Malcolm Withell

Well, it stayed afloat! We had a dayboat out last Thursday and cruised past the houseboats. It looks as though most of them have some sort of tilt! My wife would be glad to come back here - she thinks she prefers the quiet setting (bigger boats can't get under Wayford Bridge) and a mediocre houseboat to a busy setting and a better houseboat. I mentioned to the owner when we checked out that a couple of times we'd been kept awake at night by the mooring chains groaning and scraping. It felt as though one at least was grinding on the hull. He said he'd check it out. He did at least get the wooden path to the houseboats pressure washed while we were there. It had been lethal as there was a lot of rain. So.... Good points: clean; well-equipped; lots of power sockets; comfortable bed; nice setting; warm; can fish from balcony; rowing dinghy provided Bad points: tilts alarmingly, so you're constantly off balance; weaves noisily on its moorings; settee should have been replaced several decades ago; shower drain hole is at the top of the slope (!); cupboard doors loose on hinges; balcony rails not safe to lean on; water heater overheated and steam poured out of hot tap; doors need to be wedged open to stop them banging and rattling (as they close downhill); towels not provided (although bed linen, shower mat and tea towel were); wooden pathway from car park uneven, worn and sunken; overhanging trees overgrown, limiting view; no wifi or mobile signal; window frames and other woodwork rotting to bits. I could probably think of others...

Hoseasons contacted us only when they wanted money. They ignored all messages and were uncontactable by phone. I wasn't best pleased at getting only the second message from them (the first was an autoresponse when we booked), saying they wanted the balance of the money by the end of the week, and would cancel the booking and keep the deposit if we hadn't paid by then. Nice way of putting it, and predictably I had no reply to my message about it. They won't be getting my business again. The houseboat is a rotting hulk that lists alarmingly. The swans come and peck at the rotting wood. We had to go and buy wedges to hold the interior doors open so that they didn't slam shut and rattle (because the floor slopes). Let's hope we get out before it goes to the bottom of the river...

I've now had quite a few rudd by fishing well off the bottom, and perch on the bottom with worms. I'm still hoping for a pike but tomorrow is our last day, so...

Quite possible. It's around three feet deep where I am. I got a few perch on worms yesterday but not much sign of other fish. I've seen quite a few anglers catching fish in various other places we've visited (Horning, Potter Heigham, Ludham, etc)

For the first couple of days there were plenty of fish around but I've blanked since! Any idea why? Would all the fish of various species moved, or what? I'm fishing only from the houseboat so haven't tried anywhere else.

Yes. We went in for breakfast (never again!) and got the WiFi code, so right now we're lurking in the car park!

I've given up and gone for cod and chips 😂

I arrived on Monday. No mobile signal and no WiFi so although it's a bit of a nuisance it also means we're not being disturbed! Lots of small rudd and perch, plus roach and possibly hybrids (not sure about that). Let's hope something bigger turns up sometime while I'm here.

I can understand their having problems with customer service at the beginning of lockdown, but surely most companies can get that sorted to a reasonably satisfactory degree in six months.

With all this rain I suppose it's likely the rivers will be in flood next week when we arrive for a holiday! The Broads rivers aren't very long - do they take long to go down to normal levels or is it a question of surrounding land draining out?

Is Angling Times still going? That's the one I usually got as a kid.

The downside we've just found, booking with Hoseasons, is that they are uncontactable by phone and don't reply to any messages. The only messages we've had from them are auto-generated ones when they wanted payment - on time, or they'd cancel the holiday and keep our deposit - and when they sent details of the accommodation with a form we should post to the owner.

We've been waiting with dread for a further announcement about lockdowns, as we too are due to start our holiday on Monday. So far things seem OK for us, but we really feel for people who have planned a holiday which they really need and then not only have to forgo it but also have the stress of getting their money back.

Why do you think we're hiring a houseboat? 🤣

I'm not as thunk as drinkle peep I am.