Davydine

Doh, always read the details! Thank you!

Thanks everyone for the answers so far. Has anyone here stayed in the River View cottages that Barnes have? They come with a day boat but I don't think they have their own moorings, so I am trying to work out where you moor the day boat. I will give them a call tomorrow, but thought I would ask here first! David

Thank you, that is very helpful and opens up lots of options.

Summercraft looks lovely, but sadly they don't start letting until March Thanks, everyone, for your help.

Thanks, that looks interesting!

Hi everyone, I am thinking of a half term break in February next year. Does anyone know of any holiday cottages that come with a day boat? I know of Barnes, but it doesn't look as though they have any availability. thanks David

Thankyou, that is the one! They also have Coral Emblem, which is identical. It's the two separate single cabins that appeals, we have a son and a daughter who are getting to the age that they don't want to share! thanks everyone...

Hi everyone, does anyone know what became of the Broads Boating Company boats Wroxham and Hoveton when BBC ceased trading? They are both 35 foot Fair Entrepreneur class boats with two single cabins aft. I always thought this was an ideal layout for our family and wondered if they were still In hire anywhere, Thanks, David

I have a feeling that there may be a lot of second hand tents and caravans for sale later this year! This latest quarantine is an interesting one. We have a holiday booked to Corfu at the end of October. It was booked nearly a year ago before Covid19 had been Heard of. At the moment the number of cases is low in Greece and we should be able to go, and since the foreign office advice says it is ok to go, my insurance probably wouldn't cover me to cancel anyway. I can see it would be easy to fall in to a trap of getting out there and then having to Isolate when we get back, but not being able to cancel (without losing the money) because the FO advise was ok to travel up to the point of departure. David

Thank you Fred that is very helpful and makes things much clearer. The boating landscape of the Broads has changed so much with the closure of so many hire yards I can understand the desire to create more free mooring space, but a scan down the list of BA double moorings does make me wonder if their is really that much pressure on the moorings at Berney Arms and Cantley. It's been a while since I have been “down south” but I can't imagine them full very often. With regards to your comment about moorings on the sea it varies considerably but broadly speaking, most will be either privately owned or run by local authorities, so very much, their mooring, their rules. we used to sail on the Essex and Suffolk coast and the local rivers such as the Deben, Orwell, Colne and Crouch. You often had a choice of marinas to visit that were relatively close together, but choice of destination was often dictated by the quality of the beer at the local pub and there are some beautiful places to drop anchor for the night and enjoy the peace and quiet. That said, the old adage of “any port in a storm” applies and I was once very glad to be rafted up in Ramsgate eating chips when the weather in the Channel got too close to my ability levels for my liking. David.

Fred, I have re read your post and I suspect that it was the attitude of the BA you were calling in to question, rather than the attitude of boaters wishing to moor alongside, in which case I apologise. Personally, i am so used to rafting that it just seems a pragmatic way for the BA to maximise space at popular moorings, but I admit, I am not that close to the workings of the BA and I understand that they are not always popular with those who have to pay tolls. David

Nor, was I trying to make this an argument, just highlight the difference between my experience on the sea and what people were discussing on the broads, but I seem to have had my “attitude” called in to question. You are correct, about Stokesby, the BA web site says it is 33m long, so it would be tight for 3 boats, which, I assume is why they designate it as a double mooring. Someone in a 40 ft. Boat could probably moor in the middle and their would be no room for anyone else. For clarity, I am very unlikely to want to double moor, I would almost certainly go somewhere else, particularly in a hire boat where there wouldn't be enough warps to take a line ashore. If I was on a wild mooring or a normal single mooring I wouldn't expect anyone to moor alongside me, If I was on a mooring that is designated as a double, be it BA, a yacht station or any other then I would expect to let someone alongside. In the unlikely event that I needed to, I would expect the same courtesy to be returned if possible and safe to do so. I know that the BA signs have been amended to say about getting permission, but i honestly don't feel I would have the right to refuse unless I had a very good reason. I was recently looking through some slides from our holidays in the early 70s. The obligatory photo from the top of Ranworth church shows boats rafted about 6 deep on Ranworth staith. Rafting up isn't a new expectation, it used to be the norm. I am not sure when that changed. As Cambridge Cabby said, the broads was always associated with a friendly atmosphere and I for one, would like to think that was still the case.

Possibly not the best example, I picked them because the BA identifies both as double moorings. I was trying to differentiate between a mooring somewhere for the pleasure of that location and mooring somewhere to facilitate a passage from A to B.

Yes and no, in my opinion, it depends on the mooring. For example, if i was looking for an evenings mooring at St.Bennets abbey and the mooring was full I would simply head somewhere else rather than try to raft up, but if I was heading to Stokesby, with a view to catching a morning tide through Gt. Yarmouth, I would feel a bit miffed if someone refused to let me moor alongside.

Exactly this, and that would be my view with a BA double mooring. Just because we had our own boat, I could still mess up mooring like the best of them!

For us, it wasn't a sail vs motor thing, the marina we sailed from had both and we would often cruise in company, but there was a fraternity of the sea, if that makes sense? We always regarded the sea as a great leveller, regardless of if you were in a tired old sailing boat worth a few hundred or a shiny new boat worth a few million. If i was moored alongside at a BA mooring which allows double mooring, I wouldn't feel that I had the right to refuse someone to moor alongside. Their mooring, their rules, as long as the boat was of a suitable size to be safe. In the same way, if I see a mooring space big enough for two boats I wouldn't moor in the middle and hog the whole thing, I would moor at one end so their is room for another boat. We don't get to Norfolk often, but if you ever see us on a double mooring, no need to ask, you are welcome alongside!

Interesting, when we owned a sailing boat (on the sea not on the Broads) rafting up was always considered the norm and it was very rare that anyone would refuse permission, but you were expected to take your own lines ashore and not rely on the other boats lines. It was always the done thing to walk round the bow rather than stern when crossing a boat to go ashore, so you couldn't see down the companionway into the cabin,

This is exactly what I remember from hiring boats from Brooms. The tank was filled before departure and then dipped at the end of the holiday when you got back to the yard.

Didn't there used to be a hire boat that had a big open space at the back to load a caravan on to. In my head they were called “Caraliner” Didn't they end up as Brinks Topliner?

That is a scary thought!

Yes, but I have booked for next season! To be fair though I can see that other yards do the same thing, I just wonder what they would do if they had bookings for next year.

I am glad I booked reflection!

Thanks, everyone for the information and advise, we have booked Silver Reflection for a week in the Easter school holidays next year. Booked online through the Hoseasons web site, As requested by the yard. all very straightforward and quick.

Thank you, I contacted Silverline through their Facebook page and they tell me the two boats are identical. I completely agree with you about bathrooms, but I think people who are non boaty expect a hireboat to be like a hotel, with en-suite facilities and hairdryers! On another note, Silverline asked me to book through Hoseasons as they are busier than normal at the moment.

Thanks Hylander.I will speak to the yard. I would prefer to book direct if I can.