Mandybstorm

Oh sorry! Hubby decided it looked too busy for the dogs so we are down at chedgrave. Walking up in a minute to have a look around do will give you a wave if we see you. Aiming to get chips if its open and take a few pictures. We are the only ones moored up here so far so dogs can run around without fear of upsetting anyone. X

Well an eventful night in Norwich. Had a walk round town in the afternoon and stocked up on a few essentials. Son had his McDonald's fix. The Indian meal was very nice, lots of choice, nicely spiced and good value. Not good for dog owners though. Small park area to walk through opposite the mooring but no off lead areas and lots of drinkers around. The attendant was nice and chatty and tied us up the minute we arrived.loo's and showers all clean. Rudely awaken in the middle of the night by someone jumping on the boat roof! The dogs went bonkers. By the time we got out of bed and unlocked the door they were out of reach. A couple of drunks, it all adds to the holiday excitement. A little unexpected on a Monday night. Off to London today.

Day 3 cont We couldn't get in at reedham so slight change of plan. We stopped at cantley, not very scenic with the huge sugar plant but free. It actually looked quite impressive all lit up after dark! Ate a curry on the boat and then called into the reedcutter for dessert. A little run down in appearance but great service and the sticky toffee pudding was out of this world. My son had a huge toffee ice cream stuffed with toffee chunks and marshmallows. Hubby loved the real Devon cider too. £18 for a pint of cider, a double g&t, 2 huge desserts. They also sell bread, milk, baked beans etc, offer showers and water refill at £3 each. Heading off to Norwich as we have a meal at chutney aroma of India via groupon.

All fixed in about 10 minutes. New battery installed and a very friendly and pleasant engineer. Aiming to reach Yarmouth at 2.30 / 3ish. . Just looking at places to moor in reedham on my iPad!. Suspect it may be busy so maybe a good idea to reserve a spot if we're not too late.

Day 3 The engine starter battery failed this morning. Completely dead as a dodo. The marina were great and sent out an engineer within the hour. He is fitting a new one as we speak. Update later!

Day 2 Today we had a slow journey down the bure and managed to more up at st benet's abbey. Passed it many times but never stopped before. Got some great photos which will go up on Flickr when we get home. The dogs had a really good run in the open fields next to the abbey. No other dogs or livestock around, great! After lunch we headed off down river. Saw a few stag filled boats on the way and was cut up a couples of times by newbies (not that we're seasoned sailors). Moored up at glebe farm overnight. Had a visit to the tea rooms and a walk along the river bank path. Fairly busy tonight , lots of people trying to stop but no room. Seen a few go down and then up again. One boat obviously left it a little late passing by us at around 8.30, oh dear!

Day one We arrived at the marina at 3pm after a slow gruelling 5 hr journey down. Lots of road works and diversions. First impressions of the boat were good, she is quite plush inside with an ample supply of crockery, utensils ect.. Rather smaller inside than the photos imply though. As it turned out our 18 year old ditched us at the last minute and decided to stay home alone. Arghhh! But in hindsight if he had come along I think we would be overcrowded. 2 adults, 1 child and 2 large dogs and its just about right. Handover went quickly and smoothly as we have done it before, although not with ferry marina. We didn't have a test drive as he said we seemed capable enough! The Asda food delivery to the marina went well too so will do that again for sure. First night we spent at salhouse which was not too overcrowded. Great walks for the dogs and no rowdies walking past. Saw lots of herons and bird life on the way, no otters or king fishers yet. We had a few g&t's then crashed out around 10pm. Main bedroom at the front of the boat very nice but loud sloshing noises all night which will take some getting used to. We have always slept at the rear before. Lots of storage space around the boat but very little in the galley. This means most of the food is in the lounge cupboards so you have to keep walking up and down. Small bedroom is tiny, a kids room for sure. Nice seating area at the rear and great access when mooring stern on, a little more tricky when side on. Not for the elderly or infirm. Heading down river tomorrow.

Sorry folks its me again. Just browsing the Internet looking for nice places to stop that we haven't visited before and I spotted loddon. Just a few questions for anyone who knows it well. Are there any bridges approaching it and also once in there is there plenty of turning space to get out again? Platinum emblem 36 ft in length I think. Looks fairly quiet with a few shops and good walks for the dogs. Does it get mega Busy or is it a bit off the beaten track for most hire boat folk? Any info or tips on London welcome. That,s presuming we don,t take the roof off trying to pass through Yarmouth!!

Hi there! Small world, you,ve got me guessing now. Bakewell, cromford, arghhh I,m going to be looking out for you. Yes I,m going armed with insect repellant this year. We have seen people just moored up by the edge of rivers using the mooring prong things provided on the boat but we have never dared do it as yet. I suppose you need a good knowledge of the water depths and hidden obstacles to do it safely. We need a local on board to tell us where is safe and where to avoid at all costs.

Thank you! The airdraft is 8ft 6 I think. I have mislaid my detailed broads map and couldn't find one on the Internet so couldn't see exactly where on the river aldeby is. We stopped there overnight when we had superior gem. There was only one other boat moored up and we had nice BBQ and a very peaceful night. The stone was a total mystery to us and we couldn't find any info as to why it was there. I like the small moorings but my teenagers don't agree! We have never attempted wild mooring as always worried about grounding the boat. We could do with a broads expert on board for a week to show us the trade secrets. Never dropped the mud weight in the middle of a broad either due to the dogs and their frequent tiddling. Really must have a child and dog free holiday!

We are on the platinum emblem from the 30th aug for a week. We have stopped once at a ba 24 hr mooring. It only has space for 3 or 4 boats and has a pathway that leads off through some woodland with deer type fencing on either side of the path. It has a strange engraved stone at the end of the mooring. I think it may be aldeby (sp) . Can anyone confirm this and can we get to it on platinum emblem or are there low bridges blocking our way from horning side? Sorry to seem a bit dim but we have only stopped there once and love it. The walk through the woods was ideal for our dogs and being so small it was quiet and ideal for our hyper anti social border collie. (We love her to bits really). We really should of made a note of the name! Didn't,t take much notice of the bridges before as we had a low roof boat. Thank you!!!!

Hi yes got life jackets for them both just in case. The one for the lab is rather snug though so need to get busy with a Velcro tummy extension or starve her for a day!

Thanks for all the good advice folks. I'm sure we'll be fine if we study the tidetables. My husband suggested buying lots of beer to weigh the boat down so we can squeeze under the bridges. Nice try dear! We will certainly take lots of pictures and video of the boat so we can remedy the lack of info on the Internet at the moment. We collect the boat on the Friday afternoon 30th aug so look out for us . Salhouse may be the first stop I think. X

We found oulton a bit stressful last time we went as the weather was great and the park itself was very busy. Jess our collie is very highly strung and gets totally wound up by lots of people and other dogs. She is scared of men she doesn't know, loud noises ect.. So we tend to moor up at places where we can take her to a quiet corner for a tiddle and where she won't scare anyone as her fear is quite often mistaken for aggression. She is a dog with issues so we do tend to plan our movements around her needs. This makes us seem a bit reclusive and anti social I suppose!! The kids chose the boat this year as every other year we have gone with a sliding roof boat. They wanted the sat tv and the flashy looks of the boat I suppose so we decided to indulge them. We also have a Labrador so we were hoping the closed in style would help to keep her a little more confined. Keeping her out of the water is a constant battle! She would actually jump from a moving open boat if given half a chance which is not good. I don't mind her having a dip but in a controlled safe way. I am slightly concerned that the boat will be high to get on and off when moored side on but I'm sure we'll manage.

Hi thanks for all the replies so far. We are coming down on the 30 aug for a week. No set route as yet but we were hoping to spend 1 night in Norwich as we have a groupon voucher for an Indian meal there. May not head to oulton as it was a little busy last time we went and not ideal for the dogs. We have a border collie who is a little highly strung! Although my teenage son may disagree as he got lots of female attention there. He looks a little like Harry styles (one direction). We woke to find several phone numbers stuck to the rear door!!!! We tend to try and moor up at the more remote places so the dogs don't bother other people except for the days we need to top up on water and provisions. We have done a huge Asia order this year to be delivered to the boatyard so hoping that goes smoothly. In the past we have had an elderly relative aboard but we have managed to sneak away this year. Hence choosing the smaller boat which I may live to regret. Last year we went last minute and had superior gem from richardsons which was great apart from an unfortunate toilet incident which I won't disgust you all with! Looking forward to coming down now but a little disappointed I can't find any decent pictures or video footage on the Internet. We will have to rectify that. One question for the experts, I am presuming that the height of the boat affects the handling , is it more difficult to control and more delicate on the steering? Sorry don't know the technical terms! I'm a dog walker/ animal carer working 7 day weeks mostly so desperate for the chance to wind down with a gin and watch the world passing by. Www.thek9walker.co.uk if anyone wants a nosy!

Hi Everyone. We have been to the broads on holiday several times before but have always had traditional low sliding roof boats. This time we have hired the Platinum Emblem as the family were seduced by the sat tv and the glamorous look of the boat, however as our holiday date approaches I am starting to worry that she may not fit under the Vauxhall bridge at Yarmouth. Does anyone know for definite if she will? I have called the boatyard but they just said she should given the right conditions which didn't sound too definite. We do like to see as much of the broads as we can whilst we are there so would be a bit gutted if not. Also does anyone out there have pictures or video of her as we have found that there are very few on the internet? We are 2 adults, 1 teenager, 1 child and 2 dogs (lab & a border collie) so also worried about her size. Hoping that she will be ok for us and that we don't live to regret booking her. She is shorter in length than our usual boat as we usually hire The fair countess. Any help or reassurance will be welcome!! My oh my what have we done!! I'm sure she'll be fine just a little fear of the unknown setting in here!