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I remember it well we drove from Essex to Cornwall December 23rd the whole country was covered in snow until we got 9 miles from Padstow took hours !

Hi Helen we love Loddon and the cruise down the Chet what’s more the Raj deliver a great curry straight to the boat enjoy whatever time you have it’s all any of us can do at the moment stay safe Susan

Ian wishing you the most speedy recovery no place like home Susan

Interesting point about the holiday let and leaving the crockery and cutlery in the dishwasher. we put all our holiday let kitchen wares through a hot cycle every change over but we then unload it back in cupboards maybe we too should leave that for the guests?

How gorgeous I am so jealous hoping to get our own pups sometime in the new year

Neil if it’s any consolation it hardly stopped raining since we have been back in Cornwall hope you are enjoying Lightning despite the weather will you be joining the AGM on Saturday? Susan

We too were on our syndicate boat also moored at Brooms that week and agreed with Helen staying put was the best option. we hired a Broom captain 2 years ago and really liked the boat.

Thanks Helen sad not to get to say hello in person but as you say weather was against it ,better luck next time. I’m sure we could have done that too on Silent although Mick was adamant we didn’t need one I probably panicked him into it.

Thanks Jean , yes we were both ready to come home ,but happy to know we will be back next year March ,May ,July and October virus permitting. LondonGuy normal appliances ? It has a small hairdryer onboard ,a microwave electric kettle and an electric steamer, we are very economical with water shower very quickly use very little we filled water maybe 3 times in the 2 weeks as for pump out we only had 1 during the time ,we had same boat last year for a week filled water once didn’t have Pump out. we used shore power as often as we could so batteries up to 100% we cruised purely on electric sometimes when batteries would then drain down so would use 10 mins of generator to top up .

Fri 2nd. Left hotel at 8am weather fine until we got to about Thetford when it started raining heavily rained almost the whole way home ,traffic heavy in places and we arrived about 3:30 so a seven and a half hour journey,both tired but luckily I have a homemade curry in the freezer so only needs a defrost and heat up. The Month Away We enjoyed the overall time away , we wished our lighting time was earlier in the month ,the 2 weeks on silent were lovely aided by great weather and thoroughly enjoyed,the cottage week seemed to be a bit of a stop gap between boats and not really very good ,by the time we got to Lightning we were both a bit travel weary and added that the weather took a nasty turn it took the shine of off what should have been an exciting time, we still enjoyed it , but are really now looking forward to next March when we are on here again,we could come up for Christmas as we have December 19th. allocated but won’t do that, I’m too much of a traditionalist not to want the full turkey experience. We have the AGM in a couple of weeks time so that will be good to meet the other owners and hopefully pick up some useful tips. Thanks for reading I will upload some photos shortly , I know Mick has a few really great sunrise shots,it’s good to be home ,even though it’s still RAINING! Susan

Thurs 1st. A late start this morning didn’t sleep well feel tired now so after several cups of tea we start packing get the car almost loaded ,then start the cleaning process I hope I left it ok I think I did but you never know other people’s expectations,when I was happy I had done all I could we moved over to the fuel kiosk, had her topped up and pumped out ,back on mooring final bits in car ,rubbish disposed of and a final hoover through and we were done, Mick emailed the next people on board to say we are leaving early just in case they can come up sooner and we head off to the hotel ,by now it’s pouring down,and we get a text to say Micks niece can’t make it. Dinner done without visitors we watch another film from laptop having remembered our lead from the back of Lightning’s tv, lights out early as we want to be on the road about 7:30 to 8 o’clock tomorrow it took us 6:30 hours on way up .

Weds 30th. Finally we wake up to a clear day although again rain is forecast for later, we have breakfast and get ready we head back up toward Norwich as yesterday we missed most of it ,as far as trowels bridge then turn around and cruise back the way we came , I’m at the helm and not as comfortable as I was previously it appears Mick has change the chair setting now my feet are dangling unless I just lean on the edge! We continue downstream in lovely sunshine really enjoying the way the boat handles and watching the scenes as we slowly pass by, not much river traffic about a few but not many,saw a few kingfishers ,a couple of marsh harriers and quite a large bird of prey at the mouth of fleet dyke but I couldn’t identify it? Cloud start to build up so as we have passed Cantley we turn back towards Brundall ,we have made the decision to leave the boat early , we promised Mick niece we would visit her when we were up here and have been here over a month now so although enjoying getting to know lightning we are both really ready to go home and must fit in a visit to Thetford,therefore we head back to the boatyard and moor up, we will pack up tomorrow and leave the boat late afternoon head off to a hotel meet Monique and then leave early Friday morning for Cornwall, weather turning windy and wet again in the next couple of days.

Tues 29th. Woke again to rain is it ever going to stop according to the forecast likely at midday to clear a bit so we decide to stay out until later in the hope it does , destination unknown but we will head toward Norwich maybe turn back who knows . After breakfast we just enjoy watching comings and goings several fishermen have turned up the barge crew finally arrive they take ages sorting it out before heading out ,the other 2 boats depart and as it’s almost stopped raining we decide to do the same ,slowly out of the dyke across the broad sitting on top helm again it’s drizzle but not too bad ,pass Moonlight Shadow and give a wave it’s started to pour down now and we try to stick it out but even well dressed for it we are getting soaked, have to go in passed Brundall it eases again so we go back out of course the seats are all wet now too! Carry on under postwick but it’s getting heavier and heavier so we give in and turn around come into moor at Bramerton been cruising about 2.5 hours not what we wanted but as we sit here we remember we have a meal book at Surlingham ferry inn but decide we will cancel and stay put here now we are on the power and cosy, emergency rations come into play and another film from the laptop , we left the lead in from yesterday. We are hopeful tomorrow will be a better day thinking of a longer cruise but you never know what we will do or where we will go. Just thought I made Mick laugh last night as I prepared the (dinner) I asked him for a screwdriver to open the hotdog can !

Londonguy i would say not it’s a fantastic boat but even Mick a very experienced skipper with this boat as we had same boat last year made some errors it is difficult when there is no engine noise she is electric so runs silently to tell you when you use too much throttle and of course an unreliable bow thruster doesn’t help the yard should really fix that.

Mon 28th. So finally we are set to leave the boatyard at last it has almost stopped raining and the wind has definitely calmed down, see Helen has already left on Moonlight Shadow so after our breakfasts we too prepare to leave , a little daunting really as although we have boated for years and Mick owned his own boat on the Thames estuary this is a shared boat so responsible for all . Mick glides her out slowly thanks again Helen you gave us more room to manoeuvre,once on the river Mick gave me the helm to get used to the boat , we happily cruised downstream from the outside steering position,although it was drizzling it wasn’t too bad we were well dressed for it. Destination undecided as it’s about getting the feel of the boat and how she handles it was lovely though to be back out,headed on down past Rockland passed Cantley almost on to Reedham when we decide to turn around and go back to Rockland if the pub is open we can eat there although we have food onboard. We practiced some moorings along Fleet dyke just to get used to the boat in reality we have moored hundreds of times without issue apart from that last one recently at SW,on to the Staithe and low and behold the sun comes out tempted to carry on cruising ( must be a film) but the Staithe is empty so we stern moor in front of the electric post, went for a lovely walk down towards the village then back along to fleet dyke where we saw deer right in front of us on the footpath no camera though ! Mick hasn’t put the fishing gear onboard as weather was so bad on Saturday so when we get back to the boat we just chill and read for a bit , didn’t look like pub was open so we have our leftovers,watched a film through the laptop ,that was fun trying to get the lead into the HDMI slot on the tele lucky I have thin fingers and hands. Again no plans for tomorrow will see where we end up boat behaving beautifully shame the weathers not.

Sun27th. So glad we stayed out yesterday it was very windy last night and through to this morning still raining not at all promising to clear today ,we are just going to chill out here,had a call from Simon asking if we could replace the Carbon Monoxide detector as he had forgotten to do it yesterday, we popped out in the car and found the large Tesco Extra in North Norwich had to queue a bit to get in still pouring with rain but got one and some kettle descaled which needed doing badly , also got some breakfast juice I had forgotten on Friday. Came back to the boat put the heating on and just sat and relaxed planned a walk but never went out as weather failed to improve even though forecast said it would,ordered a curry for dinner delivered to the boat yard greatly enjoyed it ,watched a film before heading to bed , didn’t have the best nights sleep but was cosy and warm. I forgot to mention an interesting little incident we watched on Friday whilst still in the cottage. A very large probably 50foot old style broads boat was pulled onto the pontoon moorings in front of us by 2 guys ,they were soaked ,then they pulled in another boat not so big looked like a freedom hire boat stern to stern , a gentleman on the first boat and a lady on the second proceeded to empty the contents of one boat into the other, when done including a large container of diesel, the freedom boat was helped back out and left , the large boat was still there when we left on Saturday, it seemed a very strange thing todo on such a terrible day.

Sat 26th. Up early quick tea and coffee it was still pouring with rain not quite so windy though it took a surprisingly long time to pack the car and sort the cottage out , we discovered that we were supposed to take our rubbish down towards the Marina Bar area Mick went out was quite sometime came back saying it was all flooded and ha had had to wade through it to get to bins ,not ideal in fact not really acceptable in my opinion. We finally left just before 10am the time we had to go by ,owning a Holiday cottage ourselves which we have gained visit England 5 star gold accreditation for I’m afraid I am rather judgmental about the ones we stay in , this one although great location was not in my opinion quite up to standard. Left Horning road still flooded and set of to Brundall where we had arranged to meet Simon the chairman of the syndicate to give us our induction into Lightning. Had a lovely few hours with him his enthusiasm is infectious gave a thorough hand over then left us to unpack , we made the decision the other day because of the weather to stay on the mooring tonight and possibly tomorrow will see what the weathers like. All unpacked I cooked the chilli it was blindingly hot I had bought “hot” chillis in Tesco and used 2 not really thinking they would be hot, Mick as normal thought it needed more heat glad I had some guacamole and sour cream to cool me down, different cooking experience as it’s gas and I haven’t cooked by gas for years,I burnt the rice ! Well the bottom layer was like a crispy pancake , but being the man he is he ate it anyway . Made up the beds I had bought the duvets already with the covers on same as pillows so didn’t take long was cosy and warm aboard and we enjoyed our first evening ,I woke up at 2 am the wind was really gusting so the boat was making a lot of noise ,I got back to sleep and Mick treated me to tea in bed at about 6:30. Not sure what the rest of the week holds just taking the boat out to get the feel of her we have a mooring and table book at surlingham ferry on Tuesday so many of you have recommended it apart from that we will see where we end up it’s really a getting to know the boat exercise more than anything else.

Fri 25th. What a day terrible so much wind and rain , the cottage is surrounded on three sides by water and is very draughty in this wind , started cooking breakfast when the first of many power cuts happened luckily I had made a hot drink for us both,as everything is electric we had nothing no power no hot water no heating, finished our drinks and decided to head out and do the shopping for the coming week , we needed water , wine ,few snacks some milk and breakfast things, I had said I would make us a nice chilli for dinner on Saturday on Lightning and for tonight we are going to have steak and chips ,little did we know! Went to leave the cottage and those of you who know the area will not be surprised to hear Ferry Road was flooded the pump was working hard luckily we only had about 10 feet of it to get though not sure how deep it was but over 3 inches maybe more ,found several more flooded bits of road on the way to Stalham,ran in the shop got our stuff headed back via Ludham to visit the butchers , got some great steaks and a couple of pasties for lunch. Back at the cottage the power was back on so I quickly warmed the pasties and a hot drink no sooner had we eaten then off the power went again , this happened the rest of the afternoon getting chillier and chillier in the place, also how and I going to cook dinner ,oven chips and steak with no power? Luck was on our side after sorting out all our various bags from this extended trip we packed our hold-all for the boat and with power managed to cook dinner,just as I started washing up having boiled the kettle it went again and didn’t come back on until about 2 am.

Thurs.24th. Another very wet start to the day we had a lazy breakfast and it started to clear up so we were getting ready to go for a walk when it poured down waited a while and it suddenly cleared lovely walk around the lanes and through a couple of paths back to head of village . Came back here Mick had a good couple of hours fishing whilst I started to sort out upstairs Tonight we have a booking in the Bure Valley Fish restaurant for dinner we walk down it only takes about 15 mins and it’s not raining, meal was absolutely lovely I really enjoyed it ,good Covid precaution it never was rammed with tables anyway , not cheap but I think value the food and wine are first class I had garlic tiger prawns mick had scallops I then had whole lemon sole with more garlic Mick chose the Halibut dish , I then was a pig and had the chocolate brownie which was amazing,having had a gin and vodka tonic each we shared a bottle of white the bill was a little over £100. About half way through our meal it started raining so we knew we had a soggy walk back in fact it was chucking it down we had our waterproof coats on hoods up torches ready raced back as quick as we could,once in we had a lovely nightcap before turning in.Was woken by Mick getting up then coming back to bed he thought it was getting up time but it was only 2:30 took me a while to get back to sleep. Today we pack up resort all bags as we have had 4 different stays need to just consolidate what we need now to take onboard lightning and pack the rest away, not sure looking at forecast I will need many shorts more like hot water bottle and hats!

Hi Helen hopefully we can say hello tomorrow when we get to lightning terrible here in Horning just now obviously ok in the cottage but glad to be.

We will Neil have no fear , look forward to meeting you too on the 17th. we will be back in Padstow then and hopefully it will be much quieter than when we left. Susan

Weds 23rd. A very lazy day today after a cooked breakfast Mick tried fishing but it started to pour with rain he kept trying but it didn’t give up just a few minutes here and there then it started again I just sat watching from inside happily reading my book we were going for a walk and a pub lunch but thought better of it as we felt no need to get wet when we have food here to eat. Nothing caught and he said there were no bites so he gave up ,we have lamb chops in fridge from Ludham butchers so I’m going to do a roast with runner beans and carrots with chops and roast potatoes although I have loads of eggs ,Micks sister gave me a dozen from the farm next door to her I have no flour so no Yorkshire puds today. We have been thinking about food for the weekend and as weather looks a bit colder we think we will make a homemade Chilli for Saturday we have rice with us ,think we may stay on mooring as high winds forecast and it’s our first ever trip on Lightning .

Tues 22nd. Dawn bright and sunny supposed to be a lovely day today after tea and toast we decide to have a quiet one here Mick can fish and I will do some more washing and the ironing , not great holiday entertainment but after almost 3 weeks away it is necessary. Popped out to get some shopping we have fresh salad and ham in fridge but short of wine again and milk and we needed maggots not for dinner I hope! Once back I finished the wash unfortunately there is no drying space only the inside fold up airer so I put that out in the sun and loaded it with Micks t-shirts they dried so quick it was great the ironing was a disaster firstly the board is tiny it has the thinnest cover I’ve ever seen and the iron was filthy and spat out debris all over the thing I was ironing luckily I found a self clean option gave it a good clean then used it again much better but not great so I only ironed what was really needed the rest will go home clean but unironed. I sat out with Mick he only caught toddlers perch and roach nothing else not many bites either it was lovely in the sun several boats left their moorings and at about 4:30 a day boat from Norfolk boat hire came down the dyke they were lost taking the boat back and didn’t know where to go ? Struggling to even turn it around and there is plenty of room lucky for them someone staying in another cottage gave then direction but whether they made it back by 5 who knows . Had the Ham salad for dinner and a few glasses of wine felt lazy so left the washing up until tomorrow.

Sunday Today were had intended to visit Mick sister who has now relocated to Suffolk from France ,however we both felt a bit jaded all that messing about the 2 previous days so we decide to move that until tomorrow. Today we are just going to chill out here again weather is lovely I start doing the washing difficult to dry though as no washing line only an indoor airer which I quickly fill,phone the New Inn to see if they are doing Sunday lunch and book a table for 3 pm we walk down about 2 sit outside with a pint and a glass of wine watching the comings and goings till it was time for our table , food ok again not greatly impressed but I didn’t have to cook or clean up so that’s a huge bonus back at the cottage time for a film via the laptop fed the ducks on the deck outside and had a thoroughly lovely evening. Monday A drive to Great Glenham today to see Micks sister and here husband they have bought a project property which they are developing we were there in early July so will be interested in progress , lovely drive down went vis Beccles and then onto A 145 to the A12 to Saxmundham turned off there it’s about 4 miles east. Lovely time had visiting all outside socially distanced progress on the house slow as still waiting final planning permission but out building looks like builders merchants Antony is concerned about getting stuff if we have another lockdown. Drove back the same route again really nice drive back at cottage around 5 pm will cook a simple meal later , not sure about tomorrow there is now ironing and still more washing I think Mick plans a quiet day fishing outside.

Holiday Cottage Week We left the boat about 9am and thought we would head for Wroxham for breakfast parked and walked to the Wherry man cafe sat outside sun was nice but wind a little chilly.Ordered 2 full breakfasts a tea and coffee all ok not world beating but nice enough and reasonably priced @ £18 for all. The premier inn at Norwich booked for tonight room available from 2 pm so after breakfast we head back to the car we have several hours to kill, headed out towards Cromer it was a lovely bright sunny morning roads were quiet and we enjoyed the trip didn’t stop just carried on along that north Norfolk coast road absolutely stunning if a little narrow in places for his new car ! Finally reached Hunstanton around 1pm and parked on the cliff top car park had a little walk around stretch the legs and get some fresh air after a toilet break we thought it was time to find our way back to Norwich arrived at the hotel just after 3 and told room would be ready in 10 minutes as we had to sort out bags etc and overnight things by the time we had done that we were ready to go and check in ,room ok clean we tried to book a table for dinner at the next door establishment only to be told they were full , we managed online to get a 5:30 slot too early really but by the time we had a couple of drinks it was almost 6:30 and we ordered our food was supposed to vacate the table at 6:45 but was not asked to do this annoyingly tables around us all remained empty even when we left sometime after 7. Food ok nothing special what was good was the service we received which was excellent. Saturday Another messed up day today as leaving here for our holiday cottage in Ferry Marina which we have been told will be ready at 4 pm so more time to kill.Didnt stop for breakfast just had tea and coffee in room and as check out was 12pm we didn’t hurry , got a bit of cabin fever around 11 am so we left , went over to Horning to find cottage which we did but no one was around so we drove away and meandered up to Barton Turf and Neatishead then onto Stalham and Tesco for some essentials like Wine ! That done we went back via Ludham to visit the little veg shack just outside the village bought eggs there but no veg only potatoes. Next went to butchers got there at 1:30 just as they were closing but I managed to get sausages and bacon and a couple of their lovely pies, I had forgotten a couple of things we needed in Tesco so we went back to Roy’s in Wroxham for those by now it was 2:30 so again we tried the cottage this time the windows were open I looked in and there was a bottle of wine on the table and all looked done so we opened the door called out but it was empty so with Anti virus spray in hand we went in ,unloaded the car and settled ourselves. With a couple of nights B&B before the 2 week boat hire then a week in this cottage ,followed by the week onboard Lighting we have a lot of luggage so I need to resort things do some washing and get straight.