YnysMon

We’ve only got 4 sleeps to go! What boat are you on? We’ll be scooting off down south for most of the week.

We’ll, if anyone can fettle it, I’m sure Bridgecraft can!

I feel the same way Sam. It’s lovely to relive memories of our various trips on Moonlight Shadow. They are starting to become a bit of a blur now.

Coo! Wish we were so lucky!

What about low tree branches on the Ant?

Thanks for the tempting invite. Band practise is relentless though. They hardly ever take any time off. In the past I’ve even been to rehearsal Easter Friday. They break for Christmas week, and that’s just about it. B band (the ‘training’ band I play in) is looking depleted though. A lot of kids who had been in the C and D bands never came back after Covid.

Hope the medication kicks in and you feel better soon Ian.

I’ve been intending to join the quiz for ages. Unfortunately, I prevaricated for too long and have now effectively ruled myself out of the quiz by rejoining the band I used to play with in pre-Covid times. Sorry! (Not sorry for rejoining the band though…really enjoying playing again.)

That does look like a lovely boat. Have a great time Simon. I read somewhere that the warm weather is going to continue next week, so hopefully you’ll be lucky with the weather too.

I think you are spot on Simon. School holiday prices have become ridiculous since schools started fining parents for term time holidays. Besides, judging by the last few years, the weather is as hit and miss in July and August as in September.

It has been more than the usual shock to the system coming back north this year compared to previous years. The southern broads seemed incredibly quiet in May and July.

Maybe the transit, which would be great. We’ll be heading up the Waveney as we have a hankering to go to Oulton Broad. One of our MS owners keeps rhapsodising on about Sunday lunch at the Copper Smokehouse. It’s time we tried it. Though I must check if they have a vegetarian version for Graham and can accommodate the dogs.

Fancy an addition to the flotilla?

Please do Simon. Our takeover time isn’t until 5 Friday, so a bit late for setting off for an evening cruise. Having looked at the tides we’ll most likely start off at a reasonable time Saturday to catch slack water through Yarmouth just before midday. Mind you, if we start off early we could stop off for the dogs to stretch their legs.

I take it you’ll be going south too?

As I mentioned on Kate's 'Springer's Retreat' thread, Graham I thought we'd secured an extra week and a bit in November on Moonlight Shadow. However, that's come to nothing as the swap that resulted in the spare days got cancelled. All is not lost though. Our most recently joined owners can't use their week in October as they used up all their holiday before buying the share, so Graham and I (and Seren and Pozzick naturally) will be on MS from 6th to 13th October and then again from 10th November to 17th. It will be nice to have some time on the boat before the clocks change and when there's still a decent amount of daylight for long cruises. The tides look good for the October week too, so we expect to spend most of that week 'down south'. All being well, I be posting on the 'Carried Away - Live' thread from 6th October. By the way, I posted in the 'Broads Chat' room that we have another share on Moonlight Shadow come up for sale. Have a look over there if you are interested.

A share in the Moonlight Shadow Syndicate has come up for sale. If you are interested please contact the syndicate admin mailbox: admin@moonlightshadow.net. Moonlight Shadow is a self-managed syndicate, the boat being based at Horning Pleasurecraft. The current membership is committed to upgrading the boat in a financially sustainable way (i.e. since becoming self-managed, upgrades have been achieved within our contingency budget without having to ask members to make additional contributions over the monthly fee). We had a new carpets fitted in 2020, a new engine in January 2022, the saloon upholstery was replaced in February this year and we've recently replaced our gas cooker. A new prop was fitted a few weeks ago and members on board since then have reported that the boat is a lot more responsive. Priorities on upgrades get reviewed annually at our autumn AGM, and we have plans! Further information about the boat and how the syndicate works can be found on our website: https://moonlightshadow.net Our turnaround day is Friday, the boat being vacated by 2pm at the latest and available to the next owner from 5pm onward.

Glad you’ve discovered Geldeston Dyke. The bank is a bit rough, and you need to take great care stepping off your boat as some bits that look like grass are just overhanging the Dyke (water), but we prefer it to the moorings at The Locks.

Us!

Good news. I checked with our choir admin person. The Ely trip is off! So that’s us sorted for an extended stay on MS.

You’ll be fine. There have been a few times when I’ve wondered whether the Breydon crossing would be a bit rough but have realised that, even if it’s windy, when you have a ‘following sea’ (wind and tide in the same direction) it’s a doddle. Just avoid foggy conditions (as in ‘Coot Club’) Err, well, maybe. It feels good to get back to what feels like pre-Covid life though. Last week the conductor of the band I’ve returned to asked if Alec would be interested in returning. After some persuasion and trepidation Alec came long this evening, and he really enjoyed it. He’s on bass trombone, I’m on second trombone. Feels like old times.

I didn't realise the Lido was still open. I must check it out some time.

Err...I forgot to check my diary. I've realised that I'm supposed to be singing in Ely Cathedral on the weekend of 5th and 6th November - DOH! At least we'll have a few extra days, 12 instead of 17, so that's still good.

You don't know what you're missing Jean. It always feels a bit of a let down if we can't do 'the crossing' on any of our trips. I have good news about November. Moonlight Shadow has spare days before our next trip, and no one else in the Syndicate wanted them, so we are going to have an extra long stay for our next trip - 17 days!!!!! How good is that! If the weather allows, we'll hopefully make it down south.

There are ‘no mooring’ signs along the whole stretch of the Whitlingham moorings. That’s a real shame, we used to like mooring there as it was so handy for taking the dogs for a good walk. Some boaters (possibly liveaboards) are clearly ignoring the no mooring signs, but that doesn’t mean that the rest of us should ignore such signs. Just because someone else ignores ‘the rules’ doesn’t mean that it’s okay.