Lulu

Happy Birthday, have a fantastic day! A very nice set of gifts 🎁 Is there any frost? Ive got to go and de-ice the car in a bit.

For goodness sake stop all this teasing all of you. I want to know the story!

Have a fantastic few days both of you.

I loved the last question. Totally chaotic! Brilliant fun, thank you Bern

Exactly what we do too

I know, It’s AndyTBoater’s new project. He must have finished it already!

Just copy and paste the link then type in your name and it takes you into the chat box thing where we chat about all sorts of things as well as trying to answer questions correctly 😁

A lovely and really interesting write up. I dont think I will ever get used to how close places are by road in comparison with travelling by river. My map of Norfolk in my head is the river one, not the road version! I don’t think we will get the opportunity for a two week break until we retire unfortunately. This year is going to be even worse for holiday as my new job doesnt give much and we really want to use some to see my daughter and granddaughter in Scotland.

13th Nov cont & 14th Nov Just got home and downloaded a few photos I took on my camera from Horning, Irstead and our cruise back to the marina this morning. The Broads are an absolute delight for watching how the seasons change. Shame about the almost constant drizzle over the last few days but at least it has been fairly mild. I managed to dodge the showers to take Desmond for walks around the pretty lanes at Irstead. Mini break went way too quickly. Back to work tomorrow :(

Me neither. It’s raining on and off and there are fireworks going off in the distance.

Mum knits them for us. Need to get a couple of pairs for Desmond 😁

It’s raining (love the sound of rain on the boat when not cruising), and we are all cosy watching Strictly

Fantastic photos Helen. What a treat seeing the owl. We have always found Acle surprisingly quiet. The bridge markers at Ludham certainly are different from each other and made us question if we needed to lower our screens this morning for the first time.

Looks really smart. I envy all the workspace!

Glad we didn’t venture to Neatishead after all! Desmond must have known when he got restless hence why we stopped at Irstead which wasn’t the plan. Is Cerise Lady staying on the Broads?

I’d happily go vegetarian since losing my taste and smell due to covid but Selsie wouldn’t be able to cope! I love how Seren always is interested looking outside while you are cruising. Desmond just goes to sleep and only gets excited when we stop as he knows he going for a walk.

That’s brilliant news Carole x

Thank you Carole. Looking forward to meeting up with you both at some point next year x 13th November Very sound nights sleep thank goodness. Had a lovely walk around Horning in the sunshine then set off around 8.15. We detoured around Ranworth. The taxi rank was free (we need side on moorings to get Desmond off) but we didn’t want to stop that soon. Quite a few Ferry Marine boats around today and a few private boats but really very quiet. Seen loads of birds of prey and a kingfisher. Then the drizzle started just like yesterday as we were approaching Ludham Bridge. Bridge marker was showing 7ft 9 on one side and 8ft on the other. I don’t know if anyone else has randomly odd conversations as you cruise along. I suddenly got thinking that Luna was first around on the rivers when I was 6 years old and I’d possibly even passed her on many childhood holidays over the years, never imagining I would own her or any boat in fact. I feel truly lucky and very grateful. We had decided on Neatishead but Desmond was getting very restless suddenly (most unlike him) and needed a comfort break. Irstead was totally empty so we’ve stopped here for the rest of the day as the weather is so miserable and don’t feel like getting soaked again. (Hopefully won’t get woken up at stupid o’clock like last time!) Also, there’s no mud here for ginger whippet feet to bring into the boat :) I took a few l photos on my camera rather than the phone which I’ll upload when I’m home.

I need to be doing that. I’ve only moored up once with JanetAnne’s guidance when we first got Luna and haven’t tried since. I’ve always got an excuse - “Its too busy, it’s too windy, the tides too fast”. I need to get a grip and really admire that you are learning by yourself.

Desmond is completely happy being on the boat now. In fact we think he prefers it to home. We are thinking about Neatishead tomorrow. Are there many other boats there?

We are toasty warm. :) Hooked up to the electric with our oil heaters but also now we have our diesel heater installed (which we didn’t get much of a chance to use last year) so not reliant on electric posts. Just a warning for anyone getting on the Horning staithe, the quay heading is incredibly slippery

Thursday 11th November 2021 left for Norfolk at 2.00pm after work and had a brilliant run and arrived at the marina at 3.15. Sadly now the clocks have changed by the time we had got all our stuff onboard it was too late to go out. Had a terrible nights sleep. The wind, which wasn’t that strong just seemed to make everything clank and creak in the marina. Friday 12th Nov We left the marina at 8.10. The weather was dry to start but overcast. Tucked Desmond into his cruising fleece then added another blanket on top. The changing scenery was lovely even in the dull weather. 2 private boats passed us on the whole of the Ant. Irstead had one private boat on it. How Hill also only one and a couple at Ludham. What a difference a few weeks makes. Ludham Bridge was the tightest we’ve been under so but thankfully didn’t need to take down the screen as by this time a steady drizzle was falling. We put the little 12v fan on aimed at the screen. Wonderful bit of kit and soon gets rid of the condensation. Our intention had been to go to Potter but with the recent flooding decided not to risk it and chose Horning instead. The strength of the tide rather surprised me as we turned right out of The Ant as Luna almost came to a stop and I thought something was wrong. Horning staithe had a couple of free spaces and that was us for the day arriving around 10.45. A fellow forum member, Kpnut , recognised Luna from Luna’s Log and we had a lovely chat and discussed the tricky free moorings at Stokesby. So reassuring we aren’t the only ones to make a complete pig’s ear of it! We got cake and sausage and bacon rolls from the shop near The Swan. Love the bell system you can hear from the boat when your order is ready. We’ve seen a few private boats, a few day boats , 2 Bridgecrafts and about 4 Herbert Woods , a sailie and some very diddy sailies at the club. It’s very strange seeing all the busy places so empty. Photos aren’t particularly good as the weather was so dismal with a bit of blue sky this afternoon.

I’m so looking forward to the updates. You can row across the marina to us when you launch and we will open a bottle of whiskey to help with Tinker’s naming ceremony (we are only a few boats away from Lovejoy and will have the life ring to hand 😁 )

Not sure if we will try to be honest. We got woken up very early when it was still dark by fisherman right by us chatting away and torches flashing last time.

We are afloat from tomorrow afternoon until Sunday. Cant wait for our mini break