Mandybstorm

Might see you around then Matt! Bringing the in laws down with us. They have never been to the broads before so hoping the weather is good so we can show it off!

Thinking of Geoff and Audrey who are out on Moonlight Shadow this week! We are coming down on Saturday so fingers crossed it will of calmed down by then. It was quite windy last time we came down which was exciting for the first day but the novelty soon wore off after a few nights off sloshing and rolling about!

Thank you for all your suggestions and offers folks. We decided to buy new ones just to be sure they were safe are ready to use straight away. We found some on Mailspeed Marine. 4 black marine charter 150n manual jackets with crotch straps and a storage bag for around £150 delivered, so not a bad deal.

Hi folks, Is anyone upgrading their life jackets this year? If so we are on the lookout for 4 adult sized manual or automatic jackets. Must be in good usable condition please. The ones that were kindly gifted by Clive have been great but the do take up a lot of room in the car! I thought I would ask on here before lashing out £200 for brand new ones!

Thank you! Does this mean it gets so low you run the risk of grounding or not?

We are coming down on the 4th April for a week on Moonlight Shadow. No dogs with us this week but the mother and father in law instead. They have never been to the Broads so we are aiming to show them all the sights. We are planning on going up North for a day or two but the tide times don't look to good. Very early mornings or the late one will be pushing it a for mooring up before dark! Probably aiming to cross from South to North on the 5th or 6th and back down on the 8th. Noticed there is a Spring tide on the 6th (don't really understand this) what will this mean for us? I think the bridge incident has made us get the wobbles even though we have been through a dozen or more times!

Thank you! They have a mixture of meals at the moment as our border collie gets bored very easily and doesn't eat well. I make home cooked meat, veg and rice, bozita tinned meat (Swedish brand of human grade meat), small amounts of gluten free csj kibble and raw meat cubes or blocks mixed with veg and rice. She eats very slowly and struggles to keep any weight on so if I mix it up a bit at mealtimes it keeps her interested. As for the lab, well she of course eats anything put in front of her! I fear that if I died she would eat me!

Hi folks, We are coming down 4th April for a week on Moonlight Shadow. We are not bringing the dogs this time but the in laws instead. Neither of them have been to the Broads before so busy planning stops to show them all the best bits of the broads! On a totally different topic we have recently changed the dogs diet to include a raw food meal per day. This of course will present a problem of storage when on the boat when we bring them in August. I have bought pre frozen raw meat blocks at home which will fit into a boat freezer compartment, I estimate enough for maybe 4 days. Does anyone know if any of the pet shops in the South broads sell raw meat packs so that we could restock? They currently have Nature diet blocks but not to fussy about the brand. Failing that it will be a few quick trips to a butcher but of course that will be way more expensive! Hope everyone is in good health and looking forward to the coming years cruising! xx

We have around 10 inches of snow here in Matlock today! No hope at all of getting the car out for the next few days as we are on an unserviced road. No gritting lorries or grit box so once it snows that is us trapped until it all melts. A chance to just stay snuggled up in my onesie I think!

Hi Howard, No springline onboard I'm afraid so couldn't do that! I think that may be something to bring up at the AGM. Home now! We had to dump the car though due to 7/8 inches of snow! Husband gone out this morning to see if he can retrieve it!

Just debating whether to have a wander up there later. Brussel sprouts can be prepared enroute! Merry Christmas to all!

Is there any way of finding out if there is space at loddon staite other than going up and looking? Is anyone there today? X

We made it to beccles. The tide was very high last night and was forecast to come over the quay at 3 oclock last night. I got out to see what was going on and it was a couple of inches from the top. I fiddled with the fenders and went back to bed so not sure what happened after that. Merry Christmas everyone! Just about to open the pressies that came aboard with us.

Yes that is us! We are still there, hoping to get away soon!

Hi folks, we are currently moored up at waveney and going nowhere by the looks of it out there! Came in yesterday and moored up stern on in the basin. All was fine until just after darkness when we heard and felt a couple of big shudders and realised we had been jolted sideways by the wind and water flow. The chap in the dutch barge came out and helped us to move side on. We were bobbing about all night with the wind howling round the boat. I ventured out a few times to check the ropes as the rise and fall was massive last night. still blowing a gale out there. I will definitely have sea legs when i get off! The noise and the buffeting of the boat is incredible if a little scary to! Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit calmer.

Perfect!

We are afloat from the 20th onwards on Moonlight Shadow. I think we will be staying down South but no firm plans as yet. Christmas dinner will be gammon , roasties and various veggies followed by a large chocolate pudding with custard. I think the home made sloe gin may also make an appearance! Hoping for cold, crisp weather with no wind or mud for the dogs to roll around in. Does anyone know where we will be able to fill up with water down south as I suspect many places will be closed up for the winter?

Congratulations! Hope you have many good trips in her. Xx

Went to stay in a turkish mountain village around 1985. The loo was in a long narrow outbuilding. The door had no lock and there was a hole in the ground with indents each side for your feet to wedge in. Looked around for the loo paper only to see a bucket of cold water and a sponge tied onto a short piece of tree branch. Needless to say i tried to avoid eating anything that might make me want to go that week!

Oh my lord, I hope this has all gone by the time we come down on Saturday. Never been on a boat in such conditions and I don't think I want to be! How on earth do you even begin to moor up anywhere? How would you get the dogs off for a tiddle? I am presuming you would just have to give up and go home!

Thankyou, we will look for that! Where are your photos , i can't seem to locate them? Xx

Hi folks, we wouldn't let them run riot in a heavily populated area which was why i was asking if there was a remote area that would be suitable. We always try to get them into a quiet area so we can throw a ball and let them burn off some energy. We have a border collie! We prefer to find an empty field in which we can have good all round vision to see if anyone is approaching. As a professional dog walker i am always very aware that not everyone loves dogs and i do my very best not to let my dogs upset anyone or chase wildlife. Chedgrave, how hill and st benets abby are all good for this as they have open, remote areas but they don't have electric so may not be suitable for our october and december visits.

We are coming down for the October half term week and starting to think where we will aim to stay. We don't normally plan a route in summer but due to the colder weather we are planning our route around electric plug in points. We have a couple of plug in fan heaters and we presume the kids will spend more time with gadgets or the tv plugged in. Can anyone give their opinions on the WRC as we have never stayed here before? Is it suitable for two biggish dogs? Are there grassy remote areas to exercise them where they won't offend or knock someone flying as they dash about like crazy things? I see from the website there are various mooring options but the pictures are not that good so it is hard to tell which would be best for us. A quieter section would be best with easy and quick access to grass for the dogs to piddle on late at night. We do want electric though. Also I presume they have their own system for electric not the BA cards, does anyone know how this operates? Also it mentions a shop, is this reasonable or vastly overpriced? Thanks folks! Any suggestions for good winter morings with leccy are welcome, they must be dog friendly though!

We are on moonlight shadow 20/27th! Im a vegetarian but the others eat dead things so there may be a roast bird of some sort and lots of roast veggies. Oven roasted chestnuts for a nightime nibble and lots of nice cheese! Plans to add a bit of sparkle to the boat so we feel christmassy. Pressies will be small and packable! I have this down to a fine art as we have spent the last few years in egypt at Christmas If it doesn't fit in the suitcase you aint having it ! We will be armed with onesies, fan heaters and hot water bottles! Looking forward to getting away from it all and hoping for some nice crisp mornings on the broads. Looking forward to being able to moor up anywhere we fancy. We hate all the over priced pressies, unwelcome annoying relatives who only show up once a year and always uninvited!