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kpnut
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Posts posted by kpnut
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I think my crossing was more of a side wind making us roll rather than pitch. Both probably make the same banging noises!
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Ooh Peter, glad you’re now warm and toasty again. No more mishaps please.
But it’s funny how autopilot kicks in in your head when things like that happen. I know it did for me back in December. An evolutionary safety mechanism I suppose.-
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I haven’t noticed that cheese shop in Acle before. I’ll do some Christmas shopping in there later in the year.
And that fishmonger in GY looks good too. Maybe worth a stop after one of my visits by car to Burgh Castle.-
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4 hours ago, YnysMon said:
Harry and I were impressed at how much history was lurking in the nooks and crannies of Great Yarmouth, if you look carefully.
Looking at your photos of the old town, it certainly does have much to share with Hull old town as I mentioned to you it might. Even down to a ship to look round. Ours, presuming it’s still there, is the Arctic Corsair. There’s an extremely interesting fishing museum and the Wilberforce museum all about William Wilberforce and the abolition of slavery. It has the most amazing couple of mulberry trees in the garden, I picked them one year and made some delicious mulberry jam.
And a couple more museums that I can’t remember the names of. Also ‘the Deep’ - the worlds largest ‘submarium’ which I think is just a posh name for an aquarium.
If you ever get up my way, it’s well worth a visit (and a cuppa (of more) at ours!)-
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The rain started bang on forecast at 7am, but it was really only a bit of drizzle. Still enough to make things more slippy though.
I took the dogs out before breakfast and did a bit of ‘maintenance’ on board; washing mud off the decks, and washing and resetting the fenders after all the ups and downs they had while on the Waveney.
I showed Tony the little mooring at Wood End on the way over Barton Broad and waved to GarryN on Daisy Chain on his weekend out.
We were soon back at Stalham and enjoyed a very sociable half hour at the pump out station, catching up with news from some of the lads on the yard. It was blooming cold though!We spent the afternoon solving the leak on the freshwater pump, replacing a broken washer, and tightening up the casing. I learnt how easy it is to detach the pump for easy ‘getting at it’ and Tony got enthusiastic enough to decide he’s going to relocate it on his next trip so it doesn’t vibrate so much and make such a racket.
He also had a look at the bedside light that has a temperamental connection. It’s been like it ever since I bought the boat and I know at least one other light fitting in the saloon has the same problem. The wires were so taut that the crimping joint bits were coming adrift. He’ll have to do that next trip too as he needs new connector bits and his crimping pliers. Sorry for the non technical names!So that’s another trip completed. My poor boat is full of dog hair which will have to be hoovered up in the morning after putting the dogs in the car. Charlie is a much muckier dog all round than Finlay, forever shaking his coat out, scratching the rug to get comfy and the walls seem to get splodges of something, I don’t like to think what, all over them. Thank goodness for the wipe clean walls on the boat. Having both dogs on board has thankfully been a success and they seem to have dropped their competition to be the first to do everything. Charlie does love being out in the front well, but it’s just been too cold and windy to have the front door open much of the time on this trip.
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Too much going on in your head Griff. I see the signs - when I start forgetting stuff to take, it’s time for a few deep breaths and a head declutter!
Safe journey home again.
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I had booked a fuel fill at Boulter’s for 11am this morning, purposely at that time so I could have a slow morning. I wanted to do bacon rolls for breakfast, another ploy to entice Tony back again another time! They were appreciated.
I struck lucky at Boulter’s. No wind. I’d drawn Tony a map so he knew where I was heading when reversing in. He’s not keen at all on helping me manoeuvre the boat but giving him time for the info to sink in seemed to work.
I’m so used to mooring up on my own that I don’t give him enough notice so he’s still changing out of his slippers by the time I’m tied up and back inside!Our destination was How Hill. The day was beautiful. We saw a marsh harrier, a kingfisher and a duck who hitched a ride - you’ve guessed it - between Horning church and Ranworth.
How Hill had four boats in including us. By the time we came back from a walk along to view Buttle Marsh and across to Neaves Mill, we were down to just two of us, and we were cuddling up to each other, nose to nose, so I moved up to Luna’s Nook by the wherry mooring.
Buttles Marsh looking across to Neaves Mill and a smart bit of riverbank just upstream! It looked good on our cruise past. I’ll be mooring there again shortly.
I then took a walk round the secret garden to take photos and make notes for my daughter who’s establishing a pond and bog garden at the back of her house. The azaleas are just getting going, as are the ferns which are beginning to unfurl.
I helped a family with two enthusiastic youngsters moor up for their first time (other than their handover). When they said they were looking forward to tea at the pub after a long drive to Norfolk, I had to disappoint them with the info that it’d be a bit of a walk! They thought they were at Ludham Bridge, so they set off again, making a good job of leaving and turning round.
Tonight there’s 3 cruisers and 2 yachts moored and it’s perfectly peaceful.
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22 hours ago, SwanR said:
Love that sunset. Hope you're both enjoying this trip. Tony is certainly getting some variety.
Thanks Jean. Tony seems to have got in the swing of it all (apart from mooring up). The hot sunshine this afternoon went down very well indeed.
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We had a very peaceful night at Womack staithe. The day dawned quite bright, but cold. Then it clouded over and looked a bit drizzly. By the time we cast off it was ok again. And that’s how it’s been all day really; can’t quite make its mind up!
Moonlight Shadow was behind us for part of the journey and they turned into HPC as the Southern Comfort past us both on her first trip of the day.
First option - Horning staithe
Second option - Horning church
Third option - Fleet dyke
No space at the staithe (well there was plenty of space but split in two by a boat!) so I thought I’d motor on to show Tony all the houses on the way out of the village, then turn round and try Horning church (that had one boat on when we’d been past and room for us too).
Coming round Swan corner I spotted the boat taking up all the room just leaving, so I made my intentions very clear to the boat that was approaching from the other direction by whizzing over the river (he was further away than me anyway and theoretically should have needed to turn round to moor against the incoming tide) and I shoved myself right up just overlapping the little dyke outside the closed Staithe and Willow cafe.
That gave room for the other boat to also fit and I helped him in. So two boats moored where one boat had been! Good.
I don’t know why, but I’ve felt very sleepy today. I could easily have just cosied down with a book but the dogs needed walking and we had a few jobs to do. So the day passed. I took the dogs out on my own; past the radar museum and over the fields towards the new radio mast on the Ludham road. On the lane of the way back, I even managed to have both dogs attached to just one hand, with loose leads - almost unheard of for spaniels, the hundreds and hundreds of hours are paying off very occasionally.I bought some pears in Tidings newsagent to go with the last of the rhubarb from home in a crumble. Other than that, an unremarkable day, just very relaxing.
My new TV aerial sitting nice and snug under the grp canopy in the front well.
I’ve been trialling it for the last few months and It’s picking up signals extremely well I just need to tidy up the cabling when I have the right bits. It’s a Moonraker 1000 Digi Pro, popular on the canals. Someone I know also bought one and it didn’t work though, so not a complete 100% recommendation.
And a nice Horning sunset.
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I spotted you in my new wing mirror on the big bend where the wild moorings used to be under the trees between Ant mouth and Ranworth Dam.
Glad you’ve had a productive day.-
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I look forward to utilising your handiwork Griff. Many thanks.
Purdey was just doing some inbuilt mountain rescue dog alarm work you (and she) didn’t know she had. Glad you’re OK.-
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Moving on ••••••
Why is Acle Bridge always so windy? I don’t think I’ve ever moored there without at least a breeze. This morning it was blowing directly into the Pedro’s bank which was where I was moored. An extra fender had been put out last night to stop the potential bumping.No breakfast as we were meeting Helen and son Harry with Moonlight Shadow for a breakfast in the Dunes cafe. That gave me plenty of free time to take the dogs for a run up the riverbank towards Upton dyke.
I spotted MS coming and just about got over the bridge in time to catch a stern line from Harry. My, it was windy.Breakfast done and dusted, leaving the dogs onboard as I had mistakenly thought I couldn’t take them inside (it is dog friendly after all) and then we had maybe another hour on MS before going our separate ways. Thanks for coming all that way down to Acle, Helen.
I anticipated it’d be awkward getting off the mooring in the wind but it was fine.
We flew up the Bure and Thurne on the tide towards our destination of Womack, taking a detour up to Potter Heigham first as Tony hadn’t been there by river. We didn’t stop, turning by the bridge as the tide also turned, so we seemed to fly back down the Thurne, only feeling the engine work as I turned up Womack dyke.Womack staithe won the discussion between staithe and dyke moorings. The dogs had another walk with both of us this time, up the bridleway towards Fritton Lane, over the main road and back along the lane that runs parallel, to the village; a walk I’ve done many times. I sometimes think I know the broads footpaths better than mine at home.
I filled my rucsac with shopping before we popped into the Kings Arms for a drink. It was very busy for a midweek late afternoon. We’d already decided we couldn’t do the carvery justice after our late breakfast.Greetings from Womack staithe.
Two private boats (both forum members but I won’t name the other as I haven’t seen him to ask) and the rest are hire boats. A turnaround from a few weeks ago when private boats were outnumbering the hire boats. The season is well underway.
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4 hours ago, YnysMon said:
but the path was flooded just beyond the Bridge Inn moorings, so we had to take the path that runs alongside the road instead.
What a shame as it’s a lovely walk. That’s a very strange place for it to flood. Must have been that rain last night as I walked along there not long ago with it being ok.
We too very much enjoyed our meet up and your showing Tony round Moonlight Shadow. She certainly looks bigger inside without the dogs!
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4 hours ago, Broads01 said:
Looks worse than I've encountered. I think I'd have been OK with it except I am prone to motion sickness and that's where I might have found it hard.
I do have seasickness pills onboard, after a friend onboard suffered from it down the Ant in the warm sunshine one summer.
Tony should have taken one.-
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11 hours ago, NeilB said:
Does not look too bad, need a few more waves over the bows!!
My front well was slopping about in water. Good thing there’s a couple of drain holes. And the boat was covered in salt, I washed it off at Beccles.
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10 hours ago, Mouldy said:
I’ve attached a photo taken when we crossed Breydon on Moonlight Shadow in April 2019 (before we bought Norfolk Lady). Benign and beautiful.
I’ll show Tony that to let him know what he missed!
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10 hours ago, NorfolkNog said:
I've also crossed in worse conditions, including just before the Beast from the East struck a few years back
I would guess, looking at the video, that there was possibly a following wind, it can be fun going the other way into the wind and waves
It was a north westerly wind, directly hitting the side.
Going across Breydon in the buildup to the beast for the east would not be an experience to repeat!-
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10 hours ago, SwanR said:
Wow! That confirms it. I’m never bothering with Breydon. Hire North or hire South and stay there. 🤭🤣
I don’t want to be responsible for putting you off Jean. From the comments, it looks like it could have been worse 😂😂😂, but that was enough for me.
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Well well, I never knew that. So I could go across earlier then just tie up and wait.
I’ll take more note next time over. Thanks. -
Yes, that is what I’d ideally do, but always end up being just that bit too early! I nearly managed it this time.
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I managed to load my little video of the outward journey across Breydon on Friday afternoon. Hope it works ok.
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I looked out of the window at about 6.30 this morning to see some dead reeds sitting in the water, not going anywhere at all. Must have been exactly on the tide turn.
We had a walk up to the Herringfleet smock mill before setting off on a leisurely trip through St Olaves and on to Burgh Castle. I noticed the gauge on the upstream side of the bridge (ie before the bridge if heading for Great Yarmouth) reads about 4” higher than on the downstream side. Whatever the readings, we had plenty of room.We moored very easily at Burgh Castle at about 12oclock and took the dogs up to the castle/fort. The view from there really is very good. On passing the Fisherman’s Arms it did look rather closed, with a padlock on the gate to the terrace, but on our way back I saw the door from the carpark was open, and there was a wonderful smell of fish and chips, so my fears of the pub being properly shut seemed unfounded.
The boat was beginning to do its disappearing act on our return.
We had a relaxed lunch and whiled away the time. About half hour before I planned to leave, I realised the dogs ought to be taken out before it became too difficult to get them off the boat. I always use the stern door as the dog towels are close to hand. Our system was for me to climb off, and Tony to then pass me the lead before seeing to the dog. The other dog was shut in the boat while this was going on. Charlie had to be lifted off and back on as he was too nervous to jump up and down but Finlay who’s much more used to being asked to do wierd things on the boat, was fine. Not quite sure how he managed to jump up, but he did.
We left Burgh Castle a bit earlier than intended, at 16.25 with low tide at the yacht station being at 16.35. The wind was blowing quite a lot harder than it had been at lunchtime and I didn’t want too bumpy a ride back.
Normally I end up turning onto the Bure and finding the boat working hard as I seem to get the jitters and depart across Breydon a bit early for the slack. Today, it seemed just about right. And very happily, we had over 3’ more clearance under the bridges than on Friday. I was still constantly checking on my way across though, as if by some strange incident, the tide was suddenly going to flood in. I’m very relieved it behaved today.Tony got to see the mudflats he missed on Fridays journey.
The quay heading at Ashtree Farm windpump was properly visible, as it should have been on Friday when it was nearly overtopping near to low tide.
Stokesby BA mooring was full so we continued to Acle Bridge, arriving at 19.45, conveniently between two rain showers. It probably took us longer than some people to come up the Bure but I wasn’t in any hurry as I knew there’d be mooring spots free at Acle (we’re on the Pedro’s side) and I have lights.
And sods’ law it has just started raining again, just when I need to put the dogs out.
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Find a very small thing to focus on, a small beam of light or whatever, and concentrate on trying your utmost to keep your eyes slightly open and focused on it.
I soon nod off if I do that.Odd. I used a different word starting with c to describe a tiny bit of light, and perhaps implying someone from a large Asian country and the internet automatically put it as *****. Never had that happen before.
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I couldn’t resist getting up early this morning, it was so gorgeous outside; lovely and sunny, and warm out of the wind.
We were therefore out on the nature reserve before 9am, and took a stroll down to the visitor centre. I can vouch that the toilet block is superb.
Then round the marsh wearing the dogs out. Being on a lead is probably as tiring for them as running off lead, the nervous energy used up is amazing.
The detour back to the visitor centre for the gift shop, and a mug of tea with bacon roll showed just how tired the dogs were as they just zonked flat out under the table.
No pictures as I forgot my phoneI waited for the tide to turn early afternoon before setting off for Somerleyton, and a while later we passed under the bridge with a clearance of well over 9’ and were soon moored up, with one other boat in situ.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in the sunshine ticking off a few small jobs with the dogs still dozing, until I disturbed them when I realised that if they didn’t go out for a wee they probably wouldn’t be able to jump up and off the boat for the next few hours as we were disappearing down the quay!As it turned out, the tide turned maybe half hour before schedule again.
It’s very peaceful here, apart from a little motor boat that’s been up and down a number of times far too fast. He seems to be getting great pleasure from creating wash. The yacht owner further down gave him an earful the last time he passed.
I like the occasional rumble of the trains.I didn’t like to suggest we have another walk, even though Somerleyton is well worth visiting and of course the Dukes Head is a good stopping off point on the way back.
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New Here, Doing Things In The Wrong Order Of Course
in New Members Say Hi !
Posted
Hi Will. Sounds like you’ve caught the bug and are hoping to succumb to the purchase of the boat of your dreams and be happy, but penniless! It might take a number of years, but the bug is very persistent. I suffered from the same one.
In the meantime, nothing wrong with learning on someone else’s boat from a yard.