Splasher

Please see the link below. The otter wins! This may be one reason why the number of mink are decreasing in the Broads as otter numbers increase. https://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2012/07/13/let-the-battle-commence-otters-stand-up-against-mink-invasion/ Splasher

On the subject of invasive species the only 100% eradication programme I can recall was the removal of Coypus in the 1980s. One species that i would like to see removed is the Egyptian Goose, an ugly beast that seems to be increasing in numbers every year. I cannot recall seeing these birds in the 1980s when i first visited the Broads. Splasher

Norfolk Broads 1980s and more recently Our maiden visit to the Norfolk Broads was in April 1981 at the time of our first wedding anniversary. After a long perusal through the Hoseasons brochure we selected Alphacraft and the cruiser Bleriot. We noted that the Alphacraft fleet seemed all to have aircraft related names. We spent a very enjoyable week on the Southern Broads, covering the whole area from Norwich to Geldeston but as cautious beginners we didn’t venture through Breydon Water to the north. Our only real mishap was on our first night when we cruised into Norwich and moored at the Yacht Station. We woke in the morning to find that our cruiser was slowly drifting down the river with the mooring ropes trailing in the water. At first, we thought that we had not secured the ropes properly but, when we looked behind two other boats were drifting along behind us. We had all been cast adrift during the night! When I tried to retrieve our mooring ropes using the boathook the hook fell off and sank leaving me with a bare pole. Fortunately, a kind passer-by came to our aid and pulled us into the bank when I threw him a damp rope. Soon we were all re-moored with no damage to any of the boats or equipment apart from our lost boathook. We called in to Alpha Craft on the way down river where the late Langford Jillings replaced the boathook and told us that it was unheard of for moorings to be untied at Norwich – though it was apparently a problem at Great Yarmouth. I note that these days the staff at the Norwich Yacht Station recommend that those mooring overnight secure their mooring ropes back onto their boat. We practised our mooring techniques regularly over the first few days first making errors such as mooring in the direction of the tide but later in the week we received our first and only accolade when we arrived at Geldeston Locks, berthed between two other boats, and moored up fore and aft like clockwork. The skipper from the adjacent cruiser looked over, nodded to his family and remarked ‘That’s the way to do it’. We returned to Brundall on the Saturday morning after spending a couple of hours cleaning the interior of the boat the decks and the hull to find a veritable army of cleaners waiting to clean and prepare the boat for the next hirers. Having travelled through the Southern Broads and Rivers on our first visit we were keen to return and explore the Northern Broads and possibly hire from Wroxham or Stalham but the offer of a 10% discount card from Langford Jillings for returning customers persuaded us as canny Scots to use Alphacraft again. We made our second visit the following September, this time accompanied by my mother and our six month-old daughter Cara. We also hired a rowing dinghy. On this occasion we had Concorde, a two-cabin cruiser to give us extra space. This visit, though enjoyable, was not quite so successful as our first visit since my mother was not very comfortable on boats and anything smaller than the Arran Ferry was not her scene. However, we did manage a fair bit of travelling and ventured to the North for a few days reaching as far as Coltishall before returning south and cruising to Beccles and Geldeston. Unlike our first visit which had been during the close season for fishing we found that there were fishermen all over the Broads and we didn’t like to ask them to move to allow us to moor up in some places. I can never understand the fascination with course fishing though I do see the point in catching trout or salmon to cook and eat. Anyway, we decided that on any future visit we would book to come in the fishing close season. While at Geldeston Locks I took the rowing dinghy along the Waveney in the direction of Bungay and had my first and only encounter with a Coypu that dived into the river as I was passing. I understand that Coypu are no more on the Broads river system. It is a pity that other introduced species such as mink are much more difficult to eradicate. I understand that the Broads are now home to an expanding population of otters though it was not until our latest visit in 2023 that I saw them in the area. The only other water mammal I have seen in the Broads in recent years is a water vole that I found swimming in our flooded rowing dinghy one stormy night at Berney Arms. At the end of our week we called into the Waveney River Centre to fill our water tank before heading back to Brundall. The water tank seemed to be taking a long time to fill and eventually we realised that something was loose and we must have been filling the bilges. A phone call was made to Alphacraft from the Waveney Hotel (the days before mobile phones) and we were asked to bring the boat back and berth in the yard for our last evening. Once we were dressed, breakfasted and ready to leave on the Saturday morning Langford Jillings and his staff wasted no time in dismantling the interior to find the source of the problem. We were sorry that our last cruise was interrupted, apart from my mother who was happy to be berthed in the yard, but Langford placated us with the offer of a 15% discount on a further visit. Our third, and last visit to Alphacraft was the following April, chosen to avoid the fishing season. This time we were there as a couple with our now, year-old daughter left in the tender care of her two Grandmothers. At the time Hoseasons were offering reduced cost rail travel and we took an overnight sleeper train from Kilmarnock to London with a connection to Norwich and Brundall the following morning. This time we hired the single berth Bleriot again and had a good week with decent spring weather. We covered most of the Northern Broads area that we wished to see with the exception of the parts beyond Potter Heigham Bridge. The tides were wrong to allow us through despite the low air draft of the boat. Some things never change, and it seems more difficult than ever to pass under the bridge. We also had another visit to Geldeston Locks on our return south where we met and had a chat with Walter Coe who was landlord at the time. We had no major mishaps on this occasion though we nearly had a collision at Wroxham Bridge when we were carefully going back downriver and had to reverse smartly when a cruiser came upstream towards the bridge at full speed. I think that we had right of way but there was no point in colliding to argue the point. When we returned to Brundall on the Saturday Langford Jillings was again there to meet us and gave me a card to offer 15% off for a future cruise. He must have forgotten that he had handed it to me because I received another one as we left the boatyard to walk up to the station. We had thought about further trips in later years but with two young children at the time decided against it. However, we did keep the Alphacraft discount cards just in case! It was only in 2016, with the value of sterling falling against the euro, that we decided to look at the possibility of having a week in the Norfolk Broads while we were still fit enough to handle a boat. Sadly, Alphacraft was no more so our discount vouchers were of no use, but we liked the look of the Silverline cruisers in the Hoseasons brochure and chose the newly built Silver Coral for a week in April/May 2017. Since that time, we have hired the Silver Coral from Silverline in 2018, 2019 with a Covid enforced break in 2020 and 2021. We did hire again in 2022 but were sad to learn of the departure of the Silverline fleet to Richardson’s in November last year. After consideration we decided to have a week on the Silver Coral on the Northern Broads this spring, but that’s another story. Sorry if this post is too long. I may have been more appropriate in the holiday tales section.

I was interested to read the section of the Navigation report on charging for mooring at Ranworth. I note that this report is included in the agenda for the meeting on Monday 8 June. The first point i would make is that the table on the report shows the anticipated income. There is no matching of income and expenditure to include staff costs and other charges. The report also indicates that 'the majority of staff time is devoted to helping boaters moor up, taking their fees and providing them with information'. On our annual trip to the Broads we moored overnight on Tuesday 2 May at Ranworth Staithe. We arrived between 4.00 pm and 5.00pm and were able to squeeze between two other boats on the quay with about a foot on either side. A couple form one of the other boats on the quay assisted with our mooring. There was no sign of Broads Authority staff in attendance. As we were preparing to leave the boat to visit the shop the attendant came along the quay with a clipboard taking a note of the registration numbers of the moored boats. After a visit to the Granary shop we called into the BA office to pay the £10 overnight charge and enquired about the legality, being aware of the controversy that has been reported on this forum and elsewhere. The attendant, who was the only person on duty, was pleasant enough as we paid but advised us that she was only an employee and didn't want to get into politics. She did ask if we had been to Ranworth before, presumably meaning to offer information if required, but we advised her that we had paid a number of visits in previous years and knew the area. During our stay at the mooring until the following morning we did not see any boats being offered assistance in mooring by BA staff. This was obviously only a short visit but i would question the assertion about time devoted to helping boaters moor up. As a once a year visitor to the Broads I appreciate that a £10 charge is slightly annoying but not excessive in an area served with other facilities such as public toilet facilities, electric posts, shops and eating places, but it must be very galling to those who are regular visitors using their own boats and paying hefty annual fees. Splasher

i have tried several yards for a dinghy hire in early May since Richardsons' have stopped supplying rowing dinghies but those i contacted will only hire to customers who have hired a cruiser from them. If you find one let me know! The only other suggestion i received was to buy a rib.

In recent years i have usually hired a boat with a powered mud weight with a chain. When used in a broad I normally lower the weight and then reverse slightly to plough the weight into the mud to make it more secure. The chain drum also ensures that you don't loop it round your leg! However, for using a manual mud weight: First ensure that the rope is connected, And the end to the boat is secure, For it wouldn't be wise if you threw it away in the Ant or the Thurne or the Bure The rope should be tied to the mud weight, But ensure that the fixing is tight, For you’ll really be goosed, if the fixing comes loose, And your boat floats away in the night. The technique to lower the mud weight, Is your personal choice I would think, You can lower it gently, or drop it or throw, (But whatever you do please ensure you let go!) Or you’re likely to land in the drink. When you’re leaving the mooring remember, To raise up your mud weight in time, But tie it a bit below water, To remove all the mud and the slime.

Mud weighting is one solution to avoiding crowded moorings and mooring fees but hiring a dinghy is becoming more difficult with many yards, including Richardsons, getting rid of their dinghy fleet and smaller yards providing dinghies only to their own customers.

Sadly Horning Pleasurecraft have advised that they only keep their rowing dinghies for their own hirers and other companies i have contacted have the same policy. I would have thought that a company of Richardson's size would have retained some dinghies but apparently not so.

Thanks Turnoar, i will check them out. I would have considered an inflatable but don't fancy the round 850 mile trip to and from Stalham with a dinghy.

Good evening from a regular reader but new user. My wife and i were sad to learn of the closure of Silverline's boat hire service in Brundall. We have used Silverline many times over the last few years, albeit with a pandemic enforced break, and have always enjoyed the excellent service provided by the Dye family and their staff. We were at the point of arranging another holiday with Silverline for next spring when we found that the fleet had been transferred to Richardsons in Stalham. We have now booked our preferred cruiser with Richardsons but when i phoned today to ask about hiring a rowing dinghy they advised me that they had stopped hiring rowing boats out last year. This was a great disappointment since one of the highlights of our holiday was rowing around in such places as Hickling, Loddon, Geldeston, Oulton Broad and especially Ranworth, if we were unable to moor at the staithe. We have contacted a few other boatyards to ask if rowing dinghies can be hired from them but those we have spoken to either don't have dinghies for hire or will only hire with an accompanying cruiser hire. Can anyone help and advise if rowing boats can be hired on the northern broads? Jim (Splasher)