SwanR

When we are afloat in the summer months we are often awake early and consequently one of the first boats to get away from the moorings and out onto the rivers. This week was different to that. The darker mornings saw us sleeping in and having a much more leisurely start to our days. There were a fair number of boats about but we had an idea which moorings would be busiest and where we would get in with no problems. So it was nice to cruise for a couple of hours, stop somewhere for coffee or lunch and then move on again later. At least that's what we did most days. With a whole week instead of a short break we had thought that we would be more able to get to all the places we wanted to see on the north but knew that the tides would definitely not favour trying to go south with the shorter daylight hours. However, the tides had also been very high of late, and from what I've seen, the river levels are still quite well up in a number of places. We've encountered this almost every October we've been afloat. Zircon Emblem, even with everything down, has an air draft of 8'4. So we decided that Ludham Bridge was going to be difficult. Having done the top end of the Ant thoroughly back in March when we hired up there, we decided that this week would have to be the tale of the Bure and the Thurne! But I still managed one or two "firsts" as you will see ... I like to tick a few things off my list of "never done before" whenever I can. Tuesday was therefore our first full day and we fancied a cruise around South Walsham Broad before heading back up Fleet Dyke. Well, the wind had other ideas. Through the week I was constantly reminded of how much more difficult a high sided boat can be when it's breezy! Fortunately I had plenty of room to come away from our mooring as the wind duly swung us round to face the other way. A bow thruster is no match for forces of nature in that situation. Nonetheless, I then managed to turn around by use of forward and reverse gears, so as to get our look at the inner and outer Broads after all. We then went to Ranworth and I managed a stern on mooring on the side with no problem. We already wanted to top up the water. That was another feature of the week. Zircon has an amazing bathroom but the domestic flush toilet was probably what consumed more water than we usually use. Anyway ... I also got a couple of things from the shop that we had forgotten. I switched to the upper helm for the first time and we got back underway. A nice cruise along the Bure until we got past St Benet's and onto the more exposed stretch with the wind whipping across the flat landscape to either side. Next stop was Boundary Farm for lunch as time was getting on. I hadn't used the current moorings there before but came in slowly and everything was fine. Once we reached Acle we simply turned around as we wanted to try to get in at Womack Water for the night. Hmmm ... turned out that we had left it a bit late and as luck wouldn't have it, several boats turned down the dyke ahead of us and any last moorings were gone ... no room at the inn ... not at Womack Water, Womack Island or even Womack Dyke. An about turn saw us head back down to Thurne Dyke, this being somewhere that we had never moored before. Oh my goodness ... the most embarrassing mess I have ever got myself in!! Managed to turn at the bottom fairly ok but the wind had decided to make my life very difficult. No matter which bank I went for I seemed to just end up across the dyke! I was backwards and forwards a few times, hitting the bank on both sides, before hubby managed to step off, secure the stern and get the bow pulled round. Ok, one little moan here. There was a hire boat in front of us with a man fishing in the well who stood and watched the whole thing. I did feel a little aggrieved that he didn't offer to help given how much trouble I was having. If he had come along and offered to take a rope we could have avoided a lot of what happened. :( Anyhow ... it was a lovely mooring. Hubby did a little fishing and caught his only fish of the week ... more on that another day. And the sunset was spectacular as the clouds rolled back to leave a beautiful evening.

Been a busy week since I got home so just getting round to writing this up now. We hadn't intended to have another holiday this year but with discounts being offered, and with a week's leave still to book from work, we decided the pull of the Broads was not to be ignored. I've wanted to try this boat for a while and will write a full review when we get to the end. For now, in the words of a well known song ... let's start at the very beginning! Monday October 14th saw us loading up the car with everything we thought we might need for a week afloat in October. The possibility of chilly nights saw us take our usual sleeping bags supplemented with hot water bottles, warmer clothes including thermals were packed and hubby brought his fishing gear on the chance he might get an hour or two somewhere. We like to get a hot meal at lunchtime on day one so that we can moor wherever we like without wanting access to any services. On this occasion we decided to go via Potter Heigham and have an all day breakfast in Bridgestone's, pick up a couple of things in Latham's angling shop and then head onto Horning. Ferry Marina was as welcoming as always. But what I thought was excellent service was that they made sure that they fitted our buoyancy aids before we were allowed to unload everything onto the boat, which was ready and waiting for us. Had a very nice chat with a fellow forumite who was taking over Silent Emblem, moored right next to us. Hope you had a great time MrBlueSky. :) And we had a nice chat with another couple who were going out on Rose Emblem, which we've hired previously. Told them to take care of my boat! ;) Not sure what time we set off from the yard, but I reckon it was by 2.30pm which was great. The weather wasn't playing ball though so I took the lower helm inside the boat. Have to say this has great visibility and it wasn't a problem at all to helm and moor from inside the boat. Big thumbs up on that one as not all dual steer cruisers are as good as that. Didn't go too far, moored down Fleet Dyke to settle in and get unpacked.

There’s a really good cafe come restaurant that has opened where Pedro was right by Ferry Marina. I would highly recommend it for lunch while you’re waiting for the boat. Hot and cold food, all day breakfasts etc. Very friendly staff and a good atmosphere. I’ll be mentioning it on my holiday tale when I get round to it as we ate there twice when we were out last week.

Agreed. Lovely photos. Thanks for sharing. :)

Thanks for the update. We’ve definitely found the breeze a challenge in this boat for much of the week. Tested my mooring skills!

Any idea how it’s looking for tomorrow yet? When is a decision made on the course?

Great write up Susan. That’s certainly a long way to travel. Haven’t been to your part of the world for many years now but always enjoyed North Devon.

I’m the same. Another forumite is on Silent this week. Will give a full write up of the week and of Zircon when we’re home.

Lunch in the Lion was excellent but we’re not really pub people! Not even any alcohol on our boat this week!!

Pleasure to meet you at lunchtime today Griff. We headed for Salhouse as planned. It was a much better afternoon for cruising.

We’re out on Zircon Emblem. Had the pleasure of saying hello to Griff in The Lion earlier.

Thanks for the warning. Given that we will be afloat it’s really helpful to know what to look out for.

Welcome Neil! We're out with Ferry Marina next week and love hiring from them. Haven't ever been with Silverline, although we're very much hoping to hire on the south again one year. Looking forward to hearing what you decide to do and how you get on.

Not far at all then. We're in Essex so just a little bit further.

Waiting to see what the weather does could be very wise, if you're able to book leave at short notice. Do you have far to travel to Norfolk? If you look at some of the boats on Norfolk Broads Direct, whilst you don't seem to be able to book online, there is an indication of prices for the whole year. Probably would need to phone to book.

Agreed. Lovely tale and photos. Enjoy Wells and safe travels.

Interesting to hear about the bridge height at Ludham Bridge today. I'm glad we're hiring out of Horning next week. Better to have full range of the Bure and the Thurne rather than just the upper Ant. I wonder what they do if boats really get stuck the wrong side of any bridge before the day that you're due back.

Great photos Cal, especially those clouds on the last one in your post. Apologies that your thread has been hijacked a bit on the topic of maintenance! Are the rivers very busy this week?

Wrong! We always report things in the hope the yard will sort them out. After all we would also hope that the previous hirers would have done the same for our benefit.

Lovely photos and always good to hear reviews of the various hire yards. Sounds like you had a lovely time.

Lovely photo Alan. I have been glad to still read of your visits on Ranworth Breeze this year. Hope you’re doing ok.

When we hired from Richardson's earlier this year the young lad was excellent at our handover and asked if we had any issues which he noted down. But if hirers don't speak up then the yard doesn't know about the problems. As for the batteries, whenever we pick a boat up from Ferry Marina the boat is plugged in on charge.

Lovely write up and beautiful photos. Looking forward to seeing some of those sunsets myself soon. :)

Lovely photos and a great write-up. Places so familiar but we never get tired of them.

We hired Moon Beam which is an ex-Swancraft boat of similar design. But as it was September, and hot with it, we didn't notice any draught issues. But the internal design was not their best ... the Skipper's Manual even advised not to moor from the inside helm, the view wasn't very good.