YnysMon

Another brilliant vlog from David of ‘Cruising the Cut’.

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Friday 22nd July No photos from today. It was just a morning spent going around to Boulter's and clearning. I woke around 4 again, still feeling desperately tired but also the sore throat had got worse and I now had feverish aches and pains. I did drop off to sleep again around 6, but Alec got up around 6.30’ish and started stomping around the saloon taking down the blinds and saying hello to Seren (he wasn’t really stomping – it’s just that he woke me and I was feeling tired and grumpy). I made some coffee around 7 and then we set to packing and cleaning. We had an appointment for 9am at Boulter’s for our re-fuel and pump-outs. This time I did as advised and went further up the dyke to turn around before trying to reverse into Boulter’s. I was also much easier without having a breeze to contend with. With the boys’ help we managed to finish cleaning by just after mid-day. I felt lucky that Alec did some of the jobs I would have done, cleaning the interior windows and vacuuming, as I was still feeling rotten. We stopped off at the Station Smokehouse in Wroxham on the way home and had a takeaway. Alec loved his meal, but I must admit I didn’t. Perhaps it was because I was under the weather, but I’m not really keen on American style servings. The burger I had chosen (topped with avocado, halloumi and smoke bacon) was just too much – huge slabs of halloumi and bacon which, though tasty, was so strong tasting it was difficult to taste anything else. It was nicely cooked though, and I know lots of people love the food from the Station Smokehouse, so my views are very much personal preference. Anyway, as you will have guessed by now, I had a serious attack of grumpiness today. Luckily it didn't present itself outwardly, even when Alec knocked my drink over. We had a good journey home without delays, getting home around 5’ish. The traffic going in the opposite direction was very heavy – probably the start of the really busy season, as the schools were breaking up today in most areas. We have been lucky this week in that it hasn’t been too busy on the rivers. I must say that I’m preferring the routine of leaving the boat by 2pm on Fridays and picking up after 5pm, rather than leaving the boat late afternoon/evening Friday and picking the boat up early afternoon Saturday, as we used to do at Brooms. This evening I did a lateral flow test, which confirmed that I have Covid. So that’s why I’ve been feeling so tired and grumpy! I spent the next half hour or so letting various people know: the people on the boat after us; Malcolm and Debbie, who we met up with on Wednesday; church, as I was supposed to be playing the organ at Sunday morning’s service; my boss. Thank goodness I was well for most of the week. We really have had an exceptional week, both weather wise and in enjoying each other's company, so I can't complain. It was great meeting up with Malcolm and Debbie too. (Just hope I didn't given them Covid!) We are next on MS from 30th December which is a very long time to wait. However, if all goes well, we hope to be on Water Rail for 12 days in September. Dave has suggested that, if the tides are right, we might even be able to get under 'the bridge'. Now wouldn't that be excellent! Even if we can't, we are very much looking forward to returning to the Broads.

Thursday 21st July Our last full day, and we weren’t quite sure what to do with ourselves. Graham was wanting to visit a DIY store, so it was either Latham’s or Roy’s DIY. Although we had said to Malcolm and Debbie that we might see them in Latham’s we decided we were more likely to get the items that Graham wanted in Roy’s. We were also looking forward to the longer cruise. I was feeling distinctly ropey this morning. Waking up at 4am with a slight sore throat and not being able to get back to sleep didn’t help. The boys helmed most of the trip up to Wroxham. Passing through Horning. As always this time of the year, the river above Horning was busy with day boats. Approaching Wroxham. I had phoned Barnes Brinkcraft as we were passing Wroxham Broad. They advised that we could moor on their new area just beyond the main yard, either on an inner pontoon or stern on backing onto the road and it would cost us £7. That seemed a bit steep for just an hour or two, but cheaper than other options. We took the opportunity to get rid of some of our rubbish and recycling whilst we were there. As I still felt really tired, Graham and the boys went off to do a spot of shopping whilst I stayed on board with Seren. She moped about in the aft cabin until they returned – she dislikes it when any of us leave, but especially Graham. They weren’t that long, and we had another cheese and bread lunch when they got back, using the Ludham bakery bread, which was still tasting lovely and fresh. After lunch, we set off back downstream, having a mooch around Wroxham Broad on the way. We stopped at the refurbished day-visitor moorings at Hoveton Great Broad and had a chat with the warden there before the boys and I walked around the board walk. The warden was full of interesting information and there were information boards here and there around the board walk, some of them about the Broad and the conservation scheme and others about individual plants growing in that area and their properties e.g. herbal uses – normally you could easily identify the plant. All in all, I thought it was a lovely and interesting place to visit. Having set off again, we had a quick detour in and out of Salhouse Broad, and then returned on our way to our base at Horning. Southern Comfort was just setting off and we followed her down 'The Street'. We arrived back at base mid-afternoon. It looked like the other syndicate boats had the same idea, as everyone was back on their home moorings. It was a lovely sunny afternoon, still fairly warm but breezy. Harry took the dinghy out for one last sail. I had intended to cook on a BBQ this evening, but thought I’d better check whether BBQs were allowed with the Marina first. The lady in the office went to consult colleagues and came back saying no (very apologetically) as the Fire Service had recently issued advice that, with the extremely dry conditions, that BBQs should be avoided. I thought that was fair enough and responsible of them. When we got back to MK the following day I noticed a couple of items on the BBC Norfolk news about some wild fires that had started in nearby woodland/natural areas that had spread and destroyed people’s homes in a couple of villages, so I think the advice from HPC was spot on. I made a frittata this evening, using some left over new potatoes, onion, red pepper and courgettes. I always end up with a surplus of food – must plan better next time! Late afternoon a large party of 10–11-year-olds turned up for a mass paddle board session. Some of them had individual paddle boards, but there were also a couple of very large paddle boards that 4-5 of them could fit on. They all paddled off toward the river without falling off. A while later they returned and that seemed to be the time when they could mess about and jump in, if they wished. It was very noisy but delightful. It’s great seeing kids have so much fun. I went to bed before 8 this evening, having felt more and more ropey as the day progressed.

Wednesday 20th July It had been a very hot night. Since the first night, when I thought I’d been bitten on the lip by a mozzie, we had been keeping the windows shut overnight. As my lip had only been swollen Saturday, Sunday and part of Monday, I had concluded it must have been a mozzie bite – there’s no way that a cold sore that was that swollen would have gone down so quickly. Thankfully it was cooler this morning, with cloud cover. A welcome relief after all that heat. Before setting off, Graham and I cleaned the saloon windows, as they were fairly cruddy after being under the trees. We set off around 8am again, this time upriver, thinking we might go to Richardson’s to get some water and try to offload some rubbish/recycling. A final look back at our wild mooring. On our way across Barton Broad I recalled that someone on the forum had mentioned that the water point at Barton Turf was still available, despite the moorings having been closed, so we went there instead of Stalham. The rubbish bins and bottle recycling bin were still available there too, so that was handy. Boat watered and rubbish disposed, we set off again across a slightly choppy Barton Broad and down the Ant. I had texted Malcolm (Mouldy) earlier about possibly meeting up and we were planning to try for a mooring in Womack Dyke so that we could meet up at the King’s Arms, Ludham this evening for their carvery. We had a brief shower of rain shortly after we joined the Bure. It wasn't too long though before Seren could stick her head out again to see what was going on. We got to Womack before 11 and grabbed our favourite mooring in the dyke – the wild mooring near the entrance. Once we were moored, I set off in search of Malcolm and Debbie, as I knew from Malcolm's latest text that they had already moored up further down on the BA moorings. I was surprised at the state of the path and am not sure what’s happened this year in comparison to previous years, when the path along the dyke bank was well maintained and cut back. This year it was really overgrown. After having a bit of a chat with Malcolm and Debbie I returned to MS, collected the boys and we set off up to the village, leaving Graham and Seren on board. We visited the butchers to get some BBQ meats for tomorrow and some pies for our lunch, Throwers (which seems to have become a lot more expensive) and, on the way back to the boat, the Horsefen Road bakery. I spent rather a lot there – buying a loaf, some Portuguese tarts and a sweet treat for each of us: Portuguese burnt cheesecake, a cookie, brownie and pecan pie. It was worth it though! After we'd eaten our pies, Graham went for a sail down the dyke toward the Thurne. When he got back, we both had a sail up the dyke, which was a bit more tricky as the wind was very fluky. Just after setting off we heard Malcolm’s drone overhead – typical – he caught us just as we were struggling! We whiled away the rest of the afternoon, mostly reading. Malcolm had booked a table for early evening, and they had already set off by the time we were on our way. I’d forgotten that they needed to allow extra time for their dog, as she’s slowing down now that she’s older. On our way to the village... We were impressed with the carvery – there was a choice of either topside or rib for the beef, either smoked or unsmoked gammon and turkey, and a huge range of veggies. Graham enquired about the nut-roast, and they said that it would take 5 minutes to prepare. The boys didn’t have the carvery, Alec had ham with egg and chips (he said the ham was very nice) and Harry had scampi and chips. We didn’t stay up long when we got back to the boat and were in bed before dark.

Wouldn’t we all. Yep, we have straw too.

Typical Anglesey too.

That looks like a wonderful crop of goodies. I’m afraid I haven’t even visited our plot since being home. No energy! (Me, that is.) Alec watered the plot yesterday and I’m hoping Harry will this evening.

Judging by the prices you’ve pulled that one out of the archives, or are they keeping their prices low by not over complicating their menu?

Tuesday 19th July We didn’t set off until after 8 this morning, but that was probably too early. Spirit of Breydon passed us again. Looks fun! I should have learned by now that it never takes as long to go from Polkey’s Mill to Gt Yarmouth as I expect. Low water wasn’t due until 8.30am, and I usually like to arrive at Yarmouth at least half an hour after slack, if not more, but we got there shortly after 9.30. Still, the water was fairly slack as we turned up the Bure, so that was okay. We had an uneventful journey up the Bure, though it the day was getting hotter and hotter. We kept the screens down and roof up again, but the onshore breeze was behind us today, so not as cooling. As we were approaching Ludham Bridge I was slightly alarmed to see someone in the river. It wasn't just a casual swimmer though, it looked like he was rescuing something that had fallen/blown into the river. We made our way up the Ant, hoping to find a shady wild mooring and found just what we were looking for in sight of the bend before Irstead. It was getting on for 2pm now, so the shade from the overhanging trees was much appreciated. Shortly after we arrived I heard a splash and thought that Seren might have fallen in. It was Alec, who had decided he'd cool off. He didn't actually swim, but just had a short dip. I made us some quesadillas again, using the leftover beans & sweetcorn and salsa that I had made a couple of days ago. I used more cheese this time though and some tomato and jalapeno burger relish, so they were tastier than the ones I’d made on Sunday. After lunch the boys rowed off upriver to Barton Broad, to do some sailing. They didn’t come back until after 6 and reported that the dinghy had sailed really well, not quite as responsive as a Hunter’s Yard dinghy, but much better than other dinghies we have hired from boat yards. Pretty stable too, as dinghies go. Meanwhile, Graham and I spent and afternoon reading. I went to sit at the stern with a glass of wine and some swan food. At first it was just one swan monopolising the swan food, but another two turned up later. I was enjoying my book: Richard Osman’s ‘The Thursday Murder Club’. I was enjoying it so much that I had bought the sequel at Waterstone’s yesterday. We had a light supper, just some salad, bread, cheese (for Graham), smoked mackerel and salmon pate (for me and the boys) and then another early night.

It will be annoying if the Whitlingham moorings stay shut due to problems with a few people who break the rules and overstay. It’s a great place to stop and take the dog for a walk.

Monday 18th July We got up at around 6 this morning and set off asap, the engine checks having been done yesterday evening. By the way, we had a good fist-full of weed out of the weed filter this morning. Today and tomorrow were forecast to have very high temperatures, so the long cruise that we were planning was a good idea (much cooler travelling along, catching the breeze) but going to Norwich (city – baking hot), not such a bright idea. The morning started pleasantly warm, and we took the roof down long before we got to Beccles. As we would be arriving in Beccles a couple of hours before low water, we also took the precaution of taking down the windscreen. Alec had switched to sleeping in the bunk room last night instead of the sofa, so it was a while before either of the boys got up. Alec got up first and made himself a breakfast of fried egg and kippers. He had bought himself a kipper in Tesco yesterday, as he hadn't had kippers before. Alec then took the helm shortly after we passed North Cove. Just north of Somerlayton he overtook Albion, and she followed us into the New Cut. Shortly after passing Albion we decided that it was getting a little too warm, so Graham and Alec brought the roof back up, leaving the windscreen down, and again propping the rear screen open to encourage the breeze to flow through the boat. Alec took over the helm again. Luckily, we managed to take advantage of outgoing tide all the way down the Waveney, the tide was pretty slack in the New Cut and had turned by the time we got to the far end. Then it had turned whilst we moored at Norwich, so we were able to cruise the whole day with the tide. We took care approaching Norwich as there were quite a few swimmers around the Thorpe Marshes area. We arrived about 1.30 and paid the day rate at the Yacht Station. Originally, we had planned to do Norwich on Tuesday, which would have worked out a lot better. Almost every place we wanted to visit in Norwich was closed on Mondays, including the fabric shop I normally visit, the second-hand bookstore and the games shop, both on Elm Hill, that Harry wanted to take Alec to, and the Japanese restaurant (Shiki) that we’d planned to have lunch in. Graham wanted to stay on the boat. He had stripped the varnish off another section of kitchen worktop edging during our journey and had plans to do a first coat of varnish. It’s not really practical to take Seren into the city centre anyway. Norwich was scorching. Having found out that Shiki was closed we just went to the nearest restaurant that looked open, which happened to be Zizzi just across the road. We had a pleasant lunch in Zizzi, and it felt a lot cooler indoors. Some brave souls were actually dining outside! We loved how very well chilled the beer was, as were the glasses. The food was pretty good too. Harry’s pizza was ginormous and, as he had chosen a vegetarian version, was able to take a leftover portion back to the boat for his dad. Alec had lasagne and I had a spicy meatballs and pasta dish. When we stepped outside after our meal it was like entering a dry hot-room in a spa. The other things we wanted to do in Norwich were visit a bookstore (Waterstones, opposite the castle) and Morrisons. At least it was cool inside both the stores, which gave us some respite. By the time we had done our shopping the afternoon was waning, and we left Norwich sometime after 4pm. Apart from some water-skiers downriver from Brundall, there was hardly anything on the river, and lots of room at the majority of moorings. Originally, we had thought to just moor somewhere outside Norwich, but Graham had suggested we go downriver as far as possible this evening, to be closer to Yarmouth for the early’ish tide tomorrow and to be nearer the sea. We managed to get to Polkey’s Mill shortly before sunset, but only by chugging on and not stopping for supper. I ate mine at the helm as we cruised along. Most of the moorings that we passed were very quiet, not busy at all. The bridge at Reedham (unsurprisingly) wouldn't open. Below Reedham. There were lots of birds congregating on the roof and sails of Polkey's Mill, but they all flew off shortly before the sun set. Once we were moored up, we just had a pre-beddy drink and an early night. Last time we had moored at Polkey’s Mill (June last year) we had a fair amount of bow slap once the tide turned in the night, so I was half expecting that again. However, I needn’t have worried. Last time there was a fair breeze blowing, so the bow slap must have been due to that. We had a very peaceful night.

I didn’t spot the no mooring signs, but then I didn’t look very hard as there was a boat moored up there.

Sunday 17th I woke later this morning, just after 6am and woke Graham around 7am. We wanted to get under Beccles Old Bridge this morning, low tide wasn’t until getting on for 10 but we had plenty of clearance with canopy and screen down. It normally only takes about 45mins to an hour to get up to Geldeston, so we had a very short cruise this morning. Under the bridge. Geldeston Dyke was weedy. Moored up in Geldeston Dyke. Harry took Seren for a walk along the bank toward the main river. She came back wet, having gone into the river – something almost unheard of, as she’s not very fond of water. Sheltering from the sun. I phoned Pitch and Paddle – that’s the campsite on the opposite bank – and booked a couple of paddle boards for the boys for late afternoon. It’s not something they’ve tried before. Shortly after that Harry and Alec both went off in the dinghy in the direction of The Locks, leaving the mast and sail behind. Graham and I settled down to relax. When the boys came back, I made some quesadillas filled with cheese, black beans and sweetcorn and a salsa made from chopped red peppers, red onion and tomatoes. We had a very quiet and hot afternoon – even though it’s not yet reached the high temperatures forecast for the next few days. We lowered the windscreen and brought the canopy back up and then propped open the rear screen in a Heath-Robinson manner with a handy bucket. The dark blue mats were used to protect the roof gelcoat from the bolts on the corners of the screen. Graham also rigged up some bamboo and netting to stop Seren wandering into the well of the boat unsupervised. The syndicate member who had been on the boat last week had left some fans with USB connectors on board, that we were able to plug into the 12v socket. They did come in handy this week! Harry later connected a couple of them to his solar charger. Shortly before 4, Graham rowed the boys across to the other side of the dyke to the campsite so that they could go and pick up their paddle boards. They both enjoyed themselves. Harry said that Alec had fallen in, but Alec claimed he’d just fancied a dip as it was so hot. When they returned, Graham lit our BBQ. I had intended to serve steaks (veggie burger for Graham) with new potatoes and the last of our allotment broad beans. As it was so hot, I cooked the veggies in advance, and we had those cold with the steaks/burgers. The steaks weren’t really cooked to my liking as the charcoal wasn’t very hot, despite our having waited until it was well lit. We had bought the type of charcoal which comes with four pre-packed ‘portions’ - just light the paper packing and go. We had another game or two of dominoes and then another early night. Planning another early start tomorrow morning.

Saturday 16th Our 39th wedding anniversary. The alarm was set for 5.30 this morning, as we thought we should start off around 6am. However, I woke shortly before 5 and checked out the Aweigh App to see when it was predicting low tide at Gt Yarmouth to be. The tide table I had printed out before our holiday had predicted low tide to be around 7.30am, but the Aweigh App said 6.15am. That’s a bit of a difference! I woke Graham and we hastily readied for the off, raising the mud weight. I kept our revs really low going across the Broad and up the whole of Fleet Dyke, to try to minimise disturbing other boaters, so it took us a good half hour or more to get to the Bure. Once on the Bure we looked out for somewhere we could moor briefly to let Seren off to ‘do her business’ and stopped just upriver from a pumping station. Alec took the helm shortly after that and took us through Acle, Stokesby and Stracey Arms, then Harry had a turn and took us through Yarmouth and across Breydon. The tide turned before we got to Marina Quays and the first board showed that we had just under 8’. We had taken the windscreen down, so that wasn’t an issue. The second marker board nearer the Yacht Station showed 7’9” though, and the one just before the first bridge said 7’6”, so it seemed that the tide was rising fast! We need 6’10”, so we still had plenty of clearance. As we neared the yellow post, we could see the tide ahead of us in the main channel rushing up toward Breydon, so Harry kept well clear of the post and headed downriver until we got into the incoming stream of water. We were pushed under the road bridge at a rapid pace (just over 9mph, despite using moderate revs). All in all, we concluded that the Aweigh App had probably been accurate. One of the posts before the road bridge. Breydon Water was very quiet, there being one other boat in the distance ahead of us. A private boat on the plane passed us and set the boat bobbing nicely through her wash. Spirit of Breydon passed us as we neared the confluence of the Yare and Waveney. We had intended to get as far as Geldeston this evening, clearance under the old Beccles Bridge permitting. However, given the tide was at least an hour earlier than we had expected, we decided this plan was unrealistic and phone to book at Beccles instead. Although we were able to book a slot on the ‘office side’, I was warned that we would be unlikely to be able to plug in the electric. As we were now in no particular hurry, we thought we would take the opportunity to stop at the re-opened Burgh Castle moorings and take a walk to the Roman Fort, as the boys hadn’t been there before. Seren had a good run around too. The view from Burgh Castle. We got on our way again around 11am and had a lovely quiet cruise to Beccles. Graham got out the Brasso that we had brought with him and was rather pleased how well the clock came up as when polished. Alec made us some sweetcorn fritters and (for the meat eaters) fried (tinned) bacon grill. The spot reserved for Moonlight Shadow was right at the river end of the south (office) side of the Yacht Station, and all the sockets in the nearest electric post were taken. Not a problem, as we didn’t really need electric, though it would have been convenient for Graham to be able to use the microwave. His eyelids occasionally become inflamed, so he’s been advised to use an eye mask that is heated in the microwave when that happens. The Yacht Station wasn’t that busy though, and there was a large space near the office reserved for the wherry Albion. We wandered along the quayside to see if we could have a glimpse of Tabitha Rose, a boat that Dave (JanetAnne) has recently acquired. She was still under her winter covers, though we gather that Dave is hoping that she’ll be ship-shape enough to join in the festivities for the Wooden Boat show in August. As I was returning along the quay to MS I spotted that a socket had become free on the post nearest to us, but also that the couple of remaining spaces no longer had reserved boards. The Station Master confirmed that he’d had a couple of cancellations and we moved MS to be closer to the electric point. The first thing that Harry had done when we arrived was to row the dinghy downriver of the road bridge so that he could raise the mast and do some sailing. Graham wanted to stay with the boat, so that left Alec and I free to go into town to get a fresh loaf and some other bits and pieces. My first priority was to go to Boots as I wanted to get some advice from a pharmacist. I had woken this morning with a very swollen lower lip. I initially assumed I must have been bitten on or near my lip by the mozzie I’d heard flying around our cabin last might. Having heard it, I had liberally covered myself with Avon ‘Skin So Soft’, so my lips had probably been the only unprotected bit of me. Graham thought it looked more like a cold sore though, if it was that, it had come up remarkably quickly and I hadn’t had the normal tingling sensation that normally precedes a cold sore. Anyway, I thought I looked like someone who’d had a ‘gone wrong’ lip filler cosmetic procedure. The pharmacist suggested I hedge my bets with both core sore treatment and antihistamine tablets. We had a look in Roy’s, but they didn’t have any fresh bread left, other than pre-packaged sliced, nor a good selection of cheese, so we ended up going to Tesco’s. When we got back Albion arrived. We relaxed for the rest of the (very warm) afternoon and had an early bread, cheese and chutney supper before having a few games of dominoes and then an early night. There's only one master.

So, back to the main blog of the trip... Moonlight Shadow – Trip 11 Friday 15th July Having been rather lazy about packing yesterday, it was getting on for mid-morning by the time we set off. The car was even more packed than usual, despite our efforts not to take quite so much but, on the other hand, we did have both our sons with us on this trip. It’s the first time they have both been able to join us. Seren didn't have much wriggle room. We had a good journey, despite the contra-flow for the roadworks near Wymondham, and got to the Lidl near Postwick around 12.30pm. Although there was very little room left in the car once we had done our Lidl shop, we also stopped off at Roy’s. Graham had forgotten to bring the dog mat he normally places on the dash (to prevent Seren from scratching it) and Harry and I needed to buy towels – we’d both assumed that Graham had packed ones for us, as he normally does that. We also went into the food hall to get bread and a few other odds and ends. We are now supposed to pick the boat up at Horning Pleasurecraft (HPC) at 5pm, but we took a chance and arrived earlier, just in time to catch Malcolm (Mouldy) and his wife Debbie (on their boat Norfolk Lady this week) who had popped into Horning Pleasurecraft (HPC) to put a new fender basket on Moonlight Shadow’s pulpit rail and leave some photos, to replace the faded pictures that we have on board. The first thing that Graham did was to pick up the sailing dinghy that we had hired for the week. The syndicate member who had been on board last week had messaged to let us know that he had left the boat late morning and that the cleaner was on board, also that he had paid HPC to clean the exterior. We had loaded the boat before a lad came around to clean the boat. Meanwhile, Harry had pointed out to me the state of Alec’s trainers, the sole of one was coming adrift, so boing the annoying Mum I am, I insisted that we go and search for a new pair. We also wanted to get some new picture frames for the boat, to do justice to Malcolm’s photos, so we went to Latham’s and managed to get some not-too-cheap-looking trainers and some decent picture frames. By the time we got back it was getting on for 5pm and the lad that had cleaned the boat had finished. However, although the boat's decks and roof had been brushed down and washed down very thoroughly, the windows hadn't been dried off, so the dried droplets were very visible. Graham cleaned the windows before we set off. After that we got on our way as quickly as possible. Most people had already moored up for the night, so there wasn’t much traffic on the river. Before booking the dinghy, we had planned to go down to Acle or Stracey Arms, as we wanted to go through Yarmouth around 8.30am tomorrow morning. However, as we had the dinghy, we thought we’d take the opportunity to mud weight, so we headed in the direction of South Walsham Broad. That worked out well, although Graham had to winch the mud weight down manually as the electric winch wasn’t working. We had been warned about it before leaving HPC. We finished unpacking and Harry set in place the new pennant that Graham had made. Alec went for a row around the inner broad. The rest of us just chilled out. I was too tired to do much about dinner this evening, so we just had some pesto with pasta. As I was serving dinner, we all heard some disco music. We wondered who on earth would come along to such a peaceful location and play such raucous music. The music got louder, and before long Southern Comfort appeared and cruised around the boats that were mud weighted. It looked like it might have been a private hire, as there were Happy Birthday balloons strewn around Southern Comfort. Before we settled down for an early night, Graham and Harry took Seren ashore in the dinghy. It took them a while to find the tiny staithe (dinghies only) and Seren whined the whole way there and back. Harry took at shot of the Broad and has marked up where MS was. We had a beautiful sunset.

Normal service on the main 'Carried Away' thread will be resumed now. I probably won't be posting on this thread until we have our next trip on MS from 30th December, though we are hoping to be back on the Broads before that.

I hope so too. My cousin suggested I isolate, if it wasn’t too late. I think having the symptoms for the first 24 hours on a relatively confined boat and then the car journey home makes isolation a bit pointless.

We’ll we are home. Had a good journey back, as the traffic in our direction was flowing, can’t say the same for the other direction though! I slept part of the way as I’ve been feeling pretty ropey since yesterday, which rather spoiled the end of the holiday. I went to bed before 8 yesterday evening, but managed to do my bit in cleaning MS this morning. I have cold/flu symptoms. I did a lateral flow test when I got home and…yep, it’s positive. I count myself fortunate to have gone so long without catching it.

There was a more 'mature' couple having a go later in the evening. So they've probably got just the right course for you.

Snitch! It was worth it though. I am desperate for sleep this evening, having woken at 4 this morning, but I couldn’t resist the pecan pie I bought yesterday. I’ll probably wake again tonight with a sugar rush.

Yes, so I'd heard. That will a lot more convivial. By the way, it hasn't exactly been peaceful in the basin this evening, as they had a large party of kids (age 10-11'ish) learning to paddle board. They were having a wonderful time. It was joyous to watch...if a little noisy. 😊

We had originally thought to follow Malcolm and Debbie to PH and Latham's this morning, but after some consideration Graham decided he was more likely to get the items that he wanted in Roy's DIY,. besides, we thought the longer cruise would be good for our final day. It cost us £7 to moor up in Barnes Brinkcraft for a couple of hours, but I suppose that was cheaper than paying the pilot so that we could moor the other side of the bridge. On the way back down to Horning we stopped at the daytime visitor moorings at Hoveton Great Broad and the boys and I went around the boardwalk. It was a lot longer than I anticipated with a lot of informative signs dotted here and there about the plants growing there. The warden on duty was full of information too, so it was well worth the visit, even if Graham had to stay with Seren. We got back to Horning Pleasurecraft shortly after 3pm. Several other syndicate boats had also returned or did so shortly after us. Shame we are on the opposite side!

That's a bit impractical for some families. If they want a boat with good facilities that's often only affordable if you do it was an extended family or friends.

Yes, I'm sure that will be the case. We try to avoid school holidays, so when we were originally allocated the August bank holiday week we swapped for this week with syndicate members who have grandchildren.