SwanR

You are making sweeping generalisations that I don’t feel are justified so enjoy your time on the rivers but I will respectfully leave your tale.

Never judge a helms person by whether they are in command of a hire boat or a private boat! Both can be equally experienced or inexperienced or caught out by circumstance!

Beautiful! We’ve arrived in Lowestoft this morning (by car!) and it’s hot and sunny. :)

Sounds like a plan. Hubby likes to fish if he gets the chance! :)

What a wonderful write up, thank you so much for sharing your tale with us. Great to get such a good recommendation for a yard and in fact I don't think that I have ever heard a bad word said about them. The weather has certainly been amazing ... the first year since 2012 that we hadn't got a boat booked! Maybe that's why!! And to finish ... like you I have wondered about the tide along the New Cut ... I'm sure there must be an answer somewhere. ;)

Morning Phil ... and welcome to the forum. I'm always interested in people's choices ... what boat have you gone for?

Hello David. We had absolutely no problems with using anything electrical onboard. In fact being all electric you don't have to think about gas supplies. And there is no inverter to turn on and off with Sonnet, the 240v supply is on all the time as I recall. The only time we needed to start the engine while moored up was while we used the microwave for a few minutes as it is recommended to do that. Having the lead to hook up to shore power is just a nice extra in case you are somewhere where you can get hooked up and want to take the opportunity to ensure that the batteries get a full charge. But if you're not using much electricity i.e. longer daylight hours, not running the heating, not doing much cooking, then you would be ok as long as you get a decent cruise. If you want to cruise for less time then hooking up to shore power is a nice thing to be able to do. If access is an issue then using stern on moorings is great and really easy and there are quite a few places to stern-on moor on the northern rivers. Remember that as a hirer you can also moor in other boatyards overnight and many of those will have stern-on moorings. If none of that suits, or if you felt that the boat would be too small inside, then you would probably find the same with many boats. Some of the newer models have more space in the cabin and the bathroom but they tend to be the more expensive ones. And if you don't want to be cruising for more than an hour or two each day then you may have an issue with keeping the batteries topped up no matter what boat you're on. Perhaps boating just isn't right for your circumstances. I'm sorry that you seem to have gone through a difficult time with bookings and finding the right information so that you could make informed choices. Perhaps the self-catering option in a riverside property will be more for you.

I have only read this briefly this evening to catch up on the updates. Whilst Barnes Brinkcraft may not be my first choice just because I like starting from places other than Wroxham sometimes, and choosing different boats, I have to say that I have never had any issues with the yard and that our experiences hiring Sonnet were fine. Yes, it's not the newest boat but it's far from the oldest either. And that style of boat is the best that you will get if mobility is an issue.

We have had Sonnet twice. No problems with the electrics at all. We cruise around 3 hours a day but all hire yards recommend that kind of cruising time. I think you get the cable so you can use electric hook up if you want to. Just buy some cards and ask about how to use the electric posts when you get your handover if you’re not sure. But I wouldn’t worry just because it’s all electric. Just need to run the engine if you use the microwave. Sonnet is a good little boat.

Essex is certainly living up to its desert-like self at the moment. Our car went in for a service on Monday - we hadn't washed it for a while because we knew they would! You get used to being careful with water when out on a boat because you've only got what it is the tank. Now we're being careful with water at home as well ... in case it runs out!!

I thought it was going to be cooler but it still felt as warm as ever upstairs.The only downside to backing onto the railway is the freight trains at 3am if you leave the windows open!! No rain here in Essex yet but the BBC forecast seems to think that there might be some on Friday.

Speedtriple I know what you mean. Essex has had no rain in a very long time. Everywhere is parched and brown. The garden is only getting minimal watering for the plants that really need it and the car's not getting washed either! It is hard when you've still got to work every day and sleeping is difficult - I'm the same. Usually I would happily walk into work a couple of times a week but now it's the bus if I haven't got the car. Also wearing usual clothes to work means you swelter whenever you're outside - we should have declared every day a "dress down" day ages ago but that is never going to happen where I work. It would be ok if the aircon worked efficiently in the office but ... it doesn't! Getting up to Lowestoft at the weekends has been my saviour. Still parched and brown everywhere but often as much as ten degrees cooler on the east coast there than it has been at home. If only it was close enough to commute, I would be living there right now.

Welcome Karen! I think everyone has pretty much covered the answer to your question. Whilst we enjoy the cruise into Wroxham if we have hired from a yard elsewhere, we rarely try to moor there. There are other easier places to stop and pick up a bit of shopping if you need it. And we prefer quieter moorings away from the roads. Is there something particular that you wanted to stop in Wroxham for or is it just one of those places that so many people talk about and you wanted to see?

Apologies if this is off topic but given the debate after I mentioned about running the engine to start the heating, I feel that I should qualify this statement. It wasn't Herbert Woods or Richardson's, which I am only stating because they have been mentioned many times here. It was in October and we were cruising so that we were running the engine for at least the prescribed three hours per day. The batteries were fine in the evening but by the morning we could see less than 12 volts and had been warned on handover that we may have to run the engine for a few minutes before starting the heating. Once the heating was started we didn't need to leave the engine on. We made sure it was after 7am - we felt that was reasonable. And we only ran the engine for a few minutes.

We wouldn't have a clue how to do most of the things that you have mentioned Robin. So we just do what we're told when we hire a boat ... including having to run the engine to start the heating. It wouldn't occur to us to start trying to diagnose any issues, we just don't have that kind of knowledge, like most holidaymakers I would imagine. Instead you end up with a perception of any yard based on the face value i.e. did we like the boat, was it well turned out, did we feel it was good value for money and did it give us any problems.