Norfolk Broads - LIVE!

  The sun is getting higher in the sky and today is St. Patrick’s Day which can only mean one thing: To many a boater the time is right to get their little ship ready for the new season. In this ‘Tips & Tricks’ article, I am going to talk about boat cleaning, pre-season prep and making your boat look great to attract the envy of others. Boat Washing:   It does not matter if you have your boat under a tarpaulin, in a shed, or just bare in the in the open one thing is for sure after just a few weeks her topsides will be looking dull and since many owners pack up for the season in late October and do not return until late March, that is a lot of time for the muck and grime to build up.    Especially if your boat has a painted surface, it is important not to just reach for any old cleaning products but spend a little and get something nice.   The most important thing you want to look out for is it being PH Neutral.   This is because a pr...

I thought I’d give some thoughts on some boaty things I have discovered and thought of recently that may inspire or help others be them an owner currently, or perhaps those who aspire to in the future.  Varnishing:   You don’t need a wooden boat to need to Varnish; even Fibreglass boats have woodwork that can benefit from being kept in tip top condition. However, if you want to help preserve the wood, and produce a glass like surface together with reducing the number of coats of Varnish needed (and mind numbing work between coats) then use a clear Epoxy to begin as your build up coats. You will need to start with the bare wood surface for this, so there is no skimping on preparation alas and all previous coats of Varnish would need to be sanded back completely.   However, once done you will only need 3 or 4 coats of actual Varnish to achieve a surface much the same as if you’d used 10.   I think we all are familiar with West System as a brand n...

    A New Year Shiela and I had spent Christmas with my dad which had gone better than expected, myself having undertaken to cook the Christmas lunch which went down a treat.  For the New Year however we would be spending it on Broad Ambition.    Because I had procrastinated about this for some time, we had lost the window of getting a cheap rail fare, and so reluctantly we had to take the coach.  This is not too bad if the traffic is running well and as we left London things were looking good – our coach only making a stop at Stratford and Thetford before Norwich (it then goes on to Lowestoft) and for £25.00 for the pair of us for a single ticket it was good value.     29 th December:   We arrived in Norwich; walked the short distance from the Coach Station to a large Sainsbury’s and did our shop – Shiela being in charge of essential food items, myself perusing the drinks aisle.  We loaded our tro...

Well, it has been far too long coming and like many things that you wait for in life when it arrives it is more of a pop than an explosion...  None the less, the seventh and final (for the time being) part of the Broad Ambition River Blogs is here

In episode six after having dropped my dad off at Horning for him to visit the shops and collected him we are Wroxham Bound and take opportunity to pop into Wroxham Broad to bring down the the mast and windscreen - something that is usually simple seemed this time to take far longer. We left and a short while later were passing Barnes Brinkcraft, I handed the reins of the Blog to my Dad and despite having taken Broad Ambition under Wroxham Bridge before, what with the tension from earlier on with our father and son grumbles I was now rather nervous – silence on the boat – I took my time to line up only to have to steer towards the Hotel Wroxham as a day boat came through towards us.  Back on course, horn sounded I had a moment where I thought the spot light would be lost, but all was well with 6ft 7” showing at the bridge we were soon through and time to stern more at the public moorings.  My dad then could depart for more shopping this time in Ro...

It was Wednesday when talking to my dad I decided to put it to him “shall we go up to the boat this weekend?” – his eyes lit up and back came the reply “that would be lovely.”  And so it was that we would go to Norfolk after I’d finished work on the Friday.  As it turned out most of the office seemed to have deserted me, so by 3:30pm I did the same and left the office. I thought this would be an ideal time to depart – missing the rush hour, but of course I had not taken account of my father’s need to pack – Forum, this is a man who takes packing as an art form for first he must do a list (even if he is only to be away for one night) and then he must select the most suitable sized case out of many nestled like Russian Dolls within each other.  By 5:30pm he had compiled his list, packed and ticked each item off but forgot he needed to bring a duvet cover, slip and pillow case – this would mean either crushing them into the case, putting them i...

White Champagne is a large boat ideal for a group of friends or two families whose priority is space. At 45ft long the boat might be the same length as Broadsman, Commodore etc but because has a higher air draft and narrower side decks appears to be much larger inside.   Whether you are talking about the shower, outside space, or saloon you never feel cramped and there are drawers and cupboards everywhere to store away a crews belongings.  Sure this class of boat (Acapulco, Challenger and Pink Champagne are all the same type) are more known for large groups of men on stag do cruises, this label I feel is wrongly associated with them and upon take over the boat was spotlessly clean.  Our request for extra items for the galley and bedding was dealt with in a friendly manner and 'nothing is too much trouble' way.  While I had hired the boat it was for my mums birthday celebrations and we wanted somewhere people new to the broads would...