Lulu

Being incredibly lucky and having our own boat we cruise early and moor early (usually by 10.30 at the latest) as that’s how we like it so we can relax and do not a lot. If we hired I know we would feel we would want to get our money’s worth and want to cruise most of the day with mooring up for breaks in between. I remember that’s how my childhood holidays were. The northern broads would be too stressful for us now trying to find a mooring late afternoon so I know we would venture south or want to hire from the southern rivers and stay there but obviously hire companies are now far and few between there now.

Exactly that

Graham said the one beside us was unless theres something he missed. The Barton Turf one is lovely and quick and as its on our way back it wasn’t a problem. Dont know about Gayes Staithe

It certainly was and really didnt feel the need to go far. So lucky having so many lovely spots to go to near to the marina

Sunday 4th December Unfortunately another rubbish sleep which is so unusual for us. I did get a bit cold in the early hours and Desmond was very unsettled although he was toasty warm in his pjs and under his fleece blanket. Maybe it was me disturbing him rather than the other way around. Graham fixed the wiper. Huge stroke of luck, whatever had fallen off had landed on a little ledge rather than plummeting into the bilge so it was an easy fix rather than a huge dismantling job he thought it was going to be. I set about thoroughly cleaning the inside of the boat and then off we went to Barton Turf for water. This was really to give me mooring practice as Im absolutely determined to get a grip and stop just doing helming and ropes. I too did a perfect mooring but no audience dammit. Although really sad we cant moor at these moorings it certainly makes life easier when getting water. Also glad the tap hasnt been turned off unlike at Neatishead. We then set off for Simpsons who werent open for very long this morning. We had rung them about 15 mins away and said they would stay for us so we could get a pump out. This means next time we can go straight out and not worry about pump out and water. We put Luna to bed, left the taps open, dehumidifier on and the usual moisture traps dotted about. Apart from lack of sleep, a very satisfactory weekend with essential jobs done, Luna is as winterised as we do considering we will be out and about all over the winter. Hoping to be back for a long weekend before Christmas but if not, she’s all prepped and ready for the next time.

Saturday 3rd December After a very interrupted nights sleep we put the ceramic heaters on before getting up and then the task of wiping the windows to get rid of the condensation. Desmond didn’t want to get out of his nest but was eventually bribed out with a piece of kibble. I took him for a longer walk as it wasnt raining. Just gloom but at least dry. I spent some time cleaning Luna. All my hard work from a few weeks ago undone with the reoccurring green patina. After breakfast we set off for a mammoth cruise……..to Irstead. We didnt feel like going very far this weekend and the whole point of it was really more of a maintenance weekend this time so it was just a bonus to get out. Barton was very choppy, proper sploosh sploosh on the bow which is always fun. There was one other boat at Irstead and quite a few fishermen. I said we wanted to moor up and they said no problem at all. Graham did a perfect mooring between them so no one had to move. He was well chuffed as he was congratulated on how good that manoeuvre was. Makes a change mooring so perfectly with an audience as proof! After a walk down the pretty lane past the church and Desmond getting excited squirrel hunting amongst the oak trees, we settled down in the saloon while Graham fixed the shower pipe which was totally blocked. It obviously went well as I didn’t hear any swearing and the water now pumps out in no time at all. We realise now its never been right but the pipe was original from 1975. It turned out to be a beautiful afternoon with blue sky appearing and the light was stunning. After a lovely meal of baked potatoes and sausages we watched a bit of tv before an early night. We’ve decided for us the heating set up is better if we use the ceramic heaters during the day on and off as and when we need it, our diesel heating in the evening and ceramic heaters overnight and first thing in the morning so we are averaging £2 in electric over the whole time.

Well that was a very productive weekend. 😁 Friday 2nd December We both managed to get away from work early so set off for Norfolk at about 12.15. We had no expectations of getting out of the marina that day but we made good time. The 40mph A11 roadworks really arent that bad, well we dont think so anyway! We arrived at the marina and collected marina electric cards. I’d ordered BA ones over the phone earlier in the week and they arrived the next day, excellent service. We decided to go out as it was only 2.00 by the time we had stowed everything away. It had just started to rain as we started the engine. The windscreen wiper decided to stop working. Graham quickly worked some magic and rigged a load of cable to a 12v socket to get by. We set off for Neatishead in the rain and gloom. I started to fret imagining Neatishead full then would run out light trying to get back to a totally empty Paddy’s Land (i’d checked as we had gone passed). It takes a while to get my head around, that winter boating mostly means the pick of moorings so no idea why I was so worried. Gayes staithe also empty so that was our new plan B. Neatishead was totally empty apart from two fishermen. I got a told you so from Graham 🙄. The weather was miserable so we hooked up to the electric and I took Desmond for a very short walk in the rain. The forecast for the night was windy and sure enough it was. Not the most peaceful night due to the wind making the fenders bump against the hull. Graham was out on the deck at 1.30am pulling all the fenders on the starboard side onto the deck.

Lovely account of winter boating Jean. There’s definitely pros and cons but we really do love it. Every season has something different to offer

So pleased it worked out well for you and your family Kate x

The dishwasher must be a man thing, like taking over control of bbq’s. All the men in the family load the dishwashers. Any of us females get told off for loading it wrong so I now just chuck stuff in any old how knowing it will get meticulously rearranged 🙄

As on the whole we can only use our boat at weekends and with the shorter days we are quite limited to where we can go, we would love to use Sutton and have a meal at the hotel. It would get us out of the marina and feel we’ve actually got away. We’ve only managed Sutton once since we’ve had the boat and that was in the summer.

As soon as we reach Postwick we shout ‘boat!’

My parents live in a village in the middle of nowhere. There is one road which always seems to be closed which means a huge diversion to get to their village. The last time i noticed cars coming towards me so thought it must be open, so proceeded exactly the same as Wussername. Signs everywhere saying it would be shut for a couple of weeks. Nothing going on at all. The signs are still there, nothing has happened. The signs are from June.

Happy Birthday Simon from myself, Graham and Desmond! Hope to see you all soon on the rivers

That’s great news. We went past yesterday and all the equipment and stuff was still there. One of my favourite moorings

Ours is a 55 ltr calorifier with a 5 ltr expansion tank Graham has said - with a 40 ltr calorifier you can have a 5 ltr expansion tank. Just need a single coil. Also, he recommends a non return valve on the cold water input feed to the calorifier You can link solar panels to an inverter to power the immersion coil but the cost would probably outweigh the outlay costs of purchasing the solar panel, cabling, inverter, control panel etc of running your engine for half an hour to heat 40ltrs of water. Graham has said this is purely how he has done it. I have no clue what he has just told me 😁

So lovely to know Nipper is in good hands. I was only saying yesterday I need to clean our fenders but I think they are too engrained with green patina to recover so will also be interested in any advice

What Desmond wants, Desmond gets 🙄

Thank you Ray. It was actually worse than the photos make out. I was quite surprised how the photos look in comparison

Sunday 13th November We set the alarm early with the intention of leaving Acle at 7.00am. It had been a very mild night so there was lots of condensation so couldn’t see a lot outside. I wiped the windows and the visibility was not good out there either! Took Desmond for a very brief walk and we decided to wait and see if the visibility would get better. As much as we wanted an excuse to have another day afloat, we could see the sun trying to get through so put the nav lights on and set off slowly back up the Bure. As we got to Upton Dyke it cleared enough to turn the lights off. Good to see the Boundary Farm moorings are being repaired. Love that spot. We turned up the Ant where there are works going on. I took Luna through the bridge again. I’m definitely getting braver. The temperature seemed to drop and Desmond Diva Dog felt chilly so we wrapped him up in another blankie. More works going on at How Hill. We took bets on how many boats would be there.I said none, Graham won with the exact number of three boats. Irstead was full but we had no intention of stopping anyway as we had to get back. We were following a woodie out onto Barton Broad and a heavy mist was hanging about so nav lights back on but it wasn’t nearly as bad as a few weeks ago. We got back to the marina around 10 and spent a while thoroughly cleaning the boat ready for out next trip. Dehumidifier on, moisture traps dotted around as usual. Not sure when we will be going out again as Graham is going to do a maintenance weekend to fix the shower pump issue, new taps and an expansion tank (whatever that is). We drove home, going over Acle BrIdge and both thought how weird 4 hours prior we had been moored by Dunes Cafe and it only takes 10 mins to drive there. It has been a fantastic mini break and realise we were incredibly lucky with the weather. Looking forward to more winter cruising over the next few months but wont expect it to be like the last few days. Now I’d better get on with the piles of washing 🙄

We had been watching the forecast since last week and this was very much a last minute decision and our bosses very good in letting us book time off with not much notice. We are very lucky. That’s his spot when we are on the move. As soon as the engine starts he hops up there. He knows the routine bless him.

Bless you, thank you Simon, that’s so kind

Saturday 12th November A bit of a chillier night and was pleased to have had the tube heater on overnight to keep the edge off. An absolutely glorious day lay ahead. Warm, sunny and blue skies in mid November. Usually on the day before we have to go home we make our way back up the Ant but decided on Acle hoping for another night on the electric and didn’t want that feeling of having to go home. We left at 8.00 and very slowly made our way down the Thurne. The light was fantastic and the photos don’t do it justice. We arrived at Acle sometime after 9.00. The free moorings totally empty. Seen a few more boats pass by today. A couple of Ferry Marine and the rest private including Moonlight Shadow and Thunder. We popped over to the pub for a drink. It’s only Desmond’s second time in a pub. He was very well behaved and the staff absolutely lovely who made a fuss of him and gave him a bowl of water. This afternoon I’ve been scrubbing Luna’s green patina off today in the glorious sunshine. After which I had a shower. Yet another problem. As fast as one thing gets resolved another crops up. The shower pump works fine but the ancient copper pipe is blocked so the water won’t eject. Graham managed to get around the issue with a temporary fix of a piece of hose but it seems we can’t have a cruise without an issue. The other week the starter battery died. Oh well, apart from that it’s been a fantastic day and can thoroughly recommend winter cruising- empty rivers, empty moorings and warm weather!

We were talking about going to Ranworth but have to have the taxi rank for Desmond so didn’t take the risk, today being the weekend knowing it would probably be busy there

Well I realise I’ve forgotten to do two write ups from our weeks in the summer. I’ll do those at a later date so the logs are going to be out of sequence but never mind. We had had an issue with the fuel tank which resulted Luna being out of action for some time while a new tank was made. As everything had to come out, we bit the bullet and had a new calorifier put in at the same time. Now waiting for the bill 😩 We’ve had a few weekends out since but decided as the weather forecast was to be quite nice, Graham and I decided to take time off work and come up for a long weekend Thursday 10th November. We both worked a few hours in the morning before setting off for Norfolk arriving at the marina just after midday. Progress seems to be going well on the A11 resurfacing works and we steadily got through those. As long as we keep moving those roadworks don’t bother me. The forecast for the rest of the day and night was windy. The marina is too noisy for us with the clanking of the flappy things and as we were earlier than we thought, set off down the Ant at 1.00. It was very gusty so wanted somewhere sheltered. Irstead was our destination and if not How Hill. Irstead was completely free so that was easy! Hooked up to the electric then I took Desmond off for a walk towards Neatishead. I was a lot longer than planned , had forgotten to take my phone so Graham had started to worry a bit by the time I got back. A lovely meal of chilli and rice and asleep by about 9.30 already winding down Friday 11th November It had been quite a mild night but I’d woken in the early hours convinced someone was shining a torch at the boat. I cautiously looked out and it was the moon. Everywhere was lit up. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it so bright or maybe it’s because there’s no light pollution. Apart from that, I slept like a log unlike at home. After a short walk and a bit of breakfast we set off at 8.00 and had a lovely cruise, destination Potter. We didn’t meet any boats at all on the Ant. How Hill and Ludham empty. What a difference a few weeks make. I decided to brave helming Luna under the bridge (only the second time) . The bridge marker said 7’9. We turned onto the Bure. St Benets also totally empty. We met one boat from Ferry Marine and that was it until we got to Potter. The wind was very gusty and we had quite a hairy moment turning. Adrenaline was definitely pumping as we crabbed sideways for a moment nearer to the bridge. Moored up safely, but needing the steps to get on and off, I went off to Lathams to get some more moisture traps and I may have got a Nutella flapjack from Bridgestones….yum. Once back onboard I saw Ranworth Breeze go past. Knowing Alan was solo helming and with the gusty wind as it was, Graham quickly went to help him moor up. It was lovely to meet you Alan. Later in the afternoon we took Desmond for a walk along the river on the other side of the bridge before having a lovely roast chicken dinner. Watched a bit of tv then another early night. We just can’t seem to stay awake beyond 9.30 on the boat!