SwanR

I think it partly comes down to expectations as we found when taking Sonnet 1 out a couple of weeks ago. And I really will get around to writing that up over the next week. But I also think that busy boatyards do rely on hirers to tell them things when handing the boat back. Whether they act on those things I don't know.

Do I count as a private owner now that I have a caravan?! Have just had a lovely day out supporting local businesses. First the NWT at Hickling Broad Nature Reserve. Then a sandwich and drink in the Pleasure Boat Inn. Followed by coffee and cake at Bridgestones at Potter Heigham. I have a copy of a very useful leaflet called Eating out in the Broads and fully intend to work my way through as much of it as possible.

Great write-up. We had handed our boat back at Barnes that Friday morning and they had mentioned that they had a lot of boats going in and out that day. Sounds as if it was very busy.

I agree. Great write up and photos. Thanks for sharing with us.

We were in The Dog last week too and I wasn't overly impressed. Clean and tidy with friendly service and the food was ok, just, as you say, nothing special. We hadn't been there before, well at least not since the 90s and I can't really remember what it was like then. Enjoy your last night on board. It's always a sad moment handing the boat back. The weather has been glorious here today so I hope you've had the same out on the rivers.

Very interesting read. I saw the campsite when we were at Salhouse Broad last week. Quite a walk up to the car park, especially with all that luggage and equipment but a good way of attending the Meet without a boat.

Great to read your updates and see the photos. We concluded that whilst the northern rivers still have a fair number of boats out at the moment, the fact that it is the closed season for fishing keeps the traffic down. We've often been mid-June and it's noticeably different - so much easier to navigate at the moment without all the fishing lines to avoid. As for Ranworth, we went there twice last week. On the first occasion we arrived mid-afternoon and the boat ahead of us took the last space on the staithe. Didn't matter to us as we didn't need anything so we happily moored on the Island which I love. Second time we arrived about 11.30am but were only intending to mudweight for lunch anyway but again, the staithe was full with boats continually arriving and circling in the hope of that elusive space.

Welcome to Pete,Trudie and Spike. Have just had a few days afloat myself - watch out for the write up of my holiday tale coming soon!

Lovely photos. We're back at the caravan now but it's a beautiful sunny morning and reading your tale I already want to be back on the water. Definitely going to have to start checking websites to see what we could get later in the year.

Enjoying reading your tale Simon and seeing your photos. Glad to hear you're ok after your little dip. Having inflated the buoyancy aid do you have to go back to get a new one? I don't think that any of the yards have told us what we should do if we were to have to use them. It was beautiful in the sunshine over the last few days. And it was our first time afloat in May. It was as you said - longer daylight hours and quite a few boats out but room at most of the moorings. There didn't seem to be many people moving around after about 4 o'clock though. It was also easier to navigate without the fishermen to avoid. Have a great weekend - looking forward to hearing about the Meet.

We were a bit puzzled as to why no-one else had reported this problem. But it sounds as if we let out more of the chain than perhaps we need have done. And in so doing it got right down to the twisted part and couldn't wind that bit back in. Either way the engineer who came out was very good and knew exactly what he was doing. What was very reassuring throughout was to have you lovely folk to give us your ideas. And to be able to share our experience for the benefit of anyone else who might read this.

Lol the prize would go to Alan for saying that it was probably jammed right from the start. And anyone else who suggested we might have to move to break the suction and haul it up manually. I will write more about it in my holiday tale when I'm back. But basically we got ourselves to Ferry Marina then a BB engineer came out. He had to pull the fridge out to get to the workings which were only accessible from a secret place inside the boat! Took him about 90 minutes to get the whole thing apart and sort out four twisted links that were jamming it up. All fixed we were on our way about 11am. Heavy showers this morning but hazy and warm here at Womack Water this afternoon.

Thanks Griff. We had thought similar. Absolutely pouring with rain this morning. What a difference a day makes. Will let you all know how things work out.

Thank you all again. What a fantastic response from such a lovely group of people always happy to help others out. You never know, there may be something that the engineer can talk us through but it sounds like we will have to consult the hire yard in the morning. In the meantime here's the sunset I've just been watching.

Asked hubby and the reply was yes, he has checked. Watching a very pretty sunset sky. Been a fabulous day but given that the forecast looks poor for tomorrow it is sounding like we may be sat watching the rain waiting for an engineer.

Hmmm the winch is hidden within the boat. We literally just have two buttons at the front on the deck, one labelled up and the other labelled down. If you look at a photo of Sonnet on BB's website you can probably see that the mudweight comes out from one side as opposed to feeding over something central. Appreciate everyone's thoughts. Hubby even tried to manually lift it but it's not budging.

Thanks for your replies. Not a silly question at all but yes we've had the engine running when trying it. Figured it might mean a call out. We couldn't get onto Ranworth staithe so are moored on the Island. I'm guessing they have ways of getting to places with no land access.

So one of the plus points about this boat is an electric mudweight. However the mudweight appears to be firmly stuck which in itself shouldn't be a problem if we do a bit of backwards and forwards to try to free it when we move off. But although there is plenty of slack in the chain and we can hear the motor, when we press the button it doesn't take up that slack. The question is whether it should or whether this is all likely to work seemlessly when we move off tomorrow. Any ideas?

Great to read of your experiences. Sounds like it was a successful holiday.

Actually I do believe that he was shot by his sister-in-law Grace. Thanks to everyone for giving me a really good chuckle this morning.

I've been watching all of these too. Wouldn't want to give too much away but his ramblings from the dark side are very amusing. And he was quite star struck to meet the Rascal! It would be great if he joined the forum.

Bow thrusters are great. They give us that extra bit of confidence and control when there's only two of us on the boat.

Welcome one and all. Hope to hear all about your time afloat through the coming season.

I did the same. I'm not sure whether it was the only centre cockpit boat in the Swancraft fleet.

We've hired both Reflections and would happily take them again. They are ideal starter boats being the smaller length so very easy to steer and to moor. I would like to try Swan Renown at some future point but it gets booked up well in advance.