Chickpea

Monday 28 September I wanted to go to Burgh Castle today and the original plan had been to go via St Olaves. We were worried about the water levels so set off as early as possible so we could go past the bridges not long after low water. Unsurprisingly I guess given experiences so far, that plan didn’t work. There was still less than 8 feet of clearance when we got to Somerleyton swing bridge. The sign on the bridge was working this time and teased us by saying the bridge would open in 4 minutes… 3 minutes… 2 minutes… 25 minutes! Finally got through and headed to Burgh Castle via the New Cut. Lots of Marsh Harriers, Little Egrets, Curlew and a Kingfisher fishing from a post near the Berney Arms – still didn’t manage to get a photo! A quick diversion onto Breydon Water as we’d not been on it before. A couple of people were running along the footpath at the side – rather them than me! The Fisherman’s Inn moorings were full so we stopped at the free moorings a bit further along, careful to leave enough slack in the rope for the falling tide. Had a lovely walk up to the castle and back. It was only drizzling at that point which was a welcome relief after all the heavy rain. Then back to Berney Arms to stop for a lunch of sausage sandwiches. Nice peaceful spot to stop, apart from the blizzard of crane flies which we were ejecting from the boat for the rest of the day. The plan was to stop at Loddon overnight and as we reached the Chet the sun finally came out and we had a beautiful cruise. More kingfishers (still no photos!) Went past a man in a kayak who told us we had “a very civilised wash”. Stopped at Pyes Mill and had all the windows and doors open making the most of the evening sun. Dinner of pizza and a bottle of red wine – lovely. The peaceful evening was spoiled a little by a boat running its engine for ages. When this finally stopped a load of teenagers turned up in their cars for a party in the picnic area, presumably taking advantage of the first nice weather for ages. We were starting to think we had made a bad choice in our mooring, but they didn’t make much noise in the end and it was another lovely quiet night.

The water levels seemed fine when we arrived, it only got bad after dark. Had we known it was going to be like that I think we would have tried for a pontoon mooring somewhere. There were quite a few hire boats at the yacht station and I think it was a bit of a suprise to many.

Going to try to post a couple of pictures - not sure if I'm doing this right...

Sunday 27 September Water levels were still very high in the morning so we sloshed around in our wellies to top up with water and go pay our mooring fees. We were moored between another Broom Captain and a Broom Skipper and we commiserated with each other for being on holiday in such awful weather, and with the guy who hadn’t brought his wellies, but congratulated ourselves for having such nice warm and dry boats. A shorter cruise with Oulton Broad as our destination today, with plans to check out North Cove nature reserve on the way. We decided we didn’t like the look of the moorings when we got there though as the water was over-topping the bank, and there were loads of fishermen who were presumably using the moorings because all the fishing platforms were under water. So, it was back to Worlingham Staithe which was a lovely peaceful place to stop. Tried to go for a quick walk but the wind and horizontal rain was a bit too much for me, so it was a very quick stretch of the legs before setting off again. We saw several kingfishers which were too fast to photograph, and also some kestrels which always impress me with their hovering skills. We managed to squeeze into a pontoon mooring at Oulton Broad Yacht station, assisted by a nice chap who had a lovely privately-owned Broom. The inner moorings, which are normally stern-on, were all side-on due to the weather which meant there wasn’t as much room as usual, but the couple of boats who arrived after us managed to find space with a bit of shuffling from others. Lunch was quiche as we had salad we needed to use up, which wasn’t the most appropriate food for the weather! Then off for a wander round the park. The weather had brightened up a bit and the wind calmed down enough to sit out on the back of the boat with a beer when we returned. Dinner was takeaway from Magic Wok. We ordered online and it was just a short walk to go and collect it. It turned out to be a lovely evening and we had our first uninterrupted night’s sleep of the holiday which helped with finally starting to relax and unwind.

It was a really lovely boat. I'll do a review when I get the chance.

Saturday 26 September The rough plan for the week was to go to Beccles then slowly work our way back to Brundall. The weather was still pretty horrible but less windy, so we decided we didn’t want to spend a day sitting around in the boatyard and we set off towards Beccles. Rather unusually for a Broads boat (in my experience anyway), Broom Captain has big windscreen wipers that actually work, and a good heating vent pointed right at the windscreen, so visibility was good despite the rain. I’d rather stupidly forgotten about the Reedham Ferry and it took me a bit by surprise when I spotted it up ahead. I tried to slow down but the strong tide took us past (sideways!) before the ferry had quite reached the bank. The ferry operator quite rightly showed his annoyance. Quite a stressful moment, but we didn’t hit anything, so no harm done (apart to my nerves!) and lesson learned to take more care on the way back. A quick stop at the Somerleyton moorings for lunch. It was our first go at mooring the boat and we had no trouble at all – what a relief! Then onto the next obstacle – the swing bridge. With a usual 8’6” clearance at high water this ordinarily wouldn’t be much of a problem for Broom Captain so I hadn’t really researched what to do if you needed the bridge to open, aside from seeing that there would be a sign with a countdown to the next opening. Obviously due to the weather the water levels were very high, and there was less than 8 foot clearance according to the marker. There was no sign with any information – so what to do? The map we had said to sound three blasts of the horn, so we tried that, and the electronic sign magically came to life! 20 minutes to the next opening – fine, we’ll potter back and forth until then. On to Beccles yacht station with no more issues. Some nice views of cormorants and marsh harriers, and very few other boats about so quite a nice relaxing cruise despite the weather. We got fish and chips takeaway from the Cod House and debated whether the building was brown, grey or purple while waiting outside for our order to be ready. We were woken up in the night by the boat knocking against the quay heading. The water had risen a fair bit higher than the bank, so the rear fender wasn’t helping. After having a look and deciding we couldn’t do much about it, apart from hope the mudweight would stop us from drifting onto the bank, we went back to bed and it actually wasn’t too bad after that as the wind must have died down.

Having had very little time off work since the beginning of the year, I was really looking forward to our 10 nights in Norfolk. We had a week on Broom Captain starting 25 September, then three nights in self-catering accommodation at the Waveney River Centre. It was going to be a slightly different holiday for us as I’m trying to socially distance as much a possible due to a health condition, so we weren’t expecting to eat out lots like we normally do. We don’t travel light under normal circumstances, so our car was positively groaning with all the usual paraphernalia, and more than enough food in case the weather wasn’t nice enough to eat outside at pubs and cafes. The first couple of days weren’t the best but after that we had a lovely time. I’m going to do quite a detailed write up so I have some memories to see me through a socially-distanced winter. Not sure how long it’ll take to get this up as I’m back at work full time now. Friday 25 September We arrived in Brundall at lunchtime and because we weren’t due to take over the boat until 2.30pm so we decided to have lunch at the East Hills Café on the covered terrace. As you all know, the weather was pretty awful and it was a bit cold sitting outside but the food was good. We also saw that the café did breakfasts so made a note of that for later in the week (more on that later). We’d received some quite detailed instructions from Broom about the boat takeover involving signing into the Wifi then getting text message instructions but none of this worked, so having announced or arrival at reception we were told to wait in our car (as it was pouring) for someone to come and do the handover. We waited for almost an hour for someone to come and get us, then I waited some more while my partner did the handover as only one person can do this due to the Covid restrictions. Completely understand this but I did get a bit bored and cold waiting in the car for so long. Then it was time to unload the car in the pouring rain. This took ages due to the aforementioned piles of stuff we had brought. No problem finding a home for everything though as there was tonnes of storage space on the boat. By the time we’d unpacked (and moved the car to an area of the yard that was less likely to flood!) it was getting on a bit and as the weather was truly appalling, with 50+ mile an hour winds forecast, we decided to stay in the boatyard that night. Apparently a few of Broom’s boats were stuck the wrong side of Breydon water so they were not sure how they were going to manage the Saturday handover without all the boats they needed. The guys at the yard kindly moved us into a corner and secured all our ropes for us and we settled down for the night in our nice cosy boat, getting buffeted by the wind and watching the water levels continue to rise. Not the best start to a holiday!

I've stayed in the Premier Inn in Duke Street Norwich a couple of times. There's discounted parking in the multi-storey next door. Norwich is a lovely city to have a wander round, and obviously there are loads of options for eating out.

Thanks YnysMon. I had a look at Dave Whitworth's videos and how they moor up is exactly what I'm used to doing. The thing that I'm not sure about is that the railings on Broom Captain (in Mark's pictures at least) look like they extend a lot further round the boat. I'm sure I'm not understanding it right, but to step off near the front, it looks to me like you'd have to climb under or over the railings. Or, is the bow rope long enough to hold on to but step off near the stern instead? If someone who's been on Broom Captain could help clear up my confusion, it'd be much appreciated. Though, I'm sure we'll work it out when we get there anyway.

A not ‘hot off the press’ review. We hired Sovereign Light in June 2019. It was for my Mum’s birthday so we wanted something a bit posh, but still wanted something that looked more like a boat than the big things from Faircraft Loynes or Ferry Marina, which I always think look like giant floating shoeboxes (though, I can totally understand why people hire them as they look lovely inside). We liked the look of the upper deck, and the extra raised forward-facing seating inside, and these turned out to be as nice as we’d hoped they would be. We also liked the idea of separate showers rather than wet rooms. The lower helm position was ok but we didn't think the visibility was great, especially when it was raining. Though, I guess this is the case with most boats. So we preferred to use the upper steeting position, even when it was raining. The galley was very well equipped, and the saloon was spacious and comfortable, and had loads of storage. We didn’t need to use the shower room that opens onto the saloon so that ended up being a very handy extra storage space for the vast quantities of stuff we brought with us. My parents had the forward cabin and appreciated not having to clamber over each other to get in and out of bed. The only negative for them was that my dad had to stoop to use the shower cubicle. He isn’t particularly tall so this was a bit surprising. We had the rear cabin which was fine. The headroom was compromised quite a lot by the table and chairs on the upper deck, but we were expecting that (though it didn’t stop me from bashing my head on numerous occasions!) What was a little bit disappointing was the lack of storage. One very small cupboard, a little cubby-hole and a ‘wardrobe’ with hanging space for about three items of clothing. We also had trouble using the bow thrusters to start with, which caused much embarrassment when trying to manoeuvre at Acle in strong winds. After a couple of calls to the boatyard they worked out it was because we were starting the engine with the key from the upper deck, rather than starting it from the lower helm position, then switching to the upper helm. They may have told us about this at the handover, but we don’t remember. Also, I don’t understand why they don’t cover over the ignition on the upper helm if you’re not supposed to use it! No real complaints about Herbert Woods though. They were nice and friendly and efficient. Apart from the bow thruster issue we had no problems with anything, and everything seemed pretty clean and well maintained. We absolutely loved being on the top deck and having uninterrupted views of the scenery and I’d definitely get this style of boat again, though I’m also looking forward to trying something a bit different next time. I’ll dig out some photos and put them in the holiday tales section when I get the chance.

Thank you for the lovely welcome everybody. SwanR, I'll certainly report back on how we get on. If there's anything in particular you want me to take pictures of let me know and I'll try my best to remember!

Thank you Mark for your pictures. We’re on a Broom Captain at the end of next month and I’m starting to get quite excited! Posts like this are really useful when looking for information on hire boats. I found it really frustrating not being able to find decent pictures of all areas of the boats I was interested in. Neither Hoseasons nor Broom’s own website show a good picture of the bed or the shower which I think is surprising. I’ve not been on a boat that has railings that extend so far round the outside before. Can anyone tell me if that affects how you moor side-on? I can see myself getting in a tangle trying to hop off and tie up the bow rope.

Hello everyone I've been meaning to join this forum for ages. It was very useful for planning a holiday I had with my partner and parents on Sovereign Light last year. (If anyone's interested in a very belated boat review or holiday pics let me know!) Before last year I had a couple of holidays on the Broads as a child (late 80's or early 90's maybe). One on a rather basic houseboat near Wroxham that came with a day boat with a very temperamental outboard. My parents had the only bedroom and I had to sleep on a narrow sofa that I kept falling off! Had a holiday on a 'proper' boat a few years later which I really enjoyed. Also did a short break on the southern Broads when I was at university in Norwich. Sadly, I can't remember the name of the boats or the boatyards we hired from. Got a week booked on a Broom Captain towards the end of September - can't wait!