Horsey Mere Regatta Review

Broom 35 Sedan

What a well designed boat this Broom 35 Sedan was I surveyed today in Brundall at Norfolk Yacht Agency. The NYA Service Centre offers a 'one stop shop' for high-quality maintenance and refurbishment. They have experienced engineers and dedicated staff to meet all your needs. Drop them a mail: service@nya.co.uk

Based on the same hull as the 35 European, this boat has an entirely different deck and superstructure. Two versions were made, both with an aft cockpit; one a single level cruiser, and the other having a flying bridge, which was enlarged on later models. Although these are both popularly known as the 35 Sedan, it is now thought that the Sedan label originated with the single level model, and the flybridge version should properly be referred to as such.

Two forward cabins provide twin v-berths and a side-accessed double, whilst another double can be made from the convertible settee in the wheelhouse/saloon. With so much space taken by the cockpit, there is only room for a single bathroom alongside the galley. There is an interior helm in the wheelhouse/saloon and another on the flying bridge.

Most boats were fitted with twin 145hp turbo-charged Perkins 6.354 diesel engines. Later boats like this one had 150hp range 4 turbo Perkins, giving a maximum speed of 21 knots.

Surveyors comments: Nothing but good things to say about this boat…. I’m amazed they never built more than 50. The spacious interior provides very comfortable, live-aboard facilities for extensive cruising.
Thinking of Buying a Boat and Need Help? I specialise in Boats of all types, and I will assist you to make an informed decision. Contact me for a detailed and comprehensive report at: steventruss1@aol.com

Princess 414

I had to carry out an Insurance Survey and Valuation on this lovely old lady. Marine Projects of Plymouth built the Princess 41, a stretched version of the Princess 37, from 1977 to 1982, when the boat was superseded by the 414, based on the same deep-vee version of the 37 hull but with a modified superstructure and interior layout.

The 414’s continued in production until 1987. The Princess 412 introduced in 1979, was an aft cockpit version of the same boat. Altogether more than 250 examples of the 41, 412 and 414 were built.

With a standard engine installation of twin 235HP Volvo diesel engines, top speed is about 24 Knots.

Lifting her out at Brundall Bay Marina with the owners 'Watching carefully' .... They spend most of the summer living onboard...

Thinking of Buying a Boat and Need Help? I specialise in Boats of all types, and I will assist you to make an informed decision. Contact me for a detailed and comprehensive report at: steventruss1@aol.com

Green Boat Show is festival finale

Salhouse Broad will become a mecca for green boating on Sunday (May 19th) when some of the Broads’ most historic sailing boats take to the water alongside silent electric and man-powered boats to bring the two week Broads Outdoors Festival to a grand finale.                                                                                          

The Broads Green Boat and Tourism Show will feature more than 30 exhibitors  showcasing how you can have fun on  the water without damaging the environment  and promoting how they are making an effort to ‘green up’.

Visitors can arrive in style aboard an electric powered water taxi from Granary Staithe in Hoveton for £8 return including the entrance fee. They then have the chance to get out on the broad in a variety of eco friendly boats for free.

They can try their hand at canoeing, enjoy a skippered sail aboard a 1930’s heritage yacht, step aboard a 101 year old wherry or take a trip in an electric boat. They can even sail into Salhouse Broad aboard the wherry Norada from How Hill on Saturday for £25, and sail back to Wherry Yacht  Charter’s base at Wroxham  after the show on Sunday for £15.

The Broads Authority’s Edwardian style electric launch ‘Liana’, which runs from Hoveton during the summer, will be giving free trips round Salhouse Broad. While on board visitors will be able to view the Authority’s innovative work to re-build a lost reed bed and strengthen a spit of land popular for mooring by re-using dredged sediment.  The work has been short-listed for the innovation category of the Water Renaissance Awards. Visit the Broads Authority’s gazebo to find out more from the project manager, William Coulet.

There will be plenty to keep the younger members of the family occupied.
They will have the chance to visit an Alien Spaceship and win prizes by hunting down the ‘killer shrimp’, which has invaded the Broads. They can also follow a treasure trail to identify alien invaders and create their own alien from clay and other natural materials.

Meanwhile the Broads Authority’s Wetland Biosecurity Officer, Will Burchnall, will be explaining to people how to stop the spread of invasive species with the Check, Clean, Dry campaign.

Children will love to pat the Burnt Fen Alpacas and watch the Nutmeg Puppet Show, “Windy Old Weather”, with its own eco-friendly message. Salhouse school pupils will also be presenting an exhibition on what being green means to them.

The Little Blue Boat, star of an enchanting new children’s book about the Broads, will feature at the show where author Phil Johnson will be signing copies of his book “The Little Blue Boat and the Secret of the Broads!” which is packed with green, safety messages. Norfolk Broads Concert Band will be entertaining at set times.

Trips from How Hill and back to Wroxham on the Wherry Norada can be booked on 01692 630674

Green Boat Show exhibitors include the Electric Boat Association, Norfolk Broads Direct, showing how it has achieved the Green Boat Mark for all its hire fleet, Ecover cleaning products, a smoothie bike, local potter Pat Southwood, Dereham & District RNLI, Broadland Cycle Hire, Wherry Yacht Charter CharitableTrust, Hunter Fleet, RSPB, The North Walsham & Dilham Canal Trust, The Broads Canoe Hire Association, Free Spirit Canoe Tours, Fairhaven Woodland and Water Gardens, Broadland District Council’s energy van, Green Home Energy Solutions, Broads Spirituality, Starfish Installations, several boat builders and Hoseasons.

Hot food, drinks, beer from a local micro brewery and home-made cakes will be available throughout the day.  The show is open from 10.00am to 4.00pm. Entrance is £1.50 per person if arriving on foot, by bike or public transport or £7.00 per car. Under 12s are free.

Moorings will be £7 for the day to include entrance to the show.

The postcode for Salhouse Broad is NR13 6RX. For more information visit www.greenboatandtourismshow.co.uk

Help name the Broads Cuckoo

The familiar call of the cuckoo heralds the start of spring. But for how much longer?

The species is one of the UK’s fastest declining migrants with 50% of cuckoos having been lost and the bird is now on the red alert list.

Now the Broads Authority is teaming up with the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) to try to solve the mystery of why English, and particularly Broads cuckoos are declining faster than cuckoos in Wales and Scotland.

The Authority is sponsoring the tagging of a male cuckoo with a satellite-tracking device to follow his 10,000 mile journey from the Broads to Africa in June and his flight back next spring to see what problems he meets along the way. He is one of six male Broads cuckoos and 15 in Britain which are being tagged.

The Authority wants the public to name the Broads cuckoo, which was caught and tagged on Burgh Common, land which is owned by one of the sponsors, Essex & Suffolk Water, on Sunday May 12th. The Authority is offering a prize of a trip for a family of four aboard one of its three trip boats.

Andrea Kelly, Senior Ecologist for the Broads said: “This is a really exciting opportunity for people to get involved in supporting ground breaking research. We work hard to enhance wildlife in the Broads, but species such as cuckoos need stepping stones of wild spaces all the way to the Congo basin in Africa where they spend the winter. This project is helping our understanding of the Broads connection to global issues.

“Cuckoos spend most of their time out of the UK, so even though we think of them as iconic birds of the UK countryside, they in fact depend on what’s happening in Africa and along their migration route. We don’t have a great deal of information about where our cuckoos go, so to help them survive we need to find out about their stop over locations, routes and timings in the UK.

“Last year our cuckoos experienced drought and wild fires in Spain, and three of our tagged cuckoos perished. So when they are with us in the Broads it is essential for them to find plenty of food to lay down the body condition required for their long flight back to Africa, which can start as early as June.

“The national park network linking France, Italy and Spain to the Broads act like stepping stones, providing places for many migrating species to refuel, breed and enable them to avoid the effects of climate change and impoverished farmed landscapes.”

Dr. Chris Hewson, Senior Research Ecologist, BTO’s International Research Team, said: “The project is really important because before we started it, we knew very little about cuckoo migration, especially during the large part of the year that they spend in Africa.

So far we've learnt a lot about the routes they take and where they spend the winter. We now know, for instance, that British cuckoos spend the winter in the Congo basin, mostly in the western part, but that they take very different routes to get there.

“More than half of the birds that we've tagged in East Anglia (but none that we've tagged elsewhere) have taken a previously unsuspected western route, via Iberia, rather than leaving Europe in a south-easterly direction as most cuckoos do. We need to tag more cuckoos in the region to find out just how prevalent this unusual route is and, in view of the steep population decline in the region, whether it is associated with lower survival than other routes. Every cuckoo we tag helps to add valuable information to build up the picture of what's going on with this species and, we hope, to eventually help to formulate plans to reverse its population decline.”

To enter the Broads Authority’s cuckoo competition think of a name which reflects the Broads and send your entries by email to cuckooname@broads-authority.gov.uk with the reason for choosing the name.

The winner will be offered a trip on the Authority’s solar boat ‘Ra’ at Whitlingham Country Park, its wildlife water trail aboard an electric boat at How Hill National Nature Reserve, or its Edwardian style launch at Hoveton..

The BTO is catching and tagging the cuckoos over the next few weeks. You can follow the day to day positions of the cuckoos on line at www.bto.org/cuckoos.  Each tag costs £3,000, but you can donate to the project for a little as a few pounds.