vanessan

But then Robin you will end up with grubby wrinkled clothes and a messy house. You see, those are the little chores we girls happily (?) do for you guys. So it could be you that loses out eventually.

No short planks in our garage Alan!

Robin - gender has everything to do with it! It’s the only excuse we girls have to avoid having to get involved in things we don’t want to. My husband likes to make things work again, we have a garage full of things which he intends to make work again. One day!

And potentially a lighter pocket Robin I think! I am still following this thread with awe, much of it goes over my head being a mere female but your enthusiasm and willingness to share the adventure (despite one or two critics and who cares about them anyway) is commendable. I’m looking forward to seeing Independence at Brundall or on the rivers next month when our own boat is back in the water.

What a sensible and laudable approach from Freedom. I hope would-be solo and single parent hirers get to read that and book with them. Sanity does prevail after all!

The sunroofs are still there but they have been bolted shut. One of the Broom’s guys told us that they had had to do that because so many were being damaged under bridges having been left open. The salon seemed quite airless when we looked over one on a hot day. A great shame but careless hirers appear to have caused the problem.

I wish!!

Welcome from me too. We hired Shimmering Light when it was a brand new boat, I can well see why it is your favourite! Hope you enjoy many good trips on these fantastic waterways.

Clive’s words here seem to say the following: a) We are doing this to bring us in line with Hoseasons standards. b) Other yards have had problems with various things so we have been reactive and brought in certain measures. c) Other yards have had problems with solo hirers and single parent hirers so we are being proactive in this instance. c) is my interpretation of course but I’m not sure how else you could interpret that. It still seems rather strange to me and, like others, I do wonder if there is more to it than that.

I think it is more a degree! An absolute master of word play.

I was actually comparing the willingness to allow hirers who have a (not always representative) reputation of being rowdy and sometimes dangerous, to hirers who want to enjoy the Broads for what they are.

I guess the only way to find out is to ring round and enquire.

This all seems crazy to me, how to lose business without really trying! I’m sure Silverline allow solo cruisers and wonder if Pacific do. Also the Broads Boating Company. I’m surprised we haven’t yet heard anything from Freedom, they have a couple of good solo sized boats. To ban solo cruisers and single parent cruisers and still allow stag and hen hirers is daft, I know who I would rather meet on the river or moor alongside! (I do accept that there are exceptions to every rule though.)

Another welcome to you Waterglade from me. I was surprised to see that you hired a small narrowboat all those years ago, I thought narrowboats on the Broads was a fairly new thing. There are still some wonderfully tranquil spots thank goodness and, provided you keep clear of school holidays, the northern rivers are not too bad. Being retired, we spend the majority of the spring and autumn on the boat and only avoid school summer holidays. I can honestly say that I never get bored, we just go with the flow (sorry!) and chill. Whatever you end up doing (even stacking shelves in Tesco’s) I hope you enjoy your boating days.

Light blue touch paper and retire immediately..............................

I’ve got to give Loddon a great big thumbs up too, one of my favourite places to visit. We tend to avoid the staithe preferring to moor at Pye’s Mill or Chedgrave Common. It is a pleasant walk from both places into the villages and the moorings are quiet. However, if you are only on a short visit, the staithe will probably be best. The White Horse at Chedgrave has been good whenever we have been there but there is certainly a good choice of eating and drinking places in the area. If you need to fill up with water and can’t get in at the staithe, Pacific Cruisers is handy but just make sure you avoid changeover mornings/days.

Wanting to have a ‘different’ holiday. The Coot Club had always fascinated me so I guess Arthur Ransome gets the blame again! That first boating holiday was 36 years ago and I felt quite tearful when we left Brundall to come home.

Quite honestly I have found MrB’s input interesting and reading the YBW thread has been an eye-opener. Some of the posters do come across as rather arrogant and ‘know-it-all’ but that’s the problem with the written word as we well know, nothing can beat face to face conversation. I’m not sure why Ricardo is getting so over-heated about the nicknames being used. Is anybody else upset by it?

Me too. I love learning new things and seeing these names that these forces guys have for each other really makes me chuckle. So much better than the names we girls start calling each other!

Many years ago we crossed from Cape Jervis in South Australia to Penneshaw on Kangaroo Island by catamaran. It was an evening crossing (only 45 minutes) and it was a horribly squally dark evening at that. As we left, the weather got worse with the wind really getting up. We were riding on the waves one minute and slamming down in the troughs the next, trouble was we couldn’t anticipate anything as it was pitch black. Neither my husband or I were seasick although we both felt pretty rough. That rough feeling stayed with us for the next 2 days unfortunately but that is the nearest I have ever got to seasickness.

Welcome from me too Katie, glad you have been inspired to join us. Do you mean you bought a boat 3 years ago or hired one? Tell us a bit more about your Norfolk adventures.

I think I’m right in saying that the first of these schemes relied on dog owners registering voluntarily which of course wouldn’t work properly. Responsible dog owners would willingly sign up whilst others wouldn’t bother. Where private land is concerned it does sound like a very good idea and has clearly worked at Lowestoft Marina. Those dog walkers that didn’t clear up have gone elsewhere probably and created inconvenience for others. As a dog owner I think it is a good idea but I don’t know how it could be enforced in some areas, LM may be gated in some way so users are monitored but of course our parks etc mostly are not. A difficult one.

It probably won’t matter one jot to most visitors whether the Broads is a NP or not. The point is that those of us who have our own boats or hire very regularly know the dangers of turning a blind eye to the term the Broads National Park being continuously used. Over in t’other place Paladin (I hope he won’t mind me mentioning this) has posted a number of legal documents quoting the BNP. Not marketing stuff, legal stuff. Softly, softly catchee monkey I believe the saying goes...........

A sad story Chris, I hope you can find peace for the future whatever you end up doing boatwise. Don’t leave the forum though, you have many friends here.

Should we ask the Indy team to go back and do it all again?