BryanW

You need to be aware of these shaver sockets at home as well. The ones suitable for recharging toothbrushes (and rechargeable shavers) have a toothbrush symbol on them as in the attached photo. It should also indicate this in the sellers description (eg Screwfix), all others should only be used for non-rechargeable shavers.

Hi Jean On your iPhone go to "Settings", "Camera", "Formats" and tick "Most Compatible", you will then get JPEGs.

Couldn't agree more, we had one of the early Encores a few years back and left the after cabin window open a crack, then it rained and everything beneath it got soaked. Absolutely appalling design, bring back the 'scuttle' windows. It's all about style over substance these days, make it look nice but invariable impractical.

Hi Chris It depends on the boat. I know that on Swan Roamer and Swan Rapture (Richardsons) the Shore Power only charges the batteries so the 240V sockets are still from the inverter. On Moon Enterprise (Richardsons) there is a changeover switch for Shore/Inverter to the 240V sockets. You must check with the boatyard, either phone and speak to an engineer familiar with the boat you have hired or when you pick the boat up double check before using any appliance other than phone/camera chargers. My wife uses a gas cartridge powered heated curler when we are on The Broads e.g. https://www.boots.com/babyliss-2583bu-pro-cordless-ceramic-gas-hair-curling-tong-10032560

Video is now on YouTube at this URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcdW2ZK39iI It may get a bit boring in some parts but the section where we were moored at Irstead should compensate.

We have used the inverters on Gala Girl, Gardenia Girl, Royal Satin, Barnes' Encore, Moon Enterprise, Swan Radiance and Swan Roamer for charging iPhones, camera batteries, video cameras and toothbrushes and never had a problem, but, I never plug anything into the sockets until the 240V voltmeter is steady (or if no voltmeter then at least one minute after turning the inverter on). I also make sure nothing is plugged in when I start the engine. If you watch the voltmeter after turning the inverter on you will see it spike which I suspect is what kills the chargers.

I should have mentioned in my writeup that two 'wild swimmers' were seen between Wroxham and Belaugh, they were clearly visible due to having large coloured floats attached to them. But, we then saw (just) another one on Stalham Dyke near the Ant junction who had no float, that was very dangerous since at first we thought it was an Otter, he seemed to have come from a nearby hire cruiser wild moored.

Hi Chris Sorry to hear that you've had to cancel another trip, very difficult at the moment travelling from overseas with governments changing the rules every week or less. I had a very pleasant couple of weeks in NZ some years ago working at the gas fields in Taranaki. Richardson's never mentioned shore power when we first hired Roamer but I am a curious person, having found the cable I then looked for the power socket and found it aft as shown in the attached photo. The cable is not very long, only about 1/2 to 3/4 of the boat length, the plug (female) is very tight in the socket (male) and is well recessed and needs a very firm push. Not sure if you use these industrial plugs in NZ but the protective flap on them has a lip that catches on the socket when inserted so to remove this has to be lifted as you pull the plug out (not easy with the socket being well recessed). Shore power on these ex Swancraft boats only powers a battery charger and you will hear the hum of this in the aft cabin. As an aside, I vaguely remember you (I think) saying that you killed two chargers when using the inverter, always turn the inverter on and wait until the 240V meter is steady before plugging any appliance into the 240V socket, by doing this I have never had a problem.

Back on Swan Roamer this year after having last years holidays messed about by Covid and then ending up on Moon Enterprise in September so this year we had 11 days instead of our usual 7. This will be a fairly short account of our trip and I will let the video ‘do the talking’ once it is edited. Since all hire boats were out we had anticipated it being very busy on the rivers but this was not really the case and we had no problems mooring where we had intended, however, we do tend to cruise early and plan on mooring up about mid-day. We experienced no major incidents and it seemed that everybody was being careful with more people wearing life jackets although we did still see many not doing so. It was also apparent that the Broads camaraderie had returned with everybody helping others and chatting with no regard for social distancing or masks (thank goodness). Also we met far more first timers than we have done in previous years and they all seemed to be enjoying it but the weather was very good. Tuesday 8th June Arrived at Richardson’s just after 12:30 having been given a 13:00 time slot and we were 2nd in the queue. Richardson’s staff said that they will be continuing with this method of checking in after all restrictions are lifted and it does seem to work well. Once checked in we drove round to the boat on Swan Quay and the instructor was waiting for us, very quick handover and no trial run despite what has been said on Facebook. Swan Roamer seemed to be no different to two years ago apart from the addition of handles on the inside of the canopies which made it easier to move them. We were loaded and away from the yard by about 14:00 and decided to try for Gaye’s Staithe for our first night. On arrival at Gaye’s we found plenty of spaces free including the side on moorings, so I reversed into the side and safely moored up. Wednesday 9th June Since we wanted to go through both Wroxham and Wayford Bridges on this trip we were a bit undecided on our destination today but finally decided on Womack. No problems mooring at Womack, an afternoon in the sun (too hot really) but a distinct lack of wildlife. We did call Richardson’s out to oil the canopy runners since the canopies were very difficult to move plus we had no oven tin, the first oven tin the engineer brought wouldn’t fit the oven so he very kindly returned with a smaller on. Excellent service again. Usual comings and goings throughout the afternoon and full by late afternoon, surprised to see the mooring fee was still only £3. Thursday 10th June Left Womack fairly early, destination Belaugh (even though low tide may not be at a suitable time). Phoned pilot when we were before Horning with an eta of about 12:00 and was advised that it should be ok but no guarantee since high tide was at about 13:00. Arrived at Wroxham bridge about 11:30 with 7ft showing on the gauge (our stated air draft was 7ft), as soon as we pulled into the pilot mooring he brought another boat though and then took us through (£15 return by contactless payment although I believe that he would take cash). Once past Hoveton there were many canoes, paddle boarders and a couple of water bikes. On arriving at Belaugh, after a very slow cruise, we found a day boat on the moorings but that was at the downstream end so we moored as close to the safety ladder as possible on the upstream end. Plenty of activity from canoeists and paddle boarders making good use of the quay and slipway through the afternoon and then a peaceful evening and night on our own. Friday 11th June On our way back to Wroxham saw an Otter swimming across the river. Back through the bridge just before 09:00 and then proceeded downstream through Wroxham aiming for Ranworth, another Otter was sighted just after Wroxham Broad. Arrived at Ranworth just after 11:00 with the only spaces available being down the side so it was a case of reversing in to make the mooring. By 14:00 many spaces had became available so we moved to the front section to get a better view. Surprisingly there were very few boats mud weighted and that situation continued throughout the rest of the day and night but the staithe was full by early evening. Saturday 12th June Left Ranworth at about 08:00 with the intention of going to Neatishead but part way up the Ant decided to try for Dilham instead. Wayford Bridge gauge was showing just over 7ft so through we went with a couple of inches clearance. We were followed up river by a lady and her dog on Bure Joy. On arrival at Dilham there was only one boat so we moored at the downstream end, once we were sorted out and Bure Joy had moored we turned the boat on the ropes with the slight current helping (since I had forgotten to ask Richardson’s for an extra rope) in order to make life easier in the morning. Plenty of canoe activity through the afternoon. We had been up to Dilham a couple of time before but never stayed overnight so this was a first for us and very peaceful it was too. Sunday 13th June We departed from Dilham at about 07:30 and took a slow cruise down the Ant and through Wayford bridge the gauge of which was now reading 7ft so it was a very very slow approach but we cleared by about an inch. We did see a Swallowtail butterfly fly across the river near Hunsett Mill but surprisingly no Kingfishers above Wayford bridge. We thought a pump out would be a good idea, even though we had no red light on in the toilet, so we turned up to Stalham and got that done back at Richardson’s. There was a yacht race in progress on Barton Broad but this didn’t impede us and we made our way up Lime Kiln Dyke and on to Neatishead where we moored bow in about half way down the staithe on the downstream side. After a short time the boat in front of us left so we pulled the boat up so that our shore cable would reach the post and plugged in and used the electricity left by somebody else. A visit to the shop was made with the purchase of a few jars of local honey. Plenty of comings and goings all afternoon but everybody was taking it gently including White Champagne which only just fitted between the boats moored either side. Then at about 18:30 a Superior Gem with a large crowd of lads on it came up the dyke and caused a bit of mayhem, some of them eventually used their dinghy to get ashore, went to the village but came back empty handed. In trying to get back on the boat one fell in but was soon pulled out, none of them were wearing life jackets. By 18:50 they had gone back down Lime Kiln Dyke and everybody was happy again, this was the only real incident we witnessed for the whole 11 days. Monday 14th June Left Neatishead at about 08:30, destination How Hill. On arrival there were plenty of spaces, the intention was to take the nature walk but there seemed to be no sign of butterflies, dragonflies etc so decided that it wasn’t really worth it. After about an hour we decided to go to Sutton Staithe where we arrived at about 11:45 for a pleasant afternoon. Tuesday 15th June Left Sutton Staithe about 07:30 and cruised down to Ludham Bridge because we needed some bread. Once purchased (£1.70 for a standard Kingsmill, but I suppose they need to make their money in the Summer) it was back to the boat and decision made to try for Irstead. Irstead was full with 2 cruisers and three yachts rafted together so it was onto our second choice of Gaye’s Staithe. The side moorings were taken so it was on to our third choice of Neatishead where there was space on both sides. This time I decided to reverse in past boats moored on both sides and to quite an audience this was achieved without touching boats on either side and we moored up just past the electric post on the upstream side. Another visit to the shop was in order to purchase even more honey! There were numerous movements of boats throughout the afternoon with most being pulled in on their ropes and by the evening it was full with one cruiser moored in the middle at the far end and a yacht tied to the boat behind us, all with the agreement of boats that they were blocking in. Wednesday 16th June Left Neatishead just after 07:00 for another visit to Richardson’s to get another pump out to be on the safe side. Then a cruise down to How Hill again for a short stop and back to try for Irstead again spotting a Kingfisher on the way. This time we squeezed in at Irstead behind another cruiser which left shortly afterwards so we pulled up to the upstream end of the inset moorings. Saw a couple of Swallowtails fly past but none settled where I could get at them for photographs. The afternoon proved eventful being interviewed by a news reporter (Radio Norfolk I believe) about our views on the wearing of life jackets, this seems to have been prompted by an incident the night before that had involved the Coastguard and a lifeboat. An Otter was spotted on the other side of the river. Later on we were disturbed by a BA barge with a Herbert Woods cruiser lashed alongside and needing to moor it alongside us and the boat behind, this was duly achieved, the boat had suffered engine alarms and had been picked up drifting downstream. Once Herbert Woods had attended and fixed the problem this cruiser tried to leave with ropes still attached to our and the boat behind cleats, after much shouting we got them unattached but they then accidentally left a crew member on the bank, they did let him back on eventually. Later on in the evening the Otter was in the middle of the river diving for his supper. Thursday 17th June This morning the Otter was fishing right alongside the boat, my wife did manage to get a little bit of video but he/she was up and down all the time and it was also raining on and off. The reporter was also back with a camera taking some video of the moorings. We left Irstead and had a slow cruise to Womack via South Walsham where we found plenty of spaces so got safely moored. The afternoon did pick up a bit weather wise so it wasn’t too bad, as usual there were a lot of comings and goings but with everybody being very careful and gentle as we had found all week. Friday 18th June Heavy rain this morning and it was to continue all day with no bright spells. We left Womack at about 08:30 and I was very glad we had a windscreen wiper and a demister for the windscreens (separate from the heater). We stopped at Gaye’s Staithe and got the side mooring going in stern first, a couple of guys came out to help and one decided to put a bowline in the end of our stern rope even though there was already a spliced loop in it if we had wanted to use it which we didn’t. We left Gaye’s to return to the yard arriving at about 15:30, very wet and now windy, as I was reversing into a space the boat on our port side decided to leave and in doing so pushed us 45 deg to the quay, once he had gone we got the boat straightened up and safely moored. Saturday 19th June Boat return handover was pretty much as normal but still surprised that Richardson’s are giving the fuel refund in cash and not putting it back on a card. Fuel used was 40.1l at £1.20/l so we got back just over £100, not bad for 11 days and about our usual with Swan Roamer, remember we cruise gently, usually not above 1400rpm and don’t cruise all day preferring to moor up early. The video will be available in a week or so and I will then add it to this post.

Thanks, I did wonder if that was the case.

I wasn't going to comment on this thread since others have said it all, however couldn't resist. Most dual steer boats leave a bit to be desired when using the inner helm but having had one last year you do get used to it. As far as water is concerned we can easily go 2 days and could probably stretch it to 4 days if pushed but we do tend to be economical with it and only flushing the toilet if necessary (do a Griff "if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down"), the modern toilets do use a lot of water. Takes even longer to fill up at Womack!! I will also comment about all inclusive, I don't like the idea since we usually get a fair bit of our fuel deposit back but if you intend to go South from the North ten you will probably get your moneys worth.

This was a bit of a surprise at Richardsons but the Haines 32 is very expensive. Anybody know what has happened to the sedan they were building? A bit concerned about Ludham Bridge with the Haines 32 but having found it on NYA (or similar) it says Air Draft 8'3" so not too bad. Seriously thought about the Haines 31 for next year but my problem is that I sometimes like to stand up at the helm especially when mooring so I would have to take a jigsaw to a section of the roof.

Totally agree having twice hired boats with the bed this way round, fortunately they had a convertible in the saloon that I could sleep on, never again with a bed with the foot under the sidedeck. The other point is that any bedside cabinet is at the bottom of the bed so you can't reach it when in bed. Plus your feet are up against a cold hull. Excellent idea.

Mac or PC? If Mac then use iMovie or if PC have a look at Da Vinci Resolve (https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/uk/products/davinciresolve/), both will be a learning curve but would do the job well and are free.

Indeed, so do I having hired Swiftway 2 in 1990, our third time on The Broads (if you exclude going with my parents late 50s early 60s), been going once or twice every year since. As somebody else said these were on Loch Lomond and then came to The Broads where the fixed roof was cut off and hinged so that it could be lowered for Ludham Bridge. I remember that roof was an absolute pain to hinge down, far too heavy, and even worse to put back up, I remember having to get assistance, since my wife is only 5'2", to get it back up, I think it was finally removed and replaced with a canvas car type one.

My wife and I both had our Pfizer jabs at our local surgery on Wednesday, very easy booking having had a text message with a link to the booking page. Well organised when we got there and no reactions at all apart from a slightly sore arm.

Yes, Polaroids fade very quickly. If the slides were taken on Kodachrome of Ilfrochrome and providing they have not attracted any mould they will be as good as new but if Ektachrome was used then they are likely to have faded. Software can do wonders once you have them in digital form. If you do have mould spots then a light wipe with alcohol (ethanol preferably or propanol) will help but do a test on an unimportant one first or it's down to a lot of work removing the spots in software. Some scanning software does have a spot removal function but it is quite slow at working.

I'll second that and available for Mac or PC, bit of a learning curve though. I use Final Cut Pro (Mac only) but it is pricey, on a Mac I would probably use iMovie if I wanted free software but I have had FCP for a long time now and got it at a good price. For music I use "https://incompetech.com/music/" but it can be a little repetitive.

That is standard wording because inverters are relatively low power and rely on the batteries, I don’t know how much power a nebuliser takes but if you wanted to fun it overnight I guess it would result in a flat battery, not good if you are dependant on it.

Swan Roamer is provided with a cable but as far as I understood from a Richardson’s engineer it is only for the onboard battery charger. As far as I could ascertain that was true, certainly no change over switch (shore to inverter). I would be very very surprised if Star Gem had any type of shore power, I would assume that 240v system just means it has domestic type sockets powered by an inverter just for phone/camera charging etc. Moon Enterprise, that we had this year, did have full shore power with a changeover switch (and cable) although the engineer that did the handover failed to mention it.

That is what I would assume, when we had Shore Power connected I had the 3 way switch to "Shore Power".

Hi Jean Although Moon Beam and Enterprise are both similar according to Craig's database Beam is an ex-Swancraft boat while Enterprise was fitted out by Moonfleet. Strange that the engineer said that you had the wrong cable (assume shore cable) since they all appear to be the standard industrial blue plug/socket type 16 or 32 Amp. Moon Enterprise had a 3 way rotary switch Shore Power / Off / Inverter. when we on Shore Power the 240V sockets were live with the separate Inverter switch set to OFF, so I'm fairly convinced that the battery charger switch or fuse (should have checked the fuse) were faulty.

A bit different this year having had our April and June holidays on Swan Roamer cancelled due to Covid-19. Once it was obvious that June was going to be cancelled we looked to September, the only two boats available that we fancied were Swan Ranger and Moon Enterprise and Moon Enterprise won being a week earlier, had what I regarded as a better layout and a Mud Weight winch. This will be a fairly short writeup with a link at the end to the video which is also a bit different with more photos of us, also, apologies for the wind noise and a few clips where the focus is not perfect I’m afraid, not sure why. A few points about the boat: Good layout for us but beds a bit small (hence we slept in different cabins), although the table should have been removable it was jammed solid on its pillars meaning the saloon seating was rather cramped, I don’t think I would have wanted 4/5 onboard. However, a really nice boat in good weather with all mod cons; rear view camera, three sets of batteries, full instrumentation and easy change from upper to lower helms (note: the upper helm throttle is covered with the starboard side screen down, good safety point after Ian’s recent experience). There is a short section in the video of the boat internals. Mooring from the upper helm was an absolute doddle especially with bow and stern thrusters even though they didn’t seem to be that powerful, the lower helm was only used through Ludham Bridge. No pump outs required this time since we had two toilets although only one holding tank (with a gauge which didn’t move all week) but guess it must be quite large since the boat is a 4/5 berth, the same applies to the water tank, that would have lasted us at least 3/4 days judging by the gauge. Would we hire it again? Possibly if we could pretty much guarantee no rain and/or the table could be removed and stowed. A few faults: tried to use shore power for battery charging (a bit concerned about the fridge battery one day) but I didn’t think it was working since the battery gauges showed no increase in voltage and the light in the switch didn’t illuminate, the immersion heater switch light did illuminate and I had switched to shore power, both these switches are at the bottom of the after bed with the shore power (and inverter) switches in a cupboard. As far as the heater controls (two heaters) are concerned; the thermostat knob on the Saloon one was stuck solid at maximum and the the knob fell off after cabin one, fortunately the heaters were not required. The GPS went on the blink one day but then returned to normal. All faults were reported to Richardson’s when we returned. Weather wise: it was brilliant, on Wednesday there were a few spots of rain early and then a bit overcast, otherwise wall to wall sunshine, the wind did start to increase somewhat from Thursday though. Our cancellations were a bit of a blessing really since both our original April and June weeks were the worst weeks weather wise in those periods. Saturday 12th September Arrived at Richardson’s about 12:40 having been given a 13:00 time slot and we were 5th or 6th in the queue, once checked in we drove round to the boat on Swan Quay and had to wait about 45 minutes for the cleaners to finish and then wait again for the engineer, finally got away at about 15:00 since I didn’t need a trial run but just needed showing the boat systems since we hadn’t had this one before. Once on the river it became very apparent how busy it was (and going to be) but we got the last mooring available on Paddy’s Lane. Sunday 13th September Having left Paddy’s Lane we decide that Womack would be our destination so we stopped at How Hill to drop the screens and proceeded through the bridge using the lower helm (the bridge was reading 8’ 3” and we needed 7’ 11” according to the boat plaque (the boat manual said 7’ 9” so a little bit confusing)) with plenty of room. Stopped at St Benet’s to put the screens back up. Got to Womack at about 11:30 as planned but not a single space on the staithe, hung around a bit then thought we would try for Womack Dyke, again no space. Ok, let’s try Potter Heigham, again no spaces on the formal moorings near the Pilots Office although the was plenty of space on the quiet mooring but I didn’t fancy Rhond Anchors the way the wind was blowing oft the bank so it was back to Womack for another look. Fortunately we found space on Womack Dyke this time which was a blessing in disguise the following morning. During the afternoon there was a continuous procession of boats up and down the dyke. A note to myself; do not try for Womack on a Sunday when the weather is good and the rivers busy. Monday 14th September Woke to see mist rising over the fields and a lovely sunrise. Went up to the staithe to find plenty of spaces, moored up and filled the water tank. Ranworth was our destination today (ever hopeful), got there about 10:30 and found spaces, moored on the main section facing the broad. Lots of coming and a few goings with many boats moored out. Lovely afternoon just boat watching with all spaces full by 17:00 and everybody settled for the night. Tuesday 15th September Quite foggy this morning but burnt off very quickly, dropped the screens (except the starboard side) ready for Ludham Bridge since our destination was Neatishead. Dropped the remaining screen and transferred to the lower helm on the move just before the Ant then stopped at Horning Marshes after the bridge to put the scenes up again and transfer to the upper helm. Neatishead about 10:30 reversing into the staithe. Connected to shore power because I was a bit concerned about the fridge battery (due to fairly short cruising times over the last couple of days), this was when I decided that the on-board battery charger probably wasn’t working. As it turned out the fridge battery was ok. Lots of activity with boats arriving and leaving with some being pulled through on the ropes. At least three posts were missing, don’t know how people do it especially here when ‘gently does it’ is the way to go. Surprisingly there were only five boats left overnight. Wednesday 16th September A few drops of rain this morning, that soon cleared but remained a bit overcast for the rest of the day. Went up to Wayford Bridge and moored up for a coffee then proceeded to How Hill where we went up to the Secret Gardens but, unfortunately, not much flowering or to photograph. It was now getting a bit windy which continued for the rest of the week. Thursday 17th September After the usual with the screen through Ludham Bridge, cruised down Fleet Dyke, into and round South Walsham outer and inner broads, quite a few boats mud weighting on the outer board. A bit unsure about where to go but finally decided to give Womack another try, this time there were plenty of spaces. Went up to the new bakery and bought some Cinnamon Buns and Viennese Whirls, the buns were absolutely delicious with the whirls nothing to really write home about but went back later for some Portuguese Tarts (had to wait for them to be cooked) which were delicious. Later in the afternoon a guy at the other end of the staithe caught a nice pike, I think his wife failed to get a photograph or video but if they read this and contact me I am happy to send them the video clip my wife took or I will extract a still frame from it and send it on. Weather lovely but the wind was starting to get chilly. Friday 18th September Cruised down to Fleet Dyke to stop for coffee and deal with the screens, had a bit of difficulty mooring on the corner moorings due to the wind blowing off the bank and the only space being on the curved section. Proceeded to Irstead and got a mooring on the parish section, had a bit of a walk to take some photographs and spent the afternoon boat watching. Returned to Stalham and got there about 16:00, had to have two goes at mooring after a gust of wind caught us the first time. Saturday 19th September Boat return handover was pretty much as normal but was surprised that Richardson’s are still giving the fuel refund in cash and not putting it back on a card. Fuel used was nearly £80 worth, rather more than our usual on Swan Roamer, could be due to hydraulic drive rather than shaft or we may have got the tides different. This is the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rFpT3GeBjM

Agree not cramped but when we used to hire Gardenia Girl from Summercraft I used to stand up most of the time if it wasn't raining, you will find that with the canopy closed you have to duck down a bit to see sideways. Really loved that design and they handle really well even without a bow thruster.

I am a long time hirer and couldn't agree more. Meg I am pretty sure that Robin did a video when he hired a similar boat from Barnes, could be worth looking at that.