YnysMon

Thanks. Our plans for Sunday have now changed. We'll stay down south as we now won't be returning south later in the week, so we might not make it to Upton. Not for Sunday lunch anyway.

The thing that makes me a bit twitchy about Upton is (a) just how many Eastwood Whelpton (EW) boats are going to be moored opposite the Staithe and (b) if the staithe is full and EW also crammed, the prospect of reversing all the way down that narrow Dyke. Might chance it though. If you do manage to moor there it’s magical.

How was turning around down there? We have moored up in the Eastwood Whelpton Yard (on a Hunters boat) in July and there seemed to be lots of room…except that most of their fleet was out. I’ve also walked past in November when all the fleet were there, most with lovely (not) bowsprits facing the staithe.

Mermaid is a lovely name. Good decision.

We’ve been hearing lots of good things about the Kings Arms carvery too. Must try it out sometime! I love Ludham. I have very fond memories of arriving at Ludham on our very first Broads holiday. It was a scorching hot July day and we had arrived far too early for our early afternoon handover at Hunter’s Yard, so we visited the church (lovely and cool in there) and then had lunch at the Alfresco Tearooms before making our way to the boatyard. By the way, I’m very sad that Alfresco’s have closed. Every meal we had there was consistently good.

Cleaning sounds like heavy work! You’ll need to restrain Marina from doing too much.

Congrats to you and Marina. Hope to see you on the rivers sometime.

Thanks Malcolm, lovely photos as always. How was Upton Dyke? Slack water at Yarmouth is around 10am on Sunday, and I was wondering about the feasibility of getting up the Bure in time to go to Upton White Horse for lunch, as we had a lovely Sunday roast there last year.

Glad to see the Moonlight Shadow website is growing in interest. Lovely to see Malcolm’s drone shots. You’ve done an excellent job there Warren.

Yes, we are planning make it up north. We might stay south in July though and miss the summer madness on the northern broads. I do like doing a Braydon crossing though.

Surely Wroxham must have set a record by now for the number of road works over a relatively short period!

I see you’ve discovered the How Hill secret gardens at their peak time. Bluebells, rhododendrons and azaleas. You’ve just reminded me why we need to get up north next week!

Lovely start to your tale Malcolm. We must try to moor at Stalham Staithe sometime, even if it’s just for a trip to Tesco’s like you did (carrying home stuff all the way back to Richardson’s is no joke, especially if you’ve bought some bottled goods…if you know what I mean). Glad you’ve discovered Dilham. We think it’s a gem, as is the Cross Keys. It’s just that pesky Weyford Bridge!

Do it! You won’t get stuck I’m sure. We’ve been across Breydon lots of times now. The highlight of our trips. As long as you pay attention to the tides (and the marker posts) you’ll be fine.

Hope it's quiet next week!

Gosh…that is quiet. Where is everyone?

Lovely news…glad to hear you’ll be back on the Broads soon Pauline. Wish our paths would cross, but we will be there next week…too early! Also disappointed that we’ll miss the meet up. Timings just didn’t work out for us this year, at least not for the meet up.

Garfish is a bit weird. It was the first fish Harry managed to catch when out on a fishing trip with his Grandad. The fishing was successful, not sure about our efforts in cooking it though. The bones green tinge was a bit off putting.

I’m on the fence about Lathams. Yes, a lot of it is tat, but there are good bargains to be had, but only if go in to the store looking for something in particular. It’s the sort of store that can easily suck you in to buying a load of things you don’t really need.

A proper Easter moon. That’s why Easter isn’t a fixed date, it’s associated with the moon and with the Jewish Passover.

I’ve not experienced any problems either. Been using my iPad today. Mind you, I’ve been fairly busy today, so only dipping in occasionally.

You certainly made the most of your first day Malcolm. Glad to see you had such wonderful weather too.

Only one week to go before our next jaunt. As Graham reminds me…only eight sleeps to go! We are glad that our eldest son Harry will be with us again. All we need now is decent weather. (I’ve probably jinxed us by saying that!)

Don’t mind the thread invasion! As well as the new engine members have recently invested in replacing carpets, kitchen flooring and a new mattress in the aft cabin. They were all pretty minor, costs being spread across the syndicate. The big expenditure we were anticipating was the engine replacement, and that’s now been achieved.

Busier? I doubt it, given the number of boatyards that were formerly on the Broads. Mind you, I’ve read several accounts from the late 19th century/ early 20th century where it seemed to be the practice to hire a skipper with your boat, so maybe it was safer, if busier. (Anyone recall those Victorian photos of tourist spots that were crammed with people?)