SwanR

Always like seeing photos of boats. Welcome along. :)

Some great views of the birds on the webcam at the moment. They do look as if they will start to leave the nest now. Checked the webcam a few minutes ago ... only two birds there and then the third one flew in.

Great photos. Thanks for sharing them. :) Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

Have I found the right boat?

Had a great view of the flypast for the Queen's official birthday today. We are very fortunate to be right under their flight path into London once they have come into formation. The planes literally fly down our street a few minutes before you see them on the tv over Buckingham Palace. Amazing to see the Red Arrows again and they put their white smoke on as they flew over. Very exciting. :)

The one weekend we're not in the area otherwise we would have come over for a look. Hopefully some other time. :)

We were talking about Bluewater earlier, haven't been there for a long time. Lindt chocolates are always delicious. Great choice! Happy Birthday to Marina for whenever the date is. :)

I don't have a drink at all when I'm driving, that's my choice. And I know that speed of car compared to speed of boat is entirely different. Nonetheless I do know holidaymakers who have compared the Bure in August to the M25 and I think that it would be fair to say that you need your wits about you when the rivers are at their busiest. If you want to put me in the "killjoy lobby" that's fine. But I put safety first. That's not only the person at the helm but the person stepping off to tie the ropes. People should know their own limits and be sensible but where's the fun in drinking excessively, having an accident, endangering other people, spoiling someone else's holiday and maybe even ending up in hospital. How many of us have been tempted to move to another mooring when a noisy party arrive with their anti-social behaviour?

Each to their own indeed. The other nice thing about hiring from different yards, rather than sticking with one, is starting from different places. When we hired from Richardson's (just the once!) we didn't really cruise the Ant other than on leaving and returning to the yard. When we leave from Barnes or NBD in Wroxham, again we avoid the Horning to Wroxham stretch for most of the week. Ferry Marina's position in Horning is great as a starting point because there are so many places in easy reach for first and last night moorings.

Confused of Essex here as well. I was wondering if this is JF in disguise!

Interesting. Every time we hired Swan Reflection we only filled up with water every couple of days and never needed a pump out. The light was still on green when we got back to the yard after a full week. And Swancraft always said that you should have ten more flushes even once the red light came on. We were economical with water usage on board and used facilities on shore where we could. Never had any problems.

Beautiful morning in Beccles. We were there earlier. Saw some of the triathlon runners. Had coffee by the quay, really friendly young man serving in there today and the lemon cake was delicious. Watched a few boats coming and going.

Couldn’t agree more. I think that you are spot on there. There is only ever two of us on board so we don’t have spare hands around to step off with ropes and get us into or out of a mooring. I’m at the helm, hubby does the ropes, and bow thrusters give us that reassurance that I can keep one end of the boat against the bank. Also it is that bit easier to correct the steering when reversing into a stern on mooring. We had our first hire without them last year. It was ok but we needed more help from other people around us. My preference would always be to hire a boat that has them!

Sounds wonderful. I haven't made it up to Dilham yet but you have been to two of my favourite places today ... Wayford Bridge Inn where I always find the food to be good, and Paddy's Lane / Barton Turf.

Maybe I paraphrased it incorrectly. Here's a direct quote ... ... A spokesman for the council said: “We are yet to confirm the new date of when the test will take place but it should be very soon before the boat leaves. “Hopefully people will still be able to come and watch the bridge raise twice. But it is a nice reason for the test to be cancelled to make sure that any birds are safe.”

Not sure whether this has been covered anywhere else but it seems that Carrow Bridge was to be raised tomorrow morning at 10am to test that it is ok. But this has now been postponed due to nesting birds. They are hoping to rearrange this before the cadet vessel is due to leave. http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/opening-of-carrow-bride-cancelled-due-to-nesting-birds-1-5540828

I really enjoyed reading this and seeing your photos. I'm glad that the journey home worked out well too. I hope that you will indulge us all again with another tale when you are back. I, for one, will look forward to reading it. :)

I always enjoy mooring on Ranworth Island instead of the staithe. As for the boat ... ex-Swancraft ... nothing else to be said!

Sounds like it's been a lovely day. I enjoyed walking along by the yacht station when we were there and seeing which boats were moored up.

Thanks for the recommendation. Sounds like one to try one weekend when we're at the caravan not far from there. http://www.thethirdcrossing.co.uk/

Very much enjoying your write-up and photos. And Bridgestone's is a definite place to visit whether I arrive in Potter Heigham by car or by boat. :)

We ate our meals in the Table Table restaurant on site at the hotel. The food was good and we had a lovely river view.

Love all the photos. Fascinating to see the aerial view.

I've stayed in that hotel and it was very good, it's one that I would definitely go back to. Loved looking round Norwich, the Cathedral is amazing. Enjoy the trip on Swan Roamer ... I will look forward to hearing how you get on and how you like the boat. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time. Remember it's half-term week so I'm guessing that it may be busy at the popular moorings.

Hi Sean, and welcome along! I've done a number of short breaks and 7 day trips on the northern Broads. If you check out the holiday tales section you will find some good ideas of the kind of routes that people have taken. It depends what time you get away from the yard after handover as to how far you might want to go on the first night - I know that on our first hire, one hour was enough for me to get the hang of the boat and then it was nice to get moored up and sorted out. Maybe consider How Hill as there's plenty of land to get your little one off for a run around. The rest of the week will take care of itself ... maybe book a mooring at The New Inn in Horning one day as that is a great place to eat and there are amusements for children. And you can do a bit of shopping in Horning while you're there. Salhouse Broad is another ideal spot for overnight when you want to be able to get onto land. And if you can get in at Ranworth one night again you can walk down the board walk to the visitor centre or up to the church. Top tip ... take holdalls or other bags rather than suitcases, it saves so much room on board the boat. And have some cash with you so that you can moor at places like Salhouse Broad and Ranworth Island where there is a charge for both overnight and any lunchtime stops. I'm sure you'll have a great time and be booking that next trip as soon as you get home! :)