YnysMon

Having had back trouble on and off since my mid 20s, I think you probably made the right decision. It usually takes me at least a week or more to get over a back ‘episode’. Hope you get back next year. You seem to have got over your initial trepidation and enjoyed yourselves, which is great. I had my last back ‘episode’ a couple of weeks before a hire we had booked starting 4th July this year. Can you imagine how popular I would been if we’d had to cancel that! Shame you had to curtail your holiday though.

I don’t think it was a silly post at all. Please get it posted back up there. We (dog owners) are crazily soppy about our dogs, so I thought it perfect. (Bet I’m not the only one either.)

Aww...she looks gorgeous. Settling down already, and not even got home yet.

I've been wondering that too. Maybe just now isn't a great time to be asking that particular question, given the continuing high water levels over the past few weeks. I'm sure it's spoilt a lot of people's plans. Not surprising though, after all the rain we've had!

Caister beach is pretty good too. There's a large car park near the lifeboat stations - free parking this time of the year.

Thanks for the advice everyone. We have found we can go several days on MS without topping up, which is just as well as there we were stuck on our mooring in February during high winds for three days, and with our nearby tap turned off. I guess that's partly what prompted my posting this thread. It's good to know where you can get water. We are on board next February again and hopefully we'll be able to get more cruising done this time!

If you do have shore power it might be worth taking one of those low wattage dimplex type electric radiators with you. They are less noisy than the boat heating and you can leave it on a low setting overnight.

Where was The Red House? Looks very calm. Does seem odd though. I can’t think what sailor would go into a pub leaving their sails up. Staged photo opp?

Humph, Mr JM...I’ve had my eye on that one for a while, and you go and tell everyone about it! Not got in there yet!

Yes, we’ve got a couple of those flat hoses on reels.

Your list of winter water points will be much appreciated Mr NN.

We have a whole box of water tap adapters on MS. One of our discoveries during on our last trip whilst trying to do an inventory of stuff on the boat. Should be okay for water at Reedham then!

Water, water everywhere, but... Yes I know, we could boil it. We’re just too lazy.

Oh drat, sounds like it is. I’m struggling to keep up with the latest, so if that’s the case my sympathies to Charlie. Once your puppy gets beyond that recommended weaning stage you want them home with you ASAP. Mind you, any Welsh lockdown should keep my father-in-law a bit safer in Anglesey. I’ve been worried about the virus having a second wave into areas that were previously less affected.

Also, didn’t Mr MM mention that the Barton Turf Water point is turned off during winter? That’s one we find handy, especially if we’ve managed to get under Weyford Bridge to Dilham and need a top up on our way back down the Ant. I feel a list coming on. Hints for both north and south will be most welcome.

I’m sure there was some chat last year about sourcing water during the winter months, but I haven’t yet re-found it. (I think?) I recall someone advising last year that the Reedham water points had the hoses taken away but you could still use them if you have the right hose point connectors. Is that right? Which water points are still available in winter, and which are turned off completely? I also noticed last winter that the shore power posts in Norwich Yacht Station were unavailable. Completely boxed off in metal boxes. What’s the situation elsewhere? I assume the same is true in Yarmouth. What about Reedham though? Are there any other locations where the normal water/shore power facilities are cut off during the winter months?

Yes, you should be able to run the heating when moored up in the evening, but you need to ‘feed’ your batteries earlier in the day in order to do so. The advice from yards is to make sure you have run your engine for at least 3-4 hours each day (preferably whilst cruising). That charges up the batteries so that you can run your heating in the evening, and also heats up your water supply. Beware of using a microwave oven though...that really drains the batteries. Sitting on a mooring running your engine for any length of time won’t make you popular with people moored close by, and the generally accepted convention is that you shouldn’t run engines between 8pm and 8am.

Ex-boat...hasn’t he got a new one?

Ooh! Hope it is! My recollection of bringing Seren home after we picked her up was her throwing up shortly before we got her home. Fortunately, she was none the worse for it and settled in really well. She hasn’t been car sick since either, thank goodness! Glad we’d bought puppy pads to spread over the car in preparation for the journey.

Thanks for another lovely instalment to your holiday tale. I especially like holiday tales that give hints, tips, and info that I haven’t come across before. I hadn’t heard about the Oaklands Hotel venture, nor realised that the Surlingham Ferry Inn served food to your boat. That sounds an excellent thing, as I’m still a bit wary about eating out. Hope they are still doing that when we are next on Moonlight Shadow in February.

I think it's pretty strict, at least when there are still quite a lot of boats around. Not sure if that's the case in the winter on all the moorings but, even in winter, I've noticed that forum members take a dim view of boats that hog the 24hr moorings that have electric. However, a few weeks back, when we had those awful strong winds, I posted about being worried about moving the boat during the storm. The helpful BA spokesperson who sometimes posts here said that the BA would allow boats to overstay the 24hrs in those circumstances, as they wouldn't want people moving their boats if they thought it unsafe to do so.

Did they mean ‘mobo’? = motor boat?

Plus a review on their website (unless they have had so many complaints they’ve disabled the reviews function). There are some lovely looking houseboats on the Broads, sad to hear that the one you are staying in isn’t up to what you hoped for.

He is indeed.

Thanks Jean. Lovely video (as always!), and it was nice to catch a glimpse of Moonlight Shadow. Helen