SwanR

Looking forward to hearing about your travels. A long overdue trip for you all. Have a great time.

The only time we’ve been down to Coltishall was the one trip we made back in the 90s before you ever needed a pilot to take you through. It’s another one on my day boat list!

Lovely tale and photos Helen. You bagged my favourite mooring down Langley Dyke. Must get back there. Thunderstorm? We didn't get that over at Lowestoft! :)

I would honestly say that if you've done the northern rivers already, and are hiring on the south, then give the south a go. We had our first hire on the south in the days before I ever read online forums. It was wonderful. And my only reason for having stayed north more recently has been the fact that Swancraft closed their hire business as most folk here know. I've done the north in October a number of times and the water levels have often been high for various reasons. We have found that it can be touch and go whether you will get through Ludham Bridge with even an air draft of 8'4. This is an old video of mine, and it's just photos, but you can see how lovely the southern rivers can be. With a cruiser that gives you luxury for two I would say it's well worth a go. Maybe once you get on that boat and see how beautiful the Waveney is you will change your mind.

Ok ... so you know I'm going to be right one day! Bridge Inn Acle

Sounds wonderful Ruthie, enjoy your birthday. I celebrated my 50th a few years ago with a holiday on the southern Broads. Hooked!! Have been back every year since. I think that the first night in the yard might be a good idea under the current circumstances. And then you can get away early the next morning with a leisurely cruise up a beautiful river getting used to the boat handling. On the other hand with a 14.30 time slot for handover you should still have plenty of daylight hours to cruise. Hard to predict however how busy the moorings will be. I love Beccles. And the stretch of the Waveney down to there is amongst the most beautiful of all IMHO.

It’s the taking part not the winning. Sounds like it was a nice day Jay. Enjoy the warm weather and sunshine.

Ok this is still not as scientific as I would like but ... I think number 1 is The Duke's Head Somerleyton. Number 2 I have no idea but find it slightly ironic that you posted a photo with a sign for different kinds of extinguishers, if that's what it is. So a complete guess of The Dog at Ludham.

Morning Jay, Have a lovely day wherever it takes you. I don’t currently have access to my stash of pub photos so my very uneducated guess for this round is The Ship.

I would also recommend taking a look at the handy information area of the forum. There’s a chart of distance and cruising time, very handy for getting an idea of how long you will be underway between moorings. Most hire companies recommend 3 hours cruising a day so this comes in very useful. Helen mentioned the tides. The important thing is to moor against the tide even if that means going past and turning round. It really does give you so much more control.

Welcome to the forum Ruthie. I’m sure you will have a great time. Two favourite places of mine on the southern rivers are Langley Dyke off the Yare and North Cove down the Waveney. It’s a case of waking up and seeing what you feel like doing. And if you pass somewhere you like the look of then stop. There are many places to moor and for me the only night I plan is the last night because you need to be in reasonable distance of the boatyard.

Lovely to see your photos and hear all about your travels. Have a lovely day. :)

Strange ... I’ve hired from 5 different yards over the last few years, probably 10 different boats and never had a problem with the kitchen items on board. I don’t take anything like that with me.

Have a great time Tony. Mornings are my favourite time afloat. I like to be away from the moorings by about 8am and make the most of there being less boats underway. Plus the light is so beautiful on the water.

Lovely photos Jay. It is noticeable that it’s getting dark a little earlier now. We were on the coast at the weekend and the weather was quite changeable.

Agree completely about the stretch of the Waveney down to Beccles. Beautiful river.

Looking forward to reading more of your tale and seeing your photos. Thank you for sharing this with us, especially your cautionary tale. It's a brave thing to admit to our faults and the things that go wrong as well as all the good times that we enjoy.

Don’t forget there are a few moorings and also water points where you have to pay. A mixture of needing some notes and coins and cashless. Whilst most are free it’s good to have all options open when it’s busy.

No-one really mentions Bridge Broad. Is it one way in and out or does it come out further on? Any moorings or just mud weighting? Enjoy your evening. Been cloudy all day at Lowestoft until late afternoon when the sun came out and the temperature picked up.

My top tip is don’t take suitcases! Space is limited so take everything in holdalls or bags of some kind that fold flat. And have some cash with you for any moorings or water points that charge. Most are free and some are cashless but it’s good to have all options open to you when it’s busy.

Nobody has said who the person was or appeared to be. But on the face of it he or she was being rather impatient. And I never like it when anyone thinking they are being helpful tells me to turn off the engine until I’m good and ready.

Lovely photos and tale. The weather has certainly been changeable of late. But it’s so nice to see people out enjoying themselves. Look forward to hearing about your next trip.

Hope you’re recovering ok and your friend too. You sound as if you are finding the positives in your situation. I think there are a lot of things that we are all finding to be grateful for. Hope you get back afloat soon.

Welcome to the forum Tony! Be good to know a bit about your Broads interest.

If you find their Twitter channel then there’s some posts about the cruiser incident but not much detail. Looked like a window was smashed and the boat builders came out to sort out the damage. Go back to 10th July.