was a pain to deal with as far as the canopy went. Also th bed on under the deck on the floor was not as nice but you do get a larger internal space than Duet and fancy things like an electric toilet.
Cheers Robin check out (magic gem Captained by a magic Lady) the last bit might give you a giggle.........7-14 oct if youre around we would love to meet you for a meal or something .....my b/day 10th
when you were backing up to moor at beccles, it looked like you were still turning under your control, i get boats from Richardsons and i swear they say the boat don't turn when in revers, bit confused :/
Because the boat has bow thrusters - Hydraulic so not that effective but quiet compared to electric motor types. I would use them as I was reversing to control the bow of the boat and thus 'steer' it where I wanted it to go.
markie grinner Richardson’s really have come on in leaps and bounds - once seen as a the cheap and not so good, you simply can’t go wrong I don’t think with them. They have some of the cheapest hire boats on the Broads, and some of the newest and most elegant too. If you are ok to have something a little less fancy but want really good service then Horizoncraft at Acle (part of Richardson’s) is your best bet. I’m planning on going with them later this year.
Although published in 2014, this video is very informative to beginners like me. I intend to hire a boat in July 2017 and do the Norfolk Broads. One of the crew accompanying me, suffers easily from sea sickness. My question is, are we to expect rough waters along the river and lakes along the Norfolk Broads? If yes, how rough can it get? Also, where can I learn more on how to make the best use of tidal times?
Ok put simply because the Norfolk Broads are an inland river system, you will not get any noticeable swell - so no 'sea sickness' and the only time you may find there to be any real 'waves' is on Breydon Water when a fast craft might pass you at speed and its wash will rock your boat about. Should it happen, steer your boat into the approaching wake so it breaks over the bow of your boat. As to tides your boat will come with a Skippers Manual and in this your have your low water (and slack water) times calculated to Great Yarmouth. On the norther rivers above Acle, you should not need to worry too much about the currents and tidal rise and fall because it will be so slight - but should you intend to travel to the southern rivers and cross Breydon Water such do need to be studied. You should aim to be at Yarmouth Yacht Station at about Low Water - Slack Water (1 hour after low water) is even better as you have no tidal flows to contend with generally. Let us say it was Monday you wanted to go to Reedham on the southen river Yare on Tuesday. You looked in your Skippers Manual for the tide times and see that Tuesday low water will be at 2pm. You therefore should be passing under Acle Bridge at about 12:30pm and by the time you reach Great Yarmouth Yacht Station you should be there to carry on with good clearance under the two bridges and off over Breydon Water. You can then work out what times might be best to cruise on the south rivers to have the tidal flow aid you - if you were headed towards Norwich, and low water at Yarmouth was said to be 1pm you'd know that until that time the tide would be headed out - thus against you - So it might be better to cruise closer to 1pm when the last of the ebbing current was against you, then you would have no current to work against and then a helping flood current coming in from Yarmouth. This is because the tide will flood and ebb out of all the rivers at Yarmouth so with your map and tide table you can wor out where you are, what time low water is (and when therefore ebbing tide will begin to reduce) and then about 5 hours later it will be high water and the process will begin all over again.
I'm afraid that is not possible because it is the record company who restrict whether certain videos, with certain songs in them are available on tablet or mobile (or things like Apple TV). So short of taking the video down, completely re-editing it with new music and then re-uploading it that would not be possible. Sorry. I'm sure however you have access to a Laptop or Desktop computer with which you will be able to watch this video on.
Your comments about hydraulics are exactly the same as I used to hear when I was running hydraulic Citroen cars. The thought of hydraulics being complicated to repair is incorrect - if you know what you're doing, they're no more difficult to work on than electrical or mechanical systems. If fuel consumption is a problem, I'd suggest that's down to poor design. Yes a hydraulic gearbox will lose power and therefore drink more fuel, but the most fuel-efficient car I've ever owned was a Citroen BX with manual gearbox and hydraulic brakes and suspension. Perhaps boat designers could learn from the Citroen idea of keeping a pressurised hydraulic reservoir, which takes minimal power to maintain once it's pumped up. Thoroughly enjoying the videos, but I feel I need to know more about this design concept - if the fuel consumption was so catastrophic with no benefits surely nobody would be doing it!
Stuart Hedges I agree but the point is these are hire boats - thus if a system was to use more fuel (and they certainly do compared to shaft driven boats) that is good news for the operator because the boatyard that is hiring the boat is also selling the fuel, so they can make more money on a boat that uses more fuel - it is little wonder why pretty much all the new build hire boats have high HP engines (usually about 50HP now where once 35HP to 40HP seems adequate) and linked to a hydraulic drive. Finally I just dislike the whine the motor gives when underway - so Hydraulics have so many really good uses I remain to be convinced for their use powering boasts.
Enjoying the series - a bit of a mega cruise on day 2! I'm looking forward to my first solo cruise on the Broads at the end of September - you've really inspired me to think I can do it having not been on the Broads for several years. Thanks Robin.
The first thing I would do having taken over the boat would be to do a couple of practice moorings - then your know how the boat handles, what the best way of getting off and on will be an so on. Then when you come to moor between two boats your be calm and not thinking how on earth will i manage this. I often leave a mooring in reverse, having first 'kicked the stern out' because I have nobody to help push the boat away from the bank so leaving backwards means I won't catch the boat in front with my stern as I turn away from the bank. Otherwise your soon find things just fit into place and have a great, relaxing time.
very exited as in about two weeks I will be in that same boat sailing with my family
good old radio 2, i always have radio 2 on when cruising
Hi Robin Where did you get your life jacket from ? I am going solo on the broads in October and would like one as it looks a lot better than the ones the boat yard give you and not so big, As i will be getting on and off bored on my own its better to be safe than sorry. Never been solo before. Great videos mate keep it up....
Hi mate thought you were not able to come back due to work commitments for a while lol.....Question.....brinks Royale or Duet?? have the latter for a week in October
Terry Dixon I'd say Duet since Royale was a pain to deal with as far as the canopy went. Also th bed on under the deck on the floor was not as nice but you do get a larger internal space than Duet and fancy things like an electric toilet.
Cheers Robin check out (magic gem Captained by a magic Lady) the last bit might give you a giggle.........7-14 oct if youre around we would love to meet you for a meal or something .....my b/day 10th
when you were backing up to moor at beccles, it looked like you were still turning under your control, i get boats from Richardsons and i swear they say the boat don't turn when in revers, bit confused :/
Because the boat has bow thrusters - Hydraulic so not that effective but quiet compared to electric motor types. I would use them as I was reversing to control the bow of the boat and thus 'steer' it where I wanted it to go.
oh yer forgot you said that in first video haha my bad, thanks :)
Ok thanks
What are your thoughts for richardsons?
markie grinner Richardson’s really have come on in leaps and bounds - once seen as a the cheap and not so good, you simply can’t go wrong I don’t think with them. They have some of the cheapest hire boats on the Broads, and some of the newest and most elegant too. If you are ok to have something a little less fancy but want really good service then Horizoncraft at Acle (part of Richardson’s) is your best bet. I’m planning on going with them later this year.
ok, thanks
Which GPS app do you use during your boating in Norfolk?
It is an iPhone App which is now rather old and called simply: aHUD
Although published in 2014, this video is very informative to beginners like me. I intend to hire a boat in July 2017 and do the Norfolk Broads. One of the crew accompanying me, suffers easily from sea sickness. My question is, are we to expect rough waters along the river and lakes along the Norfolk Broads? If yes, how rough can it get? Also, where can I learn more on how to make the best use of tidal times?
Ok put simply because the Norfolk Broads are an inland river system, you will not get any noticeable swell - so no 'sea sickness' and the only time you may find there to be any real 'waves' is on Breydon Water when a fast craft might pass you at speed and its wash will rock your boat about. Should it happen, steer your boat into the approaching wake so it breaks over the bow of your boat.
As to tides your boat will come with a Skippers Manual and in this your have your low water (and slack water) times calculated to Great Yarmouth. On the norther rivers above Acle, you should not need to worry too much about the currents and tidal rise and fall because it will be so slight - but should you intend to travel to the southern rivers and cross Breydon Water such do need to be studied.
You should aim to be at Yarmouth Yacht Station at about Low Water - Slack Water (1 hour after low water) is even better as you have no tidal flows to contend with generally.
Let us say it was Monday you wanted to go to Reedham on the southen river Yare on Tuesday. You looked in your Skippers Manual for the tide times and see that Tuesday low water will be at 2pm. You therefore should be passing under Acle Bridge at about 12:30pm and by the time you reach Great Yarmouth Yacht Station you should be there to carry on with good clearance under the two bridges and off over Breydon Water.
You can then work out what times might be best to cruise on the south rivers to have the tidal flow aid you - if you were headed towards Norwich, and low water at Yarmouth was said to be 1pm you'd know that until that time the tide would be headed out - thus against you - So it might be better to cruise closer to 1pm when the last of the ebbing current was against you, then you would have no current to work against and then a helping flood current coming in from Yarmouth. This is because the tide will flood and ebb out of all the rivers at Yarmouth so with your map and tide table you can wor out where you are, what time low water is (and when therefore ebbing tide will begin to reduce) and then about 5 hours later it will be high water and the process will begin all over again.
Make the vid available on a mobiles and tablets
I'm afraid that is not possible because it is the record company who restrict whether certain videos, with certain songs in them are available on tablet or mobile (or things like Apple TV). So short of taking the video down, completely re-editing it with new music and then re-uploading it that would not be possible. Sorry. I'm sure however you have access to a Laptop or Desktop computer with which you will be able to watch this video on.
Mobiles
Tablets
Your comments about hydraulics are exactly the same as I used to hear when I was running hydraulic Citroen cars. The thought of hydraulics being complicated to repair is incorrect - if you know what you're doing, they're no more difficult to work on than electrical or mechanical systems.
If fuel consumption is a problem, I'd suggest that's down to poor design. Yes a hydraulic gearbox will lose power and therefore drink more fuel, but the most fuel-efficient car I've ever owned was a Citroen BX with manual gearbox and hydraulic brakes and suspension. Perhaps boat designers could learn from the Citroen idea of keeping a pressurised hydraulic reservoir, which takes minimal power to maintain once it's pumped up.
Thoroughly enjoying the videos, but I feel I need to know more about this design concept - if the fuel consumption was so catastrophic with no benefits surely nobody would be doing it!
Stuart Hedges I agree but the point is these are hire boats - thus if a system was to use more fuel (and they certainly do compared to shaft driven boats) that is good news for the operator because the boatyard that is hiring the boat is also selling the fuel, so they can make more money on a boat that uses more fuel - it is little wonder why pretty much all the new build hire boats have high HP engines (usually about 50HP now where once 35HP to 40HP seems adequate) and linked to a hydraulic drive.
Finally I just dislike the whine the motor gives when underway - so Hydraulics have so many really good uses I remain to be convinced for their use powering boasts.