Mouldy

If it’s just the gin and not the contents of the cocktail cabinet, make sure it’s the bottle with the most in!

I have to say that for an ‘Elite’ boat, hired at a premium price, the upholstery looks poor and if I were you, I wouldn’t have been as understanding of the requirement for three call outs. One of them should have been dealt with but adequate explanation of the electrical system at handover. A broken bolt is not acceptable, being able to secure the boat is a given and issues with the heating this early in the season, when the boats should all have been thoroughly checked over is poor. The heater on Moonlight Shadow is serviced as part of winter maintenance and one hopes that hire craft are treated similarly too. We hired from Summercraft several times over the years and the biggest issues we experienced were a blown bulb in the heads, that we replaced, much to Sue’s disappointment, as she told us we should have called them out and paid me four times the cost of the bulb in recompense. We also had a faulty hairdryer on one boat and again Sue told us we should have called to get one sent out. It seems that some yards are happy to let the customer find the faults and repair them as they go. The fact that they were repaired quickly is a bonus, but should they have happened in the first place? Of course, the failures may just have occurred, but it’s only March.

Yep. And it was very well ventilated.

Moored yesterday lunchtime at Beccles Yacht Station. The sun was out and it was very pleasant. We had our saloon windows open, the galley window open as well as the doors to the aft well, where our canopy was also open. I lit the grill and within seconds our CO alarm was sounding. Pushing the button to silence it didn’t stop the bloody thing, so I took it off the wall and the wife went outside with it, covering it with her hand to kill the sound. She was outside for about fifteen minutes and it still wouldn’t switch off, so out of desperation, it was drowned, not in the river, but in a sink full of water. That did the trick. Less than three years old, too. We left it in the aft well overnight with a view to take it home to be thrown safely with our electrical waste. The alarm light was still flashing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m in favour of these to promote safety, but to be fit for purpose, they have to be reliable. I hope the new one is better.

We headed for Beccles yesterday and noted that there were three yachts with a certain patina occupying the Worlingham moorings. Interested to see that one of them had been moved this morning alongside one of the others to make space for an outboard equipped dinghy to moor there. Its obviously not worth checking the BA webpage to ascertain whether they were tolled, as we know that it may not be up to date, but it already seems apparent that some live aboard/continuous cruisers are already doing the same thing on The Broads. Don't get me wrong, I understand that some people can’t afford housing and have turned to the Broadland rivers as an alternative, but those of us who wish to legitimately use the rivers and moorings that we pay to use, are going to be denied the privilege if something isn’t done soon.

Thought charges applied from April 1st, which is a most appropriate date, tbh.

Nice thought and one that appeals to my sense of humour, but did you know that according to The British Coinage Act (1971), you are legally allowed to tender up to 20 pence (total) in mixed one and two pence coins. More can be paid, but only if the person you are paying is willing to accept them.

Danny, always remember B O A T. Bring Out Another Thousand. Always worth remembering that old and much used adage. Just enjoy the boat, get it sorted out and think of the good times to come, when it’s done (which, frankly, it never will be, ‘cos there’s always something else to do). No good being the richest man in the graveyard! 👍 Good luck, mate!

I’ve found a similar issue with the Aweigh App, where when it’s first opened, the data doesn’t always display correctly. Closing the app properly (and I’ve no idea how to do that with a Google phone) and reopening it seems to make it behave for me. It may work for you too!

Our son and his family are in Moonlight Shadow this week. We met them at HPC to sort the bedding out and went to The Ferry Inn for dinner, before heading back to Brundall and Norfolk Lady. We hadn’t booked, but soon found a table for us all (four adults and three grandchildren). They’d just switched to a new menu, which certainly looked more like ‘proper’ dishes rather than something out of the Brakes Brothers catalogue. We did wait quite a long time for the food, but it was very evident that it was a long way removed from what they used to serve. Our son and daughter in law both had a 12oz gammon steak, which looked really good, thick and well cooked, the wife had lasagne, which she described as freshly made with plenty of mince and sauce, served with a salad of dressed leaves and olives, with garlic bread. I opted for pie of the day, which turned out to be turkey and mushroom. Unlike some pies, this was a proper shortcrust number (top and bottom), properly filled and very tasty, served with creamed potatoes, green beans and gravy. They’ll need to speed service up before we get to ‘peak,’ but after a winter plagued with closures due to the flooding, it was good to see the place busy again and serving food that would entice me back.

You remember our conversation from a few months ago . . . . . you know, when I said ‘you don’t buy a boat, you buy a hole in the water to throw money into.’

Exactly! In my opinion, the fact that water company bosses are trousering huge bonuses for running largely profitable businesses, whilst dumping vast quantities of untreated sewage in our rivers, is utterly unacceptable.

From the EDP - just gross! https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/24215267.norfolk-broads-village-named-countys-sewage-hotspot/

In the other hand, she could be expressing her feelings towards your photographic technique!

By the end of October, there’s every possibility of high tides that would make passage through Ludham Bridge difficult. To be fair, Richardson’s usually send some staff to the bridge in such circumstances to help, but if I were you, I’d look for something with a lower airdraft that will ensure that the you can get through without issues. Broads Harmony from Richardson’s is a similar design but with screen and canopy lowered, has an airdraft of just 7ft 2ins.

I would imagine that people living on the rat-run through Weston Green and Weston Longville would concur! Turning right onto the A47 heading from Attlebridge on the B1535 is extremely hazardous too. I know that a lot of people aren’t fans of the NDR, but it does make sense having a ring road around Norwich. It would take a lot of traffic away from roads that are inadequate for today’s traffic volumes.

Reminds me of when the wife and I went to Devils Bridge back in 2016. I’d celebrated my 60th birthday just a few months earlier and when we went to the kiosk to pay to get in, there was a concessionary price for ‘Seniors over 60.’ Yes, it made me feel old, but the feeling of saving money was even better! 😁

Maybe we should be grateful for small mercies. I moved from north west London to Milton Keynes in 1977. The reason was purely so I could afford to buy a house. When I moved there, Milton Keynes was really in its infancy. Some of the famous grid roads were already laid out and building of the shopping centre and some of the many housing estates was underway. Aside from the three existing towns that were already there, Stony Stratford, Wolverton and Bletchley, all of the planned development was to be on land previously used for farming. When completed, the projected population was to be 250,000, however, according to Google, the current population of the new city is over 288,000. This equates to just under 8,500 per square mile. Reports, again on Google, suggest that the anticipated population will rise to somewhere between 315,000 and 326,000 by 2030 and potentially 500,000 by 2050. The current average population per square mile in Norfolk is less than 500. As for light pollution, we have no street lighting in our village and the sky on a clear night is a star gazer’s delight. I know where I would rather live.

Yep, remember it well. Almost silent in the supermarkets, where you were only allowed in on your own, so no children screaming and running around. Deserted roads on my way into work, involved in the logistics industry, so classified as an ‘essential worker’ and being given a letter by my employer to produce to the police incase I was stopped and questioned about the necessity of my journey. Feeling slight miffed that NHS workers were being clapped on Thursday nights, but feeling forgotten as they weren’t the only people who were doing their bit in very trying times. Wondering what fate would befall me when I caught Covid in early April, before much was known. How bad would it get? As it happened, despite dealing face to face with drivers from across Europe, with absolutely no masks or sanitizer available at work, not too bad although I still can’t drink Coca-Cola, smell onions or garlic four years later. Returning to work after two weeks with Covid, but being sent home for another week, as I coughed in our office causing panic amongst my colleagues. Having to work even longer hours, due to many of our team being furloughed to save the company money, but having an even greater workload, due to panic buying in the shops. Strange times indeed, but how quickly have we’ve forgotten the people who worked through it, to keep us supplied with essentials and keep us well. Some folk have very short and selective memories.

I spoke to George at HPC a few days ago about turnaround servicing for Moonlight Shadow this coming Friday, as it’s a Bank Holiday and they have nine hire boats starting on Friday afternoon. If that is typical of the hire yards generally, Easter weekend looks as if it will be busy at least.

For comparison, mine is £517.16 for the same size boat.

Fairly certain that The White Heron at Brundall has pool and darts in their ‘sports bar.’ If you go there, remember that it’s cashless, so payment by card only.

It’s only a couple of years since The Chet was dredged. If the channel isn’t widened soon, it will become increasingly difficult to navigate, especially on the bends as you near the junction with The Yare. It’s also disappointing that the moorings at Pyes Mill are falling into disrepair. I’m not a big fan of Loddon basin. I try to avoid stern on moorings, as I don’t really like being the meat in the sandwich between other boats and issues at the car park which resulted in the toilets being pinned as Loddon Drug Store on Google Maps (pin now removed) have done little to enhance my opinion of the mooring. We’ve always preferred to moor at Pyes Mill and walk into the village, which has much to offer. It would be a massive disappointment if those moorings are lost. I do enjoy cruising The Chet, though. To me, it’s kind of The Ant of the southern rivers and relatively easy to get to from our base at Brundall.

Correct. Most folk in a pub wouldn’t even realise we had a dog with us. She is really well behaved and lays down by the side of our table. To be honest, I have a bigger issue with children who run around in a pub and treat the establishment like a big playground. I always wonder what the parents would say and how they’d react if one of their offspring tripped a waiter or waitress and had hot food or a tray of drinks spilled over them. I realise that they have a lot of energy to run off, but there is a time and a place and in my opinion, the inside of a pub isn’t the place.