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750XL
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Posts posted by 750XL
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Thanks all, think we got our last lot from Herby Woods then gave them away at the end of the holiday as didn't think we'd be returning anytime soon.
How times change.
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Don't suppose anyone has a few electric cards they aren't likely to be using again in the near future? Will obviously pay full price for them plus postage.
Looking at 2-3 probably, as we're only there a week.If not, hopefully Herby Woods have some.
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Speaking of bridges, is there any website that offers accurate Ludham Bridge heights?
We had a 8ft 10" boat booked but chickened out and have done down to a 6ft 5"If the water levels are ok before we go, looking to probably upgrade to original boat
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Monkeys fist flying towards me in South East Asia used to put the fear of god through me. Most of them had all sorts of heavy shrapnel inside which bloody hurt when caught the wrong way
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At 6ft 5" we may even get under Wroxham this year which would be nice!
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Had a change of heart and downgraded to Adventure Light as we'd really love to visit the Ant again, and possibly Wroxam for the first time.
Few pennies saved as well for the odd
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We've finally took the plunge and booked Gleaming Light from Herbert Woods for late October.
Last year we had a bath tub so thought we'd go for something different.
Southern Broads are a no-no due to tide times but our favourite spoke is north of the Ludham Bridge. Wild mornings, bit of fishing, we leave it.
Air draft of Gleaming Light is 8ft 10" and I note the general consensus is Ludham Bridge is 8ft 6" on an average day, according to the markers.I understand this is a bit of a piece of string question depending on tides, rainfall, etc etc, but has anyone had any luck passing at that air draft?
If it's a complete no-no I'm tempted to contact Herby Woods and see if we can change to something with a bit of a lower airdraft.
I've seen in the past boatyard staff ballast boats with exceptionally high tides but not sure if this is a Richardsons thing or Herby Woods.
Many thanks for your helpful insight. Very excited to get on the water after a very stressful few months (health, redundancy, all that lot!) -
Personally I'd bite the bullet and get a whole new PC, there's only so much you can upgrade.
You can get 'gaming' PC's quite reasonably priced these days -
We spent a lot of time up the river Ant on our holiday as we really enjoy the wild moorings on offer up there.
Noticed there seemed to be quite a few boats in popular 'wild moorings' that almost looked abandoned, or if they were lived on, were in a bit of a sorry state. We even saw one near the free moorings at Paddy's Lane with some sort of self built floating pontoon on the back of it (generally filled with rubbish).
Never really noticed these boats in the past, is it a new thing? Or am I just becoming more observant these days
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We struggled to book a boat for October just gone, especially as the choice for a 2 berth is pretty limited at the best of times - plus the staycation surge and all that...
Personally, I love the Broads and I'm willing to go any time of the year but I'm struggling to justify it to the boss (missus) at 2022 prices. In her eyes, "we've done the Broads now" and paying almost a grand for a week of what will probably be very questionable British weather isn't worth it...
Deep down, I probably agree!I fail to see how most of these boats will remain affordable to the masses going forward, when you factor in mooring fees, pump outs, water, etc etc
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More of a post for anyone who happens to stumble across it through search engines etc than a full in depth review, but hey ho, it may help someone.
Me and the missus just had a great 11 nights on 'Prince of Light' from Herbert Woods. No problems at all with the boat so had minimal contact with HW, but they were very good on handover covering everything we needed to know. Admittedly we've been on the broads a few times before so we set off without a river trial and on our way to Womack for the night.
Boat is small but perfectly suited for a couple, in my opinion. Bed was comfy and despite the window being left open (condensation) during October it stayed pretty snug in there throughout the night. Extra blanket and hot water bottle goes a long way.
Toilet and shower a bit on the small side but nothing to be too worried about. Full water flush was a bit hit and miss at times so a cup of water helped get those larger movements moving.... if you catch my drift!
Decorated beautifully both inside and out and was an absolute easy to drive, as well as being very quiet. We had no issues getting on/off despite the water levels.
Warm air heating was fantastic though we didn't use it much as I thought the engine had to be running at the time, which it doesn't.
Nice little seating area outside which I found ideal for fishing.
Wouldn't hesitate to recommend HW and Prince of Light.
Hope to use them again soon
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3 hours ago, andyg said:
Just out of interest, would you hire the boat again ??
Prince of Light? Yes, absolutely, we loved the boat and had no problems at all during our 11 night trip. Everything worked flawlessly and Herbert Woods were excellent when we picked up the boat. A bigger water tank would be the only thing, if I was really nit picking.
Hired 'Waveney Pegasus' last year and it was a bit of a nightmare, as well as being very tall so couldn't get up the Ant etc. Previous years we'd hired 'Brinks Duet' and had a few minor problems with them (toilets, heating, etc).
For the price we thought Prince of Light was a great little cruiser for just the 2 of us, admittedly both in our 20's so perhaps more able to get on and off such a low boat than some older couples!
Actually wanted to book Prince of Light for February but looks like Herbert Woods only have a small selection of large (6-8 berth) cruisers available for that time of the year, half tempted to give them a call and see if they'll let us have it a few weeks earlier than it's planned to go back on hire (March) but we'll see.
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Thanks for the replies, interesting to know for the next time we manage to get afloat!
Must say I did wonder how everyone around us managed to have their heating on, without starting the engine first!
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For those better informed than me, can I ask about the diesel warm air heaters hire boats have fitted.
We've just had a holiday on board 'Prince of Light' from Herbert Woods and it had a Eberspächer diesel warm air heater fitted. The young lad who did our handover said the main engine needed to be running with some idle revs applied during startup, and left running for about 50 minutes whilst the heating was running or it'll just blow cold air and drain the batteries.
I knew that once the warm air heating unit had started itself up the engine didn't need to be running, so didn't question him on being 'wrong' and we just carried on the handover as per.
The warm air heating was fantastic, really warmed up the boat in absolutely no time at all but we didn't use it after 8pm as we were worried about running the engine for a few minutes to start it up.
But, on the last few days of the trip, knowing our batteries were well charged I started the heating at night without the engines running and it started up absolutely fine and ran fine for a good length of time! Wish I'd knew earlier in the trip really.
Are the yards just over cautious giving out advice that the engine needs to be running when starting Eberspacher units? Was I just 'lucky' being able to start the heating without the engine running purely off battery power?
Just for the record, Prince of Light was a fantastic boat and highly recommend it (and HW) to anyone.
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The lack of water points is probably our biggest concern for hiring in February.
We've just had 'Prince of Light' from Herbert Woods and needed to top up the water virtually every other day for just the 2 of us, and that was with limited showers and toilet flushing. The wanter tank seemed a lot smaller than anything else we've hired in the past - so assuming all the 'public' water points are disconnected during the winter I'm not sure how we'd manage.
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Curious as to peoples thoughts on hiring a small 2 person holiday cruiser for a week in late February?
We've just got back from a fantastic 11 nights on the Broads, was busy but the beer cold, food good and even caught a few fish! Looking at next year the prices are generally too much for just the 2 of us but I see we can get a week in February for a few hundred quid.Hired in April/October before so very much aware of how cold it can get etc, but looking for peoples thoughts and opinions on the Broads in February? My understanding of it is not a lot will be open, hardly anyone will be afloat, and facilities like pump out, fresh water etc may be an issue.
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Just home from a fantastic 11 nights on the Broads, visited most places we wanted to with the exception of Wroxham due to the high waters.
One interesting thing I noted on the holiday was a very large boat at St Bennett’s moorings, possibly a Dutch barge?
Has anyone seen it around? Any info on it?
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Currently on board having a great holiday on a Herbert Woods bathtub. Plenty of fish, beer and food!
Sailed from Dilham to Wroxham today, excited to pass under Wroxham bridge for the first time...
We have an air draft of 6ft 5in so didn't think much of it - called the pilot as we approached the bridge and was told no can do, I'm not taking boats through today due to the water levels. Whoops.
Bit gutted as I'd been looking forward to exploring that end of the rivers for months! But hey ho...
Not sure if the levels will get better this week or not?
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We're currently at a Premier Inn in Norwich, ready to pick up tomorrow from Herbert Woods. Very excited!
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We hired 'Pegasus' last year for a week in October, not a bad boat for the price but we did have issues.
All electric combi oven/microwave/hob setup which after a few days entirely drained the batteries, which couldn't/wouldn't charge up again with the engine running even at full revs. Subsequently lost the electric flush, electric heating, electric shower pump etc etc.... Only way we could get anything to work was on shore power.
Even the guys at Waveney River Centre gave up trying to fix it after a few hours and we just carried on the rest of our holiday making the best of a bad situation.
If the issues are sorted, I'm sure it'll make a lovely boat for someone.
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Not sure if it's been posted elsewhere, but...
https://www.facebook.com/broadshols/posts/343954427423669
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5 hours ago, BroadAmbition said:
The triangle Island between Sutton 'Broad' (That's a joke still calling it a 'Broad' nowadays) and the Ant leg to Stalham,
Most will be aware that the houseboat wreck above the waterline was eventually removed leaving the base sitting on the bottom. The Ba have since tried to hide it with floating lumps of reed bank staked down with yellow posts rather than removing it.
There was just room to the left of sunken wreck remains to mudweight as a fishing spot. I now see we have lost that to yet another abandoned wreck. Will it never end?
At this rate all the attractive wild moorings on the Ant will soon be permanently taken up by live-aboards or discarded wrecks. It makes my blood boil, it really does. Johnny Crowes staithe is still ongoing, I've had emails exchanged with the council but looks like it is to be lost for the foreseeable future now
Griff
As only a mere Broads holidayer myself…
Can anyone educate me on the reasons why somebody would abandoned their boat there? Surely if you wanted rid of a boat, it’d be easier to sell it on than abandon it like this?
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What type of fishing are you doing Griff?
We've only ever fished twice before, always on waggler floats. Caught loads of (little) fish last year during our Broads holiday but couldn't figure out how to fish on the rivers with a flow.
We're coming back again this October, armed with 2 new rods, reels, lines, all sorts of tackle! Going to try the method feeder and maggot feeder, for the first time
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Great read and photos, thanks for sharing.
Agree with the prices for next year, they're eyewatering
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At this rate all the attractive wild moorings on the Ant will soon be permanently taken up by live-aboards or discarded wrecks. It makes my blood boil, it really does. Johnny Crowes staithe is still ongoing, I've had emails exchanged with the council but looks like it is to be lost for the foreseeable future now 
Flooding
in Broads Chat
Posted
We returned our boat to Herbert Woods yesterday after a wonderful (albeit) flooded week on the Broads. It was sad to see most of Potter, Horning and Wroxham under water - mooring spots were limited despite the fact there was hardly any boats on the water (who'd rent a boat in November eh?)
Upon arrival at 0830 to Herbert Woods they informed me the flood barriers were up, hence our car was trapped on the 'wrong' side of the fence. Few hours wait for them to pump the water to an acceptable level but they very kindly supplied us with cake and coffee whilst we waited!
Big thumbs up to HW