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PeteBelham

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  1. Well lots have happened since I've last posted anything on the forum. We have sold our Martham Boats Jaunty (Florence) and purchased a Sheerline 740 to be based at Herbert Woods Marina (Grace) and an Elysian 27 ( Ellie) to be base above the bridge at the house. I decided that this bank holiday weekend was the best time to test out our Sheerline 740. I had myself and my two children onboard, on Monday we went to Thurne, had lunch at the Lion and very nice it was too, we decided to move on to South Walsham in the evening. We managed to get the last space on the moorings just before the broad. Hunters fleet where out in force with a large youth group, such a lovely thing to see, young people learning to sail and experience the broads. On Tuesday the destination was Coltishall. We had a stop off at Southgates in Horning for a pump out, I can highly recommend the service!. We carried on to Wroxham Broad where we stopped to put the top and and screens down. I can confirm that it's a right faff with a Sheerline 740! I'll be taking the Elysian next time!!! Anyway through Wroxham bridge with 3 inches to spare at 6foot 6. The run up to Coltishall is lovely, weedy but very pretty! We saw six kingfishers! That nights evening meal was at the Rising Sun and can confirm it was delicious. Wednesday was the return trip to Potter Heigham. 8am start to make sure we had enough clearance at Wroxham. Through the bridge at 7ft and on to Cockshoot for lunch and return to base. Observations....... there is some right old tat on hire these days, especially day boats, we saw at least 5 being towed back to the hire yard on one day and the general state of boats from hire yards is shocking! Where has the pride gone??? Maybe this is me becoming old but people are paying thousands for a boat and getting rubbish, no wonder they don't care about the boat when they are out and about. Standards have definitely slipped. Let's hope the independent hire yards who clearly care about their boats continue.
  2. I do apologise, any forum member is welcome 😊 just let me know when you are planning on venturing over. Unfortunately those with a low enough air draft are few these days due to the BAs refusal to properly dredge the lower Bure 🙄
  3. Cambridge cabby I always have beers and wine in the fridge when you do 👍
  4. Horsey is lovely, but doesn't have the crystal clear water of Somerton. To be fair we haven't been done to Somerton this year due to the weed. I'll see if the dredging has made and improvement and report back. I'm pleased people are enjoying the waterways above the bridge.
  5. She is a complete credit to her owners who put in so much time, money and effort in to her upkeep who I expect see it as a pleasure rather than a chore.
  6. It's such a shame the BA dont do more to keep this navigation open. They decide that the best time to cut the weed is when it grows the fastest when cut and they don't cut it deep enough in my opinion as it grows back thicker and quicker. I'll wait to see the result of the dredging between the ferry and Somerton. 2m depth should be achieved.
  7. The mill they stayed in was just up from Herbert Woods I believe and a very nice mill/ holiday let?? the delelect mill is just up from Martham Ferry
  8. The old mill they showed is just up from Martham Ferry. They were moored at the S bend between Martham Ferry and West Somerton. Its a lovely spot. We see far too many people turn around at Martham Ferry thinking the limit of navigation is just up the river. It's well worth the trip to West Somerton.
  9. Hi all, following the departure of Judith last week the search for a new boat began. We immediately ran in to a small issue..... That blinking bridge! We have a riverside property located between Martham Boats and Martham Ferry so we wanted something that could get through the bridge and be large enough for the family to stay on board in comfort. We ideally need 3 cabins so a fairly large boat is required but large doesn't fit through the bridge. We therefore have decided that we'd get a small day boat to be kept at the house for exploring above the bridge/day trips and a larger boat for extended stays and exploring the rest of the broads. This is something that we haven't really done in previous years so I'm looking forward to getting out and about. We were lucky to find the perfect day boat, a Martham Boats Jaunty with a blue hull and this was delivered yesterday. She's got plenty of space inside and brilliant for exploring above the bridge. She also has the added bonus of being electric which makes cruising a different experience as you can hear everything else such as the water moving past the hull and the birds rather than a thunderous BMC which is what we are use to. It is also nice to still have a link to Martham Boats and have a bit of wood to varnish! The search now moves to find the big boat for spending our holidays on/ long weekends afloat. The choice has reduced dramatically due to Barnes Brinkcraft removing some of their hire boats from sale. They have obviously decided to run them for another season. Still we've got our eye on a few so I'll update once the purchase has been made. Ideally we'd like to moor it at Waterside at Potter as that would be the best location for us as it's only down the road/river from the house but we'll see what's available. We're looking forward to getting out and about on the rivers more next year and showing the kids what a broads holiday is all about.
  10. Well this is the final Judith update. She's been sold and will be off to the Thames on Wednesday. I was lucky enough to be able to get a final cruise on her this week. In typical Judith style it was an eventful week, she managed to disconnect her drive shaft couplings as I was mid river trying to back her in to Marthams dyke the day before her survey. We drifted very gracefully in to the side on moorings thanks to the tide and the wind being helpful for a change. Martham Boats quickly reattached everything and made some new bolts so that was an easy fix in the end. Today her new owners have taken he out and have had the full handover. Now the search begins for the next boat. I'll update you once we've purchased the next one.
  11. Well the work on Judith still continues. We are working on her alongside Martham boats. Patrick has made a start on replacing some of the planking and my mum has dug out the roller and brush for the topsides.
  12. It is heart breaking Griff but at the same time I'm glad we got her back in the water again. We'll make sure she goes to someone who will keep her going for years to come. I have seen the Broad Ambition share for sale, its definitely something to consider. Nothing is off the table yet as we will be buying something, just don't know what yet. Need to see Judith go to a good home first.
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