SwanR

I'll have to try to remember ... but you do realise that Holby City is on at that time!!

A lot of hirers book direct with the yards now and some of the yards don't even use them anymore. There are probably very few that don't run any kind of booking operation of their own.

Interesting article. Looks as if Hoseasons is up for sale so whether Airbnb buy it in the end or not, Wyndham are selling this and other brands that they own.

I would not have been disappointed with that. You can gladly come down here and take all this snow back with you. I'm not looking forward to getting to work tomorrow morning. I have a number of options and only work locally ... would take a day off and be done with it but I don't have any annual leave left for this year.

Could be treacherous out there in the morning. The roads started to get a bit slushy and some of the snow melted off the bushes and trees but really it's white out there ... it depends which forecast you read as to whether it will rain or snow this evening. All I kept hearing about was the north, the west, the Midlands ... but not really that we would get as much as this in Essex.

Well it snowed for about 5 hours here and has stopped now. Looks like it is starting to thaw a bit but we've probably had about three inches so I don't think there is enough daylight hours left for it to clear too much but who knows. Lots of local roads including the main roads and the A12 are at a standstill. Too many people going out who really didn't need to probably. Best place is indoors in the warm.

Proper winter here in Chelmsford too.

The rain has turned to snow already in Essex - just a light dusting at the moment. I would keep an eye on the various webcams around Norfolk and Suffolk ... and if you really want to see snow then maybe take a look at this one in Shetland, not the Broads but interesting to watch sometimes. http://www.shetland.org/60n/webcams/taxi-rank

I haven't contemplated going to the live shows because I wasn't sure how much one would see if seated near the back of a large arena such as the O2. But it's hard to beat live events. Sounds like a great night out. We're going to see The Overtones soon which I am looking forward to.

Thanks for the link John. I must come back to this tomorrow and take a look. :)

Goodness, there are a number of posts around at the moment that are making me go "Wow"! And here's another one. I never realised that you had done all that sailing John. Or the other boats that you had owned. Wouldn't it be great to have some of our very esteemed members write up their stories in our members area. I see so much written on here that leaves me thinking that we have many people who have done so much with their lives that is way beyond a little cruise on the Broads! I am fascinated and would love to know more if people are willing to share.

All I can say to that is Wow! We almost had Ranworth island to ourselves one night in October .... but one other small boat decided to stay. Not that we saw anyone but it wasn't quite the same as it would have been.

Sounds very sensible when there aren't many people about. Must be a lovely time of year to be afloat. I think if I was out on a boat it would be nice to feel one could go back to the same mooring the next night if you wanted to. We all have our favourites.

I managed to miss this topic ... until now! Love Strictly Come Dancing ... and hubby is very obliging in letting me watch it every Saturday and Sunday. For me it's the combination of the music and the wonderful dresses and the music and the dancing and the music ... and did I mention the music?! Tommy Blaize is the most amazing singer. I have one album of his and another one has just been released which I WILL be buying before New Year if Santa hasn't found it! The singers and musicians don't get anywhere near enough recognition. The show would not be the success it is without their live music every week. As for Shirley Ballas ... I really like her. Darcy is the one that irritates me so I'm hoping that rumours that Shirley might leave aren't true. As for last night ... Yes I can't deny that Debbie and Giovanni's dance was probably the best one of the night. But I'm not a fan of the themed nights and given that it was the quarter final with the final six dancers I thought that the standard was lower than on many other weeks. I voted for Gemma and Alijaz because I really want to see Alijaz reach the final. But it will be very interesting to see who goes out tonight.

Have to say that we are quite glad that our caravan has been drained down and everything done to winterise it. I have seen many photos of the snow in Lowestoft yesterday. And we had proper snowflakes falling in Essex as well ... only for five minutes but it was definitely there.

Interesting news. Checked out the website. I see it's a 44 foot long cruiser. Just imagine if it's your first ever hire and you have a boat that size to navigate up the Chet before you do anything else!!

That's amazing! Anyone see Michael McIntyre on Saturday? He did what I thought was a really funny bit about whether or not you would leave home without your mobile phones, and all the things we store on them. I guess that having one of these would be one reason not to leave it behind!

Were there any other boats at Ranworth apart from yourself and The Corsican? I was tempted to pop over there by car a couple of weeks ago just to see if the Broad was empty ... would love to see it and to get a photo with absolutely no boats there at all. Don't ask me why, other than as such a contrast to what must be one of the most popular and busy moorings all season.

I think "Wow!" about sums up your list and the work ahead Robin. I'm sure you're enjoying immersing yourself in all of this. Sounds as if you certainly won't go thirsty down there.

I was watching the series about Tenby harbour last weekend and thinking yet again how amazing it is that they work on donations. They should be one of our emergency services.

Happy Birthday Vaughan. And congratulations to the Queen and Prince Philip. I wonder if they have ever taken a boat on the Broads when staying at Sandringham ... if they haven't then they really should!

Looking forward to reading your tales of life with your new acquisition. :)

Welcome along Simon and Terri. Looking forward to hearing how you get on with your adventures.

Thanks for the heads up. Checked my email and I haven't had anything like this. But you can never be too careful.

Has anyone else been watching this series hidden away on the Quest channel? They can become very much all the same ... gigantic floating hotels, all trying to outdo each other to be the biggest and shiniest and best in the world. But occasionally you get one that's a little different. I was watching the episode about the Royal Clipper. Magnificent. When they get the wind and can cut the engines to truly cruise under sail power it looked amazing. The route looked quite interesting as well as this particular voyage was around the Mediterranean - Rome, Sicily, Montenegro, Croatia, Venice and probably a couple of other places that I can't remember. I'm still not sure whether I would ever want to go on a cruise but this did look like something a little different. They seemed to be doing as much as possible the old-fashioned way i.e. manually handling the loading of all the luggage, loading the supplies on ropes and pulleys and climbing way up high into the rigging to mend a torn sail. It was no wonder that this vessel attracts a lot of attention wherever it goes. https://www.starclippers.co.uk/our-fleet/royal-clipper/introducing-royal-clipper.html