MotorBoater

I doubt that this statement is fully correct or fully false, any more than opinions from the other angle. Why anyone would pay through the nose to sit on a boat, usually in the middle of nowhere, to watch Coronation St et al will forever be one of life's mysteries. Surely it can't just be for a change of scenery, they're not looking ! I do wonder sometimes if the very helpful advice, and detailed directions, generously given on this forum, is tinted by an alcoholic haze. That is a view I am entitled to have just as much as a serious drinker is entitled to his view too. If the idea that alcohol consumption is an important aspect of a broads holiday, where does that leave teetotallers ? Mr Mynah sir, I have lately returned from 10 nights on the Broads and we took with us a fair few bottles which returned with us - unopened. We just didn't feel like it. That doesn't make us right or wrong, just different. Vive la difference. God forbid we should ever all be the same. Besides, us avoiding the pubs left more room for you. If your supposition is correct why would the otters win out on subsequent trips ? Is that anything to do with the prices ? I detect a lighthearted theme to your rant, I hope you can see similar to this.

Wow !

A few more pics

July 17th. - Just Cruising, Because We Can Starting to feel like the end of our holiday but there are still a couple of days to go. Up and away early as requested, Mikande, next to us was away first, more lovely people by the way, and we followed. I think we were the only foreigners there. We passed a column of boats headed for Woods, with not many smiley faces. We set off for Stokesby again as we were minded to get some more honey to take home for little gifts from Norfolk, I could say we do like that ride down the Bure but in truth there isn't a part of the broads we don't like. We left the Thurne for the Bure and the by now usual rat-race was building, at least the paddleboarders and most of the canoeists seemed to be keeping to the smaller rivers and the broads. The day boats were doing their level best to fill in however. We were approaching Stokesby just after 10am and it was clear there was no room at the inn, more socially distanced mooring. I'm sure people were thinking they were doing "The right thing" but equally sure they weren't thinking it through. I'm bl**dy sure if I can keep 6ft away from the wife on the boat I can keep 6ft away on the bank ! So we binned the honey idea and turned around debating where next. Stella had a hankering for Salhouse again so off we went. The work on the 24hr mooring at Acle is looking very tidy and I remember wondering if the tea room will open again or whether this is still stage one of something bigger. The pub had spaces, a tad early I suppose, Bridgecraft and the bit next door was busy again, seems a popular spot. St. Benets was not exceptionally busy and we pushed on, deciding not to waste any more time down Ranworth way, a slight disappointment for Stella as she still hasn't climbed the church tower. Horning was a bit messy with no chance of a mooring unless stopping at Southgates, only one boat here but several day boats jockeying for position at the New Inn. On down to Salhouse, at first sight the bankside mooring is chocker, again no "Socially Distanced" mooring here. Found only one boat on the three boat mooring down in the far corner, under the trees, that will do nicely. My stern mooring skills suffice to get us in without going anywhere near the boat already there, must be improving, it's not long before a dayboat with six brawny types arrive, mooring first nose in, then sideways, then finally stern-on thanks to the guy in the other boat. Frankly I was enjoying it too much to think about actually helping, naughty me. I could have sent the crew in but with their record we might have been pulling six heavy weights out well into the evening. I went looking for the warden to pay our dues while the kettle was boiling, after a while the dayboat moved on and the last bankside space for the night was taken by Royale Emblem, nice looking boat, well presented. We explored the footpaths, found the bins and settled in for the night, lovely evening sunshine too. More to come. Only two more nights, which means tomorrow is our last full day.

The website appears to not have caught up with Facebook. Nice idea Richardsons but why announce it before everything is ready ? I've tried a couple of boats and November is still a no no.

Gorgeous set of photos, sound like you are keeping out of the daytime madhouse !

July 16th. Three Birds, One Stone. Late start today, didn't get underway until 10.45am. No particular rush again as we decided we were due a visit to Potter Heigham, I was in no hurry to deposit wife and son at the Doorway to Temptation that is Lathams. On the way it occured to me that the Richardson guy had advised a pumpout about halfway through the holiday, we needed to moor for the night somewhere and ,of course, those two just HAD to go to Lathams. So this was going to be win, win, win though how I got away with the last one I still don't know. The Bure was busy busy, it was pretty clear, at least to me, that a major factor in the instant tourist boom was the fact that the kids were not at school. It might have looked a bit more normal otherwise. What are they going to do during the regular holiday period ? If they were looking to skip abroad as so many do then I suspect they may be having second thoughts now. Anyway we soldiered on, George nearly got us tangled up with a sailing boat at the southern end of Horning but the guy was brilliant at shouting where George needed to be, without a trace of rancour, whatever he was thinking. I took the helm for another tour of Malthouse and that was worse than before. Nice to see so many people in one place but acting responsibly. In fact this was generally true of the entire 10 days. On past St. Benets, this must be the only holiday I never stopped there and left into the Thurne. We decided to save Womack for another day and arrived at Herbert Woods. I wasn't bothered at the £22 charged for a twin tank pumpout, it's part of the holiday, and Alan did a very thorough job. What was amusing me was the number of people waiting for water ! Apparently their pressure is not very high and there were four or five boaters criss-crossing the pontoon to see how it was going on. At a rough estimate top-up was taking about 30 mins per boat. Fortunately we didn't need to join them. Alan said we were welcome to stay the night but we needed to be gone by 8am as Friday was a big change-over day, not a problem as we were usually up and about early but I set an alarm on the temporary phone the crew had bought me at Beccles, as I like to use Aweigh and Ulysse apps. Incidentally, Alcatel One smart phone £35 from Tesco, including £10 voucher, absolute bargain. The guy in Tesco apparently said it was rubbish but it behaved flawlessly, perhaps he was referring to the games performance, they often do. Anyway, off we go to Lathams, big surprise - no queue, of course not, they are all inside. Quite well organised and we were round in no time at all. How we did it I don't know but only £25.76 ! This included two 5ltr bottles of water at 99p each. Back to the boat and laze around up top watching a number of Woods boats rolling in for change over, and people still waiting for their turn at the water hose. Another day done. More to come.

July 15th. - Georges Version of His Mother's Antics on Day One Woke up, got up, fed up. No great rush as the agenda for the day was dictated by the need to get back under Wroxham's bridge. We chilled, mainly watching Richardson personnel working on the two boats in the turning area, including swapping a battery at one point. The water was crystal clear (Hence the weeds) and you could see the river bottom no trouble. You could also see lots of fish swimming from the lock down the length of our boat before turning and making their way back again, resolutely avoiding the line of half a dozen fishermen behind us. I didn't have the heart to tell them. The double moored pair finally decided to leave so we decided to get along too, the idea being to see if we could moor at the common for a bit to kill time before heading back to the bridge. Just as we were ready to go another Richardson tub arrived and took the space in the turning area again but nothing like the previous occupants. I gently nosed into the weeds, swung the wheel over in reverse, and we were out and away. No sign of the fisherfolk moving and we hoped they would leave it clear. Made our way downriver and were delighted to see several spaces at the common including a couple big enough for us. The sight of day boats taking the same space as 30/35ft plus cruisers was starting to get on my nerves. No problem I thought as we glided in to the bank, George on the bow with a rope in hand and the wife behind me ready to throw him the stern rope when he was on the bank. He wasn't on the bank long enough to receive it. Having stepped on to the bank, properly attired I might add, for some reason he took a step backwards instead of forwards. There wasn't anything there. The act of stepping off had edged the bow slightly away from the bank and before I could get it back in George went down between boat and bank. Just like his mother he had a firm hold of the rope but a shorter length and this time he had stepped over it so that when he went down it lodged behind one knee. This mean't he didn't quite go all in but soaked one leg and half an arm. Do people live underground there? Where they came from I don't know but in no time at all people came from nowhere and about eight or nine of them had him out and on the bank. Mother of course flew to the bow and I'm standing by the helm watching the stern drift out but a woman shouted for the rope and pulled it in after I threw it. Another guy tied the bow up while we sorted George out. He was more concerned at the fuss than the fall and we packed him below to dry off and change. after thanking everyone they all disappeared again. This was day six and for the next four days my dear family were hoping I was going to make it a full set, sorry to disappoint. Suitably rested the crew decided to explore while I tidied the boat. After a while they returned and we set off for the bridge, arriving at the Hoveton mooring in good time. There was one space available, furthest from the bridge which mean't I didn't have to demonstrate my stern mooring skills to the patrons of the Kings head, and others. It took the pilot about half an hour to work through his little bit of backlog then it was our turn and we were through and away to Salhouse for the night. The bankside moorings were full so we moored outside, loads of room, just before a shower arrived. Not a bad mooring really, quiet as we like it, by now we were used to GH 2 twitching at the sniff of a wash from passing boats. Only a couple of pics this time, not sure why, presumably an element of "Been there, done that." Next time Herbert Woods, from the inside.

Nobody said a word, there were five in total that night and as we all left the following day a couple more were arriving. Btw, when London Rascal and Sheila were there a few years ago it was in a Richardson tub Just checked Richardson's Captains Manual again... Under Cruising Limits - basically don't go to sea ! Under Where To Moor - No mention. Under where not to moor - No mention. Maybe different yards have different rules ?

Yeah, we walked all around there while waiting for our boat on the 10th.. If ever there was an area you felt should be better this is it.

Finally, a couple of Horsted Mill and a couple of the river approach to it. The story continues, when I get a bit of feeling back into my fingers.

More Coltishall pics A few more to follow...

July 14th. - Absolute Heaven We dropped the pilot off on the left bank on a large expanse of tarmac. Off we go. The pictures simply do not do the trip justice. We trundled along, for the most part in silence, and the only disappointment was that I still had not found any Kingfishers, nor did I for the whole holiday as it happens. As half expected we found the whole stretch quite magical, I hope the residents realise how lucky they are, I'm sure they do, how could they not ? The weeds in places were quite bad, especially the last half mile to the lock but somebody was obviously on the ball because on the way back down the following day we encountered a weed-cutter, by anchor moorings, merrily chattering away at them. We just took our time, one bend after another, passing Belaugh with two moored boats at the staithe, deserted, one fisherman and a small group of children playing a little further along. Anchor Moorings was packed out and carrying on we passed Coltishall Common with a few small spaces and families enjoying the weather. It looked like a number of visitors had arrived by car as well as boats. The pubs seemed to be doing well with many patrons sitting by the garden bank watching us pass. Fine for them. Me? I'm hoping I don't c**k up with an audience ! Moving on we sqeezed past two canoeists by the hotel and finally arrived at the lock. Three or four fishermen on the bank, a couple of little cruisers, two rather large Richardson boats double moored in the turnaround area leaves just enough room on the bank before them for GH 2. The weeds in the turnaround area are diabolical. Getting out tomorrow might be fun. After suitable refreshment the crew take off over the lock in search of supplies, I took the camera and headed in the other direction. Those pics will likely be part of the second or third post for this part of the trip. Back at the boat I became aware of a small herd of cows with apparent jet-propelled hooves, every time I took my eyes off them they disappeared and popped up about 400/500 yards away. This is a phenomenon I have encountered before. Some years ago, whilst cruising past St. Benets with then family we decided to stop and explore the ruins. The field around them are pancake flat, as you will know, and at the time of first sight were covered in cows, lots of them. It took no time at all to stop and moor and yet when we turned to walk to the ruins they had all gone, to this day I have no idea where. It's not as if it's not open country. Just gone. Any way here we were and here we stayed, for the night. More to come, first I've got to sort the pictures out... More pics shortly

July 13th/14th. Unplanned Route March leads to near dehydration (Ok, maybe not) I can't remember what time we got to South Walsham but suspect it was around 3pm. Wife and son decide to go for a walk, as they did in March, George is hungry, as he was in March, and Stella is worried about the water. We were using a combination of bottled water and tank. The description and photos of GH2 did not show a separate filtered tap and to be safe we brought a pack of water with us just in case. In the event we found a filter under the sink that even the trial driver didn't know was there. As it happened we were quite happy with the combination and she thought the bottled supply was a little low. We had also run out of milk. Neither of them could remember what they found in March so decided to explore. I didn't go, as in March, COPD playing up, I wasn't walking anywhere much. I did stretch as far as Marine-Tech a bit later. Finally left to my own devices I pottered around the boat having a tidy-up and returned to the fresh air to find a nice looking craft in front of us labelled Norfolk Lady. My "Crew" had been missing for some time by then. I realised I had found a forum member. I introduced myself to Malcolm and we had a right old natter for quite a while, properly distanced of course. My crew was stll missing. Eventually Malcolm returned to his boat only to return a little later with enough milk for a couple of cups of tea, presumably taking pity on my prowling up and down the bank. My crew was still missing. Much appreciated Malcolm, thanks again. At last wife and son appear, suitably laden with supplies. As they stagger on board I learn they have walked all the way to Ranworth and back. That, of course, became my fault. Matters didn't improve on discovering I had had a couple of cuppas due to Malcolm's good nature. However, kettle on and the world soon returned to normal (Well, the "new" normal). Stella said Ranworth was horrendously busy, the moorings were full and boats were mudweighting all over. Having overnighted we set off for Coltishall, at last. I vaguely remember being there some time ago and after watching, on youtube, a trip London Rascal did a while back, wherein he tutored a nervous Sheila in turning the boat around, him on the bank, Sheila on the boat, we had put it at the top of our wish list. We diverted to Ranworth/Malthouse for a tootle around the broad, certainly was packed out, then called at Salhouse for the sake of the water tank, which took very little time with their larger bore hose. While we were there I rang Wroxham pilot who confirmed my thoughts that 2.30pm would be a good time and told me to ring him when moored at the Wroxham pilot staithe. We got to the bridge on time via another detour, through Wroxham Broad, and a dawdle through the approaches with Stella, as usual, picking out the houses I'm supposed to put an offer on when our numbers come up. Well it does help to pass the time. There was a long orange tub already on the mooring when we got there so space was at a premium. The chap on that seemed a bit concerned at our arrival but didn't say anything to us although he seemed in deep conversation with his wife at one point. Not sure but it might have been about how our pointy end was overhanging his stern to the extent that we might have remodelled his rear door if the wind had been in a different direction. I rang the pilot as instructed and settled down to wait. He was a busy lad but appeared from the other side, changed over to the tub, took him through then came back for us, we were on our way. More to follow. Next post will be a problem, too many pics, I'll try to choose the best.

What a wonderful place, new to me, heard about it of course but this is first time I've seen pictures, now added to the wish list.

30 seconds previously this shot contained one boat moored at the top and one union flag.

Missed one

July 13th. - Country Odours etc We were sharing Hardley Cross with a small tub cruiser and a rather larger (Heightwise) type, peaceful enough for the most part and we popped up on deck occasionally and just let it all sink in. After the Lodden escapade I might need Harry Potter's invisibility cloak for my next visit. Anyone got a contact number ? We wanted to be away around 9am to catch the tide, more or less, at Yarmouth but we were up quite late when the wife came down and announced a "Funny smell, like sewage". Assuming she mean't inside the boat George and I jumped up and started checking toilets and kitchen sink before she said it seemed to be outside. I put my head out of the hatch and detected a faintish aroma more associated with farmland in October than the Broads in July. Half an hour later it wasn't faint anymore. Head out, nothing untoward, got the torch and shone it on the bank wondering if we had any nocturnal bovine visitors but no. What I saw was cavities under the mooring, with small lengths of chain across such as appear in many places on the broads. Whatever it was caking those cavitities I don't know, I haven't seen it anywhere else and it didn't look pleasant ! Battened down the hatches, taped up the ventilation windows on that side and turned in. By early morning the tide was back up and the smell was gone. If BA have a spare body with a pressure washer I suggest they helicopter him in sooner rather than later. We soon left all that behind and set off about 9.15am for the North. Back past Reedham Ferry and Reedham itself with gaps appearing as others left to go their merry way and others moving in to take their place. No problem at the bridge, swung left and we were on our way to Breydon. The weather was not at all bad throughout the holiday, yes there were showers early on, only natural, but nothing up to "Spoiler" level. The breezes however I found difficult at times - no meat on me at all and this was particularly noticeable on the stretch from Reedham to Breydon and on across the water, Brilliant sunshine, sunglasses, wide-brimmed hat and thick anorak ! Things quietened down considerably, weatherwise, by the time we hit Picadilly Circus Great Yarmouth. Cerise Lady was one of the boats passing us in the opposite direction, I only noticed because it did stand out from the crowd, there may have been others but my attention was on a big boy, stern out from the bank, in the distance. George had been on the wheel much of the way from Reedham, but he made sure he wasn't at Yarmouth. We were minded to water-up at Stracey but more than one boat had the same idea so we pushed on hoping for a break at Stokesby and a look at the new shop. Sure enough, round the bend and a sizeable craft was just leaving the BA mooring leaving room for us, just. The only problem was a lifelike Buddha type figure in a rather large chair with a long thin protuberance from his lap - that turned out to be a fishing rod. The only way in was to turnaround, approach obliquely, and glide. I do try to keep my stories short (Honest) so suffice to say we hit the rod, swamped his net, grazed a portion of his chair overhanging the bank and STILL BUDDHA DIDN'T MOVE. It was only after we had tied up, just clear of his position, that he got up and silently began packing up and disappeared. Clearly not taking any more chances. We soon found the shop and queued up outside, as per sign, only to be told we were the only people in the queue, yes it really was one of those days. In my humble opinion they deserve every success with that place, we didn't really need anything but spent £20+ anyway and went for a lovely walk, we found a property with homemade honey, jams and jellies for sale "Guarded" by a black Lab who might lick you to death if your not careful, spent another £20 and headed back to the boat. We adore the place. Onwards and upwards, through Acle Bridge, only one Bridgecraft boat again, immaculate again, busy with Richardson boats again. Past Upton Dyke, signed as very narrow on my map, how those Eastwood boats manage it I don't know, it's certainly narrow and all the boats moored nose to tail down one side must make it worse. A number of their boats out and about show it's feasible but I wonder if any of them do it under sail ! No more excitement really, joined the traffic around St. Benets before turning left down Fleet to South Walsham, another of our favourites. More to follow.

Hello Ruthie, Telling you the best plan is no plan probably doesn't sound very helpful but we don't set out to be anywhere at any particular time, we just have a basic idea of what we would like to see, at some point. As has been said, if you want to stop then stop. If you start to worry about being somewhere you will miss so much on the way. The Handy Information tab at the top of these pages are indeed a goldmine of info and we have a "Boat Book" of downloaded pages that we consult each night to decide what tomorrow might bring. I would have thought the practical tips, like mooring against the tide, would be more helpful than where to go. A large part of the fun is finding out for yourself. Diplomatically I would suggest that reading some of the threads on this forum would give an idea of places to avoid but there aren't many of those. If you arrive determined to enjoy the experience you won't be disappointed.

The attempts at humour on here sometimes leave me wondering what is genuine and what is not. For the record, I discovered I'm allergic to bio washing powders and liquids when they first came out. I suggest you try non-bio, which usually means Persil non-bio. Not always easy to find but usually on the shop shelves somewhere.

July 12th. - Get me Out Of here ! We left Beccles earlyish, but not especially so, as we decided to try for Lodden. Another long run but we thought if we made it all well and good, if not there is always tomorrow I can gloss over much of the trip because it was much the same as yesterday. St. Olaves was a bit hectic and as we started up the Haddiscoe Cut I noticed the Marina and Anglia Basin was quite empty and quiet, the outside moorings only had one boat too. The cut was fairly busy in keeping with much of the area and it wasn't until we neared Reedham that it died down quite a bit. Until we actually got to the bridge. Nothing special, just the usual "Mine's bigger than yours so I've got right of way, no it's not, yes it is" kind of thing. We just hung back until a gap appeared and then went through just before a bath tub coming the other way appeared from behind the bridge base where he had been hiding. Pushing on we passed His Lordship to the right, couldn't have moored even if we had wanted to, passed the chain ferry and turned into the Chet. As we did I noticed the Hardley Cross moorings were virtually empty, just two boats there, just as well. I like the Chet, a lot. The twists and turns at the beginning give the impression you have travelled for miles but a look at the map shows you really haven't gone that far, as the crow flies (Or would do if you could find one). We had followed a couple of boats when we turned in though they soon pulled away as we weren't hurrying and I realised that an increasing number were going the other way, the penny still didn't drop as I was more concerned with keeping out of their way. As we approached Pyes Mill the fun began. It was packed out and overflowing at both ends from before the first righthand bend to the left turn down to the boatyards. No room for socially distanced moorings here, in fact looking at the river banks no-one around here knew what social distancing is. we chugged on down to the basin with no chance of turning beforehand, checking the boatyards on the way. One had a sign saying hire boats welcome to moor with another sign saying stern-mooring only. What looked like a Broom 30, or similar, put paid to that by mooring side on across the available space. No-one around. The entrance to the basin had three paddleboarders and two kayaks across it and three fishermen just inside at the lefthand corner with their rods aimed into the basin, across the only vacant mooring for miles. With the fishermen ignoring Stella's hand signals of our intention to moor and the kayaks creeping under their rods into the same space I decided I'd had enough. I revved the engine for a tight turn, managed to miss the moored boats in the process, despite the screams of the bankside spectators apparently convinced otherwise. The paddleboarders who had resumed station across the entrance soon realised I was coming back out and shifted pretty smartly. Back past the boatyards to what was now a righthand turn with a bath tub on the left hand bank, right where he didn't need to be. A quick look over my shoulder to make sure it was clear behind and the stern decided to kick out and send us straight for the tub. I revved the engine and regained the steering with only a nudge of the bath tub, rounded the corner to find a guy on the back of a small cruiser, inevitably with a rod, waving three fingers and shouting "Three miles an hour". I was already slowing back down so I resisted the temptation to reply with two thirds of his digits and proceeded to get out of there, praying that the Hardley moorings still had space. In the event there was indeed plenty of space so we moored up and chilled out for the night with just the occasional bump up and down when another cruiser went by. I'm not sure I have conveyed how packed, crazy and frenetic Lodden seemed, the more so for being unexpected. However busy the rivers, moorings and boatyards, both before and after, nothing else was quite like it. We decided to save touring the rest of the south for another time and made plans to head back north, not least because the main reason for changing the boat booking for a lower airdraft was a desire to get to Coltishall. More to come.

I concede !

Thank you Vaughan, that's one to remember. We only used the lower position once, during a shower, quite memorable actually. Given the position of the seat, wheel and wiper motor, every time I moved my head it banged on the motor - I do mean every time. A particular contortion was required to see out of the top right hand corner of the screen as a six inch square patch there was the only bit the wiper cleared. I would not consider a boat for hire without a wiper but I do realise I am kidding myself, for the most part, when I think it will be useful. I know cost is a factor but why do the companies invest in these in the first place and then not get them working properly. The wire coathanger type of blade and arm are all but useless. The sweep of the arm is usually limited and the lightweight blade often bounces across the bit of screen it does sweep. I suppose the size of the motor is a clue, most boat wiper motors are a third to one half the size of the one fitted to any car I have ever had. The smaller size is no bonus when it's positioned to catch the unwary !

July 11th - Lets go South 6.15am Saturday, early start for Great Yarmouth, a few others on the move too although not as many as I expected. I like to allow a little extra time for error so I suppose there will be a few more soon. It's only been half a day and already I've seen more kayaks and paddle boards than I've seen all year - and last. Through Acle Bridge and off we go. One Bridgecraft boat at their moorings, looking immaculate as always. A few Richardsons boats waiting on assistance inside by the look of it. On to Stokesby, we were going to stop and visit the new shop but the pub moorings looked full with "Socially Distanced" boats and the free moorings had a couple of 38/40 ft front drives so we decided to try again on the way back. There were a few boats about, going both ways, but really not that many. We just got used to the upstairs steering position and the fact you were sitting on the engine. The noise was only a problem when trying to communicate with the saloon ! We had already discovered crossing Barton that my wife is not a contender for helm of the year and she was happy to leave that side of it to the boy and me. I figured to get past Stracey and turn the boat over to George and give him a go. Stracey came and went, quite busy there, actually a good few people on the bank but, really, does EVERY boat have to be 30ft. apart ? George takes the helm, I've told him to keep to the middle as far as possible. I'm surprised at how well he is doing, we find he has downloaded an app on the Steam platform and has been secretly practising for weeks, not the real thing of course but it has done wonders for his confidence. The app doesn't have a section on what to do when the wash from passing boats throws you off but he coped really well ! And so to Great Yarmouth, I take the helm, no chance of "Socially Distanced" mooring here. Good job there is no double mooring either as two way traffic with the occasional moored boat on the opposite bank is hairy enough as it is. We carry on straight through under the bridges and away to Breydon. George back in control, we resisted the urge to open the throttle to the max and kept to 5mph all the way across and down the Waveney to St. Olaves. We considered stopping for a look at Burgh Castle but decided against, maybe another time. Plodding on, we are aiming for Beccles, a long day. St. Olaves had plenty of boats moored inside and outside the various establishments but not much actually to be seen going on, just us and three other boats passing through, as I recall. The Herringfleet moorings look lovely, not much going on of course, but full all the same. Somerleyton pretty much like St. Olaves so on to WRC. This looked wonderful in the sunshine. Starting to tire a bit but still about hour and half to go. George and I are swapping about every 30 mins now. The run from WRC to Beccles must be one of the best down there, I quite forgot where I was. Time to wake up when a succession of kayaks and paddle boards announces arrival at Beccles Yacht Station. And that was the big surprise - its half to two thirds empty ! After all the craft sitting around everywhere, including outside the station itself I thought spaces might be perhaps a bit tight but no problem at all. It didn't change at all while we were there either. Stern mooring has never been my strong suit but no problem here. £11 overnight, including water, will do me nicely. After chatting to a nice couple with a daughter and three dogs on a private next door I dozed for an hour while Stella and George explored the town. Actually I could have had a couple of hours before they got back. At least I got to wander around the Yacht Station. More to come.

Which is why I kept speeds to the max even though we not in a hurry to get anywhere particularly. The rather large wheel on GH2 required half a turn either way to "Bite" so we were forever turning one way or the other. The main problems were the effect of wind on the relatively high stern and the fact that our flat-bottomed barge was swung this way and that by the wash from some of the speedier brethren ! The racket when the wash hit was a bit loud. We tried steering into it but that caused problems lining up again. I wouldn't want to give the impression that we were unhappy with the boat, we tend to regard any "Problems" as part of the holiday but it was a bit annoying seeing the newer (and rather more expensive) boats proceeding in a somewhat straighter line than us. You pays your money and take your chances !