YnysMon

Hope you get better soon Ian. Best wishes, Helen

Welcome to the forum BigA. Hope to hear more about how you get on with your new boat. Hope you have many wonderful days on her. Are you intending to keep the name 'May' or rename her? Helen

Where’s St Miles bridge? Presumably above the navigation for hire boats. Is it between Bishaps bridge and head of navigation?

Converting vans into camper vans seems to be all the rage at present. I watch some travel vlogs on YouTube. Almost all the couples whose channels I watch have either bought a camper van already converted or have bought a van and done a conversion themselves. There are even a couple of vloggers who live on canal boats who have converted their own camper vans.

If I recall correctly, I bought ours in Waitrose.

One thing about NBD that I liked was their provision of eco washing up liquid on their boats. A small gesture, but it did make me stop and think and prompted me to switch to using eco friendly shampoo and shower gel when on the Broads.

We fancied staying there last week, but despite the reassurance that Broad Ambition has managed to moor there, we decided not to. The shed takes up quite a lot of the mooring space and is very off-putting. It’s a real shame.

The Wherry is up there in our best three pubs on the Broads, on par with The White Horse, Neatishead and The Lion, Thurne.

Spring lines a must! Can’t imagine what it would be like on that mooring without. The tide there is pretty speedy. We were speculating what would happen if someone fell in there. We reckoned they’d be half way to Yarmouth (or Reedham) before they got rescued!

Doh! I interpreted that as a film that had been on the previous day.

Last time we were there on Water Rail, the staithe bit was occupied by a day boat. We moored up further up the dyke and then moved the boat on her ropes once the day boat had left. It's definitely easier to get off than the staithe bit. Like Grendel, we can report that we didn't find the camp site at all noisy. We thought it might be as there were two families dining outdoors together just opposite to where we moored, but they were just chatting and laughing, not rowdy, and once past the kids bedtime they were very quiet.

Thanks for that explanation Meantime. I must admit that the sight of the tide rising so quickly during the first hour after low tide had me a bit worried. If the rate of rise hadn't slowed, it would have overtopped even those posts!

I could see why they had installed those posts at Polkey's Mill. It was pretty impressive seeing how quickly the tide rose again after low tide, rising quickly even whilst still flowing out to sea. If it hadn't been for those high timbers I would have been worried, as we were still quite a few hours before high tide when we settled for the night.

So, what film was it?

Last summer we came across a lot of paddle boarders and canoes on that stretch. However, the pace up there is so slow anyway, it’s not as much hassle as coming across paddlers and canoes further down river, even though it’s narrower. I did notice that some paddlers don’t seem to hear a motor boat creeping up behind them though, so had to use my horn.

I think we did more distance this time because we wanted Alec and Dad to see as much of the Broads as was doable in one week. When we are by ourselves we are settling into ‘lazy boater’ mode too. Especially out of season.

Harry has just told me he’s applied to have the November fortnight off work. Cross fingers he’s successful!

Hi Warren, We haven’t yet taken MS up to Geldeston but hope to one day. We been there on NBD’s Fair Regent and also on Water Rail and moored overnight on both occasions in Geldeston Dyke which leads to Rowancraft. I wouldn’t like to try to take MS into their yard, and there’s no need to as the dyke has good wild moorings, just have your rond anchors ready. Last time we moored there it was a lot more overgrown though, so care is needed getting of the boat. If you turn to port instead of starboard before getting to the dyke you’ll get to the free moorings that are near the Locks Inn. Proper moorings, so easier, but my preference is still to moor in the Dyke. Helen

Day 7 – Friday 2nd July Our final day. Yet again we started off fairly early, though not as early as other mornings. This time we had breakfast before setting off. Even so, we were the first boat to set off from the staithe. Alec helmed this morning, leaving Graham and I free to start packing and cleaning. We passed this vessel just after Beauchamp Arms. Isn't it cute! Even though it was quite warm this morning, Dad decided to wear a sweater today. He told me that 'Content' had been the name of the 25' sailey that he and Mum had. Isn't it itonic that the weather brightened up today - our last day. By the time we got to Short Dyke, leading to Rockland Broad, it was getting very warm. We took Seren for a run along the path that runs past the bird hide. (The entrance to the hide was boarded up. Presumably another victim of Covid?). Rockland Broad. We then continued on our way ‘home’ to Brundall. Refuelling etc. took a while, as Lightening was on the fuel quay when we arrived. We made a bit of a hash turning the boat on its ropes. She was a bit reluctant to turn, even with bow thrusters. I’m not sure what the tide was doing, it just wasn’t doing what I expected. As mentioned on my ‘live’ thread, I almost messed up leaving the fuel quay too, distracted by Dad who, at that moment got up out of the well onto the side deck. I shouted at Graham (who was releasing the bow rope) to get his Dad back in the well, so Graham hurried to get his lifejacket onto his Dad before guiding him back in. Meanwhile, I got the boat away from the quay. Afterward Alec told me I’d almost left him behind. As I said, Dad has been a very capable man all his life, but his current memory problems make looking after him and keeping him safe a bit of a challenge. At least he doesn’t have the mood swings that normally come with dementia, so that’s a positive. He’s very easy going and good tempered. Once moored on our home mooring Graham went to get the car and started packing our stuff into it whilst I prepared our lunch. After lunch he cleaned the exterior of the boat whilst I tackled the heads and kitchen. Alec helped out with vacuuming and cleaning windows. Even so, it was late afternoon by the time we were ready to leave. Dad had accidentally stood on the dustpan whilst we were cleaning, so we went to Brundall DIY to replace that. I also managed to get a new 2L pyrex casserole dish to replace the one on board that had no lid, so we had to drive back to the boat to place those items on board. We also wanted to report to Brooms staff some minor damage to the car that had not been there when we left the car in the car park at the start of the week. It was only a few scratches, but I do get annoyed at people who scratch your car and don’t bother putting a note on your windscreen. They took our details and said they would check out their CTV. We also had a lot of recycling in the car (in bags on our laps), so another stop-off was needed in Sainsbury’s to get rid of that. What with all that faffing about it was almost 5pm before we got on our way. We had a good journey back though, much better than the poor people travelling in the other direction who had several tail-backs to contend with. We are not back on the boat now until 30th October. We originally had 23rd October from the autumn allocation and swapped that for the following week, as we also drew 6th November for the winter allocation, so we’ll have a ole fortnight on board again this year. (Crossing our fingers and toes that we don’t have any more lockdowns).

Hi Jean, I don't find getting off and on MS too bad normally, except when there's a really high tide. Luckily the side deck slopes down from bow to aft. Day 6 - Thursday 1st July We didn’t wake as early today, despite the trains. The early morning rowers were active just after 6am though, so we started off from Whitlingham around 7am. It is lovely to be out early on the river. The best part of the day. As previously reported on my ‘live’ Carried Away thread, the upper Yare seemed very quiet, with very few boats moored at Bramerton Common, even fewer outside the Surlingham Ferry Inn and only one boat at Brundall Gardens BA moorings. As we were only planning to go as far as Loddon today, we took our time and had a detour into Surlingham Broad (Bargate), where we mudweighted for a while, watched the birdlife and Alec cleaned the decks. We also took a detour through Rockland Broad before carrying on down the Yare. Do you think Seren is sitting comfortably? Breakfast was had en route again (croissants and coffee this morning). We stopped briefly at Hardley Cross and took Seren for a walk before setting off up the Chet. Even though we passed quite a few boats on our way up, and passed an almost empty Pye’s Mill, the staithe was pretty crammed. There was just one smallish space in the corner furthest from the road, with a small yacht moored on the side near the favoured fishing spot, but we managed to squeeze in quite nicely without a problem. Later the two boats moored on our port side left, so we were able to shuffle up a bit and reposition our aft starboard rope onto a post instead of being tied to the safety ladder (we were not across the safety ladder). We had a light lunch of chicken wraps, using up the last of the roast chicken, then Alec and I went up to the church. Dad elected to stay on board, despite my assuring him that it wasn’t far to walk. Before Covid he had acted as a Steward in his home church, greeting visitors and telling them about the history etc. He’s really missing the social contact that gave him. More deck scubbing. There was a very friendly lady in the church who made us very welcome. She had links to Anglesey, so we had a lovely chat. We also got to see the interesting local history display that is in the room above the church porch (accessed via narrow spiral staircase near the main door). We didn’t do much the rest of the day. Dinner was early, to suit Dad, and we had a very quiet evening.

Day 5 – Wednesday 30th June Another early start this morning. We set off around 7am, aiming to reach the New Cut for 10am. Actually, after the turn-off for Oulton Dyke we slowed right down as I’d allowed us too much travelling time. I find most of the distance charts a bit generous in their estimated times. It’s not that we are speeding. After we’d left Beccles behind, Graham made breakfast. He’d picked up an IKEA recipe leaflet for a porridge using IKEA muesli. Very nice it was too. As passed Evening Shadow again at Somerlayton, as they were moored up there. No one in sight to wave at though. We ended up getting to the start of the New Cut almost an hour earlier than planned, despite taking things fairly slowly. We had the New Cut to ourselves. Not surprising out of season, but in June? The tide was against us as we turned out of the New Cut, but there was plenty of room on the Reedham moorings for us to pause our journey. I hadn’t realised yesterday when we did our Lidl shop that Dad was running short of (dairy) milk, so intended going up the hill to the village store to get some. However, first I wandered along the quayside and discovered a new deli, which had opened in the old ‘Cupcakes’ building. They have a few tables outside and in, so are also a small café. The milk that I bought there was from a farm near Aldeby and from Friesian cows. That’s a bit unusual nowadays. It wasn’t unduly expensive either compared to the normal price of milk. On returning to the boat, I reported on the deli and their nice-looking cakes, so we all took a walk back there to check it out. Graham got himself a coffee (they have a ‘proper’ coffee machine) and slice of coffee and walnut cake. Alec bought himself some savoury pastry items. Dad had forgotten his mask, so couldn’t go in. I couldn’t help noticing how friendly and helpful the on-duty BA Ranger was. He noticed the chap on the boat in front of us had a bag of rubbish in his hand, so offered to take it as he was ‘going that way’. Just before we left, we overheard him giving some good advice to people on another boat. Seemed like a man who really enjoyed his job. Ducklings spotted at Reedham. By the time we returned to the boat the tide had slackened, so we set off again. Dad had another go at helming, once we were safely passed the ferry. Alec took over again just before Brundall. We spotted Mark (Psychicsurveyor) and his wife on their boat Whitey as we passed Brundall Gardens Marina and exchanged waves. Shortly after that we moored at Bramerton Common so that we could eat our lunch together (Lidl quiche and salad) Norwich Yacht Station was reasonably busy, but with plenty of spaces left. We just paid for a day mooring, preferring not to stay there overnight because of the road noise. Alec and I went up to the Cathedral. I was amused to see that the cloisters were being cleaned. After our tour of the Cathedral we returned to the boat and left the Yacht Station in search of a more peaceful mooring. There was space at Whitlingham moorings, so we stopped there, even though we knew it wouldn’t be that peaceful in the morning (trains and rowers). Much better than the Yacht Station though. Seren loves watching the rowers that frequent that part of the river. Late afternoon/early evening seemed to be the turn of the younger members of the club, with several early teens in the rowing skiffs accompanied by training boats, and even younger kids out in canoes with instructors with paddling along with them. Alec and Seren watching the rowers and canoists. Dinner this evening was the reheated remains of Alec’s roast veg (he had made far too much) mixed with the pasta sauce I’d made earlier in the week and served with pasta and some more of the Ludham loaf. Dad had a ‘Parsley’ ready meal, so that he could eat earlier in the evening. Another evening of dominoes, a walk for Seren and then another early night.

Day 4 - Tuesday 29th June We woke at dawn this morning at the sound of Dad using the loo pump and then the water pump. Lucky that we weren’t moored next to anyone! Dad is finding it difficult remembering how to operate the loo. His short-term memory is pretty bad nowadays. We are just hoping he doesn’t do the same tomorrow morning when we are moored at Beccles. We tried dozing off again, but the pumps were in use again not long after, so we got up before 6 and were on our way by 6.30. Just as well really, as we were able to take our time to get to Yarmouth and take it really slowly as we passed moored boats. I reversed out of our mooring and discovered I had enough steering power to reverse all the way out of Womack Dyke. Okay, it’s not that far, as the dyke entrance is in sight of the mooring, but it has given me a lot more confidence in knowing how the boat reacts in reverse. The first few times on MS I kept forgetting which way to turn the wheel when reversing, as I’ve always found it counterintuitive. Alec helmed just about the whole journey. We moored up briefly at Stracey Arms, so that Seren could have one last loo break before the long journey down to Beccles. We got overtaken by just one boat on the way down the Bure. As they passed, I spotted they had one of their aft ropes training in the water behind them. Luckily, I managed to hail them. After that Alec speeded up slightly as we had only been going along at about 5mph. Did some more bird spotting as we made our way down the Bure. Saw my first ever grebe carrying its chick. I have no idea why Graham brought so many hats with him! It's not like we had a lot of packing space. This lot isn't even the full collection. There was almost 9’ under the first two Yarmouth bridges and we found that the tide had turned on the approach to Breydon Water. Ideal! Alec handed the helm to me just after the Breydon road bridge as he wanted to go and sit on the roof (not the sliding portion!!) with the binoculars to do some bird watching. He took back the helm as we turned up the Waveney. The Waveney was (of course) delightfully quiet. When we got there, we turned down Oulton Dyke and had a pootle around the Broad before heading back to the Waveney and continuing upstream. As we turned the bend to Oulton Dyke we passed Evening Shadow. This is our 7th trip on MS, and it’s the first time we’ve passed our ‘sister ship’ Evening Shadow. It started to rain as we left Oulton Broad and that continued about half the rest of our journey. This is a new piece of kit that has appeared on MS since we were last on her. Very handy! Thanks to our fellow syndicate members who thought of it. Graham made us some sandwiches for lunch, which we ate en route. There was plenty of room in the Yacht Station when we got to Beccles just after 3pm. We couldn’t plug into the electric as Graham had forgotten to bring the shore power adaptor that’s currently being used on the connection in Brooms and the Harbour Master couldn’t lend us one because of Covid (huh!). It didn’t really matter as we didn’t need to use the heating or microwave. Alec filled up the water tank and then he and I walked up to the town centre. Alec suggested we have a look around the church (did you know Nelsons parents were married there?). After that we had a brief look around the town before walking back down the hill to visit the Lidl store. Alec had volunteered to cook our dinner this evening, so wanted some veggies suitable for roasting in the oven with sausages. Very nice it was too. We ate the dish with slices of the Ludham bread, which was still fresh. Before Alec cooked the dinner we all relaxed. Most of us were reading, but Alec must have felt so tired he fell asleep, despite being perched up on the helm seat leaning against the window. Not the most comfortable spot! After dinner Alec fed the swans then we played dominoes again before turning in for another early night. After a gloomy, cloudy day, the sky had cleared, so we stayed awake long enough to appreciate the sunset.

Thanks Malcolm. I'm pretty hopeless at bird ident. I thought this one (below) was an oytercatcher (seen just north of Marina Quays), but got that wrong! Wonder what it is?

Day 3 – Monday 28th June I had a good night’s sleep and didn’t wake until almost 7, so it was almost 8am before we set off this morning. Alec was keen to have more practise at helming, so he took us off the mooring and turned around near the entrance to one of Richardson’s quays. We turned down past Paddy’s Lane in search of water, but the staithe moorings at Barton Turf were occupied. Instead, we made our way to Gaye’s Staithe, but only stopped there long enough to fill up. Crossing Barton Broad. When we started off, there had been an almost unbroken convoy of Richardson’s boats heading upriver. Once they had passed the river was much quieter than it had been yesterday. There were very few boats at How Hill, so plenty of room for Alec to practise his first mooring. Dad got off the boat with us at How Hill, but only wanted to walk as far as the garden bench in Toad Cottage. We are a bit concerned that he’s not wanting to walk any distance, as he’s convinced himself that he will have no problem walking to the local shop when he returns to his home (which is down a very steep hill). Alec and I continued on to visit the secret gardens. It’s a shame we didn’t managed to visit them when we were on MS in early May, as the display of rhododendrons and azaleas was now just about over, with only one shrub still blooming. We noticed the café was open, but didn’t check it out. Before leaving How Hill we admired this family of swans. Alec had decided today would be the day that he would make brunch for us, which he wanted to prepare whilst underway (for the novelty?), so I helmed the rest of the way down the Ant. It was blissfully quiet at Ludham Bridge compared to yesterday. Comparing today with yesterday, I was musing that Monday would probably be a much better day for a newbie to the Broads to start their holiday, to avoid having their first experience of helming the boat during the madness that is Saturday and Sunday (at least on the northern broads). Alec cooked the brunch (spam and sweetcorn fritters) in batches, so once Graham had consumed his at the ‘first sitting’ he took the helm so I could eat mine. Very nice brunch it was too. We continued on our way down the Bure and turned up the Thurne, going as far as Potter Heigham, where we struck lucky and grabbed a space on the Repps moorings as another boat was departing. A visit to Latham’s was in order (or even La-Tharms), the main priority being to get some swan and duck food. The Stalham swans had been given wholemeal bread yesterday evening (Alec having read somewhere that white bread is not nutritious enough for swans). I also got some reasonably priced cantuccini for Graham which he loves having with his coffee as a special holiday treat whilst on the Broads (I had failed to find any in my Sainsbury’s shop). After our visit to Latham’s, we had a bit of a job getting Dad back on board as the tide had risen. We made our way back downriver. When we had passed Womack Dyke earlier, I could see that there was a boat on the wild mooring that’s between the dyke entrance and the BA moorings, so it was a nice surprise now that we turned up the dyke to find the mooring had been vacated. After we had secured the boat, we took a look around us and got hailed by forum member Tim, who was on a Pacific Cruisers boat (I forget which). Thanks for saying hello Tim! Womack Dyke. Alec and I went in search of the bakery on Horsefen Lane. It’s in someone’s house and is just marked by a board outside advertising what delights they have on offer just at that moment. Several other forum members have been impressed with what they’ve bought there, so we thought it was about time we tried the bakery out, having passed it several times last year when we hired Lucent. On our way to the bakery, we popped in to Hunter’s Yard to buy a 2022 calendar. We weren’t able to book with them this year, so the least we can do is try to support them. We had a chat with Vikki, the Yard Manager. I asked how they were doing for bookings, and Vikki said they were busy, but with far more short break bookings than normal (which of course mean more work). Given the comparison between how busy it was yesterday on the rivers compared to today, I wondered if that might be a trend for other yards too? The bakery accepts cash or card. Today’s offerings were a white bloomer, Portuguese custard tarts, Basque Burnt Cheesecake, another cake which I can’t remember and milk choc cookies. We got the bread (still warm from the oven – the lady said she bakes two batches of bread each day), Portuguese tarts and a couple of cookies. Back on board we all just chilled. I took a book with me and sat on the back of the boat with a glass of wine. It was sheltered from the breeze and very pleasant. The weather was pretty similar to yesterday, gloomy but dry and not cold, but not particularly warm either. We had chicken salad this evening (remains from yesterday’s roast) and Seren had a treat of chicken skin and jelly with her dinner. We had our salad with the white bloomer. It’s the best bread I’ve tasted for a long-long time. Expensive (£4) but definitely worth it. It was a good-sized loaf too; we had half of the loaf left over for tomorrow. The Portuguese tarts made a delightful dessert. We had been having difficulty with the TV. It kept switching itself off after a few seconds on a channel, so Graham attempted to re-tune it. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough signal where we were moored. He did manage to retune it successfully the following day though, so the TV is fine now. Before settling down for the night, Graham, Alec and I took Seren for a walk along the path that runs beside the Bure. We saw a lot of wildlife, including a reed warbler and a couple of large birds that we had never seen before. I've checked out and think they were cranes. I've no idea what this next one is. Sorry for the poor quality photo, but I'm hoping someone can tell me what it is. It was another early night as we were planning to make our way back south tomorrow. Before turning in, we checked that there was slack on the ropes and that the boat wasn’t tight against the river bank, bearing in mind our experience when we hired one of NBD’s Fair Regent’s, when the boat got stuck on the shelving bank as the tide went down. (We did free the boat before the tide dropped further, and it was a valuable lesson.)

Day 2 – Sunday 27th June Well, I wasn’t so relaxed during the night and didn’t sleep that well. Even after low water the flow was still going out to sea (makes sense, given slack water at Yarmouth is later than low water) though the actual tide was rising quite fast, so there was a fair amount of creaking to be heard the forward end of the boat (Graham and I were in the forward cabin), then when the tide turned again in the night following high tide there was a fair amount of bow slap, I think mainly due to the strength of the tide, as there wasn’t much wind. I also woke at three in the morning at the noise of a heavy downpour hammering on the roof. I woke Graham at 5.45 and we got the boat ready for the off, following the two yachties that had cast off just before us. We followed them all the way to Yarmouth and didn’t pass them until after Stracey Arms. The weather was a bit gloomy, with unbroken cloud, but it wasn’t cold and it kept mostly dry. There was a nice chop on Breydon, but not too much. Alec being on the helm gave me the opportunity to look around and do a bit of bird watching on our way up the Bure. The plan was to head up the Ant and do some more food shopping in Stalham, as we had decided against our original plan of going to Wroxham and Roys. We thought we'd have a short stop at Acle on the way, so that Alec could visit the Dunes Café (he said he fancied getting some sausage rolls), but as we approached Stokesby I remembered that there was now a small shop and deli at the Ferry Inn, so we stopped there instead. Alec got his sausage rolls (two types, ordinary and with chorizo) and I bought some home-made Cornish-type pasties to have later for our lunch. Dad took the helm again after Acle and then Alec took the helm past St Benet’s and for first few bends of the Ant. The river from Thurne Mouth onward was pretty manic, and the Ant very busy, so I took the helm as we approached the moorings before Ludham Bridge in case mayhem ensued. Just as well, as the largish hire-boat directly in front of me had not made any preparations for the bridge. They had a fairly high air-draft as it was and hadn’t put any screens down, but they also had several bicycles on their roof, a few pot plants (!?) and an inflatable dinghy. They stopped in the middle of the river right on the bend by the boatyard to take the bicycles down. It wouldn’t have been a problem for me to hold station, except that the boat behind me seemed determined to get as close to my stern as possible, and there were several boats behind him, seemingly with the same intention. Luckily the boat causing all the mayhem did get under the bridge. I’m not sure what would have happened if they couldn’t. We had another ‘interesting’ spell behind a wherry just before How Hill, and it was a while before I and the boat in front of me could get past safely. After that it calmed down (thank goodness). There was a sailing race in progress on Barton Broad, but as there’s so much room for everyone on that Broad that was no problem. We continued upriver to Richardson’s and bagged the last space on the new ‘free’ moorings that they’ve created near the entrance to the boatyard. I like the surface they've intalled on the quay heading - very non-slip. I'm sure that Malcolm (Mouldy) will be pleased to see that Moonlight Shadow has her pennant again, as he had replaced the old faded one. Graham had spiced a new halyard (or whatever-you-call-it) to replace the one that had perished over the winter. Dad seemed to be enjoying himself. After we’d had our Stokesby pasties for lunch, Alec and I walked to Tesco’s to buy the things I’d forgotten yesterday/had been planning to buy tomorrow had we gone to Wroxham. We passed by the staithe, which was empty apart from one yacht. However, the only free straight ’ish bit of quay-heading was occupied by an angler and the rest was a bit too curved for a boat of Moonlight Shadow’s length, so I was glad we hadn’t attempted to get down to the staithe. We had a peaceful afternoon, mostly spend reading, before I put a chicken in the oven to roast. This was the first time I’d attempted to do a roast dinner on board. We enjoyed the chicken with new potatoes and steamed veg (it’s good that MS has one of those collapsible steamers). After dinner we played some rounds of dominoes. Alec had exploding kittens with him, but his Grandad has got to the stage in life where anything new throws him rather, so we stuck to games that Dad’s familiar with. After that, we settled down to another early night shortly before sunset.