JennyMorgan

I can wholly recommend a paddle up the Muckfleet to the Trinity Broads!!

Perhaps he had a pair of wheels near and handy, many of us paddlers do. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/80KG-Adjustable-Kayak-Trolley-Heavy-Duty-Sit-On-Top-Canoe-Sup-Cart/292874512737?hash=item4430ae6961:g:n2gAAOSwwJ5bf6wY:rk:7:pf:0

In the case of Hickling when the wind 'hully hosses acroorse t' Broad' in trues Norfolk style, whipping up the waves, mud banks can and are washed away only to be recreated elsewhere on the Broads. Nature itself can lift and stir up the silt on a far greater scale than ever do boats. Ask any angler, the water is far more likely to be coloured with silt after a gale than it ever it is by boats.

Perhaps I am stating the obvious but I do know that Countryfile was in contact with the Authority regarding the BNP tag, subsequently Countryfile chose to delete any mention of the BNP. I can only guess that the information hastily supplied by a number of the so called 'awkward squad' outweighed the spin originating from on high. Yes, you could perhaps accuse Countryfile of being judge and jury but on this occasion reality and honesty came to the fore. From when JP announced that the Broads was to be featured on Countryfile to the actual broadcast date was not long. BBC researchers were therefore quick off the mark! My hat is well and truly off to the BBC, obviously we can trust their information. Countryfile has acknowledged the legal position, as I've posted before the Campaign for National Parks has also acknowledged that same legal position and even JP has grudgingly acknowledged it when challenged, it must be true then!

We do get the odd house martin though.

Pine Martins see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_pine_marten Thankfully not aware of pine martens in Norfolk.

Living near the water we take rats for granted, just a fact of life. I'm aware of them, see the evidence but apart from nibbled fences have never been inconvenienced by them, yet. However, don't get me started on otters and mice, arghhhhhh!

It is not unknown for rats to desert a sinking ship! Quaint Broads custom is for friends to sprinkle small bits of meat onto the roof of their mate's boat in the early hours. This should ensure that the patter of rats feet crossing the cabin roof will wake them up! A few bits of fish guts or heads is even more effective as hoards of seagulls settle on the cabin roof as the sun comes up, indeed that can be quite dramatic! Perhaps more subtle is bits of bread in order to attract ducks. The sound of rats on the roof is perhaps the most unnerving but does tend to stretch a friendship to its limit!

So long as they leave a few swigs in them!

There is a certain pub at Burgh St Peter, which shall remain nameless, where a local did just that! Well, not quite but he parked his boat on a trailer in the car-park just to make a point. Must have been ignored though as moorings are still charged for. However, boat mooring is less expensive than for parking your tent or caravan for the night!

Beccles has stacks of free parking, vibrant town. Lowestoft has stacks of pay to park, town centre dying on its feet. Obvious conclusion.

An issue that I have with one or two pubs! Overnight mooring, fair enough, but just dropping in for a pint, not on.

Me too, indeed it's kept me quietly chortling away ever since! I'm really looking forward to the next edition of Broads Brief. I shouldn't gloat, should I?

In fairness to the Authority the Broads mud barges have been known as 'wherries' for as long as I can remember. I suppose it dates back to when such barges were redundant wherries, for example the Lord Roberts. Did think that that custom was questionable when one of the new barges was built in Ireland though! What did gripe though was when the Broads themselves were referred to as lakes. Why not call them what they are, Broads?

Maurice, what did you think of the programme?

Dan Hore's greeting to Matt Baker was suspiciously abbreviated, 'welcome to the Broads N'. Well done Aunty Beeb, thanks for listening. All that aside I really enjoyed the programme, especially about Thurne Mill.

Please tell us of your experiences at the Locks. New set-up, it's certainly not the Locks as we know it.

Terri, if I were you I'd wander down to your local marina and see who's about. Boat owners tend to be a friendly crowd. Many brokers also arrange trial trips.

That's by Scottish standards I presume! I shall have to drink more Tennents!

Was it a Norfolk or a Suffolk one I wonder? Suffolk is wetter than Norfolk so ours tend to grow longer!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6669175/Cafe-boss-hit-fine-parking-car-outside-rival-tearoom-leaving-SEX-TOY-inside.html This story is causing something of a buzz! Should have taken the battery out!

Boat A did the shouting?

I wasn't there but don't think it wise to cross the bow of another, especially when turning. That overtaking boat stays clear of those being overtaken is well worth remembering. In this case a simple interpretation of the port and starboard rule, e.g. give way to boats on the starboard side would seem to apply. However, if in doubt then get out of the light! Probably 95% of Broads boaters are clueless when it comes to the navigation rules!

Re bad language, wait until they have finished and then tell them that 'sorry, I didn't understand a word of that, could you please repeat yourself' often works well! One or two large motor cruiser owners from the Brundall area, for example, would do well to play and inwardly absorb both those training videos! Well, perhaps not the bit showing Capt. BirdsEye tying a cow hitch rather than a clove hitch!

Especially if you park at Tesco's!