YnysMon

That’s the problem, you can’t. I’m pretty sure that a minority of first time hirers don’t even bother reading the skipper’s handbook provided, so sending them info in advance might not make much difference. I’m a bit nerdy as far as holidays go, and scour the internet for information about the locality that we are due to visit. It was the same for the Broads. I watched the Videos that Richardson’s had posted on YouTube, the ones by the BA and Hunter’s Yard and lots of Captains Blogs. I read every scrap of info on lots of websites, including these two that I found most useful: https://www.mynorfolkbroadsboating.co.uk/ http://www.broadsnet.co.uk/ Over the years I’ve collected all the info into a Word document, organising it by river, from upstream to downstream, so I can see at a glance the bridge heights, facilities, pubs and so on for the area we are passing through or mooring at. Maybe I should correct a ‘bit’ nerdy to ‘very’!

Andrew has a very valid point. It probably depends on the individual giving the handover and their training. However, what stuck me in the first few motor hire handover that we had was the amount of information that just didn’t sink in. Our first one was on a Ferry Marina boat, and I recall asking Graham a couple of times afterwards...where did he say the **** was? We were familiar with boats (Graham’s Dad used to have a small boat yard in Anglesey). We had also hired a Hunter’s Yard sailey the previous year, but we still found it a challenge to take all the handover information in. I found myself referring to the Skippers Handbook more than once. It was the same with NBD the following year. I think most humans have a limit to the amount of new information we can absorb in a short space of time. I don’t think I’m particularly deficient in absorbing new info, but anyway, that’s my experience. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be a complete boating newbie and try to absorb all that information. Not just about the workings of the boat, but also rules of the rivers, Breydon crossing, etc. If you are particularly nervous about it, that’s probably another barrier to absorbing the info. Just wow! Any newbies reading this...don’t despair! I would just suggest trying to do some preparation in advance. It’s not that difficult really. There are so many videos and other online sources available to help you.

Maybe there haven’t been the outlets for it recently. Dave had a supply, we got be on Water Rail this year. Last year we picked one up in the Alfresco Tea Rooms in Ludham.

Wish I could afford to buy Chameleon!

Thanks the for extra tips Liz, and for the tip about the rudder Peter. I noticed that it was much easier turning one way than the other.

Thanks very much for the advice Peter.

That’s worrying! I hope the Yards will be giving people more advice about the Breydon crossing. I know it’s in the skippers handbooks but wonder if some people read them.

Thanks for posting Peter. We are hoping to make it past Bishop’s Bridge next week, so it’s super helpful to have a ‘preview’.

If that’s the case then you should be in a fairly sheltered spot. You can go up to Dilham (go upriver under the bridge) or downriver to the fork in the river where you can go to Stalham or Sutton or even Barton Turf. However, as Andrew has suggested, venturing out on the Broads (the wider expanses of waters linking the rivers) wouldn’t be good, so don’t recommend you go onto Barton Broad which is just downriver from Stalham, Sutton and Barton Turf. Have a look on Google maps to check out where those places are before setting out. Personally, I think the river up towards Dilham is magical. Wayford Bridge is fairly low, so bigger boats can’t get up there. Should be peaceful!

Where are you picking up the day boat from? If it’s somewhere like Wroxham most of the river is quite sheltered by trees, so you shouldn’t have as much wind as you might have on more exposed areas of the rivers. Day boats tend to be a bit more manoeuvrable and less prone to ‘catching the wind’ than bigger boats anyway. If you are picking up the boat from Waveney River Centre I would suggest going up river toward Beccles as that’s nicely tree lined, not downriver where it’s really exposed with flat land either side.

Just go with the flow. However., depends whether you want a mooring close to a pub. You’d probably need to moor up early if that’s the case. You can book moorings at some pubs but not all. Anyway, if you are just looking for pub moorings you would probably miss out on a lot. Although there are lots of free BA moorings don't overlook wild moorings, they can be the most peaceful. Great fun getting those rhond anchors out for the first time. Although the tide is less noticeable ‘up north’, having an idea of what the tide is doing is helpful (the ‘Aweigh’ App is good for this), and ‘down south’ even more so (I hate plugging away against the tide, seems such a waste of effort).

If doing a late crossing check with the Yacht Station that there are moorings available. That time we had to moor at the emergency mooring we had done that, but by the time we got to GY there wasn’t much space even though it was early in the season. I have belatedly realised that they used to allow double mooring, so I guess we could have done that. Double mooring isn’t currently allowed, so more cause to check out in advance.

Have all those pesky hirers from northern hire companies gone back ‘home’ then? p.s. I don’t really mean the ‘pesky’, all our hires have been up north.

Wow, that’s a cautionary tale and a half! I was very worried about our first crossing of Breydon as it had been pretty windy overnight. I struck lucky though. When we got onto Breydon the wind was behind us and working with the incoming tide, so it wasn’t even choppy.

We went from south to north on a latish tide a while ago on an NBD boat. We ended up mooring on an emergency pontoon about a mile before Stracey Arms, it was getting very close to sunset and there was poor light. Personally, I wouldn’t consider goIng through Great Yarmouth outside the normal Slack tide window, but then I tend to be cautious. We have found that half an hour to an hour after slack tide is ideal. Our problem about 18 months ago was due to us going through GY on the advised slack water time and then we found we were having to slog up the Bure against the tide that was still outgoing on a boat that struggled with higher revs. (We have been on another similar NBD boat that was fine with higher revs). As far as I’m concerned, it’s not crossing Breydon that’s the issue, it’s when the tide is forcing itself up the narrower rivers. Our last couple of weeks on Moonlight Shadow were in November and February when the tides were not helpful, so we just resigned ourselves to staying down south. Is not as though that’s a hardship.

Beautiful!

That’s a really good write up for Bridgecraft. Boats do have problems now and again, but the way they are dealt with by the boatyard makes such a difference.

Judging by online reviews (Google/Trip Advisor) Mr NN’s experience of The Water’s Edge isn’t unique. Shame really, because a lot of the reviews mirror Alan’s more positive experience of the place.

Cruising is the thing! We do sometimes have a lazy short cruise day, but the days that I love most are the ones where we really push ourselves to travel.

It’s not that bad. Get away from Wroxham and Salhouse and it becomes a lot calmer. Get down south and it gets even more so. Wider rivers mostly, fewer craft on them.

Guess Grendel found that cowl in the river and fished it out (think I recall him mentioning finding it during a swim). There’s nowhere it would fit on Water Rail.

Umm... I just tried to post an advisory word to Jay to say ‘steady!’ and it came out as ‘streaky’. What is is with the spell checker thingamabob?

Here’s wishing you a super week. Hope the weather settles down for you, it’s been a bit showery here in Bucks. Happy cruising!

Yes, that’s my understanding too. Interesting that Ferry Marina and NBD have stuck to the same pricing strategies despite changes in ownership. I guess this season was advertised before the change in ownership though, so I wonder if things will change for future seasons.

The thing is...but who buys the stuff in August? Oh. Hang on...says the person who bought RNLI Ch***mas cards in August a couple of years back. All for a good cause, and not anticipating going to another RNLI shop the rest of the year. (Any excuse!)