Cal

They are obviously very popular. Next time we hire on the Broads I do think it will be one of the 29's and then it will be fingers crossed that the tides allow us to get under Potter Heigham bridge for a couple of days :)

We have never had to have a pump out for a weeks hire on any of the boats we have hired. When we have hired for a couple of weeks then we get a pump out and a diesel top up mid way through. As for toilet chemicals we use the green loo chemical on the van. It is more environmentally friendly and some sites don't allow the blue chemicals as they are not on mains drainage. and the blue can affect their drainage systems. So we use the green all the time. We clean the bowl with the pink toilet chemical. Seems to work well.

They are ideal boats for there. We always thought the Broads type boats would suit the Fossdyke, Witham and Trent but not that many seem to have made their way over there yet. There are one or two but not loads. Spotted a centre cockpit Alpha 35 in Farndon Marina at the weekend that looked very smart.

Which one is their new boat?

We do a mixture of eating on the boat/van and eating out. We always make sure we have something to eat onboard just in case we can't find somewhere to eat out. The ovens on boats/vans are not as good as domestic ones so they do take longer to cook things but it is still possible to make a very good meal onboard. We work to 20 minutes for the oven to warm up and then 1.5 times the cooking time we would cook something in the oven at home which generally works out about right. Makes cooking a Sunday lunch a long winded experience but we always enjoy eating it when it is ready.

We have finally had a day of rain here. Changed our plans for going out in the van this weekend. Swapped from somewhere parking on grass to somewhere parking on tarmac. Didn't fancy sinking it

We got a brief thunderstorm but no rain

Can you send some of this rain to Bassetlaw please? It keeps missing us and we could really do with some. The ground is parched.

We noticed a couple of mornings ago that it isn't as bright when we are taking the dog for his morning walks and the sun is setting earlier. Autumn is definitely on it's way.

What a beautiful boat.

I wonder if they have been proving troublesome to hire with their height. Would be a great boat on the Trent that. Not ideal for the Broads though at all. ETA: They are asking a hell of a lot of money for that!!

We almost didn't head out in the van this weekend due to the dire forecast. Glad we ignored it because we had glorious weather, not a drop of rain and had a great weekend in a cracking location.

The Haines boats in the fleet do look lovely but I do just wonder how they are going to stand up to the rigours of hire use.

Surprisingly we have not been pinged yet. We have been expecting it because we have been out in the van most weekends and had a week away in the Lakes a couple of weeks ago.

Does that not defeat the object of having a dual steer boat if you are sat outside in the rain

All joking aside we have noticed on our quite a few of our home shopping deliveries that we are getting more and more missing items. I think we will stop with the home deliveries soon and start doing our shopping in person again so we can choose alternatives rather then have items missing.

https://www.nya.co.uk/boats-for-sale/broom-viking/

It was in the news the other day that Norovirus was running rife in some areas despite it not being the "season" for it. So obviously some folks are not adhering to the same cleanliness standards they have done for the previous 18 months or so!!

We are going to continue wearing our masks in shops, pubs and restaurants as we have been throughout. We know more people who are isolating or who have had a positive test now then we did in the first and second waves of rising infections. This round seems to be much worse despite the vaccines.

Never had a problem mooring at Wroxham in our Sealine. We just moored at Barnes Brinkcrafts yard. They never turned us away. Horning we could usually get in somewhere even if it was one of the pubs then have a drink and nip to the shops. Brundall I agree is a pain for mooring and we very rarely stopped there due to that. We did once get on the BA moorings there and walk through bug infested swamp to get to the shop. Never again.

There is always a mooring to be had somewhere. We have never spent the first night in base however late the pick up time and have always found somewhere to moor up.

I quite like this. I know it isn't proper old but .... https://www.watersidemarinesales.co.uk/boat/jaunty-launch-blancassis/

The sun cracked the dark blue dashboard on the Sealine S23 we had. It certainly can do damage. Just look at boats when they are brought back from the Med how dull they are and how faded the upholstery is. The gel coat polishes up again easily enough but the UV damage to trims cabinets and upholstery is more difficult to repair.

On the inside of a bend on a fairly tidal stretch of river I wouldn't be surprised if it is just silted up!! It is certainly an interesting auction plot. Will be interested to see who buys it and what their plans are for the place. Could be a nice little set up if someone is willing to put in the investment to get it up and running again. Whoever does buy it will need deep pockets though!!

We used to use our boat all year round and in the depths of winter did leave our diesel heating on overnight although turned down. More often than not though we just had the duvet and an extra fleece blanket which kept us toasty warm. We plan to use our van all year round and will leave the gas heating on low overnight when it is cold enough to warrant it.