SwanR

Looking forward to hearing how you get on. :)

Swan Reflection is only 31 foot. Very cosy with the heating on in March. You don’t need it turned up very high for very long. Give it a boost during the evening, cruise for 3 hours each day and you’re fine.

We were of the same opinion. Had hoped prices might have come down a bit but of course they don’t need to do that to get bookings this year.

I did wonder whether there was a loss in income once they had to let hire boats moor overnight for free when they became a hire yard themselves.

We haven’t visited Southwold yet although we’ve driven close by there many times. It’s on our list for next year, depending how things work out.

Hope you’re soon feeling much better. Sometimes cutting short a holiday is the right thing to do. At least you kept going longer than you first thought you might. I think there were quite a few of us here who enjoyed being able to follow your journey and offer friendly words of advice or help where we could.

Love reading your tale and seeing your photos. I'm another one who likes Great Yarmouth with fond memories of family holidays at Caister. We also stayed at Scratby, Hemsby and Great Yarmouth itself over the years. I also know the North Beach area very well at Gunton. The waves can be quite spectacular down there.

Carole you might need to see if there is a computer firm locally that can look at whether they can recover anything. This is why backups are so important. I backup my photos and videos and other documents to an external hard drive regularly. I did get some photos printed out from my digital copies a few years ago. Might have to take a look at choosing some of my best and doing that again. And although I share my videos on my YouTube channel the main reason I do them is because they are a lovely memory to watch of my holidays.

I have had boats, even relatively new, where in October and March I have had to run the engine for 5 minutes or so to get the heating going. And there was one where the skipper’s manual even said to only run the heating for one hour without running the engine again. Needless to say we tried to get hooked up to electric posts overnight on that one. We do try to resist putting the engine on too early and having the kettle and the grill on for toast does generate a bit of warmth. But if no other option then I consider that once it’s past 7am on a cold frosty morning then it should be expected that someone might have to put their engine on for a short time rather than be cold.

Sooo cute.

Or this one for a look at Hickling Broad.

Try this for a look at Horsey and Winterton.

Ha ha ha ... I realised it read like that once I’d posted it but couldn’t be bothered to edit it!

This thing about water everyday ... yes we top up if we pass somewhere convenient whether we need it or not. But we wash up once, maybe twice, a day, depending on whether we have been cooking on board. Showers are kept brief and water used sparingly ... too cold to want to take too long in March! 😂 And if we’re in a pub we use their facilities. Basically we really do keep water consumption low. When we come to the caravan I have to remind myself that I can use more water.

What a shame but possibly the best plan under the circumstances. At least you aren’t moored elsewhere with a long cruise back to base at some point. Could be a relaxing couple of days. I’m sure there will be lots of comings and going’s in that time. Hope you feel better soon. We’ve had good food at the Sutton Staithe Hotel over the last couple of years.

Love those moorings. No shops but it is possible to walk to Neatishead. I haven’t done it but it looks like about a 30 minute walk according to Google Maps. Your other option would be to move on up to Richardson’s later and pop across to Tesco.

Hmmm .... well all the moorings up the Ant are lovely as it's such a beautiful river. Have you got a map on board? The yards usually give them out. Irstead is nice if you can get on it but would be very soon to stop for the day after leaving Ludham Bridge so perhaps a cruise further up, then come back down and see if it's free, and then if not head back down to How Hill. Paddy's Lane also known as Barton Turf is lovely. If you can get right up to Wayford Bridge between people leaving from one night and others arriving for lunch, then that's a lovely stretch of river to cruise. And the moorings are right by the Wayford Bridge Inn where the food is usually good although right now you would have to book probably. If you need pumpout, water and shopping then a trip back to Richardson's might be a good idea. But I would do that tomorrow rather than Saturday as they will have turnaround days going on, even tomorrow, and probably be busy. You could give them a call. With five days still left I would work my way up the Ant but still come back down and maybe go back to Ranworth Island or try for the staithe. Saturday might be a good day for that with so many boats on their changeover day. Between there and Horning is Cockshoot Dyke, another little gem but nowhere much that you can get to and the boardwalk is currently closed to the broad. Still a lovely quiet mooring if you can get in. That's all my ideas used up for now. PS lovely to see you both, thanks for sharing your photos. :)

Was it? Ooops ... will have to take a closer look myself! We weren't there very long as the rain soon came down. But it was nice to get out for a walk. Incidentally if anyone is in Lowestoft I highly recommend Flying Fifteens. It's a lovely little tea room on the seafront. And Giardino's Italian restaurant slightly further out at North Denes is always good food, good service and great value for money. We do like to try to support local businesses wherever we are.

Morning All, Not putting this into the holiday tales section as ... well it wasn't a holiday!! Had a weekend in Lowestoft and briefly visited Oulton Broad. There hasn't been much chance to get out and about and get any new content this year. But in those few sunny moments I grabbed my phone and took a few snaps and clips. Saw Moonlight Shadow coming into moor at OB so there's a couple of pics of her for anyone interested. Here you go ...

I had wondered whether you were going to be sandwiched in between other boats this morning. We also leave most moorings by going astern. A very helpful private owner taught me that at Reedham. Only my third mooring on my first time out. Tide running out fast and I was going with it not against it if I tried to go forwards. Could not see how I was going to get out and hubby had the ropes off. A very kind person called across to me as to what I needed to do. And you have to sometimes go further back than you think before you're far enough away from boats and the quay to be able to go forwards along the river. An invaluable lesson that I have been grateful for and still remember so well.

Problem would also be that you've got to book by phone with the box office ahead of time at the moment. So you would have to commit to a specific day well ahead of time. https://www.hippodromecircus.co.uk/halloween-spooktacular/

I thought so ... there you go. That is wonderful to hear. I do so hope that you can relax and enjoy the days you have left of your holiday. That weather certainly hasn't helped anyone either. Absolutely poured with rain again this afternoon. More like April than October!!

Ah ... clearly wasn’t paying enough attention to which boat you were on!! I think I did see you slot that very nicely into the moorings. I noticed the little orange boat arrive before the queue and the chaos caused by the little wooden boat sitting right in the middle of a large space. Two boats hung around for quite a while waiting to get in. One was from Barnes Brinkcraft and looked like they were getting blown all over the place including up against your boat. If that was you then that was very nicely done.

I was quite happy to be in the Broads National Park as I passed the sign on the way into Hoveton this morning.

I was over at Potter Heigham earlier. There were quite a few boats arriving that just got moored up before the rain came down. Went into BridgeStone's for something to eat. Can highly recommend them. Food and service is always good and their social distancing etc. is spot on.