Walking Pace is flawed

Speed

Calculating your speed in a boat is challenging, especially if you’re not used to it. What’s worse is that there are many written resources out there that will throw you off too. For instance, you’re likely to read elsewhere that you travel at walking pace. The Broads Authority suggests this, so it must be right, right?

I have a counter argument to this idea of travelling at walking page.

I am sure this is the advice given in many places as it’s a relatively simple thing to understand. However, I am not sure it’s too helpful. Whereas this might be an easy to thing to understand comprehend (everybody understands walking pace, right?), it is important to fully recognise that  walking pace is very individual.

We are all individual (rip Terry Jones)

An average fit 20 year old walks about 75% faster than the average 80 year old. In general, if you assume that you walk at between 2-3mph, you’re not going to be far out. But, even this 1mph difference gives a margin of being a third faster or slower. Step onto a boat, cast off and you now have an additional problem of judgement because you are invariably looking at a reference point on the bank as it’s the only fixed thing to compare. That reference is a number of metres away so parallax issues creep in too.

I have heard some people argue that that the difference between 2 and 4mph is negligible anyway, but you would be wrong. It might be slow, but 4mph is double 2mph – that’s 100% faster. Expressed like this and you begin to see the importance. And for the record, it’s usually those people I have had reported to me for speeding that make these and other claims (your honour).

The effects of speed

Speed has a direct correlation with wash. The faster you spin the propeller, the more it digs the rear of the boat into the water, the more turbulence is created and the greater the wash. Wash has many important factors that are environmentally bad; a heavy wash will cause bank erosion, it upsets other river users (just imagine spilling boiling water all over yourself as some plank hurtles past you whist you’re making tea), causes damage to boats and can kill wildlife. This might sound fanciful, but consider the possibilities of wash causing eggs to fall from nests, Kingfisher nests being flooded with helpless young inside and so on.

More than ever, we have a responsibility to look after our environment and by committing fewer selfish acts like speeding on the Broads, we are all doing out bit.

How to properly measure speed.

Historically, hire boats have been fitted with a plaque at the helm that gives you am idea of the speed when the engine is doing specific speeds as shown on the rev counter. Historically, this was about the best measure that was necessary and it still works today. It is arguably much better than the idea of gauging walking pace to my way of thinking. But still, it is of course, prone to considerable error, particularly if you are being pushed along by a 3mph current and have the revs set at what the plaque tells you is 6mph. You’re probably doing 8, that’s a 25% increase.

These days, there is no excuse. Your smart phone will have a full GPS receiver built in to it (I don’t think there has been a smartphone device since the introduction of the iPhone 3G in 2008 that hasn’t). What’s a little more difficult though is finding an app that is capable of measuring such low speeds because many road-based mapping systems aren’t concerned with anything below 5mph.

Aweigh - Map View

There are a number of apps that are designed for boating though. Until recently, we were recommending Sail Droid for Android devices. But in summer 2019 a killer app was launched for Norfolk Broads boaters and that app is Aweigh.

Up, up and Aweigh. 

So, what makes this the best app for your boating holiday? The key attraction is that it is actually designed for the Norfolk Broads. It shows where you are on a live map, gives you tide data (for the current day only), emergency numbers should you need them, access to What Three Words and, crucially for this blog, your current speed.

Download it and become familiar with its simple user interface before you arrive on holiday and you won’t have any rangers waving speed paddles at you or pulling you over for a quiet word….  

Aweigh is available in the App Store and Google Play and is entirely free to download. It comes highly recommended.

Aweigh - environmental data

And, if you are wondering over the spelling, it isn't some random cleverness on the part of the developer; it is a naultical term referencing the anchor of a vessel. Most of us would have heard Hollywood captains giving the instruction to "weigh anchor", but fewer would have seen this written. To Weigh Anchor means to begin to raise the anchor and so begin a voyage. At the point that the anchor is free of the sea or river bed, it is said to be aweigh. 

As another season ends

With most children now off school for the Autumn half term, our final busy period begins tomorrow with five cruisers on hire and a further three on Saturday.

It’s a bit like a bank holiday scenario here, lots of boats and rough weather. The Met office has issued a Yellow Weather Warning for Saturday and we’re having to advise our guests to stay moored up as there are winds of 50mph predicted with gusts up to 70mph.

I recall about four years ago, during the same period, we had similar weather and the ONLY tree to come down on a river came down on Flight of Freedom at Loddon. Thankfully, nobody was hurt and there was just minor scrapes to the boat.

It’s been a busy year at Freedom. We’ve done lots of work to some of the boats and there’s lots more scheduled for the coming closed season. Earlier in the year we built a complete new front deck on Lady of Freedom as the original had become delaminated from the sandwich core material and was very springy. The new deck is more robust than the old one ever was and will last decades.

Most of the major winter work is due to Rambling which is in need of a lot of TLC now having had a hard year at the hands of hirers and, also, it has to be said, catching up with some jobs that have been put off.

The first major job is the rebuilding of the sliding canopy which, although repaired about seven years ago, did not undergo a full rebuild as well as suffering from a couple of errors. Dampness is the killer of any wooden structure and once the moisture gets it, it doesn’t come out and this has done for the support structures that brace the uprights to the roof section. Like any roof attached to walls, the roof wants to push the walls outward and the bracing needs to be solid. Any sliding canopy is vulnerable to damage, especially on a hire boat which is being handled by less experienced (and in some cases less caring) people. Their structure relies entirely on the bracing that holds the sides to the top and they don’t stand up to a great deal of abuse.

So, all of the wooden strengthening within the sides of the canopy has been removed, renewed and replaced, along with forming sandwich sections in the corners. The next stage is for us to put the canopy on its purpose-made jig so that we can set the sides at exactly the right positions and then apply temporary bracing whist we shape, cut and build new internal braces.

The canopy runners are in a poor way also. These are large lengths of hardwood that are bolted through the side of the superstructure and will require the careful removal of the internal panelling in the saloon and cockpit areas. Sadly, this also requires the removal of the pelmets and, possibly even the ceilings. However, this is no great worry as we plan to build and bond on a complete new roof!

Rambling during her new roof work a few years ago

We made a new GRP roof for the front of the boat about four years ago, replacing the original laminated ply one that had served her well. We aren’t’ sure why Astons built the boats with plywood roofs, but it is clear that the boat was built in a number of parts and that allowed them to make them in different lengths. Presumably, this saved having some very large mould tools handing around for a 35ft boat and another for a 40ft boat. I guess that making a ply roof for various lengths made the build easier than having different moulds for different GRP roof lengths.

No matter, we have to skills to build a new one to take the vessel forward for many more years.

Rambling Freedom is the only Aston Bourne vessel in hire anywhere. In her Aston days, she was Aston Mersey and her sister ship, Aston Thames became Pearl Emblem at Ferry Marina when the remainder of the Aston Fleet was sold at the closure of the business in 2007. Pearl Emblem was sold from the Ferry fleet into private hands a couple of years ago leaving Rambling the only surviving one in hire. Though even she was in private hands for some time and was also taken away from the Broads for a time which is why she no longer has her original registration number.

Going back to the late 70s or 80s, my family actually hired Aston Thames for a holiday. There was my Mother and Father, Nan and Granddad on board and I recall our keenness at the time for the then Aston fitout preference for gas water heaters which I believe were fitted to all Aston boats at the time. This meant that you had hot water on demand without the need to run the engine. I guess that gas regulations ended up putting out the pilot lights on these in the end.

We will keep you posted on progress of Rambling throughout the works.

We officially continue to hire boats until 11th November but if the weather stays mild, we may offer boats for longer. We don't hire cruisers in December or January.

Salvage of motor cruiser - sunk on the Broads

What a day it was

Yep, some things are predictable. It was one hell of a day, so bad that it's one I've tried to forget.

2 breakdown calls in relatively quick succession - one where the customer has dropped the radiator cap into the engine bay and can't find it and other that's lost steering.

The radiator cap one was relatively simple, but the lack of steering was frightening (not least of all for us....) - a 32foot, front steer cruiser. Not a simple job if the cable has snapped. Luckily, our worst fears weren't confirmed; the helm unit casing had failed and fractured and it was quite a simple fix to get them going and then we replaced the unit the next day to ensure no further breakdowns.

My wife recently pointed out that my hair's got quite a lot lighter and assumes it's exposure to all this sun we've been getting, but I'm certain it's the on-set of grey.....

Empty yard means renewed Fair focus
We're getting into the season good an proper now. The boat yard is pretty empty today and all focus is going to be on finally finishing Fair Freedom. This vessel has cost an astonishing amount this year in repairs and upgrades and we've missed countless bookings on it which have been mightily embarrassing. It's out, for definite, next Saturday and sports a number of upgrades and improvement. We're about to finish installing the new 1800w inverter system which has its own, dedicated battery bank. There's a microwave on-board now too - an essential addition for a 10-berth cruiser.

What a day!

I'm really not looking forward to today at the boat yard as I'm trying to hold the fort, pretty much on my own.

Yesterday, I took a nice chunk out of my arm on an open drawer I reached over, resulting in a 1 1/2 inch gash which needed steri-stripping together. It's not sore (though I've no idea why) but since the adhesive pad and strips have become unstuck, I've now got it bandaged too and I'm beginning to look a bit like walking wounded and it really needs redressing.

But there's no time; today, I've got Pete and Donna on a day off; that's my engineer and office staff out of the picture. Ordinarily, I've have at least one other yard staff in too, but Colin Facey informed us yesterday that he's running an RYA Power Boat course today and did we want to get our man on it? Well, we have a policy of training all our show-out instructors in boat handling and Rab hadn't yet done his so, I agreed to relinquishing him for the day too. That leaves me with a cleaner and. OK, just a cleaner.

It's a recipe for disaster, isn't it?

Normally, my wife would come in and cover the office when Donna's out, but today she has to clean a holiday cottage that was booked last minute yesterday. Hopefully, we'll see her as soon as the cottage is done.

The phones are still manic; bookings are still thick and fast with September and October getting a lot of interest now. How am I going to cope? All it's going to take is one break-down call and my day will collapse around my ears. If you need to call in today, please be prepared to witness a nervous breakdown and have 999 already tapped into you mobile phone - just run to the top of the road to find a signal.

Busy Busy

Having had little comment on my previous blog, the waves of email enquiries asking for availability continues unabated.

I know everyone is busy, so the web site is designed to make searching for a holiday simple. It seems that it's either not simple enough or I've seriously underestimated how busy people are.


Fair Freedom
Work continues on Fair Freedom, finally towards an achieveable goal of this coming Friday.

Honestly, the sheer amount of effort that we have put into this boat (not to mention money spent and lost by not having her on hire) has been staggering. We anticipated an eight week sabatical for her in one of Ricko's sheds which turned out to be four months as every panel we examined hid away a wealth of horrors that couldn't be ignored.

Finally, though, she's in the water, complete with a total repaint, lots of fibre-glass repairs, refitted windows, replacement engine some new cabinetry and more.

We're still working on her in a frenzy and will post images soon.

Meanwhile, we've got two poorly engines to rebuild this week; again to a deadline.

Outboards
Our private work continues to increase, mostly with outboard repairs and servicing. Peter is a qualified and experienced outboard engineer and our name is getting round rather nicely. Many of the engines we look after are around the Barton Turf area, thanks to the trust vested in us by the Norfolk Punt Club who's engines we oversee these days.


We also look after much larger outboards like the 60hp commercial BigFoot engine from a Cromer fishing vessel that's down on it's luck right now.


Got a poorly outboard and need a quick fix? If we can't get it running properly within the time frame, we have one or two outboards that we can loan you to get you out of trouble.


That Sinking Feeling
A couple of weeks ago, we responded to a plea for a salvage pump at Woodbastwick staithe for a sports cruiser that was going down. Our 3inch pump was sent out and, along with a couple of 2inch pumps from the Broads Authority, the boat was saved. I thought we were going no need it for Spirit of Freedom on Saturday.

The report came though that the vessel had two inches of water in the cabins. Our immediate thought was that someone had left a tap running in the shower which subsequently overflowed. Oh how wrong you can be.

When we got to Thurne dyke, the poor thing was seriously back heavy. Not on the brink of going down, but certainly on the brink of damaging internal components. The engine was running and the customer was still sitting on the boat. Lifting an engine panel immediately showed the fault and the boat was saved; an exhaust pipe had split and all the cooling water was being ejected into the engine compartment rather than through the exhaust port.

We got there just in time really as the water level was about an inch off of all the eletronic devices in the engine bay; simple, inexpensive things like the Eberspacher heater, inverter, fuse panel, etc.

Oh, the fun of running a boat yard.

Procrastination spoils holiday plans

Personally, I feel that www.FreedomBoatingHolidays.com is an easy-to-use web site and the vast majority of our customer feedback suggests so too, but I need your opinions also. There's a growing number of people who will send an email using the contact form on the web site asking us for availability and pricing.

Now, to my mind it is blindingly obvious that all this information is already on the web site; there's even a great big orange arrow on the home page drawing your attention to the area of that page (and virtually every other web page on the site) where you can check these things; yet, the number of email enquiries grows.

Out of the busy booking times, this is a trickle of enquiries. Right now, it's multiple enquiries per day and that's a problem. Here's why.

Availability is vanishing fast - people are desperate now to get a summer holiday booked and gaps are being filled at a rate that's creating a significant backlog in the office. At the best of times, responding to an email that says "I want a holiday from 7th August for a week on a boat, please advise availability and prices" eats time as, commonly we don't get any information about the party size or a phone number to call. The response to such an email has to be along the lines of "Thanks, but I can't really help you as you haven't told me how many people are travelling. If you refer to the web site, you can check live availability and pricing; alternatively, give us a call and we can check for you.".

No matter how we word this, it's not a lot of help to the customer.

When availability is getting scarce, every hour (minute even) can be the difference between getting a booking or not. In the 15 minutes I've been writing this blog, at 7am on the 22nd June, I've had two booking requests in for July and August. If those people had sent me an email, by the time I had responded and they had read the reply and replied themselves, high season might be sold out.

So, how can I make it more obvious that all the information that they seek is right in front of them before they take the time to email me and introduce the very delays that might prevent them getting a holiday with Freedom? Your input is welcomed.