We Are New!!! Help!!!

[karrass1]

Hello, 

 

I have booked to go from Wroxam on the Brinks Lullaby with myself, my wife, our 14 year old son and our cockapoo.  We do not drink so hitting every pub is not the goal.  Having peace and quiet and being able to take the dog on nice quiet walks is the goal.  A bit of fishing, maybe.  Any thoughts about route going North or South?  I understand that no matter what, it will be busy as we are going in peak season.  Getting very excited!!!  Thanks.  David

 

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[SwanR]

Welcome to the forum. 

I'm sure that you will have a great holiday. If it's your first trip and if you only have a week then I would relax and stay north. Having a few ideas of where you want to go is good and then just see what each day brings. I used to try to plan a route but now just see how we feel every morning. 

There's plenty of holiday tales that will give you ideas of where folk go day to day. And the handy information tab at the top gives you useful documents like time and distance charts to work out how long it takes to get from place to place. 

[Vaughan]

Hello Karrass, and welcome to the forum!

You have hired a very comfortable, luxury cruiser, and Barnes are a high quality yard, so you will have a good time.

Only trouble is that you are restricted by Wroxham and Potter Heigham bridges. This just leaves you with the Ant, so you might think about a trip to Beccles and back. This would need a bit of forward planning, to get the tides right in Gt. Yarmouth.

Hope you enjoy yourselves!

[Chelsea14Ian]

Hi and welcome Karrass.Thwre are plenty of places to stop,Many of them are BA moorings.I understand  you don't drink but many pubs offer very good food.If you are new to boating say north,however the South is a great place to visit. Just take it easy and see how it goes.I would suggest to make life easier go with the tide.

Ian

[ranworthbreeze]

Hello David,

Welcome to the forum. 

You do not say if this is your first visit or if you are a seasoned boat hirer?

As other forum members have said take it easy and go with the flow.

The Northern Broads will be a lot busier than the Southern Broads, the variation for tides is much less on the Northern Broads. There are some great spots for wild mooring and Broads to mud weight on, 24 hour moorings and outside the pubs will get full early.

Personally I prefer the Southern Broads, but where you have hired from you would be using a full day tides permitting just on the journey south.

The main thing is two enjoy your visit to the Norfolk Broads.

Regards

Alan

[Londonlad1985]

Welcome! Great holiday choice, for my 1st time i enjoyed using a tide chart and distance/time chart to plan a route! It all went out the window when we got there and everyone just wanted to go fishing all the time! But it was a fun exercise!

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[Bound2Please]

David a warm to the forum from me and the wench (some call her Inge).

My advise is just dont plan nothing as London Lad above says, plans tend not to happen. But if your afloat for the August bank holiday weekend, a visit to our 10th Birthday celebrations maybe worth having a look in to put names to people who frequent the forum.

Charlie

[Polly]

Yes Sahouse Broad, is a great spot for a friendly get together. Do come if you can.

 

[Gracie]

A very warm welcome aboard the forum from me

If you stay North I personally would moor at How Hill, brilliant moorings and lots of space to let the dog explore. Salhouse Broad, again lots of space for the dog to let off some steam if you moor at 'the beach' as I used to call it or moor on the island there for some great fishing especially the Perch, having said all the above it will be very busy so moorings may be few and far between at these particular places. Fleet Dyke, great walks to be had from there too

If you prefer to spend a lot of time cruising (like us) then I would go with Vaughan's suggestion and go South, a lot less busy but beautiful places to explore all the same, get the tides right, you will cross Breydon water (going to sea as my children call it) on a calm day it's stunning, on a breezy choppy day it's exciting

Whatever you decide, enjoy probably what is the best holiday on the planet

Not sure you'll want to attend the Birthday meet though, there will be some strange people there  Just kidding of course, a nicer bunch you will be hard pressed to find

Have a smashing time

Grace

[Hockham Admiral]

Karrass1, Hi.

A warm "Welcome Aboard" from us too!   

[Viking23]

Welcome to the forum, and a welcome to the Broads, I guess as your title says, you are new, then this is your first ever visit.

As others have said, stay north, don't go below Stokesby as the tides become stronger and tide tables are essential to get your journey planned. 

There is a lot of river between Wroxham and Potter Heigham, and from Acle to Stalham,  plenty of room to cruise as little or as often as you want.

Your planning could simply be.... we are at a river junction.... left or right ?

A busy part will be on the Bure between Wroxham and Horning, but a beautiful section by far, but explore Wroxham and Salhouse Broad. Mud weight for a few hours, and let the boat drift around in circles as the wind changes your position.

Each river has it's own charms, some narrow and windy, others wide and open, from where you can see the odd white sail cut across the meadows, and also the white sails of many of the restored wind mills (wind pumps really lol) .

You will pass St Bennets Abbey several times, as this is in the middle of a "H" section with tributaries off to Malthouse and South Walsham.

Enjoy...

Wished I was there. Sorry... missed that... did you say you had a spare bunk for an experienced crew member lol?

I'd get killed in the rush lol...

Richard 

[JamesLV]

wilkommen, bien venue, ben venuti etc...

You'll love it, don't plan too much, talk to other people, help people moor, you'll have a great time, as mentioned above, even if you're not drinkers, don't write the pubs off, there's some great food available and moorings at the pubs, plus you get to meet some great people.

It will be busy at that time, but don't let anyone rush you into moorings etc, just take your time, and if it goes pete tong, have another go, we've all been there, I'm sure I will cock a few up having not been on the broads for a few years and returning in October with a total boating novice girlfriend. Lifejackets whilst not the most fashionable devices are worth wearing when mooring etc. Also get one for the pooch if you haven't already, even if pooch is a proficient swimmer, they get tired very quickly, and the lifejackets have a useful handle for hooking them out, or carrying them on/off the boat, the EzyDog branded ones are very good.

[Wonderwall]

Hi Karass

Thats a lovely big boat , you will love it.

However , what you need is a hired hand on board, I would suggest a Scotsman ., probably one called Neil, to show you around, pass on knowledge, help you moor, teach you to drink, fish and sing some songs. If you contact me , I will send you their number 

 

Have a great time , take it easy , and for me the best bit of simple advice ever was remember the boat steers from the back.

Neil

[Timbo]

Hi David, welcome to the forum. Best bit of advice I can give is 'Slow you down!'. Take your time, don't be in a rush to get anywhere but...spend some time looking at the maps, tide tables and speed and distance charts, to give yourself ample time to find a mooring and do what you want to do or see. Don't expect to be out of the boat yard quickly and if there is something you want to know about the boat ask them.

On our last hire this year, just a weekend, my Mrs did what she usually does...start stowing everything away and making things tidy while I got on with piloting straight out of the yard. I wish I'd waited for her to do her chores (yeah I know I should have helped but...she honestly won't let me) so that she could have enjoyed the scenery she missed while her head was stuck in a cupboard.

If you have a dog with you (I dunno what a cockapoop is) don't forget it's life jacket and purchase food and water bowls that are wider at the bottom than the top...you will trip over the bowls, get water all over, slip in it and bang your head...whaddya mean it's just me?

Oh and don't forget to print off your NBN Members window poster to pop in the boat window, wave if you see another one and remember that wherever you see the NBN logo you will be assured a warm welcome!

[Viking23]

I can just imagine Frank Muir on call my bluff describing this one lol...

RE cockapoop, I think it is a general slang name given to a small male dog, 

It's a shortened word which originated from "Cocks it's leg and poops"

TRUE   BLUFF   TRUE      ?

Which reminds me, bring loads of doggie poo bags with you, it is totally unacceptable to have raw dog poo ready for moorers to step in as they moor up, or drag their mooring ropes through.  Also hang on to the bag and dispose of in a sensible and hygenic way.

 

Doggie life jacket... yes essential, ask the yard now about getting one.

Richard

[JamesLV]

Our Patterdale loves his life jacket (or not)

[YnysMon]

We recommend the EzyDog buoyancy aids for dogs too, having bought one for our collie puppy earlier this year.  It came in very handy when she took a dip in July as we were able to scoop her out of the water very quickly using the handle on the back.  She's quite cautious about water, so I was quite surprised that she fell in whilst trying to hop back on the boat.  Her front legs made it, but her back legs didn't!

Welcome to the forum by the way,

Helen

[YnysMon]

And for the uninitiated, a cockapoo is a cross between a Cocker Spaniel and a Poodle.  I had my heart set on one until I realised how much a Cockapoo puppy cost. They do look so cute though!  (We're right skinflints at heart.)  Our Collie Seren was really cheap (even cheaper than the cost of adopting a rescue dog) because the farmer we bought her from couldn't be bothered with pedigree registration.  We still think she's priceless though!

Helen

[Polly]

All of the above. If you are new to boating as such, ' Slow you down' is good Norfolk advice. Wear your Lifejackets whenever out on deck. Always keep one hand on the boat and one on whatever task. Step off never jump. 

Plan ahead on mooring. Have lines ready, make sure crew and you can see or hear each other, keep giving little burst touches on the power rather than revving. Accept help, it's often offered, the Broads are friendly and we all were novices once and all still make a pig's ear of stuff on occasion, so don't worry. Lock the dog in the cabin when mooring! 

Apologies if this is all well known to you! Have a good holiday.

 

[Polly]

Helen, is that a Border Collie? My favourite breed!

[Wyndham]

Hi karrass1, I'm fairly new here too, but not to the broads. You have had some really good advice but just to add my bit.. hope it helps. Get a good map, there is an OS one just for the broads and you may be surprised where you can moor and walk to.

As has been said, How Hill has plentiful moorings with extensive walks, Ludham bridge too, you can moor south of the bridge for a fee and they're rarely full. Paddy's Lane is another good one, Quite and as there is no pub slower to fill up. Salhouse is lovely.

But also, don't forget the boatyards, at busy times there will be plenty of space in them. Easy access to rubbish disposal, supplies , water, showers and when the curtains are drawn you could be anywhere. Fishing often good there too.

Have a lovely holiday.

[YnysMon]

Yes 'Polly', Seren is a Border Collie...and in our biased way we think she's the cutest thing around. 

Helen

[Maxwellian]

Cockerpoo

 

[Timbo]

'Angol', odd name for a dog! 

[SueH]

1 hour ago, Maxwellian said:

Cockerpoo

 

Met my first Cockapoo today. 

A gorgeous three month old pup called Molly, who our neighbour was carrying.  Apparently Molly is rather timid.

Rosie isn't usually very sociable, but she definitely wanted to say hello.  So our neighbour put Molly down and no problems at all.  Rosie recognised a pup and Molly realised our 11 year old Corgi was no threat.

Was definitely an 'ah' moment.

If we weren't 'died in the wool' Corgi people would seriously consider a Cockapoo.

Sue