Geoff Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 I did say that I would not post any more pics of the Fenlander until she was about finished, so I thought I would post a couple of pics of my other boat, a Fairline Carrera "Mistral". this is the boat that we removed from the river on Wednesday. Andy135 and FreeDinky 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 1 minute ago, Geoff said: I did say that I would not post any more pics of the Fenlander until she was about finished, so I thought I would post a couple of pics of my other boat, a Fairline Carrera "Mistral". this is the boat that we removed from the river on Wednesday. The first pic was when the river was in flood and the second was a themed Carribean weekend at the club. I will also try to post a couple of pics when we took our first Carrera to Fecamp. Geoff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 Our first Carrera Idle Vice Dusting off prior to launch at Northney marina, going fishing and eating the catch - Mackies of course - and no blood, entrails or scales anywhere! Geoff. Saintly Fish 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 Sorry, I seem to have double posted the first post and am unable to remove it, perhaps one of the non-mod mods will that for me. Thanks. Geoff.☺️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 Looking good Geoff 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 No double posts as far as I can see, so perhaps our techno-geek @JonC has already take care of it for you Geoff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrkneyCorkney Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 Nice boats, can Mistral navigate most of the Broads network - obviously not Potter Heigham Bridge - or maybe..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 25 minutes ago, Andy135 said: No double posts as far as I can see, so perhaps our techno-geek @JonC has already take care of it for you Geoff. 26 minutes ago, Andy135 said: No double posts as far as I can see, so perhaps our techno-geek @JonC has already take care of it for you Geoff. I did not intend for the Mistral pics to come up on the second post, - but hey ho. Geoff.☺️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 5 minutes ago, Geoff said: I did not intend for the Mistral pics to come up on the second post, - but hey ho. Geoff.☺️ In which case, just edit your second post and delete them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 (edited) 13 hours ago, OrkneyCorkney said: Nice boats, can Mistral navigate most of the Broads network - obviously not Potter Heigham Bridge - or maybe..... When the canopy is down Mistrals air draft is not that great. On the river Nene, Fotheringhay bridge is the one that everybody worries about and we have passed under that (in Idle Vice) ok. Our problem on the river are the locks west of Northampton as we are then restricted by the beam. We can stay on the Nene to Wisbech or navigate the middle level and pick up the Ouse at Denver and access the Wash or go down to Ely, St.Ives Bedford etc. The only fish that I have had from the Wash were lovely looking Grey mullet (not caught by myself) that were inedible as they just tasted of MUD despite being soaked in a bath of freshwater for 24 hours. We have also accessed the Wash from the Nene at Wisbech and via the river Welland, but no link from the Nene. Never yet tried the Broads. Geoff. Edited March 14, 2021 by Geoff OrkneyCorkney 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 20 minutes ago, Andy135 said: In which case, just edit your second post and delete them. Thanks Andy - done. Geoff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintly Fish Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 8 minutes ago, Geoff said: they just tasted of MUD despite being soaked in a bath of freshwater for 24 hours Apparently it’s milk that they should be soaked in to remove the mud taste. The Czechs do the same with carp, which is their traditional Christmas meal. I’ve tried it, and it tastes............ like mud...🤢 Geoff 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 4 minutes ago, Saintly Fish said: Apparently it’s milk that they should be soaked in to remove the mud taste. The Czechs do the same with carp, which is their traditional Christmas meal. I’ve tried it, and it tastes............ like mud...🤢 And its salted water for brown trout, which after soaking for 24 hours tasted like... ...mud. It's a substance known as geosmins in their flesh that give that earthy/muddy taste. I've yet to find a way to remove it. Geoff 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrkneyCorkney Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 I caught a Mullet in Cornwall and perhaps because it was in the estuary it didn’t taste of mud - it was rather nice. I was advised to take care filleting to avoid puncturing the gut as that could spoil the taste. Geoff and Saintly Fish 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeDinky Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 On 3/13/2021 at 7:43 PM, Geoff said: When the canopy is down Mistrals air draft is not that great. On the river Nene, Fotheringhay bridge is the one that everybody worries about and we have passed under that (in Idle Vice) ok. Our problem on the river are the locks west of Northampton as we are then restricted by the beam. We can stay on the Nene to Wisbech or navigate the middle level and pick up the Ouse at Denver and access the Wash or go down to Ely, St.Ives Bedford etc. The only fish that I have had from the Wash were lovely looking Grey mullet (not caught by myself) that were inedible as they just tasted of MUD despite being soaked in a bath of freshwater for 24 hours. We have also accessed the Wash from the Nene at Wisbech and via the river Welland, but no link from the Nene. Never yet tried the Broads. Geoff. I've eaten mullet once and I'd never ever eat them again ! You are dead right that they taste like mud ! I even done the same thing docking it in salty water for at least 24 hrs 🙃 yuk yuk yuk disgusting fish lol 😆 Geoff 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzook12 Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 On 3/13/2021 at 7:43 PM, Geoff said: When the canopy is down Mistrals air draft is not that great. On the river Nene, Fotheringhay bridge is the one that everybody worries about and we have passed under that (in Idle Vice) ok. Our problem on the river are the locks west of Northampton as we are then restricted by the beam. We can stay on the Nene to Wisbech or navigate the middle level and pick up the Ouse at Denver and access the Wash or go down to Ely, St.Ives Bedford etc. The only fish that I have had from the Wash were lovely looking Grey mullet (not caught by myself) that were inedible as they just tasted of MUD despite being soaked in a bath of freshwater for 24 hours. We have also accessed the Wash from the Nene at Wisbech and via the river Welland, but no link from the Nene. Never yet tried the Broads. Geoff. Middle level? How'd you manage that then, the middle level isn't navigable...... Do you mean the nene old course (old bedford I think it's also known as) ? Though not sure where you pick that up from P'boro, 16ft possibly? Spent many hours on the "level" after bream as was my local water for 15-20 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted March 20, 2021 Author Share Posted March 20, 2021 (edited) Steve, the middle level was navigable back in the seventies/eighties if it is not now. Geoff. Leaving the Nene at Stanground from memory where we joined the middle level we passed through March, Upwell/Outwell and ended up at the lock at Salters Lode and met the Great Ouse to Denver sluice carrying on to ELY, Cambridge, St.Ives, St Neots and Bedford. Part of that route was on what they called (I think) the old west river, which was very weedy. I suspect that it is still possible to do that today ignoring lockdown. Anyway, I will google that later, but if I ever claim to have done something you can rely on the fact that I have 100%. Geoff. Edited March 20, 2021 by Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzook12 Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 20 hours ago, Geoff said: Steve, the middle level was navigable back in the seventies/eighties if it is not now. Geoff. Leaving the Nene at Stanground from memory where we joined the middle level we passed through March, Upwell/Outwell and ended up at the lock at Salters Lode and met the Great Ouse to Denver sluice carrying on to ELY, Cambridge, St.Ives, St Neots and Bedford. Part of that route was on what they called (I think) the old west river, which was very weedy. I suspect that it is still possible to do that today ignoring lockdown. Anyway, I will google that later, but if I ever claim to have done something you can rely on the fact that I have 100%. Geoff. Yeah, the middle level has never been navigable, you are talking about the old nene at upwell/outwell/salters lode...... Ahhh, yeah it comes under the middle level commision, that will be the confusion..... The Middle level itself ends at St Germans at the great big pumping station/sluices and actually runs under the old nene at the outwell aquaduct.... Yeah, where you are talking about is still navigable. Could just be a local thing as on the MLC map, what we know as the middle level is called the main drain.... Geoff 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted April 5, 2021 Author Share Posted April 5, 2021 The reason that Mistral had to come out of the water was because a worn bearing on the inboard end of the jackshaft allowed water to bypass the inboard seal and enter the bell housing. Sadly the only way to carry out the repair was to remove the engine (a retro fitted 6 cyl diesel) and our club JCB is unable to lift the engine out. That was just as well as it happens because this was not a job I can do myself and I had to get a local marine engineer to carry out the repairs. Getting the motor out did prove to be difficult (I had thought the tank would have to be drained and removed, but by inching the engine forward and the swinging it through 90deg. it came out ok). There were a couple of problems identifying the VP water pump drive dog (it's called a cross piece) as all the VP parts list use the same pics for the different versions (AQAD40A) and that pic is nothing like the actual item for the VP pump, but matches the London transport sign shaped version used on the Jabsco and Johnson pumps. Anyway the engineer could not identify the part so gave me that job!!! It took me a whole day of hair pulling and telephoning to get to the bottom of the problem. Once ordered and paid for with the instruction to use next day special delivery - yes you've guessed it - it did not arrive. Another few days passed and on Wednesday AM I ordered another one (I know the part number now) from another VP dealer who promised to get it in the post so I would get it next day so it would be here before the Easter shut down. Of course it did not arrive!!! On Saturday morning I was carded saying incorrect postal charges and must visit the RM depot to pay (£2) and collect or pay on line which would have meant the earliest possible delivery would be Tuesday (tomorrow), so I rushed down to town to collect. It was the original order and whilst there was a to be signed for sticker on the jiffy bag it had not been franked!!! Anyway I collected it and delivered it to the engineer who has started work on another boat in the meantime, but hopes to finish Mistral during this week. When she is back at the club i will spend a few days tidying her up before launch. I rather expect the other cross piece to arrive tomorrow, but will not return it as I think it is a useful part to keep on board. Sorry to bore you all with this sad tale. Geoff. Andy135 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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