MaceSwinger

They'd even made a bid for the old Alpha yard in Brundall and tried crowdfunding the money to lease it from NYA (who bought it when Alpha ceased trading). They had grand plans to actually start building their own boats but sadly it appears that they couldn't attract any investment. I saw their Aquafibre 42 (Rockland) pop up on NYA and was hoping they were updating their fleet, so it's sad to see they've dissolved. That said, if I had £30k burning a hole in my pocket I might be off to do something very silly!

Solano is a Silverline 40 which, according to their website, will pass under all bridges except Potter Heigham. The caveat always being that it depends on tides and weather. I'm not entirely sure of the air draft on that boat, but Beccles Old bridge is the one you need to get under for Geldeston, and that's listed as 6'6" at high water, but you can get up to 2'6" variation. I'm pretty sure your boat will easily clear that at low tide (with the canopy and screens down as you should with all bridges).

I think a thumb-down is a far too easy way of being dismissive without offering any indication of why. Agreement is quick and neat but for disagreement there needs to be debate and discussion, it's how we all grow. Now hiding behind my desk waiting for someone to disagree with me

As Ian says this will depend on your boat's air draft. Which boat do you have? As for departure times; I may have over planned slightly, but I've made up a chart (because I love a good chart) showing the different departure times from around a very optimistic 1pm at 30 minute intervals with the furthest I could reasonably expect to get, allowing to be alongside no later than an hour before sunset.

It's weird really Ian, as a family we've used Silverline recently, but Brinks for quite a few years before that. But the only reason we moved to Brinks was because of the demise of Alpha, and in turn we only used Alpha because of the demise of Bee's. But in all that time we never once ate in The Yare until 2 years ago! I'm not sure, but I believe the further from GY you get the less pronounced LWS is, as the tides are always playing "catch-up". I can't say I've ever given it a second thought though really. I look at LWS in GY to make navigating the bridges and then around the yellow post a bit easier (having seen an old Ricko's tub pouring black smoke out desperately fighting the tide some years ago) and it's not really an issue anywhere else.

With the way this year is going, both with and without the 'Rona, I'm using my break and the planning of it as a much needed distraction, so all those locations have been internet-scouted I've eaten in the pub by the level crossing before (The Yare?) and was very happy with it, and also the cafe at the NYA basin too, so plenty of choices. I'd already planned on a quick trip to the co-op to buy the ice cream! Apologies to Farmer Terry, we appear to be shifting away from his original question

I had thought about it but you know what pub and popular moorings are like, if we really don't get away until 5pm or after we won't stand a chance. I also thought about booking a mooring at Surlingham, but if we get away earlier I won't want to stay there. I've done a table with departure times and the furthest we can reasonably expect to get before we need to put in for the night. My wife thinks I'm over thinking it

We're away W/C 17th of August and as yet we only have the initially quoted time of 5pm. I'm hoping that over the next few weeks that may change as yards get into the swing of it, but we're preparing to spend our first night in the yard. Not something I'd ever do (nor something I've ever done for that matter) but then I've also never spent a night in Brundall before, so I suppose it's not that bad! I worked out if we can get away by 1:30 we can get across Breydon and be at Stracey in time foe dinner on our first night...but that'd be doing well even under normal circumstances! (I think the earliest I've ever got away was around 11am, solo hire from Brinks a few years ago and it was the first outing for my boat, Sonata, that season!)

Best practice would always be to try and cruise with the tide, but that doesn't mean you can't cruise against it. You'll just use more fuel. Tides at Great Yarmouth tend to run quickest at the bottom of the ebb, just before slack water. I always aim to go through Great Yarmouth an hour after low water, a period called low water slack. Incidentally, I have a week next month out of Silverline, and the tide timings aren't their most cooperative, but I'm still planning on getting north too. Cruising time charts are usually quite conservative on timings (with the caveat that I've not used the specific one that Old Berkshire Boy linked to) but I wouldn't go off of anything else. Check the sunset times for when you're there and aim to be moored up at least an hour before, keeping in mind (if you're crossing Breydon Water) that the first moorings after Great Yarmouth are quite a stomp in either direction.

Isn't that the just question! NYA have a stunning Sheerline 35 for £140k, just reduced from £150k EDIT: To add, Silverline have recently put an Alpha 29CC up for sale too for £65k.

It's an Alpha 29CC, but one of not that many, 3 of which are in Silverline's fleet. We have the sister boat, the newly refitted (after a little accident...) Silver Mystique on hire in August and to be honest I can't think of a better boat for 2. My opinion may change after the holiday, but having had Broom sedans and Sumatras a couple of times, the Alpha seems like the best choice for a couple, for me at least. £65k is a looooot of money though I agree, but as Trambo said, the way Silverline maintain their fleet means you'll be getting a boat that may as well be new, plus it'll have bow thrusters and full 240v system as standard. If I had £65k burning a hole in my pocket I'd consider it. But then again you could buy an old Aquafibre that sleeps 8 for 9 for less than half of that!

Suppose it there's no room for them to move they won't need fenders Looks like a lovely boat Griff. Forward steerers aren't my favourite kind of boat, but I can always appreciate a boat that's been well looked after, and I've certainly got some lovely memories on old hire Bounties.

Happy to say I share your confidence. I have every confidence that yards, who let's face it always work to a fairly tight schedule, will all take it in stride. Give it a few take over days and they'll be all over it.

There is obviously a lot of good-natured rivalry between services. But credit where it's due, the booties know they're stuff when it comes to drumming.

Skin-bashers are by far the most talented, and usually most handsome of the lot Not so sure about the Naval bit though...

Whilst he's certainly a force to be reckoned with, LONDIST GSM isn't the most senior non-commissioned soldier in the Army anymore. Taking a leaf out of the Yanks' book, there is now an Army Sergeant Major, currently WO1 G Paton. Couldn't agree more on the rest though. I've been an Army musician for 18 years and there's never a shortage of people wanting a sing song of Vera Lynn's songs, especially at ABF, SSAFA and Legion functions. Truly an iconic woman who was still in regular conversation when I joined in the early 2000s.

I still have 2 electric cards in my wallet from 4 years ago. I started the week with 2, and brought them both home. Honestly this year it was only when I looked at the boat I'd booked for the millionth time that I saw it had shore power and an inverter. Couldn't give a monkey's about that usually. I will absolutely be mudweighting and looking for wild moorings next month. It's what I love about the Broads. A proper bed with all the scenery of wild camping.

It certainly didn't seem like it was Silverline's choice when they sent me this on June 20th: "Hi, with the current climate Hoseasons have asked us not to do our own bookings. All bookings must be done through Hoseasons."

I think we're both saying the same thing a possibly doing not a great job of realising I hate the sight of those massive things cruising down the river, and it saddens me a little that there's a market for them. But then for my entire life part of the fun of a boating holiday for me has been squeezing onto a fairly cramped boat, because a Broads holiday to me should be about what you do and see when you're awake, not how luxurious your bed is when you're asleep. In terms of space my favourite hire boat was Brinks Sonata. They didn't last too long, largely because of how cosy they were I suspect, but I absolutely adored the berth under the rear deck. It felt like a proper little boat on a real adventure.

I am, very fortunately, outside of the lockdown area. All the county council will say is that the area they've locked down (basically the city itself and a lot of the suburbs) had a much higher than average infection rate. I can't remember the exact numbers, but my area of Leicestershire, Charnwood, had a rate about a third to a quarter of Leicester City. Leicester saw a few very large gatherings, as did many other cities, in the weeks preceding the re-implementation of the lockdown and I would be surprised if that wasn't a factor. But knowing Leicester, and having grown up around here, there'll be more to it than just the pictures we saw of massive crowds rammed together around the clock tower. The good news is rates are falling again. Hopefully they'll be able to lift the restrictions a little and not risk having to expand the lockdown area.

I don't recall at any point saying I needed a 40' 2 berth boat. And I happen to agree that people expect too much from a boat. It's annoying that people slate boats and yards because they thought that the 27' by 10'6 cruiser was going to afford them absolute luxury, and funnily it didn't! I will concede that I very foolishly overlooked the older wooden boats. But given the issue at hand seemed to be the width of Ludham Bridge I don't see how that would be the solution now unless they were considerably skinnier than 9 foot, given Ludham is listed as being 18' wide.

I totally see the logic there, after all the designs of Broads cruisers had always been dictated by the rivers they're used on (with the exception of some of the huge monstrosities currently being built)...but I suspect the thought of smaller boats would put many off visiting all together. That may be a welcome thought, after all les boats means easier moorings doesn't it? Less visitors also means less revenue, and less revenue means less investment. From a personal stand point I wouldn't mind too much for just me and my wife, but our big family holidays with 8 or 9 of us would definitely go for a Burton! The point could be made that plenty of people already holiday on the canals where lower air draft and narrower beams are standard, but they make up for that with length instead. Could you imagine how long a 42' 8 berther would end being if you made the height and beam smaller? Given the navigation bylaws on vessel dimensions you'd end up with boats that wouldn't be permitted up the Ant in the first place.

I held off on commenting too much, but this is my point Paul, so thank you. It's an individual's, or company's, actions that get them in trouble, not someone who comments on it. Too often we see people doing things because they can get away with it instead of having the integrity to just do as they're asked. It's always been an annoyance for me, especially now as I have friends in Leicester I can't see at all because even though they stuck to the rules, so many others in the city didn't.

I tried to book direct with Silverline a few weeks ago and was told Hoesasons had told all yards only to allow bookings through Hoseasons themselves. I was on reflection a couple of years ago with a party similar to yours David. My parents, my wife and I, my sister and brother in law and their 2 kids. Overall pretty roomy, saloon was a little crowded with us all in there, but it's a boat; it has a finite amount of room. Overall it was lovely, and immaculately turned out as Silverline's boats always are.

Like I said, I'm not sure on the accuracy or the source.