kathleenp

Hi yes we are with Tingdene. I'll discuss it with Kerri and see what she wants to do. I'm assuming winterising needs to be done soon with the colder weather on us ? Thanks everyone always such good advice

Hi Everyone, this is our first winter with a boat on the broads - what does everyone usually do? I'm not sure we can afford to dry dock considering our already expensive mooring but keen to preserve the boat as much as possible. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Kathleen and Kerri x

I thought I'd just tag onto the bottom of this thread rather than starting a new post. I've not been out much lately as my daughter has been recovering from her operation and making full use of nice weather we 'were' having and taking her friends out in it ! I went out a little while today with her and I noticed that the boat was listing a little to the starboard. She filled it up with diesal the other day and water which are on the portside but didnt pump out the loo as not been really using it - could that be the cause ? one of the arms on the canopy broke as there was a big build up of water on the roof but she said she mopped it all up but I'm assuming some could have leaked through to the bilge? it all seemed to pump out fine when the engine was switched on but that wouldnt be enough to make it about 4" lower on that side? Any advice appreciated as see guys there every day fiddling about with their boats (sorry guys) and wonder if we should be doing more lol

Thanks for asking Grace - superficially she is great but she is finding it very difficult to come to terms with everthing she has been through so looking forward to some relaxation on the boat when the sun comes out again. We went to pick our summer mooring spot today and looking forward to it. We have a couple of models from her model academy coming out with us on Saturday for a shoot so any really nice spots anyone can recommend to shoot that wont take long to get to would be great? We left Wroxham about 9.30 ish and had a very windy stop over at Acle to pick up a friend and got buffeted about for a while, we got to Reedham about 4 ish and stopped for a rest and a bite to eat and got to Brundall for about 7pm so a long day but I think we hit the tides just right which helped

We made it ! all thanks to everyones brilliant advice, we got to Gt Yarmouth about 13.15 so just in time for slack water and it was just under 9ft going through the bridges but oh my life we had a storm going across Breydon water and so glad my friend was with us - laughing all the way as to him it was something he gets on the North Sea all the time ! Stopped off for a late lunch at Reedham then headed off to Brundal and made it in sunshine for the last leg. Have to say I hope my daughter enjoys being able to get back and forth to Norwich as from what I've seen so far the North Broads are a lot more pictureseque than South lol Hopefully my next my trip is a lot less stressfull

Thats brilliant advice thank you everyone

Thank you - yes I think carrying on to Reedham sounds like a plan - I was thinking more Berney Arms area rather than GY itself. I was hoping we could do it all without taking the canopy down but this is all proving more complicated than I'd thought lol Any other tips about getting across Breydon would be greatly appreciated. The guy who is coming to help us pilots boats for a living but he doesnt know the broads so we are going to be a right bunch of ametuars so you are probably better off staying away this weekend ;-)

Hope you all have a good weekend at the Salhouse meet, we are moving from Wroxham to Brundall Fri/Sat so give us a toot and a wave if you see us. I've got a friend to help us pilot across Breydon Water on Friday as I was a bit nervous about doing it on my own - he is asking me how high the boat is but I cant find it anywhere on the documentation - anyone got any ideas how I can find out? I asked Barnes and they didnt know. I'm planning Wroxham to Gt Yarmouth then staying overnight round there somewhere then carry on to Brudall Sat morning - does that sound feasable?

Once again such brilliant replies thanks everyone. Been bit of a mad couple of weeks so negotiated another couple of weeks at Wroxham to give me a chance to sort things out. But ringing Tingdene tomorrow to secure a place there as it seemed so nice and secure and just liked how open it was - it will become 'The Office' during the nice weather (whenever that may be) so I think lack of wifi at the smaller places would be an issue. Was hoping to get to meet a lot of you at Salhouse but looks like we will be moving that weekend then we have a business meeting all day on the Sunday - unless I bring the business meeting to the boat.... now thats an idea lol

No I dont think we did - we just drove down yesterday and had a wander after (I think it was Chris) showed us around. We're still getting used to everything. We have the trip from Wroxham over to wherever we decide to go in a few weeks - so need to decide soon and have an early start!

We did like it there and the people we met were friendly and at almost half the price of Tingdene...hmmm

Hey we recognised you Mark - hence we both waived back... although I think we just waived to everyone today anyway hehehe Yeah that is my one worry - our little falcon will look a bit lost in there but it seemed so nice and peaceful. Brundall Gardens was nice for the price - although you need a shoehorn for the berths, but I'd feel a bit nervous if we wanted to sleep over as its just a bit too remote.

Good job we went with Yachtmaster then !! phew lol Kerri and I had our first day out today on our own - really please that I was able to get back into our mooring as it was the tightest corner ever, did struggle a bit outside the Swan at Horning though big windy and it just didnt go where I wanted it to !! I need more practise lol One more question for everyone... thank you so much for all your help so far dont know what I'd have done without it. We've been looking at moorings - currently at Barnes in Wroxham, dont fancy it for the summer as just a bit too touristy and also Kerri wants to be closer to Norwich. So thinking of Brundall. We had a look round and currently between Tingdene or Brundall Garden, the former being double the price but seems to be much nicer - anyone have any experience of either of these?

Another quick question - I'm compiling a list here lol ... best company to go to for Boat Insurance?

Hi Everyone, Yep we are all bought and rearing to get started as Mark (MBA Marine) came out and gave us some amazing advice. It will be moored up at Wroxham untill May when we will probably look for something a bit closer to Norwich. One thing I didnt tell you all was the reason for the boat - my beautiful daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumour back in November and the thought of not being able to drive for 12 months was too much for her - having a boat on the broads is top of her bucket list and now she has something to really look forward to. She had her op on Friday morning to have it removed and all was successful so as soon as the weather is fine enough and she is well enough you wont be able to keep us away ! I want to get her a get well pressie - something to do with the boat, her friends gave her a framed pic to keep beside her bed but I want to get something a bit more useful but still nice - any ideas? Kathleen xx