Cal

It's what it is there for. "A ship is safe in harbour but that is not what ships are built for"

Just a little selection of a few of the places we have visited with Cal over the years. Newcastle Scarborough The Fens Scotland (Caledonian Canal & West Coast) She has never failed to get us home safe yet

We try

We go and find it everytime we visit. Must get a picture of Sydney in there this year.

Time to head home

Southwold

The Broads Part 2

The Broads - part 1

Lowestoft to Oulton Broad

Some pictures from our last visit to the Broads on our own boat. Lincoln to Boston Boston to Lowestoft

We had a brilliant week away. We were very lucky with the weather and by the end of the holiday we had grown quite fond of Viscount. A very practical and easy to live with boat with acres of space for the two of us.

We had a weeks holiday spare at the back end of last year so we decided instead of heading out on our own boat that we would hire one on the Broads for a week. We chose Viscount from Richardsons yard, this being the first time we had hired through them. Have to say we were really impressed with the yard. The turnaround was very efficient and all of the staff were very polite. The boat was immaculate inside, despite being an older boat she was fitted out very nicely and was very clean when we picked her up. By far the cleanest we have picked up a boat before. The outside was well showing signs of a hard season shall we say!

That looks awful

On all of our three previous visits with our own boat at this time of year and in the school holidays we must have been really lucky as we have always managed to moor exactly where we have aimed for each day and usually in prime mooring spots. But then again our boat is quite small so we can usually nip into the small gaps that people tend to leave between boats.

I have given up on CWF. It just isn't my cup of tea anymore. Just the same people flogging the same topics to death. For me it has run it's course.

Having done the trip from Lincoln a few times now down the coast we usually spend about £600 on fuel for the round trip. To get trailed there and back is a very similar price but as you say we will get there and will not be weather and sea condition dependent. On our last trip to the Broads by sea in 2016 we were very lucky to get back in our alloted two weeks as the weather kicked up for the last few days and we had to make the decision to either leave the boat at Wells next the Sea or make a break for it and go. We chose to go but it was not a very comfortable trip from Wells to Boston and both boats were running on vapours by the time we got back on the non tidal river! None of that to worry about this time of course which will make a pleasant change.

Not really decided on a route as such. We will just mill around for a couple of weeks. No great rush to be anywhere in particular. We may if the weather stays nice head down to Southwold for a couple of nights but again nothing set in stone. We are launching and recovering at Sutton Staithe.

Thank you for the warm welcome guys. We feel very privileged to be Sydney's custodians. He hasn't had the best start in life. He is only 20 months yet we are his fourth owners. We took him on about ten weeks ago when his last owner left him and some cats locked on a narrowboat for at least a week with no food or water . Fortunately for them some kind narrowboaters spotted their plight and stayed with them feeding them ice cubes and tit bits through the window! We managed to get in contact with his owner who agreed we could take him on as he couldn't cope. A visit to the vets revealed he was 2kg under weight, flea bitten, covered in cat urine, had an infected cat bite on his rump, had worms and was generally in a dishevelled state with very little muscle build and itchy skin. Ten weeks on he is almost back to ideal weight, is bulking up nicely, his coat and skin are in much better condition and he is free of fleas and worms. He has come out of his shell and is now a proper mischievous young dog. He still has a lot to learn but he will get there. All of which had nothing to do with the Broads. Sorry for waffling!

Hello to you all. Thought we had better introduce ourselves. We being me, Rachael, my other half Liam, the hound Sydney and our ever faithful boat, Sealine S23 Naughty-Cal. We have visited the Broads many times over the years, starting off in hire boats before taking the plunge and buying our own boat which we have kept for the last ten years in Burton Waters, Lincoln. We have previously visited the Broads three times with Naughty-Cal, each time spending a week getting to and from Norfolk on the rivers and coast and then spending a week doing a whistle stop tour of the Broads. This time we will be doing things a bit differently. We had originally planned to have a visit to the Thames this summer. The trailer was booked many months in advance for this trip. But then about ten weeks ago we unexpectedly gained a rescue dog Sydney so we cancelled the trip as we didn't know how he would get on with the boat and as we had never visited the Thames before didn't know just how dog friendly it would be. Our plan changed instead to having a chug around our local rivers instead for a couple of weeks. As it happens Syd loves the boat so we needn't have cancelled the first trip but we have managed to rebook the trailer so we are instead going to be trailed to the Norfolk Broads so that we can spend the full two weeks down there for a change. So we head down there on the 20th July and will be coming back home to Lincoln on 3rd August. If you see us out and about give us a wave or better still pop across for a cold drink. The bar is almost always open on Naughty-Cal. So here is Naughty-Cal: And the newest recruit Sydney Hope we see some of you out and about on the rivers.