johnash

Thank you for taking the time to write up your experiences. Always good to read others' stories! PS I remember coming down from Loddon once in thick fog! Not fun....

For health/age reasons we regrettably are not renting a cruiser this time. Although we've now moved to Spain, we still love the Broads, so we've made a compromise. We're renting "Broadlands", a cottage within Herbert Woods boatyard, but located directly on the river, with its own moorings, so we're renting a day boat from them for 4 of the days that we're there (one day included in the cottage rental). Also an electric day boat from Martham Ferry B.Y. so that we can explore Hickling etc as HW don't like they're dayboats going through the bridge and up the river. We also plan to visit some of our favourite spots by road. We won't be going that far in the day boat, but we shall see how far we make it. I do a Blog when we visit the USA and, if our little trip will be of interest to others, I would be happy to include some photos and narrative of how we are getting on there. Also quite happy if this won't be of any particular interest which I'd quite understand! Thank you all for this forum! We will by flying the NBN pennant each day (if I can find a way of fixing it- I have a post with fixings for a rail or similar - any suggestions?!) and, we would love it, if you're passing Broadlands (just downstream of the entrance to HW), if you gave us a wave, if we're there! We're staying from 16th to 23rd of September. Can't wait!

Loving your 'blog'. And good to see the picture from Potter Heigham bridge area, downriver, showing the cottage we'll be renting for a week in September, 'Broadlands'! (The building that looks like a large shed with a red roof, in H. Woods' boatyard).

Enjoy your trip. This will be of particular interest to us because, for the first time, we'll be staying on the Braods but not on a cruiser. Due to my fragile spine, we are only renting a cottage (Broadlands at Herbert Woods) and a day boat for most of the week we'll be there. As we won't be able to get very far in the day boat, we plan on visiting many of our favourite spots by car. So we look forward to reading about your trip!

Thank you, Jean, for sharing your short break. We thoroughly enjoyed following you. See you next month (almost!).

Thank you Jean. You continue to whet my appetite for our trip! So pleased you had good weather and you were able to take advantage with some great pictures. We have an NBH pennant and will be flying it proudly on our day boats!! (Hope that's allowed!). Great that the rivers were so quiet for you. Heaven!

A lovely record of your short break, Jean. I first crossed Breydon with my Dad in 1961 on Sabre II from Geo Smith of Wroxham. (We learned recently that the father of a friend of ours here in Spain ran that boatyard!). I've loved the excitement of crossing Breydon ever since... not that we've been able to be on the rivers since the late 1990s, regrettably. Surprised the moorings at Womack were so busy.... in March! Wonderful pictures of empty moorings elsewhere.

Hi Jean Well done. A lovely start to your voyage and we look forward to more. We can't wait to get there in May though, as you know, we'll not have a cruiser, just a cottage and a day boat, but we certainly look forward to seeing some of the rivers and also meeting up with you at Broadlands, all being well. Safe sailing.

Thank you, Bryan, for your great report. I shouldn't be but I'm very jealous. We had Swan Roamer booked for three weeks for last May and obviously couldn't make that. So we booked it again for next May but, for health reasons, I've decided it wise not to go ahead with that booking. (We do have a cottage and a day boat booked for a week in compensation, though). So we were with you in spirit, as it were, and really enjoyed the trip. Surprising to learn that there were usually moorings available and that virtually everyone were behaving themselves. Very good news! John

Thank you. Good to hear, Howard & MM A supplementary, please. Do we have to use the pilot to get under P. Heigham bridge in the day boat? Of course, we've always had one for our cruisers (but needing a pilot under Wroxham is new to me - not that we'll be making it that far this time). I know that water levels are higher now than they were. There was always a sense of achievement making it safely through Wroxham Bridge and heading for our very favourite mooring anywhere, at Belaugh where we have never failed to get in. Must take a drive down there and check on Gloria the Goose!

Thank you all for your helpful advice and comments. Yes, we booked 'Broadlands', on the main river, at Herbert Woods. That was my first thought, the ability to get up to Hickling etc. As we have not been for a while, we're not used to not being able to get under the bridge! On none of my previous trips have we not been able to, though we may have had to go back at a different time or day. I just love it up there! And it must be so much wilder these days with so few cruisers getting up there. However, the boatyard did try and pour cold water on that by saying, to quote:- "The day boats can go under the bridge but depending on the time of year, there may be reed built up which could get caught in the propeller causing you to breakdown, so we do advise our customers to plan their route in the other direction." I'm certainly going to try! Based on their advice at the time, of course. What time of year is worst for reeds and weeds?

Thank you Andrew. It's a day boat, a Herbert Woods' one. Not a picnic boat. We were so disappointed having to cancel Swan Roamer. It was supposed to be our return to the Broads after some years away. My first visit was in 1961 with my Dad. I'm quite excited about the prospects of a "cottage" and day boat, but not as much as 3 weeks on a cruiser, though it has offered some consolation!

Can I ask a question which is slightly off topic. We have had to cancel our 3-week booking for Swan Roamer due to my health issues. Instead we are renting a riverside cottage and a day boat. I have spent many happy holidays on the Broads in bigger boats, but have no experience of day boats. At the start of this thread it was mentioned that day boats use the dingy dyke. My question is - is that normal practice? I don't want to go upsetting people in my day boat when we get there! Thanks.

Thank you for the really interesting account of your rather wet trip so far. But glad you got some decent weather at Pyes Mill (a mooring I can't remember). And some great photos too. Certainly does look wet! When I was asking about what to bring from Spain for our planned trip next Spring, someone said they'd never felt the need for wellies I'm not listening to them! I still have my short boating wellies from our last trip in 1997! I think they may be a bit too stiff to wear now.

Hi Helen. I love your tales and photos! Thank you. A tip here. We bring back hundreds and hundreds of photos PLUS hours of video from various trips (mainly from the USA more recently, not The Broads for a long while, unfortunately. Still hoping for a 3 week trip on Swan Roamer next May!) taken on up to 6 devices! I eventually edit them into reasonably watchable videos, with the days' stills summing up each day. To do this more easily, I too change file names to incorporate the date. The first thing to remember for my tip is that, if you use Windows to Copy photos, it changes the date to the current day (the key one for me is the "Modified" date), so I use a free app called, Safecopy which gives the options to keep dates as they were when copying. (It is intensely annoying that Windows knows best to change the dates on my photos!!). Then I use another free app called Bulk Rename Utility to standardise file names, starting with the a name to identify the event and year, then MMDDHHMMSS using the "Autodate" facility. The app looks complicated but once you get used to it, it's very powerful..... Thousands can be renamed at once. But make sure you keep the originals too (I store my SD cards safely away now they're much cheaper). It has saved me weeks of work and all my holiday pics and videos are now quite well organised in appropriate directories and backed up to ONEDRIVE. Hope this helps. (it sounds more complicated than it is!). Stay safe and keep writing!! Here's an example.

Thank you for the reassurances. Just hope we make it from Spain next May!! We have our ferries booked.

Wonderful blog, thank you. With us aiming to return to the Broads, after a long gap, next year I got a somewhat anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach with your tale of the mayhem on Salhouse Broad. Not the Broads I grew up to love! I have never seen a paddle board on the rivers. And there may have been the odd canoe but not many. There also seem to be far more day boats than there ever were. Nevertheless, your tale (Salhouse Broad not withstanding) has whetted my appetite even more. Thank you again.

Thanks very much for those encouraging remarks. Though we start our voyage of re-discovery the day after May Bank Holiday, I think kids should be back at school and there should be no anglers. At least I hope there is still a closed season! (I checked:- there is!). I've never had a pilot through Wroxham Bridge, as no such service existed and, on each of my numerous previous trips, the first in 1961 on Sable (2?) - we've always been able to get through Potter Heigham Bridge at some stage, so times have changed. And from what I've seen, though there are far fewer boatyards that hire out craft, and possibly fewer hire craft, there do seem to be far, far more privately owned vessels on the Broads with many ex-hirecraft being bought up by syndicates? We are early risers and I remember from previous times the joy of having the river almost to yourself, so we will be doing plenty of that!

Motorboater, I've loved reading your account of your holiday afloat. Very well written and amusing, thank you. We've been away from the Broads now since 1997 but have 3 weeks booked for next May. Hope the quarantine for those coming in from Spain, which is where we live, is lifted by then!! We can't wait but are somewhat horrified at tales of boat jams, packed rivers and full moorings. However, we're determined to enjoy it. And we always have a dinghy so I guess we can always mudweight and row ashore!

Very smart, and a real snip at that price!

Whoops! So sorry MISTER JennyMorgan owner. I should never make assumptions! And thanks for the welly tips.

Thanks Jenny. We both had decent "yachting" short wellies which were excellent (with those honeycomb bottoms that were very grippy but left nasty footprints all over the deck!). One pair has gone missing on the way here to Spain and the other pair have been lying in a super-heated garage for 16 years and have gone very stiff. So we are on the look-out for replacements. Difficult to find online but found these on Amazon. What do you think? (They're a bit more than I'd hoped to pay but if they work, then that's fine.) And I've never been able to wear crocs anyway! https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0015ZMJ80/?coliid=I35Z4C0JU7S5WY&colid=JN7DRLTETW65&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Yes, well spotted! I first went on the Broads with my Dad in 1961. We hired Geo Smith's Sable (2?) for two wonderful weeks. My love affair with the Broads started then, though it's been very much an off/on affair since! Toilet pumped out into the rivers. An ice block to keep food fresh (changeable at any Blakes 'A' boatyard). Always able to get under Potter Heigham bridge. Aah, the good old days!

That's great. I'd been searching for a good online supplier without much success. Will take a browse round!

I wasn't planning on getting screws or plumbing gear. Do I need to?! I know it's been a long time away but.......!!