ranworthbreeze

Well these pictures are much better, I bet we would all wish we could tuck in. I agree the carvery looks as if it is worth a shot but a long time to our next visit in late October, we shall just have to drool till then. Regards Alan

The bedroom and bathroom looks ok but the lounges look very old fashioned and not very comfortable. Regards Alan

Hello Snowgoose, Welcome to the forum. 24 hour BA electric points on the Northern Rivers/Broads that I have used or know about:- Green at Stokeby Ranworth Staithe Green at Horning Above Ludham Bridge Above Wroham Bridge Regards Alan

Hello Buscuit, So you are going back to Scotland later on this year, are you back to the Caladonian Canal or our you going to try the canal up there and go on the Falkirk Wheel We wanted to go this year and aranged to have our usual October week we have on the canals earlier in the year but we could not get a boat with the suitable berths for us , our group consists of three couples and we need fixed berths these days. It was a pity but we tacked the Cheshire Ring in a week starting from the Langollen Canal. Hard work and wet but that how it has been for most people this year. The worse part of this canal was through the centre of Manchester, Birmingham has pulled out all the stops with the area around the Gas Street Basin, safe, good food & drinks very relaxed the opposite can be said for Manchester. Getting back to the Broads how many do you think will be in your party? My usual rule for hiring is to get a boat with two more berths than is required; it usually is about right with the space required on a narrow boat or a cruiser. The boat style is down to how many bridges you want to get through such as Wroxham & Potter Heigam, Ludam bridge is 8 ft 3 inch or 8 ft 6 inch (it says this on one side of the bridge & the the other height at the other side of the bridge) Yarmouth is a problem for everyone and you need ideally to pass through Yarmouth at slack water (this is 1 hour after low tide) You may have see that Braydon Water has been quite rough these last few weeks. You need to do your homework before you book and check out all recommendations. Regards Alan

Hello GrantS, I know what you mean I only just managed the 5 hours drying time when I did our canopy with Fabsil proofer when we overnighted at Loddon Staite. The other option is to remove the canopy and try to do the work indoors in a garage or workshop. When we went down to the boat to ready Ranworth Breeze for the start of the season it was on a launch cradle, it should have been in the river for engine trials but would not launch due to the shortage of water in late February, needless to say the weekend we picked it rained all weekend so all we could do was mostly indoor work or braving the weather for the odd job. To give you an idea how much it took to fully proof our canopy (quite large) it took almost a 2.5 litre can of Fabsil using a sponge. Regards, Alan

Hello GrantS, I have not used Renovo on our canopy, I only scrubbed ours and poofed it using Fabsil a few weeks ago, before the start of the season the weather was against us and aparts from a couple of good weeks has been poor up to now. Renovo is widely known as a car hood cleaner, reviver and proofer, I bought some fo my Sabb convertible. The reviver is put on using a paint brush and colours the canvas in a uniform shade of colour. Renovo is available in a canvas & Vinyl version, I bought mine as a kit that included the cleaner, reviver and proofer from Ebay. Please let us have your results if you use this product on your canopy, I am sure we will all be interested. Regards Alan

Hello Biscuit, Welcome to the forum. If you have been on the Caledonian Canal you may have seen the Le Boat boats on the canal. Silverline is a good company to hire from and is based on the Southern Broads at Brundall, Herbert Woods of Pottet Heigham and Barns Brinkcraft at Wroxham offer good service and have a wide range of craft. Have a good look around before you make up your mind on the type of boat and the height of the boat so you can plan your route. Regards Alan

Thank you Carol for sharing the film. It shows that some things change over time such as the fashions, boat style but the Broads and the buildings have hardly changed. I was surprised that the plylon was there in 1963, I assume it was the one that takes the cables over the new cut and St Olaves. Regards Alan

Hi Ray, Welcome to the forum. I hope both your wife and yourself enjoy the time you are planning on the Broads, being as you are on the boat for less than a week I would stick to the Northern Rivers. Regards Alan

Hello David, You could try the Shannon in Ireland, the Caladonian Canal in Scotland or how about the rivers and canals in France, Germany etc.

Hello David, I am so sorry to hear of your experience and that all of your family is safe it must have been a nightmare for you and I can understand why you do not wish to go on a boat again. In your earlier posts you were asking all the right questions and it was apparent that you were really looking forward to this holiday. How many days into your holiday did the boat sink? Did the boatyard give you full training prior to your departure, did they mention battery usage or was there the means of off shore power or was there a generator etc. It seems to me that the boatyard you hired with were not up to the task, provided little or no support or emergency cover. I have seen hire companies pull out all the stops to sort out problems with their craft by even borrowing craft from other yards in order to attend to their customers needs. Things do happen on waterways that are not in the control of hire companies such as people cutting boat lines etc (the German family moored at Yarmouth found this out several weeks ago whe their lines were cut at 4.30am by yobs) we have had ropes untied when on the canals and stones thrown at our boat whilst passing through Yarmouth for example. You should have had a warning with the pumps cutting in and out, if they were in fact operational. If I were you I would name and shame the boatyard you hired from, I know who you hired from but if you are in a legal negotiations you will need to think about it. Again sorry for your nightmare on the Broads, please give it a few years and try again, I am sure most of the posters on this forum would give you the same advice and would also advise you which are the better boatyards/hire companies. As Matt says from one of the other boat syndicates on the Broads we all take safety very seriously. Regards Alan

I love the flowing lines of the latest hire boats on the broads. I would like to look around some of these boats to see if they look as good on the inside as they do on the outside of the boats. The windows on these latest boats seem to work well with the overall design. Regards Alan Hood Ranworth Breeze

Hello Seaboater, It is the South for us, we are moored at Tingdene Marina, secure with floating pontoons, electric and water at berth. We like the North but in the main hire season it is to busy with few places to moor also getting a mooring in the North is like waiting for dead mens shoes. We used to moor at Ferry Marina but the services were poor also the security was not up to much considereing the mooring fees we paid.With your air draft you should be able to most places other than behond Wroxham and Potter Heigham, Ludam will not be a problem. Regards Alan Hood Ranworth Breeze Boat Syndicate

We saw that this boat was on the bottom when we passed on the 12th June on our way to Loddon. Its a pity that another of these older boats has sunk in the same area, that boat has been moored there for long time if memory serves me correctly. Regards Alan Hood Ranworth Breeze

Hello Jill, Thanks for that. We always try to moor here when on that part of the river, I like to watch the ferry going backwards & forwards across the river. The pub is ideal with the range of meals and the use of the showers for boats mooring there. Regards Alan Alan Hood Ranworth Breeze

Hello Dave, Stern mooring is not to bad if you can see what is happening behind you but i suspect that the boat you are hiring is one of the type that anyone steering the boat can see at all, you will need to keep going forward to line up the boat for your reverse. The best thing to do is get a line to another boat if anyone offers and let someone just pull the boat in, if this is the case put the boat in neutral. Most people are very helpfull it also helps prevents damage to their boats. The Yacht stations at Oulton Broad and Beccles provide good moorings with electric hook up and showers (extra of course) but worth while. Beccles is a good walk from any moorings but a great little town. If mooring at Reedham we prefer outside the Reedham Ferry, reasonable food and I can watch the ferry going across the river for hours. It is about 3 miles into Loddon on the River Chet but the basin at the end provides good stern mooring plenty of pubs and village shops and the cafe is worth a visit and is talkedabout on most forums. The Green Moorings next to Woods End is also a good mooring spot. Enjoy your holiday if you see us on the river between 11th and 19th June give us a wave. Regards Alan Hood Ranworth Breeze

I always thought that they had more than one ferry so if there was a problem they could be up and working within days if not hours. Regards Alan Hood Ranworth Breeze