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Broads01

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Broads01 last won the day on March 27

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  1. It's been blowing quite a hooly this evening. I opened the door to put Suzie out for her last pee and a gust blew it wide open. There is something nice about being in bed on a boat though when you can hear the weather outside.
  2. Today started with my third engineer call out of the week. The heating has been working but cutting out after a random length of time and refusing to come back on until a later time. An engineer attended within half an hour and diagnosed an overheating unit. He tried to swap to a replacement unit but the replacement required a different mounting bracket he didn't have. He offered to let me get on my way and for me to phone later for them to return to wherever which I accepted. First destination was Upton Dyke. I love it down at the Staithe and reckoned on it as a good midday stop and dog walk. Suzie loves the chance to be off the lead and it worked out really well, even if the weather was blowy and inhospitable. I decided on Womack Staithe next and to call the engineer from there. It was raining hard by the time I arrived but I didn't have any issues mooring. I phoned Barnes again and the engineer duly attended with a new bracket and it was soon job done. Despite 3 call outs, all have been for issues that are just bad luck more than anything and the service I've received has been excellent. I think of it as a great benefit of that premium price I pay for repeated hires - I'm paying someone else to look after the boat for me rather than have the stress of doing it myself and that suits me very well. Heater fixed, the lure of The Lion and another pint of gluten-free beer was too much to resist. I had to give in and make the short cruise to Thurne. The river was choppy with the wind and I made the mistake of initially mooring on the main river by the mill. Not only did it need a couple of attempts, I soon realised once I'd tied up that the boat would be bouncing up and down all night. I walked down the dyke to scout out the scarce mooring rings and then moved around a short distance. I'd noticed the wind was blowing in to the mill side so I had no issues repositioning. Not so lucky were the couple on the boat who came in just after. Despite being pinned to the bank by the wind on the mill side, they subsequently struggled to moor the boat on the opposite bank, taking several attempts and much flailing of arms at each other. I chatted to them in the pub later and they'd been trying to avoid using the rhond anchors which would have been necessary on my side. Dinner at The Lion has been lovely as usual.
  3. I certainly had some fun at Thurne with the wind this afternoon.
  4. If you still like Bolero you could go for that and then if there were issues at Ludham nearer the time, Richardsons would change your booking. It would depend on availability as to what they offered you though.
  5. You syndicate folks are dedicated. I admire you giving up your valuable holiday time, I don't think I could do it.
  6. Today I decided to do something different as you've seen, Bure Valley Railway. I like steam railways plus this one had an added interest for me - my late father volunteered there briefly before he became ill. Despite this I'd never visited personally so it was a but of a pilgrimage today. Before setting off for Wroxham, we had another walk as far as the altar cross and we both enjoyed the walk as much as yesterday. I'd forgotten that of you stand by the cross, you can see across to the Thurne, Thurne Mill and Womack, not to mention much of Fleet Dyke in a southerly direction. It was blowy and a bit wintry though so once we'd set off I didn't open the helm-side roof so much today. I reverted to my cold weather M.O. of repeatedly getting frustrated by being inside, opening the roof for a few minutes of cold air and then getting too cold so shutting it again. I turned in to Wroxham Broad and did mudweight briefly but it was too windy to feel comfortable so we continued in to Wroxham and moored at Barnes Brinkcraft. I enjoyed the Bure Valley Railway experience. It's probably one of the newer preserved railways having opened in 1990 on the site of an old passenger branch line (which was still used for freight until 1981). It trundles it's way slowly 9 miles to Aylsham where you get off and have time to visit the cafe before the return journey. It's narrow gauge so the locos and rolling stock are relatively tiny and they sort of shake you gently from side to side as they move along. Suzie isn't always a relaxed traveller, especially in the car but I found myself relaxed and sleepy and she was the same. We returned to the boat around 4 and shortly set off for Horning. I was thinking of mooring at the Ferry Inn but couldn't believe my luck when there was a gap just big enough for us on the Staithe. What the photo doesn't show is there's a boat not far in front of us so I think if we'd have been 35 foot we'd have been struggling. Unfortunately the kitchen at The Swan was closed but I've had a decent meal at The New Inn instead.
  7. Mooring at Horning Staithe at 17:30? You'll never do it, I hear you say. Wrong!
  8. Easy quick quiz. Where are we this afternoon?
  9. That would be top screens down. Last October Richardsons staff were in force at Ludham Bridge with oil drums to get some of the dual steer boats back through.
  10. We headed for Stalham first of all today, partly for Tesco and partly because it's a nice cruise anyway. It turned out quite a bright morning and not as cold. Between Neatishead and Stalham we saw only two boats. At Richardsons there were some gaps on Swan Quay so I was able to pull in there for water (it's still off at Neatishead) and Tesco. Suzie is never especially impressed when I leave her on the boat but needs must sometimes. Wayford Bridge was the next destination to see if there was any possibility of squeezing under. On arrival there only 6 foot 6 showing so not a chance (we need 6 foot 10). I turned around and decided to try my luck at one of the wild moorings above Barton Broad. Some of them are looking worse for wear after many weeks of being underwater. I finished up opting for Paddy's Lane instead and we had a very peaceful couple of hours there. This afternoon's final destination was St Benets. Although Suzie and I had a walk just before we left Paddy's Lane, when we were crossing Barton she was whining at the stern door as if trying to convince me she was in urgent need of a comfort break. I relented and made an impromptu mooring just on the right as we left Barton, only to soon realised it had been a typical doggy con trick all along. Oh well, it was actually a very pretty spot and so we stopped there for a short while and enjoyed the scenery. Carrying on downstream there were only two boats at How Hill and not many more than that at Ludham Bridge. We arrived at St. Benets around 4 and Suzie enjoyed herself off the lead as there were no livestock around.
  11. I'd also add Wroxham Broad and Hoveton Little Broad.
  12. I enjoyed myself at the Falgate although I think the food could have been better if I'm honest. It was a cold night and I was thankful for my sleeping bag because the shore power wasn't working for reasons I didn't know. A call to the boatyard sorted it very quickly - the guy arrived in about 20 minutes and immediately sussed the problem. I knew the electrics had tripped out yesterday and I'd reset it but I hadn't realised there was an additional trip in the stern wardrobe (well why have one trip switch when you can have two?). We were soon on our way, initial destination South Walsham. We crossed paths with Mermaid once again on our way down the Thurne, along with maybe two other boats. On the Bure we saw nobody at all before St Benets. We mudweighted for a while on an empty South Walsham Broad then after an Inner Broad detour headed for the curved mooring at Fleet Dyke. There I got in to a pickle again due to the wind which was determined to blow us off the bank more than once. Once I'd managed to step off with both ropes the boat was very quickly most of the ropes' length away from the bank. Good old Broads conditions can still challenge. This afternoon's cruise was destination Neatishead. Not only did I want electric after last night's cold experience but I wanted to stop overnight there having somehow not done so for 21 years. There always seems to be something stopping me moor there, mostly the spaces filling up early in the season but recently there's been the temporary closure and then last October there was a police incident there when I'd have otherwise moored. On the way Ludham Bridge was showing 7 foot 8 which I guess isn't too bad, especially as in reality there was much more. I spotted video blogger Daniel (One Dan and his Boat) walking near the bridge but by the time I realised I'd passed. Of course there were only 3 boats already at Neatishead, one of which was Moonlight Shadow. I said hello to Helen and Graham which was a bit of a challenge given Suzie was doing her grumpy small dog routine to counteract an exuberant Pozzick. Helen and I managed to have another conversation later thankfully whilst Suzie and I were on our way to the (very dog friendly) White Horse. It's also warm and welcoming.
  13. I still wondered that myself when I passed you.
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