YnysMon

I was struck by the number of Ferry Marina boats that were out the first two weeks of November. As many as Herbert Woods I would have thought from the number we saw, thought I wasn't properly counting them.

Thanks for the photos. Just shows how lovely it can be on the rivers in November. Judging by the colour of the trees here in MK, the autumn colours are probably at their best too. Things were still rather green the first couple of weeks in November when we were down. Not that I’m complaining, we had a lovely fortnight.

Sounds like you had the perfect birthday.

Happy birthday! Enjoy the rest of the day.

When we got fuel from Swancraft just over a week ago, Paul was most apologetic. He’d recently taken delivery of fuel, and the price had risen so much he’d been forced to raise the price of his fuel by about 20p or so. I like how he’s so upfront and honest.

Hope the weather calms down for you. It was looking really promising.

Me too! Someone ‘fess up, delightfully.

I miss John (Holkham Admiral). Helen

That’s a real shame. I’ve been very lucky at the OU to have had 33 per year plus a closure week at Christmas.

Go for it Jean! We’ve really fallen in love the south rivers.

I must say I was surprised. I didn’t know about the withdrawn application though. It certainly is. We completely chilled, during the second week especially when we stopped worrying so much about Graham’s Dad.

Friday 12th November The last day (as always, sob!). We got up reasonably early this morning but rather than rushing away to Brundall we stayed on the mooring and started packing. It had occurred to me that, as Paul at Swancraft been so obliging with the gas, it would be good to spend our money on fuel and pump-outs at Swancraft rather than Brooms. I wanted to phone beforehand though to check that would be okay, so we didn’t set off from Bramerton until getting on for 10. We made our way to Swancraft, got our gas, pump-outs and fuel before making our way to our mooring in Brooms. As we passed the quay heading where Moonlight Shadow's mooring used to be, we saw the first of Brooms houseboats had been put in position. We started packing. We did have enough food on board to make a brunch. However, we fancied treating ourselves to make it feel like we were still on holiday, despite having to clean the boat. We drove to The Lion at Thurne, which isn’t that far from Brundall by road and had a lovely meal. I had sea bass on crushed new potatoes with samphire and a white wine sauce, Harry had a herb encrusted cod from the specials menu and Graham had their vegetarian pie of the day with chips and veg. After our meal we couldn't help checking out Thurne Dyke. The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning and it was just after 5 by the time we left the boat. We had a good journey back without any delays. Unfortunately, as the day wore on, I wasn feeling increasingly ropey. Harry had a cold earlier in the week and was now getting over it, and I had now caught it. I felt very under the weather all weekend and Monday, and am only now starting to feel better (following Tuesday). Maybe the cold hit me so much as it’s the first I’ve had since pre-Covid days. Still, can’t complain, I’d rather have that cold after the holiday that during it. We had a great time, did as much cruising as we’d hoped we would and the weather was pretty kind to us on the whole. A few gloomy days, but lots of gloriously sunny ones too.

Thursday 11th November Another early morning start. Although we weren’t in a particular hurry, we thought it would be a good idea to get past the BA dredging equipment before they started work at 8am, so we set off again shortly after 6.30 as it was getting light. There was a lot of mist rising in the fields either side the river, so it was a lovely atmospheric morning and the sunrise was special too. When we got on the river Yare it was very misty, so we left our nav lights on. Not that we met anything else on the river until well past 9. It continued pretty misty until we passed Langley Dyke, after the sun had risen out of the bank of cloud on the horizon. The mist on the river along the Cantley stretch had been particularly thick. Not much else to report from this morning. We took things at a fairly slow pace as the tide was against us and we weren’t in a hurry. We got to Norwich late morning, mooring just beyond the railings of the Yacht Station. Graham stayed with the boat as he didn’t want to leave Seren onboard by herself. He also wanted to give the window sill another coat of varnish and have a go at clearing some moss that was growing around Moonlight Shadow’s windows externally. Harry wanted to visit a Japanese restaurant that he’d read about, so we headed in that direction. We were a bit too early though, so first wandered around Tombland and down Elm Hill. We had a lovely meal at Shiki. I had a udon noodle and seafood stir-fry. Harry had their sashimi and sushi platter. After our meal I headed off across the river a short way up Magdalene Street to a dress fabrics shop (a very good one, with a large selection of lovely fabrics) whilst Harry wandered back up Elm Hill to visit a second-hand bookshop that he’s spotted and a board games store. I got back to the boat having bought some fabric to make myself some smarter joggers for the next trip on MS and Harry returned with a couple of old books and a card game. We got back to the boat early afternoon and then set off back downriver, heading for Bramerton Common. There was only one other boat and a few fishermen when we got there, so no trouble mooring. This evening we had Lidl quiche with new pots and salad. Played a few games afterward, having run out of Black Books episodes and not being in the mood to start watching a film. Another early night.

I don't think the owner of the boat moored side-on was on board at the time that the Brooms boat arrived. There wasn't any sign of anyone they might have asked anyway.

Wednesday 10th November We so enjoyed our early start yesterday that we decided to get up almost as early today, so we set off from Beccles just after 6.30. We also wanted to get to the end of the New Cut before the tide turned (forecast for about 9.30). It was a bit gloomy this morning. Can't complain, as we've had some lovely sunny days on this trip so far. It was dry when we set off, which was handy as I was able to stick my head outside to have a better view. After the first few bends of the river it started drizzling though. Actually, we got to Reedham about half an hour too early. We moored up near the Ranger’s hut and took the opportunity to visit Cannell’s Farm Shop (where the Cupcakes place was), where we got some cakes (brownie, fruit slice, orange and chocolate slice). We had those with coffee back on the boat whilst we waited for the tide. By the time we’d finished our ‘2nd breakfast’ the tide had turned and we continued on our way to Loddon. The destination today had to be Loddon, as when we visited last week we ordered a new first aid kit for the boat from Boots. That needed collecting. At the mouth of the Chet there was a red sign warning of dredging works from the 1st November. I think it said until some date in February, but I’m not sure on that. It warned of delays of up to 1½ hours. We came across a JCB on a platform just below the upper channel to Hardley Flood, scooping up mud from a barge and depositing it on the bank. The barge was right across the river, so it was just a case of holding station for about 10-15 minutes or so until the barge was empty. Once it was, a work boat took the barge upriver to where another JCB was doing the dredging. We only had to wait a short time for the work boat to drop off one barge and pick up a full one. Once he’d gone back downriver there was enough space for us to pass the platform the JCB was on. There was plenty of room on Loddon staithe, although there were two boats there moored side on. Three other boats arrived over the next couple of hours, leaving only a small gap. We got to Loddon before mid-day and Graham dashed off to Boots (just in case it was half-day or something). We were very impressed with the Complete First Aid Kit that we bought. Very good value for £20, considering the contents. Whilst I was preparing lunch, Graham painted another coat of varnish on the aft cabin window. This is the sill after two coats. I made the meal that I’d planned for this evening for lunch instead. Richmond vegan sausages (the closest we’ve found to real sausages) with mash and roast veg – cauli, celeriac and carrots. It took longer to cook than planned as after the first 20 minutes after putting the roast veg in the oven I found that the gas cannister had run out – and judging by the state of the veg, just after I’d put them in. Graham switched cannisters and I started timing the veg again. In the meantime, Graham went up the road to check for gas availability in Loddon DIY – no good, they only had empties. We tried Brooms, on the off chance that they might be more accommodating now that the main season is over. Not surprisingly, they couldn’t as they are continuing to hire out over winter. We thought of trying Brundall DIY, but I thought I’d try Swancraft first, as we’ve found them to be very helpful to us in the past, and I know that Malcolm and other NBN members rate them very highly. Initially, the chap at Swancraft didn’t think he’d have any of the size of propane that we needed, but he said he would go and check and asked me to phone back in 5 minutes of so. Our luck was in. He had two and could let us have one. Wasn’t that great! The dinner (lunch) was worth waiting for. After dinner Graham and I did a little inventoring, noting the remaining contents of the kitchen. Shortly before sunset a Brooms Captain arrived, but were too wide to fit in the remaining gap. They left and we saw them moored at Pye’s Mill the following morning. I think it’s outrageous that they had to leave and go to a mooring without electric because other people were side moored. To make matters worse, after it had started to get dark, the side-on moored boat whose stern was facing our boat left. It took him an age to get his engine going though, it sounded as if it died several times between him revving it hard, and in the process our boat filled up with diesel fumes. I was fuming myself! It was lucky it was such a mild evening, as we had to open up all our windows and leave them open for quite a while to try to get rid of the fumes. We had a light meat and cheese platter meal this evening. Lidl Italian charcouterie selection, some Lincolnshire poacher (cheese) bought at Cannell’s with some left-over brie, Norfolk goats cheese and smoked Norfolk Dapple, sundried tomatoes, olives and a rye sourdough from Lidl. This evening we had a break from watching Black Books and enjoyed watching a film instead – ‘Keeping Mum’ a comedy with Maggie Smith, Rowan Atkinson and Kristin Scott-Thomas.

Tuesday 9th November I got up before dawn again, but the sky was clouded over, so no spectacular sunrise this morning. The sky did clear within the next hour though, and we had another lovely sunny day. First prority was to take Seren out for a walk. It's lovely to be able to let her off the lead without walking far from the boat. We thought we’d have a more leisurely morning today, having popped into The Old Dairy (newish coffee shop near the Yacht Station) yesterday and been impressed by the look of their cakes and pastries. As they said they opened at 8.30, we thought we’d treat ourselves to something for breakfast and cake for our 11’ses. I got a fresh croissant and Basque cheesecake, Harry had a toasted bagel and cheesecake, Graham got an almond croissant and carrot cake. After breakfast we made ready for the off. One of the boats moored nearby set off before us and, as I mentioned on my 'Live' blog, left their rubbish on the pontoon before they left. Outrage! Here's the evidence, though I hope I've managed to avoid posting any evidence of which boat was the culprit. Said boat was not yet moored up when I took photos yesterday. The boat was a private boat, not a hire, so more shame on them. We set off from Oulton Broad before 10 and made our way to Beccles. Harry took the helm. Graham started to strip/sand down the window ledge in the aft cabin (which he volunteered to do at our AGM). I double checked the inventory, starting with the contents of the kitchen cupboards (again, something I volunteered to do at the AGM). We got to Beccles late morning and had coffee and cake. Harry and I then walked to the nearby Lidl to top-up on food items and a few other bits and bobs to last us the rest of the week. Later in the afternoon I walked up to the town centre, found a pet shop that sold swan and duck food (plus snacks for Seren) and found the Beccles Roys. It appeared to sell most stuff that you can find in Hoveton, but both department store, food hall together, plus a smidge of DIY and gardening. Meanwhile, Harry went off on a walk to discover the route of the old railway that spanned the river just downstream of the Aldeby moorings. This evening Harry and I had venison steaks from Ludham butchers with new potatoes and veg. I wasn’t quite sure how to cook them, but guessed that they would be okay done the same way that I do a rare rump steak. They were lovely. Graham had a vegan burger. The ravenous hordes waiting for their dinner.

Glad you enjoyed Irstead. There are some lovely walks from there which I’m sure Desmond appreciated (and you).

Monday 8th November The alarm was on for 5.30 this morning, so that we would have time to take Seren out and generally sort the boat out before setting off around 6am. By then, the first glimmer of light was showing in the east, slightly more of a glimmer than the bright lights of Great Yarmouth that is, and the stars were still shining brightly in the west. My camera is so light sensitive that the first pictures look lighter than it actually was. It was an idyllic journey down to Great Yarmouth, with a beautiful sunrise. We even saw a fox on the bank on the lower Bure. Stracey Arms. As we got further down the Bure there was some mist on the river. We took the roof down as we passed Marina Quays, as a precaution. I’ve never travelled down the Bure with the river level being so high. For once I could see why some people get caught out, as in some places it looked like the marker posts were almost in the middle of the river. There wasn’t a sign of the muddy banks you normally see. When we got to the first marker post it showed roughly 8’ (the 8’ wasn’t legible, but we were judging by the gap between the river level and the 7’ mark). Anyway, we got under both Vauxhall and Yarmouth Road bridges without taking our screen down. Approaching the first bridge. Harry and Graham had a good laugh at the way I ducked, even though the screen was up. The river was completely slack as we passed the Yacht Station, through once past the post the tide was surging into Breydon Water. We had Breydon to ourselves. It was fairly flat too. Most of the birds seemed to be at the Yarmouth end, as there weren't the ususl mud-flats to be seen. At the end we turned up the Waveney. We had originally intended to go to Beccles today, but the flood alert issued yesterday suggested that the Beccles quay could be overtopped today, so we thought it more prudent to go to Oulton Broad Yacht Station and get a mooring on the pontoon. On the way, we took our roof down again to get under St Olaves bridge. We had about the same clearance there as we’d had in Yarmouth. The roof stayed down until we’d passed under Somerlayton bridge. Good thing it was such a sunny and mild morning. We got to the Yacht Station before 11. Unusually, the boats already moored on the inside of the pontoon were side-on, and the Yacht Station Master said we could choose whether to stern or side-on moor. We did the latter. I made us a brunch of sweetcorn pancakes with bacon (vegan version for Graham) then we made our way to Oulton Broad North railway station, just in time to catch the 12.40’something to Lowestoft. It’s a very short journey, but convenient (Graham I and once walked and it took us about an hour or so). Once there, Graham went off in the direction of the South Pier whilst Harry and I went off to M&S. Harry had only brought one pair of PJs with him and had decided he needed a second pair for our second week on the boat. Once he’d got his PJs we went off the join Graham for a walk down the Esplanade. Seren had a good run on the beach, then we gradually made our way back to the Station. There’s a lovely little shop in the station that has tourist information, sells second hand books and other bits and bobs and serves refreshments. Graham got some coffee and cake and I bought what I think might be the ideal Christmas present for my cousin (a second hand book about railways). Getting the train back meant we got back to the boat before sunset, and it was a lovely one too. We ordered an Indian takeaway from The Labone early evening, selecting vegetarian options so that we could all enjoy the same dishes. They do deliver, but as they offer a 15% discount for orders collected and paid for in cash, Graham collected our order. We certainly enjoyed our meal. Our evening was the usual, cards, dominoes another episode of Black Books. As we’d had such an early morning, it isn’t surprising that we were ready for bed by 9pm this evening. Harry took Seren for a pre-bed run in the Nicolas Everitt Park.

Sunday 7th November Early morning at Potter H. A short cruise today. We weren’t that early getting up, but set off before breakfast as we wanted to get to Acle in good time. We had booked a table for 12 noon in The White Horse, Upton, and we weren’t sure how long it would take us to walk from Acle Bridge to Upton. The river levels looked very high as we cruised down the Thurne. And we came across more pumpkins on the river bank. Graham actually took the helm for a while as Harry hadn't yet got up and I wanted to go and get washed and dressed...I have got into a habit on our early morning starts of just throwing on a very cosy top over my PJs. (You can see from Seren's expression, she doesn't quite believe it's Graham sitting beside her.) Passing Upton Dyke. We got to Acle around mid morning. Before we set off I read a message from Jean (SwanR), who had forwarded a flood warning, so we made sure that the connections to the electric post (adaptor and extension lead connections) were off the ground, just in case the river overtopped the moorings. It was a lovely walk to Upton. We had set off around 10.30, which was plenty early enough, as we got to the pub before 11.30. Graham bought a paper, so we whiled away the time before the pub opened in reading the paper/Sunday supplements. The lunch lived up to expectations. I like how they recognised they were expecting a party with a dog. Graham and I had their Sunday roasts, well I had beef and he had a lentil and veg cutlet, which looked homemade and Graham said tasted very good. There was a good helping of roast spuds and parsnip and huge Yorkshire pud and a very good selection of veggies in a side dish: cauli, broccoli, red cabbage, green beans, carrots, mashed swede. All the veggies were cooked to our liking too – not too hard and not mushy either. Very good value too at less than £12. They also offered pork or turkey roasts. Harry had beer battered plaice and chips, and couldn’t finish it, the fish was so large. We couldn’t manage puds. We got back to the boat about half an hour after high tide. These were the Pedro's moorings. It looked like Dunes Cafe had to close due to the river overtopping. Although the tide had clearly overtopped the moorings, it didn't seem they had done that much. Fortunately, the electric posts in Acle are raised on concrete plinths. We whiled away the rest of the afternoon not doing very much at all. We didn’t want much to eat this evening either, just bread, cheese and crackers. We’d intended having a pudding this evening, but skipped that too. Just a couple more episodes of Black Books and a very early night. We were intending to start off tomorrow at the first glimmer of light. Harry hogging the heating.

Saturday 6th November We didn’t get up that early this morning. It seemed easier to allow time for others to leave, given we were near the head of the dyke. We had to negotiate a couple of boats moored opposite each other, but that wasn’t a problem. The plan today was to go back down the Ant and make our way to Potter H again. Although cloudy, it was a pleasant morning, milder than it had been for a few days. The headroom through Ludham Bridge was better than yesterday, though still not great (7½‘ on the gauge furthest upstream) we took our roof down but left the screen up. Just below the bridge we encountered a surprising number of boats making their way up the Ant. I was left wondering if they would all pass under the bridge. The Bure, in contrast, was very quiet... the main excitement being avoiding a tacking yacht, and it didn’t seem long until we were turning up the Thurne and then Womack dyke. There was some sort of social event going on where the Wherry Maud is moored. Looked very welcoming! The Horsefen Lane bakery was still closed, but we managed to get to the butchers before they closed for the afternoon, and picked up a few things in Throwers. Whilst we were shopping, Graham and topped up the water, so as soon as Harry and I got back we set off for Potter H again. Not surprising - very little room under Potter H bridge today. The river looked fairly high when we got there. There were hardly any boats moored at Potter (though I did notice the one downstream of us was the same one that had been downstream of us last time, and in the same position). I tried feeding the swans amd ducks, but got mobbed by gulls. I made us a brunch (sausage, rosti and egg, and for Harry and I tomato and black pudding), then we went for a walk along the north east back, as far as the start of the moorings near the Martham boatyard. The concrete path that runs behind bungalows was mostly flooded, so we walked along the grassy bank above it. The fishing spots on the bank were pretty much flooeded out too. By the time we got back to the boat it was getting on for sunset. Harry went off to Lathams, whilst Graham and I stayed on the boat with Seren, then when he returned we went to Lathams. Dinner this evening was pasta with roast pumpkin and a creamy (bechamel) sauce. This evening we played cards, rather than dominoes, and watched the next episode of Black Books. We’ve now gone through the first series.

Today we had a shortened church service at Willen Church and then a rememberance service outside the tiny war memorial that is located on the green of the old Willen village. Before being swallowed up by Milton Keynes, Willen was a tiny village, just a handful of houses, but even so they had their losses from the village and surrounding rural area.

Graham took his Dad to a walk in Covid jab place in Milton Keynes, as we wanted him to have his booster before taking him back home to ANglesey, especially as there have been lots of cases amounst carers there recently. No problem, just walk in. The only slight hiccup was getting a certificate with the dates of his original jabs, but he managed to sort that our online. We are waiting for our 6 months to expire before we go to get our booster jabs.

Yes, I spotted that too. It makes perfect sense, as there is a demasting area across the other side of the river for saileys. We once moored on those moorings (Potter Higham Martham Bank, if I recall correctly) July 2017. We were the only ones mooring there, so it's not a popular mooring even at the height of season. There's quite a lot of road noise from the bridge and , if you have been lucky enough to get under the bridges, you wouldn't normally want to moor there when there are so many peaceful places to moor further upstream. The only reason we moored there that July was because it was our first night after picking up the boat and we found we were very tired by late afternoon. We'd had a busy few days just before, travelling to North Wales for my mother's funeral, then returning to MK and setting off to Norfolk, all within a few days. We were simply exhausted. Of course, this month, the irony is that we didn't see one fisherman on those Martham bank moorings.

Friday 5th November Another glorious sunny morning. We didn’t rush away from Ranworth this morning. Harry and I fancied having a look at the church, so Graham stayed with Seren and the boat whilst we had a look around. I noticed as we approached the church that they normally serve tea/coffee and cakes from 10.30 weekdays, but not Friday’s unfortunately. Harry went up the tower, whilst I bumbled around looking at the antiphoner (service book with music), rood screen, flowers etc. There is some lovely needlework in the church too, with a beautiful needlepoint kneeler before the altar and lovely embroidery on the cloth before the altar. When he came down from the tower, Harry said he’d forgotten how scary going up the final ladders is. He spotted Moonlight Shadow peeking through the trees. We then walked down the hill that runs down toward the Nature Reserve and walked along the board walk to the viewing platform looking out over Ranworth Broad before returning to the boat. There was only one other boat left at the staithe by the time we left. It was now mid-morning so we set off and had coffee and Norfolk Shortbread whilst underway, Graham having done the engine checks whilst Harry and I were having our Ranworth wander. He reported that the oil level seemed okay this morning, which was a relief but odd. I still don’t understand why the oil level has been fine every day apart from yesterday. We headed up the Ant again today, intending to make for Irstead or Neatishead. Before leaving Ranworth we could see that the water levels were high this morning, so we took the roof and screen down well before the bridge. There was just over 7’ showing on the board, and the sills of the bridge were lapping with water. As had been the case earlier in the week, Irstead was occupied by several fishermen, so we decided to continue to Neatishead. There were fishermen there too, and when I called to say I wanted to moor up was directed to go further down the dyke. It was a tight squeeze, as one of the boats moored half-way down was a bit wider than your normal boards boats, but we got to the end of the dyke. There was another fisherman there too, but we managed to find a space without making him move. Later on, early afternoon, the wide boat left, and another boat that tried to reverse in also found that the fishermen wouldn’t budge. The woman who had got ashore had to fend off the boat to get it around one of the keep nets. I found it slightly intimidating, and it’s half put me off trying to moor at Irstead or Neatishead during the autumn and winter, despite there being electric points. I had thought of trying for Stalham Staithe, but suspected that I would have the same problem there. In fact I was starting to get ‘home’ sick for the southern broads where we’ve yet to have any issues with fishermen. We had lunch at The White Horse, where Seren was made very welcome, a bowl of water was brought out as we were taking our seats, everyone made a fuss of her when they came over and she got some treats when our food was served. The food was good too. I had gnocci with a vegan garlicky creamy sauce, mushrooms and beetroot, which was very tasty. Graham had a vegan burger and Harry a southern fried chicken burger. All very yummy. We returned to the boat for a short time, then went out for a walk in the late afternoon sun. Just before the turn off to Gaye’s Staithe Graham and Seren turned off up a footpath whilst Harry and I continued down the lane that runs to Irstead as far as the Barton Broad board walk. The sun was setting by the time we got back to the boat and all the fishermen were packing up for the day. We didn’t want much for dinner this evening, so just had new potatoes with bacon (vegan version for Graham). We then played cards and watched the next episode of Black Books before another early night.

Thursday 4th November Woke to showers and a rainbow. We didn’t rush to get away early this morning. Graham wanted to go back to Latham’s having thought of something extra he wanted, and thought to get a fresh loaf He did get a sourdough loaf from the bakery, though when we cut into it at lunchtime it didn’t seem that fresh. You would think that you couldn’t go wrong buying a loaf first thing in the morning from a bakery. Disappointing. Before setting off we did our engine checks. The oil level was worrying, just a blob at the end of the dip stick, whereas each day so far (and all the other times we’ve been on MS) when we’ve checked oil it’s been at the right max level. We got the oil out and topped up a bit, there wasn’t that much left in the container, but we didn’t use it all. Set off down the Thurne, and part way down the bungalow section got concerned about how the oil pressure was dropping. We haven’t paid that much attention to oil pressure previously, so panicked unnecessarily, as the oil pressure is fairly low at low revs anyway. On the other hand, we wouldn’t have been so concerned had there not been a sudden, rather than gradual drop in the oil level observed in the engine check. I think we were right to be cautious. We decided to turn around and return to the Potter Heigham mooring. Once there we called the BCBM agent, and he liaised with Brooms for us. An engineer came out with an extra supply of oil (our 5l container was running low), had a look at the engine, topped up with oil again and ran it for a while. It appears that Brooms were aware that we have a bit of an oil leak and we were advised we should be okay if we don’t push the engine too much. We agreed with our agent that we’d monitor it over the next few days and call him again if we had any concerns. It was getting on for mid-day by the time we set off again. The sun came out occasionally, but there were plenty of showers too. We stopped at St Benet’s for a while for Seren to have a run around. While we were there we had lunch (bread and cheese) We also had another call from Gofal Môn as Dad had set off his panic button again. We weren't able to contact him as his phone was engaged, but we were able to contact his neighbour to check that he was okay. We thought to try for a mooring in Horning, knowing it would be unlikely. On our way past St Benedict's church staithe we spotted some more pumpkins. There have been pumpkins spotted in random places over the last few days, including on the bank just south of Womack dyke. Sure enough, when we got to Horning we couldn’t moor. There was space for a couple of boats, but only small ones, so we turned around and headed for Ranworth. We had waved at Silver Cloud and Evening Shadow as we cruised up ‘The Street. There were about eight or nine boats already moored at Ranworth, so plenty of room for us. Due to the stiff breeze we decided it would be best to moor at the side of the staithe, near the ‘taxi rank’. It was more sheltered there. There were a couple of coots swimming around the boat shortly after we arrived. We didn’t bother going to the Maltsters, which I find a bit hit and miss, great sometimes, just okay other times, so we stayed on board. Had some games of dominoes, read and watched another episode of Black Books. Dinner was pork steaks with mash and veg from Ludham for me and Harry and a vegan burger with same veg for Graham.