Broads01

Noo! Don't do it!

You know what you like! I admire that.

Andy, that's the best photo I took, sorry, but I'm sure Malcom's post clarifies. We ate at the Bridge the night we moored there, it was only 10 or 15 minutes walk and a pleasant walk close to the river. There's a reasonable length of space there too, 9 or 10 boats maybe.

Just on the point of the missing posts at the Great Yarmouth end, my perception is the replacement green cones actually improve the clarity of the channel because they're relatively close together. Separate point - I would imagine if your engine failed mid-channel you could end up absolutely anywhere. That would be very scary in my view.

I'd also recommend the moorings on the right, a little way downstream from the bridge, just before Acle Dyke. I moored there on a busy day May Bank Holiday last year. There was a modest fee (£5?) but it was quiet and an easy pleasant walk to the pub.

Whatever the time of year, there always seems to be a hireboat still on the move long after dusk. When I was at Reedham on 8th April, a hireboat seemed to be looking to moor there about 7-40pm (the sun was just setting and there was plenty of space). Inexplicably though, they changed there minds and set off under the bridge. I saw them at Great Yarmouth Yacht Station the next morning - if they'd gone there the previous night they'd have arrived well after dark.

I wouldn't disagree with any of that and I'll definitely return because I like all the things you've specified, just the food on this occasion fell short. Hopefully next time around I'll enjoy the meal more.

"Nudge" implies slow speed touch and unlikely to cause damage. "Crash" has more serious implications and I think it's unlikely there were "many crashes" in this instance.

Is that a genuine observation? I've moored at How Hill many times and I haven't seen a single one, just the odd low speed nudge maybe.

That's good news, I missed that walk along the river to the village.

I wouldn't say either was a bad meal, just not particularly good value. At the Reedham Ferry I had a chicken stir fry for £14.95 which was neither generous nor particularly tasty. At the Ferry House I had a burger (£13.95) which was presented plain in the bun (although with salad on the side) and tasted of very little, no better than a supermarket frozen one.

I cast off this morning around 8am for my final short cruise back to Silverline. I expected the fuel bill to big given the price of diesel and sure enough it was £156 (price was £1.75 per litre). However taking into account the mileage I did and the hours I had the heating running it could have been worse. After packing the car and checking out I walked round to Swancraft to meet Malcolm (Mouldy), Deb and their staffy, Harley, on Norfolk Lady. They kindly invited me in for a coffee and we had a good chat about all things boat and non-boat before I said goodbye and started my drive home. The journey back to Cardiff was a little slower than usual but probably better than I expected given the Bank Holiday. That's all for this trip, folks. Next boat for me will be on the Thames in June then I'm back on the Broads late September.

I was surprised too as I've been here several times and tonight just wasn't as good.

Today was my last full day and I set off and headed for Loddon as my first destination. It was easily the warmest day of the week and it was a lovely cruise. The view of Hardley Flood seemed clearer than when I last visited, has reed/tree growth been cut back there? I moored at the Staithe for an hour or so and then got on my way, next destination Hardley Mill. This is one mooring where I've never stopped before and I'm glad I did. The mill was open and for £3 I was taken on a guided tour. It's one of the few windpumps on the Broads where the sails still turn and it actually works. Today the sails were indeed turning and there was even an engineer there making adjustments. The view from the top was worth the visit by itself. After some lunch I continued. I enjoy the quiet wildness of the Yare and the fact it's so wide means you can progress at your own pace, so if you want to do 6mph and someone else wants to do 3 mph that's fine. This afternoon I was the one doing 6mph and there was still someone doing 8 or 9 mph coming past but at least there was room for them to do so. My next destination was Surlingham Broad and my final mudweighting if this trip. The sun was warm, the wind was light and it was idyllic. After an hour on the mudweight I made the short journey to my final destination - the Ferry House at Surlingham. It was much busier on the moorings than I expected but I found a space and booked in at the pub. I should have booked before, I only just got a table. I've had food and it was disappointing to be honest, as was the Reedham Ferry last night. Maybe it's because when you've enjoyed the good pubs like The Lion you're spoilt. Nothing I would send food back for, just limited choice because they'd run out of things and bought in pre-made instead of chef-prepared. Ah well, it's a lovely warm evening and a nice spot for my last night.

I can also recommend the Aweigh app. As others have suggested, whilst the tide information is a good guide, it is only a guide. At a given location it'll tell you "tide rising" or "tide falling" but I believe it works on the assumption the tide moves inwards and outwards at a uniform rate which isn't absolutely true in reality. On the southern rivers, you'll get to know whether the tide is with you or against you according to how much work the engine has to do to maintain progress. If you have some flexibility in timing and can time your movements with the tide then great but it not, you can make progress without, just using a little more fuel or moving a little slower.

Spot the train stopped at the station (surely one of the oddest stations in the UK).

Today it was time to set off back south. It would be rude not to have had a cruise in to the Inner Broad, it's such an underrated stretch of water. It was soon time to turn around, chug back down to the Bure and then towards Great Yarmouth. One of the things about hiring solo is marathon cruising stints don't work very well given there's no-one to share the helm with, hence I broke my journey at Stokesby. It was good to stretch my legs having not been able to disembark overnight. It's some years since I walked through the village and it's a pretty little place. Low water at Great Yarmouth today was around 2-30 and I arrived just before then. There were a few boats coming in the opposite direction but absolutely zero boats travelling my direction, either on the Bure or Breydon. Being low water there was almost 10 foot available at the bridges so no need to drop the screens. On Breydon though I realised I could have done with being a little later because full throttle gave me all of 5mph. I seemed to be at Berney Arms before long though and I broke the journey for a short time there. Mooring there proved a little challenging as the wind was pushing me away from the bank and by the time I'd left the helm seat and grabbed the ropes on the starboard side I'd drifted away too far from the quay. Back to the helm seat I went, readjusted and moored the second time of asking. Having checked the Reedham Ferry pub was open I decided to head there for my penultimate night tonight.

It started raining an hour ago for the first time since I've been aboard - can't be bad. This morning, before setting off from Salhouse, I had a walk along the moorings in the sunshine and had a nice chat with a lady who was on Jocelyn from Martham Boats with her husband. I was intrigued because it's a boat I've thought about hiring. She and her husband were first time visitors and she explained she was enjoying the traditionality of the boat whilst recognising its limitations in comparison to modern craft. It did look stunning on the outside. I was surprised to hear the yard had only just squeezed the boat under Potter Bridge, scraping the lifebuoy on the roof in the process. I returned to Silver Mirage and set off, roof down as usual, first destination Ranworth. I arrived there around 10 and there was plenty of space, I suspect because a number of overnight moorers had left. I enjoyed a walk to the Conservation Centre and then a visit to the Information Centre where there was a display with videos on the subject of Broads holidays through the years. I relaxed a little longer until around midday by which time the moorings were full. My next destination was Potter Heigham. Somehow the Thurne always seems much quieter than the Ant and Bure and so it proved this time. I moored on the BA moorings and walked to Herbert Woods first of all. They must have done well for bookings because there weren't many boats in and many of those that were had customers just arriving. Alas I didn't manage to avoid Latham's as there was one item I needed (it's not my favourite shop in the world) so afterwards I de-stressed with an ice cream sat near the bridge. Soon after returning to the boat I headed for tonight's destination - South Walsham Broad. I was determined to try out overnight mudweighting as this might be the last time for a while I come without a dog. I ended up doing the same as I did at Barton - dropping the mudweight but then chickening out. There's something about the boat swinging about in the wind that makes me nervous to go to sleep. Instead, I moved the boat a very short distance to a spot I've been before in daytime between the main Broad and Inner Broad. On the left there's a little bay with a handy overhanging tree which you can loop a stern rope around. I dropped the mudweight also and I can't disembark so I've still achieved my target of mooring overnight where I couldn't with a dog - result! It's a fantastic spot as well.

Thanks Andy. Indeed I was, was I on the webcam?

Thanks Tim. It does feel strange without him, especially as almost everywhere I stop I associate with him. It's helpful though because it brings back lovely memories which make me smile, like when he used to enjoy himself running off the lead at St Benet's.

I agree with Vaughan, we can't expect hire operators to become policemen.

Yes, Woods still have Florida Light (formerly Florida Queen) and Tobago Light (formerly Tobago King). King of Light and Queen of Light may have been Kingline boats, I'm not sure.

I've cruised a good few hours today. I was ready for the off by 0830 and had to wait for a queue of Richardson's craft passing on their way back to base. I decided to chance my arm at Wayford Bridge and try and reach Dilham. I managed to tolerate the architectural abomination that is the cottage at Hunsett Mill and I was pleased to see there was over 7 foot showing at Wayford. I dropped the screen and passed under comfortably. I love the short stretch between Wayford and Dilham. It's rare to meet any other craft whatever the time of year and sure enough that's what happened today, save for the single boat moored at Dilham Staithe. I didn't stop at Dilham this time but instead turned around and went all the way to How Hill. I stopped there around the same time I'd passed yesterday when it was full and yet today the moorings were only about 30% occupied. I guess yesterday was Sunday so many of the boats would have been Richardson's on a Monday finish. I enjoyed a short walk towards the house and felt sad our dog Rollie wasnt here to enjoy the open space like he was last year. I returned to the boat and continued before mooring for some lunch at St Benet's. The wind there was challenging albeit this time it was blowing me towards the bank. I still managed to get temporarily in a pickle though, mainly because I hadn't been concentrating and went past a large space and had to turn around and then turnaround again to come in against the tide. Because of the wind I ended up being blown towards the bank in the wrong place and engine manouvres couldn't beat the wind for a couple of minutes. Ultimately I moored safely and had a break and another walk filled with doggie memories. This afternoon I headed to Salhouse where I've finished up. When I arrived I pondered for a moment whether to moor for the night on the mudweight. I decided against it though, partly because of the wind and partly because it's somewhere I enjoy a walk. I wasn't planning to eat at the pub tonight but the lure of the Fur and Feather was too great, especially as it's a pub I've not visited before. I can recommend it - I had the gammon which had a lovely bacony flavour and comes with two tasty duck eggs.

I can see it's the Maltsters now. Good question, David. Not all pubs can be easily photographed from the back.