SwanR

Swan Reflection 2 Between numbers 1 and 2 we have hired this boat around six times now. It is best described as compact being only 31 feet long. The brochures tend to describe it as an ideal starter boat. What can I say ... comfortable, steers in a straight line, easy to moor, very good bow thrusters ... and I still think that the ex-Swancraft boats have the best electric toilets on the Broads! My worst mooring was Ludham Bridge for water. The wind was pinning us to the bank and even with the bow thrusters I could not get the boat away. In the end Mr SR pulled us round by the bow rope to give me enough of an angle to reverse out. My best mooring was coming in at Sutton which restored my confidence after the experience at Ludham Bridge .... and of course as we got in by the water point we needn't have actually stopped earlier after all. Here's a few photos of the interior for anyone who might be hiring this boat. And yes, I would definitely hire it again.

The Boat Yard We hired from Richardson's. The staff were very friendly and the handover sufficient as we have had this boat many times. We were delighted to leave the yard around 1.45pm. Reception opens at 1pm for checking in. Yes it can feel a bit like a conveyor belt but it works for them. I haven't been there at a really busy time of year so can't comment on how that works on a busy Saturday afternoon mid-season but it all worked very smoothly for us, as it has done on our previous visits. Unfortunately we did have the engineers out three times, all for the same problem. They were very good when we called and it didn't inconvenience us as we were moored up for a while anyway. They were very polite and always cleared everything up once they had finished. Basically when hooked up to the shore power the inverter didn't work for more than a few minutes. Very odd. Each time they came out they thought they had fixed it only for us to find later on that it still wasn't working. In the end it turned out that the cable wasn't working properly, or wasn't the right one. So it was drawing too much power and overloading the inverter. We also reported that the rev counter was only working intermittently. Didn't matter to us but I think if you were a first time hirer and had been told for example that 1200 revs = 4mph, but then the rev counter stopped working, you might feel a little unsure of what your speed was. Hopefully they have fixed this now. I have to give a thumbs up for the overall package. I do think that they are hard to beat for price. They haven't entered into the last minute discounts that other yards have started doing and I like that. They are one of only a couple of yards where I would now feel safe to book very far in advance.

March Hiring and the Weather!! I would definitely hire in March again, this is the third year that we have done so. The weather was grey and cloudy for two days, then bright and sunny for two days. However the whole week was windy, 25mph winds rising to 45 mph the last day or two. Barton Broad was very choppy and there were waves on the Bure in particular. We seemed to be going against the wind and the tide a lot of the time - we didn't try to factor that in when deciding where to go. We had the heating on quite a bit which probably accounted for a good part of our diesel costs which were £59. Two nights were stern on mooring and two nights were side on. Didn't make much difference in the wind. Noisiest nights we have had on a boat ever. Bouncing against the quay if moored stern on, ropes creaking when moored side on. I would however go later in the month next time. This is the first year that we have gone before the end of the fishing season and it definitely made a difference. More boats out, still plenty of room at most moorings but we didn't get the solitude that we got last year when 3 out of 4 nights we were the only boat where we moored up. I missed that. On the subject of the fishing Mr SR caught a very nice bream and perch at Ranworth. At Sutton he was catching lots of tiddlers!! Where to Eat? We had some very nice bacon baps at Bridgestone's in Potter Heigham before we picked up the boat on day one. That was sufficient and saved us cooking on the boat later ... I didn't cook on the boat all week. The Sutton Staithe Hotel was doing a lunchtime deal of two courses for £7.95. I can recommend the ham, egg and chips followed by apple pie and custard. Great value, large portions - just basic food at an affordable price. Our favourite this time around was The Maltsters at Ranworth. I've not been a huge fan in the past but it's probably a few years since we ate there. The food was so good that we went there twice for lunch - scampi and chips both times. We also went in there one evening for a drink, which is something that we rarely do. The atmosphere and the staff were very friendly and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

Day Four - Sutton to Ranworth to Paddy's Lane We knew that this day was forecast to be even windier than those which had gone before. 40mph winds. We even considered staying where we were but ... we were only out on a short break, the sun was shining and we didn't want to waste the day. But where to go? In the end, after some debate about lunch stops at the top end of the Ant, we opted for a cruise all the way back down to the Bure and along to Ranworth again. Yes, we had enjoyed the Maltsters and decided that it would be no hardship to head back there. Coming back up the Ant, as we needed to be in easy distance of Stalham for returning the boat the next day, we debated where to moor. How Hill was too soon, Irstead was occupied, Gayes' Staithe was full and we didn't fancy trying Neatishead as we were quite tired by this time. Crossed Barton Broad to find half of Paddy's Lane closed off as they look to be replacing the quay heading and generally re-doing the moorings. But there was room on the side opposite Cox's yard and we were soon tied up ready for a quiet evening and some general packing and tidying. Day 5 - Paddy's Lane to Stalham to Home via Goodie's Farm Shop Just a short hop back to Richardson's to hand the boat back. We were the first away from our moorings by about 8am and found a space on Kingfisher Quay to slot back into. Job done. Time to get signed off, buoyancy aids back to the store and our fuel refund collected from Reception. We were soon on the road but as usual when coming back down the A140, we stopped at Goodie's Farm Shop for supplies. Saves us needing to do any shopping when we get home. I can highly recommend the Applewood smoked cheese, the fudge, the carrot cake and the lemon, lime and coconut cake. :)

Hello Bryan. Yes two large and two small towels, and two tea towels and a little kitchen starter pack. I think this is only on their platinum boats of which the ex-Swancraft fleet qualify. Hope you are able to get your time away. I am so glad that we managed to get out last week, very fortunate indeed. :)

Great start to your tale. We were out last week and the wind was certainly challenging. You may well find it quiet this week as it's now closed season for fishing I believe. I'll be writing about that over on my own holiday tale a bit later.

Hi Helen, yes, that's exactly where it was. I love seeing so many daffodils together like that, really brightens things up and makes you feel that spring can't be too far away.

There will be more to come, hopefully tomorrow evening. :)

Thanks Lulu. I will post a link when I’ve finished my write up. :)

Day Three - Womack Water to Sutton On waking and looking out quite early I found that the weather forecast had been correct, the clouds had cleared and the view was amazing. We got our skates on with breakfast and left the mooring by 8am. I love an early morning cruise back down Womack Dyke and down the Thurne. As the hose wasn't out yet at Womack Water and we weren't entirely sure of our destination we stopped at Ludham Bridge to fill up the water. When hiring from Stalham we have a tendency to only go up and down the Ant for picking up and returning the boat as opposed to making it a destination. Given that we didn't manage to do the Ant at all last October we therefore decided to give it more time. Made it up to Sutton by around 11 and were the first boat to arrive so got a nice spot by the water and electric post. Lunch was in the Sutton Staithe Hotel, Mr SR spent a few hours fishing and I just chilled on the boat for most of the day.

Itinerary for a short break Day One - Essex to Stalham via Lowestoft and Potter Heigham, then a cruise to Ranworth We needed to check a few things at the caravan in Lowestoft after the winter closure so this was an ideal opportunity to do so given that you can't get the boat before 1pm. From there we went to Potter Heigham for lunch and so that Mr SR could pick up some maggots for fishing. We were away from the yard about 1.45 after a quick reminder of the boat. As we wanted to make sure that we gave the batteries a bit of a charge we headed all the way down the Ant and round to Ranworth. A nice mooring on the staithe, a little unpacking, a light tea and then a couple of drinks in The Maltsters. Day Two - Ranworth to Womack Water Having been plugged into onshore power we decided that a short cruise would suffice. The morning was a but grey and cloudy so we decided to stay at Ranworth, have lunch in the Maltster's, Mr SR did a little fishing and then we headed for Womack Water in time to be moored up about 3.30. We went for a walk back towards Hunter's yard and Womack Dyke but it was very windy and we didn't go too far.

I went back to work today after my week off. So much had changed ... and I spent half my time talking to members of my team who didn't want to be there but have as yet no reason to self-isolate. My company hasn't gone down the home working route yet, and not everyone there can do this anyway. We're a front line service for our customers and not everyone works on laptops. Other tenants in our building have shut up shop. And the roads were like school holidays in terms of very little traffic. Hard to know what to do for the best, what to believe and what are the facts as opposed to the rumours.

Could be Pye’s Mill Common or whatever it’s called, just outside Loddon.

Someone I know has had emails about events being cancelled. She had already booked travel and hotels so stands to lose quite a bit of money.

We were late up this morning so missed Newswatch this week. Of course people's lives are worth more than anything else. And I wouldn't want anyone to misconstrue my comments as meaning otherwise.

I was reading about how locked down Spain is now. I am hoping that we don't end up with travel restrictions that stop us getting up to the caravan this summer. And of course so many of our members getting to their boats and their holidays.

Couldn’t agree more. BBC Breakfast at its finest this morning with pertinent questions but pursued relentlessly when the poor minister who has been rolled out really can’t give any more!!

Sad news indeed. Condolences to his family and friends.

Given the advice to self-isolate if you have specific symptoms, we have started to buy just a few extra single items when at the shop. A post on a local Facebook group about people not being able to buy what they genuinely need got around 250 replies very quickly. That has become a familiar problem.

And here’s one especially for Mr Nog! This is still in the galley.

Good morning from Paddy’s Lane. Getting ready for that last cruise back to the yard. That was our noisiest night ever on a boat. The wind kept up and the ropes seemed to be creaking all night!

I’ve been looking in lots of places for these hand sanitisers but still haven’t found any so I wish it were that simple. We have been talking about what we should do if one of us were to catch this. Avoiding each other completely and living separate lives in our house would be almost impossible. Such a shame about your holiday HEM. We do count ourselves very fortunate to have had these few days away. But we have still been visiting pubs for lunch every day where we could have come into contact with the virus. Both of us are now thinking about what sensible steps we should take to minimise our risk.

Haven’t had a chance to try to answer any of these but great idea David. :)

Welcome along and enjoy the boat!

Actually we’ve eaten out every day and not a baked bean in sight! The closest I’ve come to cooking this week is making toast under the grill!