Lulu

Have a fantastic time Helen and looking forward to your write up :)

Im going to take a guess at an ex Summercraft as the livery is so distinctive ?

Are you sure....?

Well I’m obviously old and grumpy too. The Broads is an absolute haven for us to get away from the stresses of our jobs. We work damn hard so we can have a boat. The minute I set foot on the boat and look out onto the water, i de-stress. If it becomes the norm for antisocial behaviour with people getting away with it, the Broads would no longer hold the appeal and I’d want to sell the boat. Its that simple for me personally.

Not so sure about the scantily clad ladies! , but thank you Dave for all the effort you have put in on these vlogs for the past 100 days and giving us a much needed Broads fix. Having not explored the southern Broads much, this one was very useful re the moorings.

I shall look forward to settling down after dinner to watch this :)

Thank you Arti. I cant remember what we did to be honest but will use your advice. Yes it was on Oulton Broad :)

What is the general advice on how to mudweight? We had an embarrassing incident at the Beccles Wooden Boat Show last year when we were the photographer boat. We threw the mudweight in (yes it was attached to the boat before anyone says anything!) and didnt realise we had gradually drifted into the main ‘shipping lane’ We hastily pulled the mudweight back up and skulked back to the original position hoping no one had noticed... I seem to remember some advice on where we went wrong but I cant find it and think with chaos about to begin, we need to be able to safely mudweight

We love our Broom Skipper. Best of both worlds in that you get the height in the helm for views and then the sides fold down to get under low bridges. We've been told by the bridge pilot we could get under Potter on a good day but I don't think my pacemaker could take that stress! With every boat there is always a compromise. Yes, we are also part of the three boats in a year club like Ray. Advice is look at as many boats as you can to see the pros and cons.

Warm welcome Dave. Thank you for putting up the daily videos. A much needed respite from all whats been going on around us.

It was an intentional touch and go mooring..

And rarely an audience when you do the perfect mooring !

I remember the shame of our mud weight not fully out of the water when we had our Falcon on the way back from Salhouse.... so embarrassing

The marina is only open between 9.30 and 4.30

The start of our Broads holiday nearly always began with a stop off at The Plover in Thetford where my brother always had half a chicken in a basket. Think the rest of had scampi in baskets. Happy days :)

Nipper got my vote last year at the show.

Absolutely stunning.

We will definitely stop off there when we are allowed to stay on board overnight. Those cakes look too good to miss!

I heard a cuckoo when we were moored at How Hill last Saturday

Im assuming Ive had the virus and really want to to have the antibody test out of curiosity. I had an intermittent cough rather than persistent but had fever and lost my taste and smell very suddenly, which still hasn’t returned since end of March. The only thing I can properly taste are Terrys Chocolate Oranges. Even if the test showed antibodies Id still be just as cautious and nervous about being near people, touching stuff etc until there are more answers.

Happy Birthday Carole x

Saturday 30th May 2020 We had had a sad and very emotional end to the week. We had to put our greyhound Lulu down on Thursday. It was all very sudden and a similar situation to her brother last year. We had geared up the boat last week for her to join us on the cruise so arriving at the boat was hard especially when I found her lifejacket. Our cruise was a time of reminiscing. We left the marina at 10.00 and decided the destination was How Hill. We took the canopy off and travelled very slowly. The weather was amazing and river was very quiet. We had Barton Broad to ourselves. Irstead was empty and very tempting but not far enough and carried onto How Hill as planned. A couple of boats moored up after us but otherwise the mooring were empty. After about an hour there were loads of boats passing and quite a few walkers around. After about an hour or so we decided to make our way back. We were unsure of when the ‘rush hour’ would be and having only moored up at the marina once before we wanted to have time to get back in without loads of other boats at the same time. Irstead was free again......but we carried on. A beautiful day but realised I was now sunburnt. In all the eagerness of finally getting out onto the water, Id forgotten to put on sunscreen and suffering today. Once back at the marina, with a rather wonderful piece of mooring by Selsie infront of an audience, we had a late lunch before heading home. It was a wonderful but sad day without our furry friend. RIP Lulu x

16th May 2020 We went to the marina for the first time since we moved Luna in a rush just days before lockdown. The roads were eerily quiet. It was strange going past NBD and seeing all their fleet still there and the carpark empty. We stopped off at Norfolk Marine to collect the order we had put in before lockdown. A really excellent service by them. You sit in your car and they come out with your order. We spent 5 hours cleaning and checking Luna and were really pleased that she wasn't too bad. Thank goodness for the dehumidifier. I realised that we should have been at the NBN meet if things had been ‘normal’ . There weren't many people in the marina which we were a bit surprised about. We reluctantly left but so grateful that we could finally visit. 24th May 2020 Off to the boat to arrive as soon as the marina was opened up as its only open for limited hours. The windscreen was in a mess and knew we couldnt leave it any longer. We sanded, stained and put the first coat of varnish on. We have quite a bit more work to do and the sides also need doing but at least the wood is protected and matches the colour of the wood inside. We decided that two days of maintenance was enough and the next week we would definitely go for a cruise.

You’ve changed it to a box with a separate lid with no hinges. Problem solved. Can I have the signed photo please, thanks!