750XL

Hoseasons, Barnes Brinkcraft and Herbert Woods all give 10% off with the 'Blue Light Discount' scheme for emergency workers, I suspect the other yards probably do as well? We've actually just recently booked with Herbert Woods taking advantage of the 10% multi-week discount, in addition to the Blue Light Card 10% discount. All in all, almost £200 off the holiday which I thought was a good deal! £998 for 11 nights in October.

Good read and great photos! Both boats look lovely

The BBC One coverage earlier this evening was showing the sailing for almost an hour. Seemed well covered to me?

This year with the boom in 'staycations' and people not having any other choice, I can imagine the boatyards may find people willing to pay this much for a break on the Broads. However, I certainly can't see them filling these type of boats year after year once those who can afford it, get back to their luxury breaks in the Maldives, Dubai, etc etc... Will they be impressed at their 3 nights away, unable to get on any moorings at Horning, Ranworth, etc? Probably not in my opinion!

I see Norfolk Broads Direct have a late cancellation for 3 nights starting tomorrow…. For £2020! Over £673 a night. Almost fell off my chair when I saw the price https://www.broads.co.uk/boats/fair-courier/?unit_id=1569&arrival=2021-07-30&departure=2021-08-02&duration=259200&adults&children=0&arrival_time=14%3A30%3A00&fbclid=IwAR1-MBx2eCVD6sd3ilW5zamWlslkN3YBcNdrfC_9es8fHgvXlmC0eATxeVQ

We hired one of the Brinks Duet’s a few years back and the warm air heating would stop a minute or so after we tried to start it each time. Did call the boatyard a few times but we gave up in the end. Come to think of it, don’t think we had the engine running each time we tried to start (generally at night). I wonder if this was the reason.

Any ideas what height she was going to be? There were a lot of boats stuck upstream when we visited last year, with the lads from Richardson’s trying to get some under the bridge ballasted with water - to varying degrees of success!

Pretty much all the yards are completely fully booked until September, with the exception of a few cancellations

We left our £5 worth of cards (which we hadn't managed to use) on board for the next people taking the boat - thinking we wouldn't be back to the Broads within the next 12 months. Bit of a thread drift, perhaps, but I see all Herbert Woods boats use diesel warm air heating. Does this use much (if any?) battery power?

It's a shame you can't just use contactless payment at the electric posts, much like you can when travelling on the tube etc (tap in, tap out). We had a few boat battery issues when we hired last year and could only use the galley on shore power. Couldn't find anywhere selling cards, and when we eventually did (at Brooms) the electricity posts at Rockland St Marys weren't working. Hey ho! Gonna try pick a couple up from Herbert Woods this year, just in case.

We love the upper reaches of the Ant, and all the little wild moorings there are hidden up there! We were gutted we couldn't get through Ludham last year due to the high water levels (and a tall boat!) but this coming October we have a little 6ft 5", so planning to spend a bit of time up on the Ant. Hopefully it's still quiet

We're on a HW craft (albeit a small 2 berth one) for 11 nights from 12th October, so may see you around also

Thanks everybody for the replies, varied opinions as always. Would the bog standard engine in a hire boat have the power to punch through a full flowing tide, for example through Yarmouth?

Hello all, hoping for a bit of advice if I may? I understand this may have been discussed before but a quick google didn't bring much up, every bit of info I find online says that the passage across Breydon must be made at slack water. We're due back on the Broads for 11 nights in October (after another forum member kindly pointed out a suitable boat for us). 'Prince of Light' from Herbert Woods this time round, air draft of 6ft 5" I believe. Looking at the tide times for those dates, for the most part slack water passage times fall either before or after sunset which obviously won't be possible for us on a hire craft. Is it possible to take the boat through Yarmouth/Breydon at anything other than slack water? Being 6ft 5" I believe it'll fit under the bridges even at high water, but I'm unsure as to whether the currents etc will be too strong? We've hired on the Broads a few times before, so aren't complete novices to it all and I'd consider myself (fairly) competent. Thank you in advance

I of course could be completely wrong here, but I guess only being a 2 berth boat it might be treated a bit better by couples rather than your average family of 4, stag do, etc

Thanks Jbx5. It was just our luck, we visited last October during the unusually high water levels and our 8 10" (ish) boat couldn't get anywhere near Ludham... Height under the bridge was between 7ft-8ft all week I think!

Amore looks like a beautiful boat! Any guesses on the air draft? The thought of being stuck North of Ludham bridge for a week due to bridge height would put me off

Interestingly, just stumbled across this video on YouTube

Interesting post, glad to hear you’re enjoying your trip. We loved Rockland when we visited in October, and were the only boat moored down the Dyke. plenty of fish to be caught down the Staithe too

We managed to find the water points ok, but a few times they were all occupied (Ludham, Neatishead, Womack and somewhere else I forgot). We did survive without running out of water though Thanks for the replies, informative and interesting as always

We're booked to go again in October, this time for 11 nights which we're very much looking forward to. But, I can see it is a pretty niche type of holiday not suited to everyone's taste. The biggest complaint I see of first time hirers is the lack of mooring space, especially on the North - to which I'd agree. We're happy mudweighting or taking a few of the 'wild moorings', the thought of trying to find moorings each day near pubs etc is too much stress! We did struggle on a few occasions last year finding suitable water points to top up the tanks, especially at the busier locations.

I recall crossing Breydon once as a child, not sure if my dad got the timings wrong or not but as we turned off Breydon up the Bure towards Yarmouth the current was so strong, flat out we were barely moving in the old Rico’s bathtub. Should the worst happen and the engine gives up at this point, what’s the best course of action? Throw the mud weight over and call for the coastguard? I suppose you’d be well on your way towards the sea?

As a family we went on the Broads a few times when I was a kid, probably in the late 90's or early 00's. I vaguely recall us picking up boats from Richardsons in Horning, Richardsons in Stalham then and another small boatyard near Hickling (Whispering Reeds perhaps?). I also seem to vaguely recall my obsession as a child looking through all the boats in the Hoseasons brochure, and inevitably looking at all the ones we couldn't afford as a family! Looking at information available on the internet, there seems to have been a wide variety of yards hiring in the late 90's, but now that seems to be down just to the 'big 4' yards. Indeed, during my last few visits (as an adult now!), I see old signage etc at various places for old hire yards. Loddon is the first that springs to mind. We hired from Waveney River Centre last year and it seems they've also stopped now. What happened to all the smaller boatyards? Why did they go out of business? Interested to learn more about the history of these yards, thank you!

Thanks for the replies. We've pretty much written off Potter anyway, too much stress and hassle I think! Will give upstream of Wroxham and Wayford a go then if the water levels allow, never been upstream of those 2 bridges and we've got plenty of time (11 nights). Maybe even catch a few fishes...

Just another quick question, if I may? Reported air draft of the boat we've hired is 6ft 5", and as we're going in October I guess going under Potter will be a no-go? We went the same time last year and there was exceptionally high waters all week. A lot of boats couldn't even get under Ludham. However, should Wroxham be do-able? Various online resources all give differing bridge heights and I was wondering if anybody can take a guesstimate, given the (probably) predictably miserable October weather. Never been through the bridge as we've always had 'big' boats. Thanks!