SwanR

Have a great week Steve.

Bella Donna was indeed very similar to Brinks Sonnet, especially the use of space in the rear cabin, with the bed at an angle and a small toilet in one corner and a small shower in the other corner, either side of the door. I seem to think that the helm seat was further forward on that one as well. We were slightly puzzled as to why any new boat bought privately would be sold so soon but maybe the owners' circumstances changed.

The stretch from Salhouse into Wroxham was very pretty last week. Maybe see if the river levels drop off a bit this week. I'll do my best to keep you updated.

Swancraft were always the same. We happily hire from Richardson's ... but other years we have seen some of their old boats on hire with grass growing out of what I believe is called the rubbing strake round the hull.

Hi Neil, thanks for all your comments. Swan Reflection is a Shadow 31 fitted out by Swancraft ... no idea if that means it was their own mould and different to any others or the same. We were so fortunate. Apart from one family holiday back in the 90s, SR was the first boat we hired when we came back to the Broads in 2012. Fell in love with both the boat and the place. We've hired other forward steer cruisers, centre cockpits and dual helm cruisers too, all with their own pros and cons. But SR somehow still beats other boats for us. This boat seemed to have quite a thick bar down the middle where both sides of the sliding roof fit. I don't know whether that compromised the space as well. I'm only 5'5 but I had to duck to get through the door out to the bow which had a low head height sign over it!! I've never had that on other boats. I don't know whether this photo shows what I mean.

I was a little disappointed not to have a better cooker on this one. Not that I ever cook much on a boat. And the microwave didn't even get used this time, not even to heat a tin of soup. So there it sat taking up valuable space. We headed for moorings where we knew we could get a meal. As it was only four nights that made it a lovely break for me from kitchen duties.

Yes we could consider going slightly later if on the southern Broads. We love March on the northern side because of the availability of moorings almost without having to think about it. Our hesitancy outside of the main season on the south is because of a perception that the Yare is wider and deeper than the Bure and possibly less pleasant in the case of inclement weather.

Thanks Vanessan. I'm always mindful that someone looking forward to their trip on the boat might read the review. I often avoid the kind of posts on Facebook where someone will post that they've hired a certain boat and then ask for reviews ... too late once you're committed! The weather was actually quite good. Only the one day of avoiding the rain. And fortunately it wasn't windy. I was very grateful for that as both our previous two trips had been and it plays havoc with one's mooring!

That is certainly a very good point. The thing with this one was that it just suddenly became available so we thought ... why not. Thinking now about when to next hire and which boat or yard we might want. Weighing up the pros and cons of returning to Swan Reflection or taking something like Zircon Emblem again for out of season when the inside might be less draughty on that design. But you would be taking more of a chance with getting up the Ant if the river levels are high. Or possibly a return to NBD for one of their similar dual steer cruisers ... or a return to Fair Prince or the updated version Fair Consort. Or possibly a return to the southern rivers ... but we like to go out of season and not sure we would want to be on the Yare in March.

Liking your post doesn’t seem quite right Carole. We need a reaction thing for showing care to someone. Hope Monday goes ok and the weekend doesn’t feel like it’s dragging.

Probably just under 6 ft at Wroxham Bridge at the moment. River still looks high. Park area still flooded in places.

A great turn out in the chat room tonight for the quiz. Always so much fun. Bern and Tigerhawk were the runners up. But out in front was Steve who will be master of ceremonies next week. Have a lovely weekend everyone.

First one for four weeks ... let me see if I can find the questions and I'll be right there. Enter Username - no password required; https://www.nbnplus.co.uk/chat/

Thank you so much Helen, and for sharing the video of Hayley Westenra. We've seen her in concert three times, such a shame she hasn't been back over here or releasing new music for a very long time. We did laugh at one show, it got to the interval and the people behind us commented "She's no Katherine Jenkins". We did laugh. Personally we preferred Hayley.

The other thing I forgot to write is that the helm seat is a little further forward than on some boats. So you're not by a window that you can open. Despite having the rear view camera I missed being able to open the window next to me and poke my head out when stern on mooring. At least it had a windscreen wiper in case of rain while cruising.