Hockham Admiral

Jonny, Hi Not only rude.. what he really said was "F... ..". Some of you younger guys might have put him right!!!

This was a pre-planned "first-time" visit for us to the Northern Broads; also to meet up again with Loops and Red Rover and hopefully more of the team. It started on Monday, 31st August, when Mary-Jane and I plus grandson and his lady (he is 25!) drove to Burgh Castle. When we arrived we hurriedly loaded up after Alan Goodchild warned us about mud and approaching low-water! Ben and Jo hadn't been on the boat before so we quickly set off for Stokesby, preceded by Mary-Jane in Jo's car. Ben quickly picked up helming and we set off across Breydon in lovely early afternoon sunshine. I was horrified... THREE speed-boats were roaring up and down Breydon with no thought whatsoever about their wake and the effect on the fleet of hire boats crossing Breydon... We passed under Gt Yarmouth bridges about an hour before LW and saw 10ft 6ins on the tide gauges. (Two hours earlier than planned but it was a lovely day!). We finally arrived at the Ferry at 15.00 and found plenty of space to moor right in front of the pub. Ben and Jo then said their farewells in order to get home (via Boston) before the Bank Holiday traffic nightmare really developed! We then ventured inside for a beer or three... Adnams Regatta, no less! It was awful and I only managed a couple of gulps before it hit me. The young lady serving didn't seem too interested but did eventually replace our drinks. Not long afterwards a man came up to us and said he'd just witnessed a small dinghy hit us quite hard... Later when I'd found the owner of the dinghy (who was most apologetic and agreed to pay/let his insurers pay) I returned to the pub and noticed a Forum burgee on the front of the boat moored immediately behind us. It was Sandpiper with Boycee and Mags who turned out to be our witnesses! Many thanks, guys, without your info it would have been down to us to pay! The meal in the evening was acceptable but whether it was the Regatta or the Beef in Black Bean Sauce I had to eat I don't know. I only know that it was quite some time before my stomach returned to normal despite many Lomotil. (prescription anti-diarrhoea tablets). Tuesday dawned bright, sunny and relatively calm. We set off for Womach Water at 09.45 and arrived at 11.00, just 50 minutes before Tot Tyme arrived. Re-union with Barry and Olive; it was lovely to see you both again, you're such a lovely couple. We left Ludham at 09.25 on the Wednesday morning in convoy with Tot Tyme, heading for Stokesby and The Bell. We had friends visit us shortly after our arrival and we went with them to The Bell for an early recce of the evening's entertainment. Very impressed, too! They had lunch but I was saving myself for the rack of ribs later! In the afternoon Martin arrived in Eden Bridge and we were all introduced. In the evening we were all picked up in two cars by the Bell team.; what an excellent service they provide! In no particular order I recollect Barry, Olive, Simon, Jonzo, Lou, Roy, Martin, Brian and Colin. Brian had challenged me to the ribs which I did eventually manage.. did the pics come out, Martin? I'd like to see them, please. The walk back to the moorings was more a route-march in pouring rain and strong winds... Olive, however did you manage to keep up with us? After the heavy rains overnight it was still windy, but dry, the next morning. Eden Bridge left at 10.15, followed by Tot Tyme at 10.45. We slipped at 11.00 for the short trip to Hotel Wroxham. What a really nice place! We were having a quiet beer at lunchtime when a hire-boat appeared to be heading for Friday Girl.. I jumped outside over the wall in time to see it hit us and was told to “Go away†by one of the gentlemen onboard. They then moored up on the hotel's front to wait for the pilot. As I had the name and number of their boat I wasn't too concerned and asked four men sitting by the window if they'd seen it happen... good witnesses! The Commodore of the NBYC and the hotel owner! Who went outside to tell them that “Private Moorings†meant just that! Later in the afternoon Rod (Sally called my mobile and arranged to meet in the bar at 19.00 for a chat. Mary-Jane declined as she has heard all my chats with aeroplane enthusiasts before! It was good to meet up with Rod and Shirley and we had quite a few bevvies (at £2.45 a pint!). Before long it was 22.00 and time for lights out and we arranged to meet in the morning for a trip up the river in Sally B. First thing in the morning and we moved Friday Girl into the dyke at the side of the Hotel Wroxham. She looked much safer! Then along with Jim to meet Treacle! They sort of got on together but Jim is over 9 years old and Treacle is young and sprightly! After filling up with water we had a lovely cruise along the river to Coltishall with a couple of cannies to keep us going! Watching Rod helm is an experience most so-called expert helmsmen should be caused to witness! Never in a hurry, just calm and collected, he showed me several things and in particular the use of full helm and a burst of power against bow-thruster to effectively move the boat sideways onto the mooring. (I tried that at the Acle Bridge with great success, Rod!). We had another couple of pints at Coltishall as Treacle and Jim tore around in circles with Jim chasing, barking vigorously.. we don't know what his intentions were as he never caught her! I then managed to bring Sally B back to Wroxham in a downpour but declined to navigate her under the bridge! Perhaps another time, Rod! That evening it was the “Steak Night†at the hotel and we had a meal there; cheap and cheerful at £6.95 each it was good value for money. I had spoken to Gus at the New Inn as we passed by en-route Salhouse and he had confirmed the moorings in their dyke at 11.00 on Saturday. Saturday morning and we left Wroxham just before 10.00 to arrive outside the New Inn at......... 11.01! Terry (Col's mate off Southern Comfort) and Gus were waiting to help us in and I apologised for being late......... Thanks, Terry! HJ2 arrived in the early afternoon and we settled down to celebrate Lou and my birthdays (one on Friday, one on Sunday). Then a meal in the evening with Lou, Col and Connor. Excellent food, Lou had the Seafood Plater, Mary-Jane the Steak and Stilton pie, Col the Gammon and egg, Connor the Steak and Ale pie and I had the Steak and Kidney Pudding! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meal and I promised myself the Steak and Stilton pie the next night! Also a very good band and Essex Blonde's hen party! Thank goodness I can easily take my hearing aid out! We had such a good time that we changed our plans and stayed there until Tuesday! Sunday was my birthday and we started the day with a Full English! That set us up for the day! We said our goodbyes to HJ2 and crew later that morning and I walked up to the Swan to try their wi-fi. Not cheap at £2.95 for 30 mins but worth it to try their super real ales. The Steak and Stilton pie was as good as I'd hoped for! We returned to the Swan on Monday for lunchtime drinks but kept our appetites for more food at the New Inn in the evening. On Tuesday we left Horning and made our way down to Acle Bridge where we were amazed when Phil recognised us from our one and only previous visit.. last September the 22nd, 2008! Good beer, great food, free wi-fi and he even waived our mooring fee when I mentioned the NBF and NBN! For our final day's cruising please refer to the High Tide topic by DaveS. We'll be back 'oop North' next year but probably not during the school holidays... it's a little too busy for us!

The Swan, Horning but it's not free. Run by "The Cloud" at £2.99 for 30mins. Acle Bridge is free but you need to be right by the office as the signal's not very good.

And us. too. We'll be getting onboard the Harwich/Hoek ferry while you're all enjoying yourselves! Hope you all have a fantastic time! !

Not at all, Plesbit, but it doesn't cost anything and you can always cancel it later. We use them for pics as they're cheaper and better than I can produce. Also they have an offer of 5p/pic at the moment if you pre-order. (No, I am in noway connected with them!!!) !

PKS, Hi I'll reply for Brian. We live in a small West Norfolk village called Great Hockham and were the only people who owned a boat... hence the nickname! !

Lou, Hi Yes, we did indeed enjoy ourselves. Holland is such a marvellous cruising ground and it averaged out at about £11 per night at the various clubs we visited. And that's on a floating pontoon with water and electricity thrown in! Also, invariably, a clubhouse with bar and cafe, plus showers, toilets and laundry facilities. But it will be our last trip to Holland until, or if ever, the £ gets a lot better against the Euro than it is now! In a small bar or 'petite cafe' a glass of wine for Mary-Jane, a beer for me and a schnitzel/salad meal each wouldn't see much or any change from £50!!! So we ate a lot onboard! Wine was also plentiful and cheap at the supermarket; a litre of South African chardonney cost about £2.50... so we got through a fair bit of that! Off to the Southern Broads meet now; so won't be back here until Monday. !

The link below will put you through to our Snapfish album of our recent holiday on-board Friday Girl. http://www3.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailsha ... napfishuk/ We left Burgh Castle in mid-May and went via Oulton Broad, Shotley and Ramsgate to Holland. We then cruised the inland waterways of Zeeland before returning to the Broads via the Orwell and Ipswich. From Ipswich we returned to Burgh Castle via Gt Yarmouth, picked up Jim, our dog, and set off again on the Southern Broads up the Waveney and then the Yare to Norwich before finally back to Burgh castle and home in late June. Friday Girl is a Beneteau Antares 760 (25ft) with a single Volvo 3.6L turbo-diesel. We steamed for some 50 hours and covered 403 NM (about 460 miles). To best see the pics select "play slideshow" and then click on the icon immediately right of the full-screen icon to bring up the captions. !

This takes me back a few years when I was showing our grand-daughter how to start the outboard (attached to the unsinkable/uncapsizeable tender we had...)... Well, it didn't sink but actually pitchpoled backwards-on with me in it! YES, I had my inflatable LSJ on.. which inflated whilst I was under the inverted tender but to such an extent that I was like the original Michelin-Man... arms forced outstretched and unable to get at the deflation tube (which I really didn't know where to look, anyway). I don't know if this was typical of auto-inflatable LSJ's but it was a very well known brand. It was very difficult to get out from under the tender and impossible to get out of the water (in the marina) because I could neither get at the deflation valve to let some air out, nor could I pull myself up because my arms were so stretched sideways out.. fortunately this was in the middle of a Sunday afternoon and grand-daughter's cries eventually attracted two fit young men. Had this happened at night, with no-one to help, then I hate to imagine the consequences... Moral of the story.. find out, and be able to locate, your deflation valve! Good Luck to all Failies! (and apologies to Sailies!)

Nigel and Julie, Hi I'm not too sure about libel laws and so I won't name the one I wouldn't use again... but it's the one fitted as new to our Beneteau Antares 760! It doesn't have a shear-pin fitted and when we ingested a passing rope it bent the shaft and we had to have a replacement. (about £1000...). It relies on the fuse blowing but this obviously didn't happen quickly enough. BTW it's a good idea to keep a spare fuse for your B/T as they are not universally available. We had a Vetus B/T fitted to our previous boat by Goodchild Marine at Burgh Castle and they were very competitive with other yards we tried. With the B/T when mooring alongside we always motor astern into the prevailing wind/current. I then step off and tie down the stern and Mary-Jane just uses the B/T to bring the bow in for me to reach the fore-line. The following Utube links help. Good Luck!

Thanks, Jill, here's another one. They were taken at Vlissingen (Flushing) last year in June when we spent a fortnight in Zeeland. We arrived via Shotley and Ramsgate overnighting and Blankenburg for refuelling. We had meant to stop off in Dunkirk but the weather was so gorgeous, calm seas and a following tide, that I pushed on to Blankenburg to refuel before continuing to Vlissingen (a mistake because fuel was cheaper in Holland than Belgium!). Entry to Vlissingen is quite easy directly from the sea except at LW +/- 2 hrs when the bar is restrictive. It's a lovely little seaside town and the marina used to be the fishing harbour. You can see some of the many bars and cafes in the background; some or most we managed to visit! We later motored on to Middelburg where we stayed for a week at the yacht club, meeting lots of old friends from previous years. Middelburg is another smashing place to visit and though we had meant to go further inland we found lots to do there. It finally took us about 6 hrs at cruising speed to get back to Lowestoft. With the £/Euro we are most likely to be found on the Broads this year!

I met Mary-Jane on a blind date on a Friday in 1980! Hence "Friday Girl"! (present one is the third so-named).

JM, Hi Coincidences! That must have been you overnight at the WRC moored next to us? We had a super time in the pub on NYE; not too many people but good music from the group and so very friendly faces. Also GCM where we will be moored this year after we come out for the rest of the winter tomorrow (at GCM). We were there in 1985 for a while and have had much work carried out by Alan and his team over the years... a top-class marine workshop, I don't think you will find better on the East Coast. Look forward to seeing you again in the Spring

Again many thanks for all those helpful tips and suggestions. We were not making light of the passage problem and did do it previously in 1980. However we knew little or nothing in those days about boating; I was a recently retired pilot in the RAF, so navigation wasn't a problem but with only an aeronautical chart we set sail to Grimsby and later up the Humber to York. The trip to Grimsby was quite long as our boat then was a Colvic 30 capable of 8-10 kts; we didn't have any nav kit apart from a compass but I recollect it was a relatively calm day! The trip from Grimsby up to York took us all day and basically we just cruised up the river with a following tide until we arrived at the lock; then on to York. Coming home we came via Lincoln and had to part flood the bilge in order to get under the Glory Hole! Through the Wash was mainly foggy and we picked up a crab pot off Wells (but I had a wet-suit on board and managed to cut it free...). Ah, the stupidity of (relative) youth! But hopefully we have learned some lessons in the past 28 years boating, mainly sail but now motor, and the ideas gleaned from all the posts in reply to our topic have been most appreciated.

So many thanks to you all for all that excellent advice. We have motored to Holland (yes, in a 25ft boat) many times and understand the problems of sea-passages; so up the coast to Grimsby won't be too daunting. All the www's have been so helpful and that's exactly why we joined this net. If it would be interesting we will post a short blog of our trip when we return? Good Boating in 2009 wherever you may go.

Hi, folks, and a Happy New Year! Not strictly to do with the Broads except that we will start at Burgh Castle! Does anyone out there know where we can get pilots/charts for the upper Humber and Selby to York? Many Thanks