grendel

well the only tip I can give is wear a bright red tee shirt that says if you can read this I have capsized, and sit very still, somewhere near How Hill, it was huge, maybe nearly 3" wing tip to wing tip.

for anyone not familiar, this is an image taken from the Norfolk Wildlife Trusts Website, to have one of these land on you is a true honour. though the pictures dont really do it justice, the yellow was more vivid, and the blue was iridescent, and I was close enough to it to see the proboscis curling and uncurling.

while I was sitting on the boat a butterfly flew across the river and settled on the arm of my t shirt, it was yellow and black and had a blue flash at the bottom of the wings, I am told this is a swallowtail butterfly, and one of the locations for them is How hill, so that certainly puts me in the correct spot today. it just sat there in the sun for a couple of minutes, daring me to try and reach for a camera. its colours were stunning and I really felt honoured to have had the experience.

Just chilling here, it's been a long time since I could spend just a few hours doing absolutely nothing.

I measured it last year and at one side (ludham side) one corner is 8 ft from cill to bridge above.it really depends where the max height is, there is more room at the centre

You would need to see the cills at least 6" above water level, if you hire from above ludham bridge it should have a good chance of getting through, though maybe at low water with that stated height.

No, I don't fish, pastry is lidls ready rolled puff pastry

while eating my cheese and bacon wraps and drinking a coffee that i just made, I decided to have beans on toast this morning for breakfast.

Leisurely cruise today, down to the bridge to check water level (about 5'9") so i dont think its going to be a go this week, cruiseddown the thurne, into and back out of Womak, a few spaces there, then headed up the Bure and then turned up the Ant, past ludham bridge (there was over 8 foot at the bridge despite the downstream marker reading 7'9") a nice slow pootle up past how hill then found a nice water rail sized wild mooring on the left out of the main traffic, now moored up watching the happy holidaymakers go by.

I noticed that they are managing to work while only occupying about 2 boat lengths with the work

yes, just checked myself and read it at .41 at 2.15, so we now know that is 6 ft on the pilot gauge.

I have experienced weed around the edges of Horsey, and all the way to West Somerton and back, a quick burst of reverse usually clears it, I would have been heading that way this week but we are shy 3" at the bridge according to the pilot.

are you sure the latest information i can find says 5.30 am this morning, maybe i am not looking in the right places.

I did phone the coast guard to warn them that any reports of a beached whale doing yoga were totally spurious

the ones i saw him catching could have been cooked on the handle of the frying pan.

Awake early as usual, did a 10 minute yoga on the cabin roof, breakfast as usual was cheese and bacon wraps , Tightening the alternator belt did the trick, after my 2 hour run up to coltishall and back, when I came to start this morning it was right on the button, this morning i filled with water opposite the moorings (where BA had filled up yesterday, because the electric pontoon was moored up it was a tight squeeze to get her in facing the bridge and get the hose to fit, as WR 's water fill point is right at the bow, £1 for water - not too bad, then it was under Wroxham bridge, 6'6", no problem, headed down river destination Potter heigham and see if there was room under the bridge, and get fuel as I was down to about 10 litres (2 lines on the dipstick). Southgates were busy so I carried on past and headed to Potter heigham, reasoning I had enough fuel to get me there, arrived at PH to find Griff on the end mooring opposite HW entrance, he did offer to let me moor alongside, but thats probably not the best spot for that, anyway needing fuel and wanting to check the bridge clearance - at high tide just 5'9", so I went into HW yard and filled her up, all 29 litres, the chap phoned through the reading to reception where they asked me if i was a hire boat or private , as apparently that affects the price, anyway it cost me £33.35 which I was happy with. then it was back out, and I headed for the quiet mooring where WR misbehaved, i got 3 wraps around a post with the bow line, and had the rhond anchors handy on deck, it was when I went to get these i knelt on the deck and next I know I am swinging out side on, I had come in taking account of the wind and tide but, no, WR wanted to face the other way round, so there I was side on to the river, with the bow rope unravelling from the post, go round and start again, at this point I noticed a hire boat, seeing me struggling and not in control decided this was a good time to pass astern as I was retreiving the bow line and drifting astern, we missed by not a lot as i just got back and got some forward onto her, anyway, second attempt, reverse into the wind and tide, and moored up with no problem WR now pointing the way she wanted to, got the ropes around the telegraph pole and a sign, and then had time to sort out the rhond anchors. After this I set up the canopy and had a wander down to chat with Griff, they were just about to set off back to base. After saying my goodbyes, i called in at the pilot office, 6 foot dead on the gauge, I asked what water rail needed and was told he would take her through at 6'3", the problem areas being the corners, with only 6 foot on the gauge, and only an hour to low water, this pretty much scuppered any plans I had for getting through PH bridge, so for those interested, whatever repps said at 2pm today was 6 foot on the dot on the pilot gauge. Then it was on to Lathams where strawberries and cream were purchased, after which time to head back to the boat, by this time Griff had started his homeward journey, via fuel, a pumpout and the wet shed. Strawberries and cream are going down nicely as I type this reply.

well, as i was departing from hoveton, once again the engine was having issues starting, (when I picked WR up someone hzad left the fridge on and run down the house battery, easy solution, switch ti input 1 and the engine starts, started fine on the other battery, I had done 3 hours cruising and only sat for a few hours, what might be wrong. Dave had changed out the alternator belt, so it seemed a good idea to check this,moored up at castle staithe wroxham and duly checked and alternator found to be loose. belt retightened, point noted the alternator was wobbling on the pivot bolt, a new bushing needed maybe, aduster was the most awkward arrangement ever, needing to turn the adjustor bolt that was inset into a slot on the alternator body, with barely enough sticking out to grip in a spanner, finally achieved by winding the lock nut up to the head and spannering on that instead, then wound it back into its normal function, proceeded up to coltishall locks and back to get some more charge in the battery, then finally moored up on bridge broad, mudweight fore and aft. bit of a mix for tea, the easy cook rice I had bought to go with the jar of sweet and sour sauce and mini chicken breast fillets, turned out to be pasta with broccoli, ah well, italian/ chinese fusion it was then, after travelling all day and being slightly damp from the light mist of rain, it was hot food and gratefully recieved. easy cook sachets of pasta and rice, more invaluable items of boat food for the boat trip, if not used they can be saved for the next trip.

well met up with Broad Ambition and new crew at Wroxham (Jonathan, Family and Purdey dog), I cant see the problem, at 6'6" I had at least 6" to spare, anyway, I am headed toward coltishall to find a nice quiet mooring overnight, I went and got myself a sausage and chips from Kens for lunch, and will set off shortly once I have finished it.

BA and water rail now moored up at the mooring next to the pub, BA awaiting more clearance as the tide goes out.

6'6" when i.came through just now, I spy BA filling with water

i too have found a leak, i opened the starboard drawer under the stern deck, as the cushions there were damp, emptied about 4 pints of water out of the drawer then applied the black sack fix to redirect the water into the bilges.

woke early to the sound of rain, it was quite heavy, but never mind its still beautiful here. Kettle on, time for a coffee and catch up on the forum

thats the stuff i use, today was the cheesy one

I love the fact that lidl sell steaks individually wrapped, I bought a pack of 4 so can have steak every other day of my holiday, steak cooking, now to see what tinned produce to go with it, instant mash for sure

well despite all of the problems others had getting to and from the broads, this morning it was just 3 1/2 hours for me to get to Lowestoft, straight up the A12 all the way. I arrived at 11 am, and very soon all my gear was aboard, Dave had finished swapping out a new alternator belt, and put the old one in the cupboard as a spare, the plan had originally been to head down to Berney Arms and an early start, but as I left Oulton at 12.30pm, I had an inkling I could cross Breydon Today, and be earlier than if i left at sunrise tomorrow, so I headed down the waveney, I noticed at Herringfleet the tide had stopped going out and started coming in, but got down to burgh castle without undue opposition, still making well over 5mph. as I got onto Breydon, I encountered the full force of the tide, rather unimpressive really I was still doing 5mph (I have just remembered that tomorrow is neap tides which might explain it) Spirit of Breydon went past as I neared the bridge, and went to talk to someone moored on the pontoon, I could tell by their radar arches they werent getting under the bridge this afternoon, still I arrived at 3.15pm at the bridges, to find a clear 7 foot 6" so slipped under with no problem, dropped down to tickover going through the Yacht Station, still doing 5mph, and had a good trip up the Bure pushed all the way by the incoming tide. Stracey arms had plenty of spaces, there was a single space on the free moorings at the ferry inn, Acle was rammed except for the pedro's mooring which were half full, and there was even a small space at oby dyke after the boat in front had nabbed one themselves. but no, for my first night I had decided on a wild mooring, the pumping station was occupied, so I carried on to south walsham, here the two boats in front turned back after seeing all the moorings full, I carried on and nabbed my favorite spot in the weirs (just the right side of the no mooring on the inner broad signs). 6pm and moored up, now it was time to unpack all the food and clothes and other kit I had bought with me, a long days cruising, but it had been dry, and I managed with the top down all the way, coffee made, and laptop unpacked, wifi connected and here I am.