grendel

and the mudweight and rhond anchors

looks like my weeks holiday ended about right then

its about neck deep in the middle at the dyke, so at least 5 foot, easily 3 foot at low tide by the bank for mooring, the locks is probably deeper, stick nearer the middle of the river when headed there, you can see weed near the edges, the water up there is clear enough to see the bottom.

when i was at loddon it was a council van that collected the rubbish.

i used it all week andthough i still got a few bites i reckon they targeted the places i had missed, the horse flys are nasty too.

when driving down the A2 at the roundabout for the A2/ thanet way junction there was 4" of water lying on the road it was raining so heavily

the issue with the fridges is that above 30 degrees ambient, they struggle to work, since she had allowed downstairs to get to 32 degrees it was no wonder really.

you would think a 30 year old could take care of the house and 4 cats, well the wheelie bins had been emptied, but they were still empty so nothing had gone out to them, i have had to scrub the floor in one area as it was too hot for her to change the cat litter, i still havent started to empty the car. she had turned the fridges up by 1 notch, i have now whacked them up to full, cleared the ice stopping the freezer door closing properly and am keeping an eye on the inside temperatures, i may need to move them and clean any fluff off of the fins too. with doors and windows opened to let fresh air in, i have managed to get the indoor temperature below 30 deg, outside it is tipping down

well i arrived home to scenes of devastation, indoors was like a sauna, with the indoor temperature 32 degrees, and no ventilation, it was no wonder the fridges were suffering, she told me they were both high temperature, well they were keeping things cooler than outside the fridge.

Well everything is packed back in crates and bags, I am ready, but it's not time to go just yet, one last swim, yes I have time for one last swim., So a good 30 minute swim and back aboard for the last little trip around to oulton broad. Then home.

And so the last morning has arrived, technically I can stretch it out until Sunday, but there are things to do at home (maybe new fridges). I woke at 5am,and had an early morning dip for 15 minutes, then back to the boat and dried off, it was time to start packing, clothes are all packed, next to find all the camera bags, pack the few tins of food that are left, go through the fridge and use all the last bits up for breakfast, scrambled eggs with bacon on toast this morning., Then all too soon as with any boating holiday it will be time to start the engine, unmoor the boat and head for home base. Ready to load the car and head home.

No idea it's in the middle of nowhere.

so on the eve of my return home i get a text message from my daughter, who in my absence has managed to kill both fridge freezers, she says they are not cooling things and are running at 10 degrees, i wonder if she will have done any washing up.

well the water here is warm, and great for a quick 20 minute dip, something i find refreshing on a boat with no hot water or shower in this weather, though the weather seems to be cooling now, but tomorrow I only have a short run back to Oulton Broad, then load the car and head for home.

thats the place, and even a decent place to swim, if you go to the end of the quay heading there is a handy metal step, of course I put down a rhond anchor and attached a safety rope to it, the mud just off the quay heading is quite deep and after the mud you are in quite deep water, but there is decent enough footing on that corner to get out (ably assisted by the rope if necessary) you may think me paranoid, but i wont enter the water unless I am certain I have a means to get out again safely, I know i weigh a lot and i also know how difficult it is to extract yourself from the water by your own efforts (after the candle dyke submarine incident) so nowadays I am wary of just jumping in and expecting to be able to get out again. so despite swimming like a fish (under the water most of the time) I take great care not to get myself so tired I cant get back out. Just had Peters Joy head past, he says they are having a great week too.

i departed geldeston at about 11.45 headed downstream, through the bridge, and headed down river, past the moorings, and to a set of wild ish moorings I had seen to one side before the waveney river centre., its got quay heading and the grass is trampled down, no- no mooring signs, and a couple of stumps carved with easter island heads, up with the canopy and clipped up my towel as a sunshade, now to rest out the heat of the day here supping cold drinks and starting to pack everything for heading home tomorrow. earlier i caught a couple of nasty flying things feeding off me, they got no mercy. I have my ropes set so that i am a couple of foot off the bank, sitting nicely, mud weight has been deployed just in case.

the campsite here at geldeston is full to overflowing, I was just chatting to some locals and they said the canoe hire place there had taken so many bookings he realised he didnt have enough canoes and had to buy some more, people I chatted to yesterday were enquiring where to hire a day boat without pre-booking, as everywhere they had tried was fully booked, so yes its very busy out there with people holidaying in the uk.

oops forgot to hit post on that last one, anyway, i had my swim, 40 minutes in the warm water, and then a cruiser turns up, and very nearly moored right on my step out of the water, anyhow, I retreated to the bank, and had a good chat with the couple, now its time for a coffee again. and maybe a bit of housekeeping, decks to sweep (as i dont have a mop aboard).

just had to get through the palavar of setting up a new sim as my data ran out, I had been expecting that, but it never comes at a good time. anyway the sun has broken through, so a second swim looms in my thoughts.

well after browsing the forum over a coffee, I can hear the rumble of thunder in the distance, the morning still has not brightened up, all i have to do today is get myself nearer to oulton broad ready to finish my trip tomorrow sometime, I have left my safety rope in place at the swimming spot for now as I fully intend another swim before i leave, but it will be a leisurely breakfast and see what the day brings weather wise. if it rains that might be a nice time for another swim. and oh so gently as i speak the patter of raindrops starts to make itself heard. just done a tour of the boat making sure any rain ingress points are shut, but i wont bother putting the canopy sides on just yet.

What a nice way to start the morning, a 20 minute swim here. Dried off and kettle is now on for coffee, slightly overcast, but the water was still plenty warm enough, I think I will stay here a bit longer, rather than the normal early start, and have a few more swimming sessions. While I was swimming I found this chimney pot in the mud at the bottom with my feet.

of course you do need a boat that goes under Beccles bridge water rail would have got under today with the canopy up.

go down geldeston dyke toward the wherry, there is a section of wooden quay heading with a sign visitor moorings, turn and moor there, now two clumps of vegetation are behind you (toward the village,) in the second the bank has eroded to form a person sized bay, this has mud steps at various heights that assist in getting out, a rhond anchor and rope help too as then you are not grabbing for clumps of grass to haul yourself out. what 3 words tablets.stroke.daredevil, for the mooring pixel.shadowing.renting for the swim step

What a gorgeous swim, river only neck deep at its deepest, rhond anchor and rope do help in getting out despite the steps, and a gravel bank just near the steps only knee deep. The water was gorgeously warm, so much so I was in there for a good 20 minutes half an hour or longer, definitely a new favourite mooring, and probably another swim early tomorrow too.

Just that Liz, I reversed in perfectly about 200m, and just as I about to step off, the bow swung around to face the opposite way, then she did a perfect come alongside stopping gently 1 foot off the quay heading, and it's not the first time she has decided she prefers to face the other way either, at least I know what she is capable of throwing my way now. A couple of locals have shown me a great spot to get out of the water here, so a swim is on the cards shortly., I will use a rhond anchor and set up a mooring line as well, just to be on the safe side.