Lulu

12th August I woke up at 6.00 and didn't want to waste our last morning so went and sat on my ‘perch’ to absorb the tranquility and sunrise We left Stracey Arms at 8.00am and basically had the river to ourselves. It was utter bliss. The weather was glorious. This was the first day where there was no timetable to stick to other than getting to the marina by sometime in the late afternoon. We had no plan on where to go so we ignored all the speed limits and pootled very slowly back towards Horning. We went to have a look at South Walsham. The river was so still and very calming. Because Selsie hasnt seen much of the Broads so far, it was a special moment seeing his reaction as the broad opened up before us, similar to when he first saw Breydon.

Thank you Ray :)

11th August At 10.00am we left Beccles to aim to get to Yarmouth for 3.15. It was still very blustery and overcast so we kept the canopy up. We left in a massive convoy of ..... two, later to grow to four. We pootled along and had to go slower and slower as the wind and tide were obviously going to get us to Breydon way too soon. We ended up mooring near Goodchilds at 1.15 for an hour. It was nice to have a break and a bite to eat and a chat with the three others who had all got there too early. We left at 2.15 to cross Breydon and got to the bridges spot on at 3.15 and had a very relaxing cruise back up the Bure. We were pretty tired and decided on mooring at Stracey Arms for the night. There weren’t many boats moored up and we had a lovely peaceful night.

10th August Show day! Wow the gales and I think everyone was pleased they didnt have to move out of the marina. The marquees were held down with mud weights (which did a better job than ours on Luna at Oulton Broad....) We had a lovely day looking at the woodies. We were asked if we wanted to open our boat for visitors, which as we are plastic, (but oodles of wood on the inside ) I wasnt sure it was quite the thing to do but there was quite a bit of interest and we realised many people are fond of Skippers. After the show there was some very nice aromas coming from the boats as everyone started preparing food for the meal share party that evening. Selsie cooked curry and I produced a chocolate cake (RT and Finale’s wedding cake?) someone asked if i had cooked it myself. I was very tempted to say I’d cooked it on the boat with my fair hands but confessed it was from Mr Tesco. A lovely evening, great company, lovely food and a relief that the gales had finally died down. We had a fairly early night as we wanted to be fully refreshed for our trip back north the following day.

9th August We started the day with a stroll to the lock and was lucky enough to see a boat going through. Ive never seen the lock in action before. It suddenly got rather chilly and blustery and dark clouds looked ominous, not good for the photoshoot. We tidied and wiped down Luna, filled up the water tank. Janet Anne asked us to take Luna to the middle of North Bay to get ready for the woodies to circle around us. The photographer on board, we left at 12.15. We picked a spot we guessed was vaguely in the right place and dropped the mud weight. The woodies began to circle around us and the sun started to come out now and then. We took some photos too until I suddenly realised that the gusty wind and made us wander into the main ‘shipping lane’ without us realising. Mud weight hastily pulled up, we skulked back to the middle hoping no one has noticed (yeah right!). The woodies started off for Beccles and we tucked in at the back. After a while the photographer asked if we could move up the line which was ok until we got to the sailies. The convoy started to split up because negotiating around them was not easy, particularly one.... I admit I was a complete bag of nerves by the end of this and was glad to get to the marina. Selsie did brilliantly and I know he’s a lot less bothered by them than before. We

Gracie is collecting ducks rather than shoes. :) Ive just spent ages on the next part and somehow managed to delete the whole lot argghhh!

Thank you Swan. It was fun but also quite stressful at times. More on that tomorrow.... Thank you, I definitely recommend attending this event. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. We had a lovely evening at Oulton Broad where we were ferried across to a stunning property by the water for a cheese and wine party. Kingfisher, Georgia and Chloe Jane were the ‘ferries’. Kingfisher was another boat we had seen in the shed a few months ago being restored so yet again, fantastic to see another woodie back in the water.

We arrived at Oulton Broad at 14.15. It was a lovely afternoon watching the marina gradually fill up with all the stunning woodies. I was particularly pleased to see Emily B coming through the lock on what I believe was her maiden voyage having seen her a few times when Selsie and I were helping at RT’s restoration, and then again when we assisted with Chloe Jayne. Ive taken lots of Chloe Jayne because ‘ Selsie’s plank’ he fitted is in there somewhere along with some of my puttying so it was reassuring she was still floating

8th August Around 12 (unsure of the exact number as I think others joined us as we got going) of us set off in convoy at 10.00am. We decided to tuck in near the back behind Chameleon. Now I know a lot of people say the lower Bure to Yarmouth is a bit of a drudge but I have to say I really liked this part of the river. I sat high up on my ‘perch’ and could see over the reeds and thought it a stunning part of the river. We headed over Breydon. This was Selsie’s first time. It was glorious weather and this is the moment we both realised all the work we had done for months was worth it. Somewhere on the Waveney we spotted a little woodie with someone very familiar at the helm, Its Grendel! We carried on in the convoy and finally arrived at Oulton. part 2 of this day to follow.......

Warm welcome to the forum. I'm sure someone will be along soon with advice on this.

Selsie and I had the great honour of being invited to the Beccles Wooden Boat Show despite being plastic, but we had a task to do as photographer boat. Having only bought Luna in November and working on her most weekends, we had only been to Salhouse for the spring meet and Ranworth a couple of times so this to us was a massive adventure, and I will admit I was nervous but having completed the week, it was the best thing we could have done and now full of confidence. Thank you Janet Anne for always being so positive about our abilities! (Im not sure the photos will load in order as i struggle with the ipad) 7th August 2019 Departed Horning at 11.30 and arrived at Stracey Arms at 2.15. Perfect side on mooring which of course as we were first to arrive, no one could marvel at the skill. We met up with quite a few other boats going to the show and had had lovely evening getting to know everyone and catching up with old friends. We all waited in anticipation for the newlyweds to arrive. Royal Tudor and Finale duly arrived with the romantic sunset behind them. We then retired for the night to prepare for a 10.00 am start in the morning.

I’ve got quite a few but I will be doing a separate thread called ‘Luna’s Log’ as this was our first major trip on her and we still have another day of cruising before home time.

Sits down in story corner waiting to hear the next chapter ......

Yes, you cant keep us in suspense like this!

Well done! How many were on board?

Hi Ady Welcome to the forum :) Where was the photo taken?

Got to well over 30 in our offices on Thursday. We had loads of fans but it just felt we were in a hairdryer. The boss asked us to come in at 7.30am instead of 8.30, laid on a continental breakfast for us all then said we could go home at 2.30. We were all very, very grateful. Also very grateful to our son setting up his air conditioning unit in the living room so our dog could be comfortable on that day. Cool rain coming down now, bliss !

There are so many fantastic videos on the Broadland Memories channel

Loving this write up. Looking forward to the next episode!

Congratulations on your purchase!

Ahhhh very clever!

The sound of splitting wood is painful! Looking forward to the next video

Warm welcome to the forum :)

Exactly why we chose Horning as we are limited to weekends