NeilB

Richardsons in Stalham have a laundry, toilets, showers and an onsite café.

I heard a week or so ago, if true then I'm sure it will be good news.

Only dealt with one hire boat sinking in my 10 years at a hire yard, either a Friday or Saturday afternoon the hirers sideswiped a nice concrete bank at speed and split the corner open. Didn't go right down but the engine was several inches underwater, front/rear cabins waist deep and the sunroof was opened so we had an escape route while plugging the hole! In fact it was Vaughan and his crane who lifted it out for us! Back on hire the following weekend. Probably 30 years ago now so cannot remember what happened to the hirers.

I quite like the Horning church mooring too, only space for 2 boats and walking distance to Horning. Had it to myself on Saturday night!

The lowest Norwich bridge is around 9ft at high tide so shouldn't be a problem for most hire boats. This info did come from the BA bridge height guide which also shows Wroxham at 7ft 3" and Potter at 6ft 6" as average for summer high tide...... We should be so lucky!!

If your are hoping to tick Wroxham and Beccles off your list I’d suggest a low airdraft boat. Both the Coltishall and Geldeston stretches are stunning. Take care tomorrow as more strong winds are forecast. I’m currently at Horning church Staithe and heading up the Ant in the morning so I’ll keep an eye out for you.

@Dungraftin2 If you are free the weekend of 18th/19th May we have the annual forum meet, you can sign up here - You'll never meet a nicer bunch of alcoholics, err, boaters.

Spot on. You need to save some for the alcohol !!

I did have a look into this but they have a tiny amount of subscribers and views, it's doubtful whether YouTube would allow them to monetise the accounts and they would be lucky to buy a Mars Bar with the yearly profit. You need hundreds of thousands of subscribers and a boatload of views to earn even a modest amount.

Just spotted going through Irstead, either Griff is on his way home or they made him walk the plank on account of his jokes!

That's not good, I wonder how many others have been incorrectly charged! I was there Saturday night, Rangers were there but no mention of charging.

Here’s a link. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-68694486.amp I also think a surcharge for continuous cruisers is not unreasonable. Hire boats have a surcharge due to increased usage so why not liveaboards with no home mooring? I’m sure the BA are fully aware and taking notes….

I’d like to hear about the Thames trip as it’s my old stomping ground.

I was there a couple of weeks ago, only had lunch of a Chicken BLT which was ok but nothing special. The beer was pretty good though so I would give them another chance!

Paid my £849 last week. The visitor tolls are crazy prices though, surely 1 month should be 1/12 of the annual cost with maybe 10% for admin. Sounds like the BA want to discourage short term visitors.

That stretch of river is quite popular for wild swimming, I think because the water is usually clear they believe it's clean!

I can pop round tomorrow and lend a hand, have a variety of scrubbing brushes and chemicals - some could even be used to clean a boat! Plus I need pump outs and diesel so will be there anyway.

Not a great time for me so I'm going to look at the positive it eventually bought for me personally. The enlightened attitude to working from home allowed me to request and be granted a permanent work from home contract. There were other personal circumstances involved but without this I would not be living in Norfolk making the best of what I have. Bit lonely at first but I now have a steady stream of friends and family visiting me plus my fantastic children!

Interesting to see they are using Yanmar engines, not the cheapest and bucking the Nanni trend.

I've booked the Friday off work so quite happy to collect the Gazebo, they all fit nicely through my back doors. Most likely solo so I'll need a hand loading though.

Bring it on, I've a big lap!!

I've lived on the edge of Stalham for 2 years now and think it's great little town, I'm on the opposite side of town to a lot of the housing hence I've not encountered any anti social behaviour. Unless you include the flock of rowdy geese that live at Richos! There's a good Chinese takeaway and chippy, The Swan is a great pub, old fashioned hardware store, carpet shop that will visit your boat to measure and install, both the Doctors surgery and Boots are helpful and friendly. Need to collect my prescriptions today so I'll pop into Cawdrons Butchers for one of their hot pork and crackling rolls for lunch. You can usually get a free parking spot on the road, if not there are 2 or 3 free spots in the car park near the chippy, the rest are chargeable but not sure how much as I've never needed to pay. As others have said Tescos are free and there are 2 x footpaths from the car park, one goes to the Swan and the other to Boots. Only negative I can think of is the Indian restaurant is not very good, best one I've found locally, so far, Repps Indian Kitchen.

Who's up for the UK's only beer spa? "immerse yourself in a wooden hot tub filled with vitamin-rich malt and hops and delight in the luxury of having your own beer tap". https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/24181548.new-spa-announced-norfolk-mead-hotel-coltishall/

What a beautiful day, Rosie is all scrubbed ready for the season and no guessing where I’m soaking up the rays!

Not updated this in a while!! From end of October, apart from a short cruise at Christmas I’ve not cruised much, mainly due to the poor weather and very high water levels. As the forecast was fairly dry for this weekend I decided a cruise was in order. Planning to leave at 4pm I was delayed about an hour by a work issue that needed sorting. Cruised across Barton while the sun was setting and currently at How Hill. Quite noisy here actually! There was a murmation of birds flapping about with a couple of pro looking photographers trying to shoot them. Something screeching in the grounds of How Hill and something I’ve not heard before, the booming of a Bittern!! Not sure where I’ll end up tomorrow, just cruise and see what takes my fancy!