Lulu

We find a fleece blanket over the top of the duvet works wonders and fleece jimjams which I got from Roy’s are an essential for me. It certainly was chilly last night.

What was the bridge height Griff? We are in debate on whether we are going through tomorrow

Congratulations!

We always love eating at the Wherryman

Think this is the one https://www.nya.co.uk/boats-for-sale/defender-40/

We haven’t tried those yet but certainly will do.

When i was a kid we did one canal holiday and one on the Thames but the rest of the time on the Broads. The Broads feels like home to us and not really interested trying elsewhere..., although I am watching a lot of canal vlogs lately and the amount of available moorings you can stay on for days is rather appealing.

Hence why we havent moored at How Hill and Ludham. Maybe we can do this sooner rather than later if we keep an eye on the weather.

Places we intend to go out of season where we havent been before will be Dilham, Neatishead and Sutton and now Womack Staithe. Come to think of it, we havent moored at How Hill or Ludham Bridge overnight yet either, so lots more places still to tick off. :)

18th September 2020 Oh how we loved Fleet Dyke. So pretty and quiet. The water was absolutely still when I woke up. Definitely on our favourite list now. We left at 7.50. We wanted to get through Ludham Bridge before the predicted wind got up again. The usual conversation ......if Irstead is free......it wasnt. As it was our last night, we decided on Paddy’s Lane as usual. Paddy’s Lane was still full, well it was still really early so we decided to go up to Wayford as we hadnt been there before and wanted to take a look at the bridge for a future trip up to Dilham. We didnt notice the wind too much as it was so sheltered. Hunsett Mill suddenly appeared. I hadnt seen it since I was a kid when it was chocolate box pretty. We got up to Wayford and I got confused thinking the moorings cost £15. We had seen a space at the end of what I now realise are the free moorings but by that time we had aborted our mooring up and was already turning around. We decided if there was still no space at Paddy’s Lane we would just return to our marina for the night. By the time we got there, plenty of spaces had materialised. The wind was getting very gusty. We moored up but a very squeaky tree caused us to move further down. We untied Luna and ‘took her for a walk’ instead of starting the engine and tied up near the corner. We had a bit of rubbish to get rid off and went for a walk. We decided Neatishead was too far to walk to in the end so came back after a while. We did our usual thing for the rest of the day, doing not a lot. The following morning we left early as usual to get back to marina so we could clean Luna and pack away and get home for the weekend. We had had another fantastic week. We realise we have been incredibly lucky to have picked two weeks over this year of amazing warm and sunny weather. We will continue through autumn and winter as we are not fair weather boaters by any means, but we will look back on these last two holidays as particularly special, especially with all what has been going on in 2020. This week was also the cheapest holiday we have ever done. Moorings, water and pump out £36 plus a bit of diesel when we fill up again.

17th September 2020 After a very quiet night and a wonderful sleep, we left Stracey at 8.00am. We moored up at the newly refurbished Acle moorings for a short while, hoping that the electric posts will be completed for when we start our autumn/winter cruising. We then set off up the Bure with Fleet Dyke in mind. The wind that had been forecast was getting quite strong. We spotted empty moorings at the cross end of St Benets. We’ve always seen boats moored there before and thought our luck was in. The wind by this time was really strong and we were using all our concentration to get moored up safely. I got onto the bank with both bow and stern ropes and struggled to hold Luna until Selsie quickly grabbed the bow rope. The wind was really pushing us away from the quay heading. Finally safely tied up, we saw a flappy thing pinned to the bank on the other side. They were calling for a tow. A boat towed them off the bank and let them go as they got near to us. We yelled across if they wanted help, to which they said yes immediately. They threw us their ropes and we pulled them in alongside Luna and then to the free space infront of us. The young girl looked quite alarmed by it all and we think she must have got a taxi or a lift back by road because the gentleman took the saily off by himself later on when the wind wasnt quite as bad. Again we helped him with his ropes as he left as it was still very gusty. We had been at this delightful mooring for a few hours, seen Albion go by, when Selsie decided to check the ropes. He came back saying as he had been sorting the ropes and checking Luna’s hull, he had seen some small signs saying Private moorings St Benets, permission required, or something like that. Being the law abiding citizen I am, I was horrified, as I put it, we were now “Moored illegally!”. We've always seen boats moored there. We tried to do a bit of research on the internet and asked some friends if they knew anything about them but we decided we had to move. By this time I was completely paranoid everyone passing by were saying they are not allowed to moor there! But if we hadn’t have been there, we wouldn’t have been able to rescue the flappy thing. We had done our good deed for the day so I didn't feel quite so guilty in the end. We slunk away at 2.00pm and hoped we weren't going to struggle to find somewhere as we were now looking for a mooring quite late again for us. St Benets was full. We tried Fleet Dyke and there was a lovely space for us and as we hadn’t moored there before, another place to tick off. It was so peaceful and sheltered and a pretty sunset finished off the day rather nicely.

So you saw the porcupine too!

Ok, its definitely on my list! I wish there were electric posts

I really dont like stern on mooring and we avoid it where possible, but if the staithe is fairly empty when we are out and about over autumn / winter, I definitely want to try there

Womack Dyke is fast becoming a favourite place. Remote and quiet but at the same time, places to walk to :)

16th September 2020 Lovely undisturbed sleep after not being able to stay awake beyond 9.30 the evening before. As usual I got up before anyone else was stirring loving the peaceful scene. The plan today was to get a pump out and we getting very low on water. We could tell this by how much Luna had started to list to one side. We debated Horning but it was bound to be busy by the time we got there decided on Acle. We set off around 8.00 and followed Cerise Lady down the Thurne. Cambridge Cabby had been summoned and was finally off home! We stopped off at the Pedros side and a very helpful gentleman did the pump out while we filled up with water. As the tank filled, Luna was finally sitting level in the river again. We decided to head for either Stokesby or Stracey. We spent the whole cruise trying to avoid vast clumps of reeds, planks of wood and logs. Selsie’s new role was spotter while I helmed. There were a few spaces at Stokesby but we decided to carry on as we hadnt been to Stracey since last year’s wooden boat show. We moored right at the start of the moorings. Loads of posts around this part were missing and we used the few that were at the end. We ended up moving along slightly after realising one we had tied to was wobbly and with the strong tide, we weren't going to risk it. We went to the shop and paid our mooring fee. As we had moored the opposite way we usually do, this gave me a chance to clean that side of Luna. Most satisfying finally getting rid of the green gunge that had been accumulating. After a few hours, when l looked out of the galley window, I could see a huge build up of reed and debris. Selsie pulled it all away with the boat hook and we also checked the weed filter. We had to continue to get rid of all this debris throughout the day. I was convinced a huge porcupine was swimming past at one point. The moorings filled up over the day, although as there were no posts in front of us, no one tried to moor once they could see there was nothing to tie up to. It was a cooler day but still beautiful and another day of doing not a lot had soon gone by. Bliss!

15th September We woke early and it was the only night I didnt get much sleep. The geese had had a party all night and there seemed to be a lot of drama with them arguing amongst each other. I went out onto the deck and there was a lovely mist across the broad. It was such a lovely moment, really peaceful and no one else around, including the geese who seemed to have retired to their nests or wherever they go after a night out partying. We wanted to say goodbye to the wooden boat lady next door but it was too early when we left. I always worry about the noise of the engine when we sneak away early but actually its very quiet from the outside. Inside the helm is much better since Selsie installed soundproofing panels in the engine bay. We left the island around 7.30 and had a lovely cruise and didnt meet anyone. Such a lovely time of day when everyone else is still snoozing. We arrived at Womack Dyke and slotted into a Luna sized space. We could tell it was going to be another hot day. We wanted to get rid of the small amount of rubbish we had. The heat of the previous day hadnt reacted well with the contents of the bin apparently. I couldn't tell if the bin was going off as I still haven't got my sense of taste and smell back since getting COVID in March. Also, I couldn't smell the muck that had been recently spread on the fields around Womack, so there are some advantages! Selsie wasn't keen on staying with the smell but we set off for the shop at Womack Staithe. We spotted Aunty Pat and Mike on their lovely boat Chameleon. It was so nice to catch up with them. I realised Id forgotten my mask but Aunty Pat came to the rescue and gave me one. Thank you! It meant i could go to the shop and stock up on a few supplies. We still had plenty of meat from Ludham butchers we had bought before we got to the marina and because it was by now getting really hot again, we said our goodbyes and had socially distanced hugs with Pat and Mike and returned to the boat. The end space had become free. We always love an end spot so we moved Luna there. The rest of the day we spent in the helm, just watching whatever was going on. Some people we met last time we were at Womack went by, waving and obviously hoping to moor there. Then lo and behold a bit later Cerise Lady arrived and managed to squeeze into a space. Cambridge Cabby came over and we had another good chinwag. I did say, I thought he had been going home the previous day but it seemed like he had got away with staying another day and wasn't on the naughty step just yet..... The river was busy and I couldn't work out where everyone was finding places to moor later on. They were all going towards the staithe and not a lot returned. Complete mystery! Selsie decided to install the other battery we had recently bought and a battery monitor. The monitor was about £8 and Selsie is obsessed with looking at the reading. I have to say, it has given us peace of mind now, particularly as we don't do long cruises. A really lovely day, especially meeting friends unexpectedly. I cant think where else we would randomly meet so many people we know when on holiday!

Thats painful to watch!

We didnt have any trouble with the rest of the week. Where we went wrong was mooring up early as we usually do, then changing our minds as we knew we couldn’t relax, so by the time we set off again it was too late to get the places we wanted. Also, I think people were mooring up earlier that day because of the heat. We have now learned in busy season not to dither!

14th September 2020 We never sleep well at home. Often I barely get 4 hours. We woke up after sleeping for 9 hours and that continued for most of the nights of our holiday. We left Acle just before 8.00am. It was another lovely sunny day and due to get very hot later. We didn't really have a plan for the day so set off with idea of possiblyThurne Dyke or Potter. We looked at HW’s webcam and saw the moorings were full, Thurne Dyke wouldnt give us enough time to charge the batteries so made our way to Horning. The staithe had space! We moored up behind Cerise Lady and had a great natter with Cambridge Cabby. The weather was certainly warming up. We hadn't cruised a huge amount so plugged into the electric as it was there and waved Cambridge Cabby off (think he was supposed to be going home........) and moved Luna up a bit to the end of the staithe and decided to call it a day. After about 10 mins thinking how lucky we were nabbing a spot on the staithe, loads of day boats were coming past and it was suddenly getting very busy generally. We knew that for the rest of the day we would be in “meerkat mode” so decided to leave and stop there again out of season. I got rid of the rubbish and off we went with a plan for Fleet Dyke. Fleet Dyke was full and so was St Benets. Hmmmm do we go back to Cockshoot Dyke which had spaces when we had gone past? We were now getting overheated with the sun so went to Ranworth Island. We were reluctant to spend £10 but we needed to cool down so found a shady spot at the beginning of the moorings. It was now 1.15. The island quickly began to fill up. We met some really lovely people and chatted about all things boaty and gave a lady one of our spare fenders to protect the stern of her beautiful wooden boat that she had recently moved up from the Thames. She had never had to stern moor before. I had to keep soaking myself in water and sit in front of the fan to cool down. The midges came out but we used that Avon So Soft for the first time and it really does work and deterred unwelcome bitey things. As the sun went down, the Inside of the boat cooled to a comfortable temperature so anticipated a restful night. not many photos unfortunately as I can’t get some to load again

Ive made a note of this technical term....

13th September 2020 Beautiful day, we got up early and left Stalham at 7.45. As we got out of the marina we both grinned at each other. Back on the Broads in glorious sunshine, forget the stresses of work, Covid and everything else that has been going wrong this year. The river was very quiet, a few Richardsons boats going back. Barton Broad to ourselves. The aim was to get under Ludham before everyone else started moving (we are still a bit nervous about the bridge). In the excitement of being out again for a week I forgot to take any photos of the journey to our planned destination of Acle. We arrived at Acle at 10.30 and saw a spot at the end of of the Bridge Inn moorings. We came in with the tide thinking it wasnt that bad, but it was flowing faster than we first thought so abandoned that manoeuvre, turned and came in correct way. We walked to the bridge to capture the scene then went for a drink at the Bridge Inn. We hadnt stopped there before and were very impressed with the very warm welcome and service and all the Covid safety measures in place. We sat in the beer garden for a while before going back to the boat for the rest of the day doing, not a lot. A boat came in trying to get into the gap in front of us. We couldnt move any further back as we were on the end but they were determined to get in. Selsie paced the gap out. Nope, a 35ft boat was not gong to get into a just over 25ft gap. They tried, I was on the bow of Luna holding onto their pulpit rail so it didnt hit us while it was eventually worked out they couldnt get their stern in. They were lovely people but it was so obvious they wouldnt fit the gap so off they went and we agreed it was a nice gap for a Safari. A short time later, lo and behold a Safari arrived and we helped them. It was a bit tight but we squeezed them in. In the evening we watched a pair of otters who spent ages swimming about opposite us. This is where I realised i need another lens for my camera as i couldn't zoom in close enough. Tired from all the fresh air and sunshine we retired early to bed. (Now hope these photos load....)

Yes, we have a winner. A bit of a faff but thank you CC. Normal service will be resumed

Trying CC’s idea of emailing the photos back to myself

That didnt work. Supposed to be a nice shot of the Bridge Inn