ranworthbreeze

Day 5 Friday 17th April Another early start, but it was not the bright sunshine we had become used to, we had not heard Swallow leave the moorings, he had to be back at Maffett’s for the morning changeover. The other boat that had stopped overnight left before we were ready to set off, we had a leisurely breakfast, did a few crosswords and eventually set off to our mooring at Brundall. Just before we came to the end of the dyke leaving Rockland Broad we saw a deer near the waters edge, it scampered off into brambles on fully seeing us. Short trip into the marina in time for coffee; .I finished the washing down of the front section of our canopy and treated the aft steps and bathing platform with some teak cleaner. Boating nothing but cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning, when we used to visit other marinas back in the day I often thought why do they spend so much time cleaning the boat rather than go out on it. The sad reality is that all boats do need cleaning and the white ones more than most; we have all seen the poor sights of a neglected boat all green with mould. Work done whilst Tan sharpened her needles we relaxed with some lunch and a well earned break. I spoke with the crew of Southern Crusader before they left to catch the tide at Yarmouth, they should have been ok with regards to the level of low water for the bridges and more importantly their return trip later in their week. We were going to go to the Yare but decided to stay put and use up some of the food. Rummikub it was Tan’s day of victory winning 4 games to 3, DVD and bed. It was just a day of tidying and getting ready for our new owners coming down for their training on Sunday & Monday, we will be off to the Broom’s boat show in the morning. Regards Alan

That a good idea, I will look into setting something up when I get home. In the meantime in our forum sections there is some good advice given by Richardson's in the form of a number of videos regarding boat handling. just click on our links for access. Just look for this link. Richardson's First Timers Additional Video This link will take you to the additional videos aimed at first timmers on The Broads. There are additional chapters to view (twelve currently) Regards Alan

Hi Robin, I thought it was standing orders with all boatyards that they must remove all the useful implements and fit old batteries on confirmation of a booking from you. Regards Alan

Hello Ray & Carole, Sorry to hear your plans have changed but there is nothing wrong with a Freeman 24. Please let us have some pictures of your new boat when you are able. Regards Alan

Hi Dave, I am glad to hear the Mark & Jean managed to get back home safely, such a pity it took so long to get back to Sheffield. Boats and being cold is not a combination that works well, we have suffered in the past with hire boats that have not come up to scratch. Last December we had problems with our heating and had to resort to using the electric fires, but this meant we had to be on shore power every night. Regards Alan

The New Inn at Rockland St Mary reopened on the 1st of April 2015. The new landlords are Terry & Marion Webb, Terry can be contacted on 01508 538211 terryawebb@outlook.co.uk

Hi Alan, Best of luck with tomorrow, I hope all goes well, remember we want loads of pictures, loading on the truck and the lift into the water at Somerleyton. Don't forget the sign on the back of the lorry "Broads or bust"! Regards Alan

Hello CaptainDread, Welcome to the NBN forum from Tan & myself. Regards Alan

Day 4 Thursday 16th April The day started at 6.15am we were still moored at Brammerton, relief! There was a mist this morning, but I saw a few rabbits on the green. I checked out the results of the canopy cleaning the evening before and it had come up well, Tony one of our other owners had cleaned the top section on the outside last week. Tan eventually decided to get up so we had breakfast over abuse (crossword). While Tan was doing the washing up (we have a division of labour, I prepare/cook, no one is ill and Tan washes up) I sat on the upper deck and replaced a fender sock on one of the smaller ball fenders (damaged since the season start in February) I use the blue stockinet and it was a pain to get it over the wide section of the fender, no amount of ***bleep*** or encouragement from Tan “that’s a shame” seemed to help. Job done the down side is that the fettled fender not shows up the other stern fender. The B.A. team arrived to continue their work on the moorings; they were replacing some of the headings. A Broom hire craft got shouted at by the group for not slowing down to 5mph in the restricted section, rightly so I nearly spilt my coffee. Rows of knitting done and boat checks completed we set off for Brundall. Arrived at our moorings and just put on the dock lines on the boat because we were not staying long. I took our side canopy section over to the picnic table on the grass behind our mooring and washed them down to remove the green marks off of them. Several rows of knitting later we locked the boat and went to the showers (wet rooms) that are part of the Reception building at Tingdene Marina. All cleaned up we had a late lunch and then set off to Rockland St Mary and moored at the staithe. We thought we would walk up the hill to the Post Office, what seemed miles after we arrived at the Post Office & General Store, before we got there I said if they were enterprising they would have tables & chairs and serve teas, coffee etc. Delight we viewed the tables & chairs; a coffee had our name on it. Afterwards we bought the milk we went for and a few more bits and then made our way back. The brad trail we left seemed to be eaten, but we made it back to the pub. We looked at the menu and decided to call in there this evening. Noted there were still rubbish bins between the green and the staithe park park. Just up for the pub we saw a sign saying “boats crossing” well we are in Norfolk. Just before 7.00pm we went over the road to the New Inn. It has only been reopened a little over two weeks (1st of April 2015) The Landlords are Terry & Marion Webb; they have one chef and are looking for a second one. The meal was good and Becks excellent (it seemed a share to only have one). I wish them every success in their venture. I have suggested they join our forum so they can let us know of events and promotions they may hold. They plan to retain the good local support and develop new strings to their bow with chef accommodation and B&B. Terry has become the cellar man & gardener and general dogsbody. Their phone number is 01508 538211 email terryawebb@outlook.co.uk 12 New Inn Hill |Rockland St Mary NR14 7HP Whist in the pub we got speaking to the chap that was on Maffetts Swallow, he had hired the boat about 12 years ago and still liked it. Another couple arrived in a Westfield (kit car) a bit like a Lotus 7 from Prisoner fame, but this was in blue rather than British Racing Green, somewhat cold they joined in with the banter at the bar. They had only come down the road from Surlingham and said they had a very small boat at one time on the mooring near the staithe, it seemed full with four people and powered by a tiny outboard. They said that it was too small and took hours to get to their local pubs of Coldham Hall Tavern and The Ferry House which were within tripping distance. Back at the boat I continued to beat Tan at Rummikub today 4 to 1 so today victory was mine. Watched a DVD, coffee and then bed. More later Regards Alan

Hi John, Welcome to the NBN forum from Tan & myself. Regards Alan

I can understand that I have worked with BT engineers before Regards Alan

Long gone are the days when companies had a bin supplied by the local authorities all bins at companies have to be on a contract with a company, be it the local authority or another provider. Supermarkets are changed extra for the cardboard that they have to bale up. All companies pay very large rates and more so in towns, it makes you wonder how many of them survive. With regards to bins used on the Broads if they were of the domestic type then these bins could form part of the weekly/fortnightly domestic route rather than sending out a vehicle that is needed for commercial bins. Just a thought. Regards Alan

Day 3 Wednesday 15th April We woke around 6.30am at Loddon Staithe; I was pushed out of the bed first with cries of “I am ready for my breakfast”. I thought should have some fruit so I segmented two oranges and a grapefruit, slices some strawberries and added raspberries and blueberries. Tan had porridge (we weigh out portions and put them in bags, its better than taking a box and a cup of milk is the correct amount), just muesli for me. A few crosswords over breakfast; no not arguments, just the quick words. The tree surgeons arrived by 7.30 to continue their work trimming the branches off the two trees nearest to the road. Notices posted re footpaths closed and a section of the car park cordoned off, it was quite a while before they started with their cherry picker, maybe they had called in Rosie Lees for some breakfast. Needless to say this has been great spectator sport for the villages and boaters alike. One of the guys when up to the extent of the cherry picker and he had to climb complete with harnesses and ropes higher in the tree so he could fix a pulley for his ropes. He was doing this while he had a chain saw dangling from one of his harnesses. Interesting to watch but 50 to 60 foot up a tree, no thanks, the same thoughts were expressed by a number of people watching him. I started doing a few jobs on the boat. The toilet fan in the forward toilet and the galley fan we had rewound/new bearings (done in-house so no cost) etc over the winter layoff, I fitted these at season start they worked very well but were too noisy, sounded almost like jet engines, so the toilet fan had to be replaced. These original 12 volt DC fan by ECS were never that good and cost a small fortune. I purchased a couple off of the internet at less than half the price at of the original fan. Needless to say the 4 inch new fan was 4 inches where you might fit a duct but nearer to the fixing collar was a couple of mm bigger. I had in my toolkit a couple of files but not a half moon file. So up to Loddon DIY it was before 9.00am but I thought he may be open, sadly he didn’t have a suitable file, but I bought some other items for other work I needed to do. They do stock some items such as the plugs and sockets used on shore power and a range of fixings, we have even bought mats for the boat from here. I persevered with my files and fitted the fan, the one in the galley I will have to leave until I can get a fan of the same size because there it no clearance around it. We had some ring marks on the wooden divider between the lounge and the galley, I had treated these with ring remover last season with good effect, but more were on the boat again, it’s not like we don’t provide mats! The ring remover did not work this time so I used wire wool to take the rings out and gave the woodwork a coat of Danish Oil. By 10.30 we had watched the guy up the tree still doing his thing we decided to leave Loddon. We passed the dredger again a tight fit, there was a couple of staff on a tug but the dredger was not in operation. Tan left me at the helm until I had passed it. We proceeded past the Sugar Factory yet again and continued our journey up to Brammerton where we would spent the night, we really like it here plenty of moorings and electric post and the Waters Edge just up the lane (or if you prefer it outside the pub). We had a late lunch, cheese omelette and salad. Tan did a few rows of her knitting, 300 stitches per row, plain and pearl, it all double dutch to me. I managed to get on the internet for the first time since Monday so loads of emails to answer and almost two full pages of the forum to check out. After the sun had gone over the trees we put the canopy up, tan went on rabbit watch and I cleaned the inside of the canopy roof. More later. Sorry no pictures today but I have charged the camera battery. Regards Alan

Hi Iain, Sadly no signal at Loddon, I am currently at Brammerton. Regards Alan

Hi Iain, Wall to wall sunshine on the Broads, Tan at one stage had to come into the boat to cool off. Regards Alan

Hi Dave, You should have given us a knock, we were moored at the staithe at Loddon. The guy on the rope certainly earned his money today. Regards Alan

Hello Ray, Welcome to the NBN Forum. Regards Alan & Tan

Hello aahbarnes, Welcome to the NBN Forum from Tan & myself. We have seen Melody 3 on the Southern Broads this week. Regards Alan

Day 2 (really the 1st day of allocation) Tuesday 14th April We stayed in bed this morning until almost 7.45am; I wanted to get shower tokens and pay our overnight mooring fee, the yacht master was a bit late (traffic issues) got a new card which was duly stamped (fill the card at Beccles or Oulton Broad and get a free mooring) . Saw the wacky duck this morning it was walking about still fully upright (it must think it’s a penguin). Breakfast over we set off back up the river, sunny weather so Tan suggested (get that hat on) that I put on my wide brimmed hat on to protect my chrome work. I look somewhat special! Tan took over at the helm by the time we had got just past the old bridge supports, so I managed 2.5 miles at the helm, we soon caught up the ramblers that we had seen walking on the other side of the marina, they had got about a mile or two down the river, usual pleasantries, nice day for it and it would be good to have a lift, ok one or two but there was about 30 of them. Whilst Tan was at the helm I started prepping lunch, pizza, standard for me for Tan I use those gluten free wraps, put tomato sauce (usually drained from plum tomatoes) and some grated white stilton, put the other wrap on top and then add more tomato sauce, and then sliced tomatoes, mushrooms and one spring onion, finish off with cheese of choice (I used mature cheddar, we had some left over from last night). Left in the oven on a low light until we moored up for lunch. We managed to get under Somerleyton Bridge being as the air draft was about 10 foot 6 inches, so we had a good 8 inches to spare, we moored at the Somerleyton moorings and had lunch. Getting off from the mooring took a while but it was ok. We decided to go up the Chet and just managed to get past the dredging team, no sign of life other than a whistling kettle from inside their shed. A number of tents and tourers were pitched at Maffetts and we saw Marina & Ian’s boat moored up not far past. There were only about three boats moored at the staite so plenty of room for us. Now taking in the sunshine, Tan doing some knitting me typing. We saw a few Brooms hire craft today of various types I guess they must have bought some in to swell their hire fleet. Off up top with a beer. More later. Regards Alan

Day 1 Monday 13th April. Awoke early 6.30am breakfast on board and checked on the forum. We were out of the marina by 8.15am and set off to go to Beccles to do some shopping, it seemed even a long way even by car. Shopping done, match and more points earned and staff discount so saved £19 and were given a £5 voucher for the next shop. It seemed so far on the journey that I thought we would go back to Brundall via the Reedham Ferry (strange to be on the ferry rather than passing it); it seemed a slightly shorter journey, but much more pleasant going the small country roads. Back at the Marina, I called into reception to pay our yearly mooring fee. Ouch!! Shopping all squared away and canopy taken fully down and shore power uncoupled, I ended up chatting to Peter from P & J. Tan said “can I take the boat out”, for a change the Marina was like a mill pond, I therefore had to just keep Tan company whilst she was firmly in control of the helm. It was good to see so many hire boats on the Southern Broads, there were plenty of boats from Richardson’s and Brinks, we saw a Broadsman and Broadslander and a Brinks Melody and a few Star Gem’s, we must have seen about twenty in total and a few other private craft. We also saw Thunder, no doubt their syndicate owners were enjoying themselves. A later lunch was called for so we passed the ferry and turned round and moored outside Ferry Inn between a Brinks craft and the ferry, Tan had relinquished her seat before we moored. Lunch was good and filled a small space. We set off again turning in front of the ferry and went through Reedham Bridge (with a foot to spare) and proceeded what seemed forever down the new cut. There was only around 9 foot 6inches at Somerleyton so we blew our three long blasts on the horn and did some circuits until the bridge was opened, Looking at Alpha craft stranded by the bridge we noted that the rear door was open. It is well stuck now. We arrived at Beccles about 6.00pm and had tea which had been cooking away nicely with wafts of jacket potatoes and sausages reaching us on the upper helm on the journey into Beccles. The syndicate boat Silver Cloud was moored at the Yacht Station. One of the Star Gems followed us into the Yacht Station. The fair is in town and is on the Common Green near to the Yacht Station. It will be open from Thursday 16th to Sunday 19th and Thursday 23rd to Saturday 25th. One of the ducks was showing a comedy routine, it seems to like standing upright most of the time and it was running across the grass from about halfway down the mooring towards the toilets. Ducks comedy with bills! Settled now for the night to see if Tan can beat me again at rummikub again. Regards Alan & Tan

Here is the situation regarding the bins that we have found so far this week. Please let me know of any you have found still available. Rubbish bins on the Southern Broads. Beccles Still behind in the stockade at the side of the ladies toilet Somerleyton Domestic style bins in the small stockade, just up the path towards the pub. Loddon Bins outside the toilets in the car park. Brammerton Both the stockade and the bins have been removed and signs placed "Please do not litter take your rubbish away". Rockland St Mary There is bins provided between the Green and the staithe car park. Regards Alan

Hello Gareth, Welcome to the NBN forum from Tan & myself. We love to hear from people who have returned to the Broads. Regards Alan

Hi Alan, We got our from Brian Ward's . To be honest Alan what company could have taken anymore trouble to service your lifejackets than you or I have done in the past. Regards Alan

Hi Dave, We fell foul of the A1 closure, it did not help that there was not a sign before the roundabout on we could have just gone around it and headed towards Ollerton.], instead it was a case of going over the bridge around the roundabout and then there were then signs showing the A1 was closed. The diversion with its hold ups added about 45 minutes onto the journey. We arrived at Brundall just before 2.00pm. Now on the boat having a well earned glass of wine, the boat is being thrown around must as it was in late February, looks like much sleep tonight. The Bistro above the Tingdene Marina Reception must have been bursting at the seams, the car park was full. We met up with our fellow owners who were leaving the boat early, we were due for changeover on Tuesday. Looking forward to the next 10 days. Regards Alan

Hi Griff, An easy task to a man of your calibre, but please keep the members pants on they might get cold without them. Regards Alan