YnysMon

This thread has definitely morfed back to the 70’s. My family didn’t do pubs, not till the mid 70’s anyway (you need to remember I grew up in Anglesey, the last place to allow pubs to open on Sundays). The first pub meals I remember were chicken in a basket and scampi and chips. Luckily for me, in my early teens, my mother had a ‘friend’ who had a habit of turning up on our doorstep at weekends and taking us (me as well as my Mum!) out on a whim out for lunch or dinner to various restaurants. I’ve never ever eaten out so much in my life, so am an expert on 1970’s restaurant cuisine. (In rural Anglesey. LOL) He was such a lovely generous man, but so spontaneous. A lot more affluent than we were too. He changed his car every few months. I remember being crammed into the back seat of a Lotus something. It didn’t quite work out in the long term for my Mam and ‘her friend’. Sometimes ‘spontaneous’ can get a bit wearing. Fun though!

Lovely write up again. Not having kids with us we would never have thought of the bowling and swim facilities in Norwich. When things settle down I might be tempted by the sauna/steam room, plus pool! Sounds like a better option than the pool at Waveney River Centre.

I constantly get confused between Short Dyke and Fleet Dyke leading to Rockland Broad. It doesn’t help that in my mind Fleet Dyke is the shortest to traverse. It probably isn’t, but it feels like that.

I would have thought it very much a Social Care issue if a child is being put in jeopardy.

Before crisis struck I was very much enjoying this. In fact enjoying so much that belly laughs were part of the enjoyment. We particularly appreciated the explanation of ‘pootling’ (we do that a lot), and the ‘woofers who woof’, only we have one that mostly whines in a very talkative manner. Very sad to hear Malanka needed a tow. More please!

For the very ‘Ambitious’.

Malcolm has done a great job of outlining how it works. We are really glad we bought into the Moonlight Shadow syndicate back in 2019. There are occasionally additional expenditures, but all are agreed between the owners at the AGM. After all, it’s in our interest to ensure the boat is kept up to spec, and of course the cost of that is spread out between members. I noticed your ‘Mrs Barrable’ comment. Moonlight Shadow and Lightening are currently moored at Brooms, which is next to Brundall railway station, so very convenient for visiting Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft by train. That’s an option we have considered but not done yet However, if we have strong winds forecast during our allocated weeks we do tend to leave the boat on its mooring and explore Norfolk and Suffolk by car instead of cruising. When we hired I would have thought it madness to spend time off the Broads, but the more out of season weeks we have, the more I appreciate exploring by car. So far we have had some lovely out of season visits to places like Wells-next-the-Sea and Southwold, as well as short trips by car to other places on the Broads and coastal walks in places such as Caister-on-sea, which are a fairly short drive from Brundall. It all makes for a very relaxing holiday.

What a lovely post! I love getting the perspective of a real family holiday. It does a great job of showing how much a Broads holiday has to offer for a family.

The last time we hired from Ferry Marina they called my mobile to let us know we could pick her up a couple of hours earlier. Mind you, that was an October hire too.

I suppose it helps that MS has two tanks, it does make it more expensive at the end of the week when both heads are used. Generally though, if it's just the two of us on board we only use one. I see references above to 'green' and 'pink' stuff above. Are there any proprietary names for these?

LOL! I can see all the photos now! (Tech team, any idea what was going on earlier?)

Some brilliant replies on what I assumed might be a slightly sticky (sorry, scratch that, smelly) thread. I guess we do try to be frugal with the amount of water we flush. On the other hand we don’t do the ‘if it’s yellow, mellow’ thing, bearing in mind we have to clean the bowl at the end of our week. I’ve taken to using antibacterial wipes for that job and then popping them straight into a disposal bag. I’ve read somewhere that using bleach or normal loo cleaners is a big no-no. Cancels out the blue stuff apparently.

Sorry, not a very savoury subject, but this question has been rattling around my mind ever since we completed our first trip on our syndicate boat Moonlight Shadow, and even more so since our 13 night stay on her September 2020. When we hired we always played safe and got a pump-out mid-week. None of the boats we hired had gauges for the loos. Moonlight Shadow does, and we’ve never yet needed a pump out before our final day. For the 13 night stay, when one of our sons joined us for the second week, we decided we’d use the second loo (en suite to his cabin) during daytime to try to ‘even things up’ a bit, but I’m not sure if that strategy made a difference or not. Are hire yards recommending people to have pump-outs unnecessarily, or are we just lucky with the size of MS’ tanks?

Thanks, great start to the tale. The only thing is that I can only see some of your photos. Not sure if that’s my iPad that’s playing up though.

Sounds like a completely different pub to what it was! We'll certainly be making a visit.

Glad to see the Red Lion has opened again. Last couple of times we went passed they were completing what looked like a thorough refurbishment, even down (sorry, up) to the roof.

I find it takes quite a lot of effort to post blogs too. The bonus is having lots of feedback and being able to look back and remind yourself of that lovely holiday. A bit like an extra special photo album.

What a brilliant family holiday! Thanks for posting! A lot of us here are more like grandparent mode, so having a younger family tale is extra special and welcome.

We always followed CambridgeCabby’s advice on taking a sharp knife and frying pan with us when we hired. We also started taking a cafetière with us. Though they are supplied on some boats, they are sometimes knackered and useless. I still take a small sharp paring knife with me to Moonlight Shadow. Accidentally left it there at the end our our last visit, so it probably will not be sharp any more (Graham regularly sharpens them for me). Luckily I have two more of the same at home. As Malcolm will confirm, MS is well stocked with frying pans! I had thought too many, but have finally figured out that having a small (omelette?), medium (great for just two) and large (for families) pan probably covers all different owner’s frying requirements.

We (I!) mostly cook on the boat, but perhaps that’s a reflection that we didn’t join the syndicate until mid 2019. Options for eating out in 2020 were a bit restricted. In any case, as syndicate members we have more weeks on the rivers, so don’t want to eat out as often during one week as someone just hiring once a year, though I suppose it depends on your budget.

Thanks again for the latest tale.

We have seen changes in our garden population over the years too. Whether good or bad, I have no idea. We first moved here in 1986, to an area of Milton Keynes not that far from Willen Lake, and just beyond that, the M1. For the first few years we regularly had flocks of starlings descend upon us. Starlings are now a rarity. House sparrows are a regular feature, as are blue tits, etc. pigeons (some are very fat rascals). The new kids on our block are goldfinches, appeared about four years back and seem to be getting more numerous each year.

I loved the week of beautiful hot summer weather that we had…but, is that it? I want more! Mind you, the allotment seems to be thriving. Pumpkin and squash plants are going mad! (I must remember to post a photo.) I’ve had the last couple of days off work, needing to use up leave before the end of the annual leave year. Plans to go places got put off due to rubbish weather, but I have made progress with my beginner sewing attempts, not without ups and downs, but I’m learning. Finished off a pair of PJs this morning (in preparation for that next November jaunt on Moonlight Shadow). The sleeves ended up far too long, maybe would have made good hand warmers, but I ended up re-doing them. I also made a pair of shorty leggings, a very easy and quick make from a free PDF pattern downloaded from DIBY Club (Do it yourself better), Not for wearing whilst in company though, as the sight of me in leggings isn’t for the feint hearted. To be reserved for summer home wear only! My best make yet though, no mistakes (!) and very comfortable. They also have a free men’s t-shirt pattern that I’ve downloaded and am planning to make up for son Alec. He chose a t-shirt fabric with a pattern of black cats. Well I did say it was for PJs.

I know it’s not a pub in easy reach of a mooring, but on the first holiday we ever spent on the Broads we took a walk from Fleet Dyke moorings into South Walsham and had one of our best meals ever in The Ship. It’s changed hands a couple of times since then, but we still have fond memories.

Coltishall looks quiet. Did you just arrive at an opportune moment?