YnysMon

We wondered about Pedro's. According to Google they were supposed to be open the Sunday we were moored at Acle, but the place was definitely all shut up.

We’ve used that one on a previous visit too. This time they had removed the hose and we were too lazy to get our own hose out. It would have been a lot quicker doing that than use the Ludham one. I saw on another thread that someone had questioned whether it would be difficult to get water during the winter months. All I can say is that we didn’t experience any problems. Apart from the hose in Ludham the ones at Potter H and Neatishead were still available.

Oh, the fireworks the first week of November! Poor Seren did not enjoy the evenings on Moonlight Shadow. Her ‘safe’ place was unfortunately in the space just in front of the cooker, and right in front of our main crockery cupboard, so I kept having to get her to move. The only year she hasn’t objected to fireworks was five years ago. We collected her from the farm on 5th November 2016. The puppies had been with their mother in an outhouse near the entrance to the farm yard, so used to tractors rumbling in and out. That year she wasn’t at all bothered by fireworks.

It’s easy to see how much you love Reedham. Good for you, and thanks.

I just love that photo! You've obviously got your priorities right with those lovely socks!

Wednesday 3rd November A day of contrasts, starting off with a beautiful still, clear morning and ending with squally showers. We woke to find that we had run out of electric, maybe we had used more overnight as it was the first really frosty night of the season. I put the Webasto on to warm up the boat. I could hear that Harry and Seren were awake too, so went through to the aft cabin to take Seren out for a comfort break. Harry hastily got dressed and we both went out to watch the sun rise. We got a bit distracted from the sunrise though, as I spotted a kingfisher in the undergrowth on the bank opposite the boat. Whilst we were trying to take photos it flew off onto the front rail of the boat and Harry managed to get a really good shot of it. We thought we might as well set off and enjoy a cruise in the early morning sunshine. The mist was rising off the river and the sun’s rays streaming through the trees. Glorious! Graham and Harry retracted the roof and took the screen down as we approached Weyford Bridge. We got through again with only an inch or so to spare, taking it very slowly and cautiously. As we were running low on some essentials (mainly bread and wine), we thought we’d try for the Richardson’s free moorings, so that we could visit Tesco. However, when we reached them, they weren’t free, they were full of Richardson’s boats, so I guess the free moorings only count during ‘the season’. Thinking back, we should have tried for Stalham Staithe. I’d forgotten about that. Anyway, we turned around and continued our delightful journey down the Ant, only passing a couple of boats. Crossing Barton Broad. There were cormorants (or are they shags?) on each of the red posts. Do they prefer red to green? On the way down the Ant, Graham got a call from the Telecare Service, which the Social Worker had contacted to provide a ‘panic button’ for his Dad. They were calling about installing it, so Graham advised them to call his father. A few minutes later we got another call from them to say he’d refused it, so Graham had to call his Dad to remind him that he’d already agreed to have it. Harry took us carefully under Ludham Bridge, this time with our roof up. As we were approaching the bridge we could see a (Brooms?) boat just completing a turn downriver of the bridge, having presumably, and sensibly, decided they had too high an air draft. We followed them down the remaining stretch of the Ant and then continued our way down the Bure, having decided to make for Ludham and then try for an electric point at Potter H. Harry did his first ever stern mooring at Womack Staithe, probably taking things a bit too carefully, but successfully. There were four Ferry Marina boats moored at the staithe, all with very high air-drafts. Given the height of the rivers, that must have limited their cruising range. Mind you, we had gone through Ludham Bridge at near high tide yesterday and today, so maybe it’s been better than we think. Graham took Seren out whilst Harry and I went shopping. First we went down Horsefen Lane to seek out the bakery. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open today, but the butcher’s in the village was and we got some groceries in the ex-Thrower’s too. When we got back to the boat, Graham was waiting for the water hose. We had our lunch whilst we were waiting, and when we did get the hose, found out why there had been such a wait. It’s so slow! Once we’d filled with water we left for Potter. Harry wasn’t happy at his exit from Ludham, especially as there was a Broads Authority van parked just behind us. His Dad had untied the ropes before he’d realised, we started to drift and there was another boat across our path. Anyway, apart from Harry panicking a bit, it wasn’t really an issue. When we got to Potter H it looked quite busy, with the moorings nearest the two electric points taken. We moored at the first available spot just beyond Thunder, but when Graham got the extension lead out for the electric post the couple on board said they were about to leave and we could take their spot. After we’d had a chat with them, mainly about syndicate stuff (Thunder is also a syndicate boat and managed by the same company as ours) and they had left, we pulled the boat downstream on her ropes and ended up stern to stern with Moonlight’s sister boat, Evening Shadow. It wasn’t long before the couple on board her this week returned, having had lunch in the Norada (which they recommended). After we’d had a chat with them and they’d also left, we headed for Lathams. We got a real mixture of things: Christmas cards, cantuccini, tomatoes, swan food, dog treats etc. The delights of Lathams, the sort of shop where you can’t help picking up something you didn’t go in for. Although the morning had been wonderfully sunny, by the time we were filling up with water in Ludham, dark clouds were looming. They had passed us by, and luckily we didn’t get a downpour until we had returned from Lathams. We hunkered down for the rest of the afternoon and evening, mostly reading, so we didn’t watch any more episodes of Black Books this evening. Late afternoon we had a call from the service that monitor’s the Telecare service – Gofal Môn, to advise us that Dad had set off the alarm. We had provided his neighbour’s contact number, so asked them to call that. Obviously, later on we did some phoning to check he has okay. Dinner was vegetarian haggis with neeps, tatties and onion instant gravy. As the evening wore on, the bow slap noise from the north westerly wind was getting worse and worse (we were facing the bridge), so Graham suggested we turn the boat on her ropes. Once we’d done that it was much quieter, except that we were hit by another squall, with very heavy rain (lucky timing as we’d only just finished repositioning the boat and everyone was back inside). We all had an early night and a very peaceful night’s sleep.

That’s a really neat job. I think you really fell on your feet when you got a mooring at Swancraft. How are you finding the chippy in Brundall since it changed hands? We haven’t been there yet, but judging by reviews it now seems to be one of the more popular chippies in the area. I’m hoping to be able to patronise Cannell’s in Reedham as much as possible. It’s good to have somewhere to stop that has really nice sweet and savoury treats.

Tuesday 2nd November I had a really good night’s sleep, thank goodness. Acle Bridge is fairly noisy during the day, especially when lorries rattle over the bridge, but the traffic dies down at night and we found it to be really peaceful. It’s also great for giving Seren a good run in the morning, without having to keep her on a lead. We are very cautious and keep her on a lead anywhere near traffic. Once Graham had taken Seren for a run this morning, we set off, as we thought it would be good to take advantage of the final hour or so of the incoming tide. Harry was still in bed. Mind you, I was still in my PJs with a very thick fleece top keeping me warm. It was a lovely mild morning though. Such a beautiful sunny morning, and nothing else on the river. We passed a couple of hire boats moored on the southern bank of the Bure near Thurne Mouth and then nothing until we turned up the Ant. The Ant was relatively busy. We passed one boat on the stretch below the bridge, had to give way to a Richardson’s boat at the bridge (easy – hardly any wind), passed three boats moored at Ludham Bridge moorings, three boats moored at How Hill, a couple of hire boats on wild moorings and passed Robin on Trixie just downstream from Irstead. However, I’ve got ahead of myself. We first had to get through Ludham Bridge at high water. Firstly: our observations of the bridge markers. The advance downstream bridge marker was showing about 7¾‘ (in response to this we retracted the roof but left the screen up). The marker just before the bridge showed 8’ and I spotted that the marker upstream of the moorings (for people coming downstream) showed just under 8’. It turned out that the concrete sills of the bridge were a couple of inches or so higher than the water level, and Grendel once posted saying he had measured the gap between the bridge air-draft from the sills to be 8’ (if I’ve remembered that correctly). Also, Graham had a tape measure in hand going under the bridge and measured 17”+ clearance from the top of the windscreen. So we definitely would have had plenty of clearance with the roof up. The Ant is beautiful all year round, but particularly so when it is so quiet. We spotted a couple of kingfishers between How Hill and Irstead, and a couple of otters. We had Barton Broad to ourselves and only passed a couple of boats on the upper Ant. We turned toward Wayford Bridge and Dilham, crossing our fingers that we’d be able to get under the bridge. The bridge height gauge just before the bridge was around 6 ¾ , so we thought we’d try our luck as we needed 6’10” with the roof and screen down. We took it very, very slowly under the bridge and got through with only an inch or so to spare, but we were through! Just got to get back under tomorrow! We didn’t bother putting the roof back up once we were above the bridge. Although there was definitely a chill in the air, the sun was very warming, and we had a delightful, slow cruise up to Dilham. There was one other boat moored there when we arrived, but plenty of room for us. We moored on the stretch facing the road bridge and plugged into the lekky point. We didn’t put the roof back up, but sat enjoying the warmth of the sun. It was so warm, a butterfly settled on the boat. The last we'll see in 2021 I expect. I made us a brunch, which took a while as I par-boiled a large potato to make potato rosti, which we had with sausages (meat for us, Quorn for Graham), tomato and fried egg, plus black pud for the meat eaters. After that we went for a walk. We crossed the bridge, turned left down a lane, left again down Broad Fen Lane, which eventually brought us to the Tonnage Bridge over the old North Walsham and Dilham Canal. It’s not open for navigation, but it looks like at least one boat is moored on it. There is also a canoe hire business part way along Broad Fen Lane. We walked back along a footpath over fields that took us onto Oak Road and then back to Broad Fen Lane. Not too strenuous a walk, but just right for a short late-autumn afternoon. Harry spotted an owl. This evening we just had a bread and cheese supper, featuring some Norfolk cheeses that we’d picked up in Roy’s, plus Graham’s favourite; Camembert, as we didn’t feel like having a heavy meal. Today has been a great day for wildlife. As well as the otters and kingfishers seen on the Ant, we had a butterfly and dragonfly land on the boat shortly after we moored. During our walk we saw a deer and a barn owl and when we got back to the boat after our walk we spotted a kingfisher perched near the bridge just in front of the boat and a moorhen scuttling around nearby. There were also masses of tiny spiders at Dilham.

Monday 1st November Woke up around 6am this morning. I’m not sure why I woke, but it was impossible to get back to sleep due to the sound of nearby fishermen of Loddon chatting to each other. I think they were trying to keep their voices down, though you know how sound carries over water. Just after sunrise, the Brooms boat that had stopped last night at Chedgrave Common turned up at the Staithe, so that woke me up even more. We are guessing they were newbies, as they seemed to have some difficulty stern mooring. (That’s not a criticism, we’ve all been there!) Graham and I got up, had breakfast and checked out the weather/news. Graham topped up with water (not that we had used much) and then we left Seren with Harry (who was still in bed) whilst we went up Loddon’s main street to Boots and the Loddon DIY shop. Yesterday evening we checked out the First Aid Kit on the boat. It was very depleted, so instead of buying a lot of individual items to replenish it we had found online a version by Boots that seemed very comprehensive and good value at £20. We ordered and paid for this at the Loddon Boots, intending to pick it up when we return south next week. The visit to the DIY shop was to see if they had an electric under blanket. Harry and Graham have been enjoying the benefits of electric blankets this week whilst I’ve been using a hot water bottle. Actually, I’ve been very cosy, but Graham seems to think I’ve missed out. They didn't have one, thought they thought that they would have one in stock by next week. In the meantime, I've persuaded Graham I don't need one. Our shopping trip didn’t last long. We got back on board (Harry still in bed) and departed the Staithe by around 9.30. It was a gloriously sunny morning for November and the slow chug down the Chet very much appreciated. Leaving Loddon. Harry actually got out of bed shortly after we left Loddon but left me to helm for a while, taking over just after we’d gone through Reedham. Seren has decided that sitting next to the person helming is quite nice. We went as far as Polkey’s Mill, where we moored up (combination of strong outgoing tide and strong wind in the same direction made for a very controlled ‘ferry glide’ mooring, so that was good). We took Seren for a short walk, had a sandwich lunch and then started off again, intending to go through Gt Yarmouth around low tide. Actually, we started off too early, so ended up crossing Breydon on very low revs. Quite nice really, as we could really appreciate our surroundings, including the bird life. There was tons of room under the Vauxhall and Yarmouth Road bridges, but quite a bit of flow still ebbing down the Bure (as expected). I’m not sure if this is allowed, as the Yacht Station closed yesterday, but we stopped at the Yacht Station moorings for just over an hour to wait for the slack, so that we wouldn’t be wasting quite so much fuel plugging up the Bure. We didn’t push it either so it was just after 4pm by the time we were approaching Stokesby. Our plans for mooring there were upended as there was a BA barge moored there. We continued on to Acle and got there before sunset. Mind your head dear! Another lovely sunset this evening. Though I seem to have mislaid the photos I took. That's the trouble with using two cameras and a mobile! Harry had brought the DVD set of the TV series ‘Black Books’ with him. He and Graham have watched it, but I haven’t for some reason. We watched the first three episodes before and after our dinner. Dinner was a vegan cashew nut and basil pesto. You toast about 50g of cashew nuts and chop them up (I’d brought my smoothie maker to do this, which sort of worked, though they were chopped a bit too finely), and blend another 50g of nuts with an avocado, fresh basil, nutritious yeast (which I didn’t have, so used some Marmite dissolved in water instead) and garlic, all whizzed up together with olive oil and water. The paste is then mixed in with your pasta and the chopped nut sprinkled on top. Surprisingly good. We had a really early night. Acle: TV signal weak. Wifi excellent – 4G 3 bars.

Yes, I'll second that, looking forward to seeing your photos.

Mild yes, river levels variable though. One recommendation for February occurred to me as we (a relatively low air-draft boat) had to drop our roof to get under Ludham bridge last week. For goodness sake, don't hire something that's really tall. On a previous November we had high winds, so having a lower airdraft boat is better then too.

Sunday 31st October As promised, the weather got a bit lively this morning. We took our time having breakfast (just tea and toast) and didn’t venture out until getting on for 10, and then not by boat. Harry and I went to the Thorpe Sainsbury’s, to pick up a few bits and pieces that we had either forgotten, couldn’t get in Roy’s or thought would come in useful. Graham went off to the berth holder’s showers in Brooms, as he’d run out of time to have a shower before leaving home. The wind was even stronger when we got back to Brooms, but we knew it was forecast to lessen early afternoon. In the meantime, we just bided our time, relaxed and had a fish platter lunch featuring the local produce from Roys. Shortly after 1pm we could see the sky clearing from the south west, and not too long after that the wind dropped to a reasonable level. There was still quite a strong breeze, but without such strong gusts. We quickly got our act together and got on our way, heading down river and debating (as we normally do) where we should head for: Hardley Mill, Loddon or Somerlayton. We had thought of going to Beccles tomorrow, but the state of the tides meant that would have been a bit of a slog back up the Waveney. On our way down the Yare. Cantley was at full-blast. Very tempting...no boats moored at Hardley Mill. I was wondering why there was some dredging equipment at Hardley Cross moorings. We found out why the following week, when we encountered them on the Chet. We decided to go north tomorrow instead, and return to Beccles next week, when the tides would be much more helpful. In the meantime, we headed up the Chet to Loddon. We passed three other boats on our way down the Yare and none on the Chet. There was one Brooms boat that turned up the Chet before us, but we took our time and chugged up at about 3mph. They stopped at Chedgrave Common moorings, whilst we continued up to the Staithe. Apart from three other private boats side moored either end, we were the only ones there, moored right in the middle between two of the electric posts, which turned out quite well. There was £1.34 left on one post and £1.30 on the other, so we ended up plugged into one for the evening and the other overnight, topping it up with another card as we have two small dimplex heaters with us this trip, plus electric underblankets for Graham’s and Harry’s beds. (And before anyone comments, Graham tried very hard to persuade me that I needed an underblanket too, but I’m quite toasty enough with a water bottle.) For dinner this evening Harry and I had steaks and Graham had a Quorn bake thingy, accompanied by baked potatoes and veg. Graham has recently decided to stop eating meat. It’s generally good for us all to eat less meat, but his decision has forced me to re-think our catering for this trip. There are some meals where I’ve just got Graham a veggie alternative, but otherwise have tried to plan for vegetarian or fish-based meals. We’ll see how we get on with this as the fortnight progresses! We ended the day with a few games of dominoes before Graham took Seren out for her pre-beddy constitutional. Loddon: TV signal ok. Signal for Harry’s wifi unit very weak.

Yes, I'd noticed that on previous visits. Another reason I like shopping at Roys.

If I can persuade Graham to make the trip to Hoveton, I'd quite like to do our first food shop in Roys when we are next on the Broads. As I said, it feels more like part of the holiday in comparison to a trip to a 'normal' supermarket. It also shows up how little the major supermarkets are doing to support local producers.

The tale of Trip 8 - October to November 2021 Saturday 30th October On this trip: me, Graham, eldest son Harry and dog Seren. We weren’t that quick getting away this morning. It was getting on for 10am by the time we had packed the car etc. The traffic was reasonable, though we did notice that the traffic in the other direction was pretty heavy – half-term holiday makers on their way home perhaps? We had brunch in La Hogue Farm Café. It was fairly busy, but we didn’t feel too crowded and unsafe despite lots of people entering not wearing masks. As the car was packed to the gunnels, and I wanted to do a bigger shop than usual to cater for the first five days or so, we went to Brooms before doing our food shop and unloaded the contents of the car onto the boat without sorting anything out. Normally we have a 2pm pick-up time for the boat, but the people before us had left a day early and had cleaned the boat themselves (spik and span), so we didn’t have to wait for the cleaners to finish. Once stuff was dumped we drove to Hoveton to do our shop in Roys. The real reason for going to Hoveton was that Graham wanted to visit the chandlery (Brian Wards being closed on Saturday) to get some varnish and a few other bits and pieces. He was planning to sand-down and re-varnish some of the interior woodwork in the boat, following a discussion at our AGM. I really enjoyed doing the shop in Roys instead of the Thorpe Sainsbury's. It felt like part of the holiday rather than just doing the food shop. It’s lovely to be able to pick up more local produce than you can in the larger supermarkets. We got some Cromer crab, Norfolk smoked mackerel and a selection of Norfolk cheeses, Norfolk bacon, sausages and ham as well as a selection of Roy’s baked goods. We didn’t get back on the boat until late afternoon, a little too close to sunset, though I suppose we could have just gone as far as Rockland St Mary, Surlingham Ferry or Bramerton. However, given we have a fortnight, we weren’t in a hurry. Besides, the forecast for Sunday morning wasn’t promising: heavy rain and strong winds, not the sort of weather I like to be about in. I don’t mind the rain, it’s the strong winds that bother me. Given the amount of stuff we had brought with us, it took us quite a while to sort out the boat before we could relax. Dinner was just an easy pasta with pesto. We watched a little telly: Prof Brian Cox on the Sun and stars, very dumbed down considering it was a co-production with the OU, and then a delightful tour around Harris and Lewis (the Scottish Islands). An early night was had, though as always I don’t sleep well the first night on the boat. I find the amount of light in the Brooms yard rather much, more so now that we are moored backing onto the main hire area. I kept waking up thinking it was dawning.

At this point I'm switching over to my original 'Carried Away' thread to post the proper (health warning - long winded) tale with more pictures. 'Live service' will be resumed in February, when we are next on the boat.

Neatishead is lovely, so peaceful. Enjoy!

Each of our trips on Moonlight Shadow I have intend to practise reversing on a Broad. Have I done it yet? …no. On the other hand every time I do it for real it gets easier (unless there’s a hoolie blowing). I’ve discovered that one of the main advantages of being in a syndicate or owning your own boat is simply being familiar with how the boat handles. It’s such a disadvantage when hiring…used to take me two or three days to get used to the foibles of each boat.

Oh, and lunch at The Lion was delish.

Paul is happy to help but advises calling him beforehand in case he's out. I think Friday is normally okay, but not sure about Saturday.

Hope you have as good a time as we've had Warren. After mooring overnight at Bramerton we phoned Swancraft sometime after 9 to ask if they could give us fuel and a pump out as well as the gas cylinder. They could, so we headed back to Brundall and up the dyke to Swancraft. The guy there is so helpful and obliging. So, it was just after 11 by the time we got back to our home mooring. We did a bit more packing and then headed off by car to Thurne. That's where we are now, eagerly anticipating our lunch. It will be back to Brundall after to finish packing and cleaning the boat, and then an evening drive home to MK.

Thanks Warren. Hope you have a good time when you are on MS in a few weeks time. Normally during the shorter days of late autumn and winter we've not had the chance to go north due to the tides. Having a fortnight on board made such a difference.

Thanks Jean. It's been a great fortnight and we've done as much as we dared hope, despite the high river levels over the weekend. We are glad we did Dilham when we did, as it would have been impossible later. We also had a nice balance of North and South. It would have been nice to have been able to get onto Horning staithe, but that's always tricky and this November seems much busier than normal, especially up north.

Thanks for posting John. Son Harry was on the helm. We've moored up at Bramerton Common for our final night. Back to Brooms tomorrow, then home.

How annoying. Hope all goes well the second time.