Broads01

Do you have a personal favourite location which is away from those generally thought to be favourites? So, not a Salhouse or a How Hill or an Oulton Broad but a Pokeys Mill or a Wayford Bridge or a Whitlingham. My own favourite in this category is Postwick Viaduct. My route (and no doubt for many others) by road to and from the Broads is the A47 over the viaduct. On the way there it's always lovely to glance down when passing over and see my first glimpse of a Broads river. On my way home I take a wistful glance to the left and sometimes see a boat on my final glimpse for that visit. I think at that moment of my next planned trip. By boat, I love approaching the bridge and being mesmerised by the traffic above, a microcosm of the real world outside of my boating bubble.

In my mind there will be a reasonable time lag between the initial relaxation of lockdown restrictions and the eventual resumption of cross-border travel and aviation. It'll make sense for countries to ensure the pandemic is out of the way domestically before they let foreigners back in to their country. For this reason, when the 2020 Broads season eventually resumes I can foresee the rivers being busy (assuming enough people have disposable income to spend).

I managed to change my April booking with Waveney River Centre to October. I have a booking with Barnes though for 22 August which I'm crossing my fingers for.

I see it's been modified to add a fixed enclosed wheelhouse. It always baffles me when people do that to boats. Give me the option of an outdoor helm position any day.

I've been enjoying watching Dave's stuff for a while. He's a very funny man and he manages to be informative also. With Dave it's not just about the river footage (although that's always good), he enjoys walks and takes the camera with him. I'm currently working my through his February trip and I'll get to the lockdown videos soon.

Vaughan, what was the air draft, over 7 foot?

Fascinating stuff on this thread, thanks all. Vaughan, I never knew diving was on your very long list of skills.

I enjoyed looking through the FlickR album. Here's my personal favourite entitled "Fun and games at Great Yarmouth"

Where is Three Hammer Common?

I'm loving this thread. Thanks to all those who've contributed photos.

I agree the Bates boats are beautiful and distinctive. This is available to hire from Benson https://www.waterwaysholidays.com/boat/bernadette.htm

Thanks for sharing Roy. I couldn't initially work out the location of the 3rd photo but is it Ranworth? I think I was thrown by the Blakes sign in the background that made me think there was a boat yard near by but didn't Blakes have an association with Ranworth at that time? The boat next to you I believe is from the Consul class at Norfolk Broads Yachting Company. My first ever Broads holiday was on Consul 3 the year before.

Yes, unless you're able to argue that boating is your choice of exercise once a day.

Waveney River Centre phoned me today to cancel my boat booked for 6th April. I feel really pleased I'm rebooked for October. I'm glad about the measures the government has introduced tonight. In the long run, not only will it save many lives, it'll mean we get back to normal sooner than if the extra measures hadn't been taken.

No boating for anybody now is my interpretation, unless your boat is also your home.

I'm booked on Waveney Pisces for 6th April. The chances of that going ahead have been dwindling by the day and now gone altogether it seems. I'll phone them in the morning and see what the rebooking options are.

Thanks Vaughan, I think that gives us a taste of what's to come. My French isn't brilliant so Vaughan please correct me if necessary: 1-Work that can't be done at home 2-Purchase necessities from shops allowed to be open 3-Health reasons 4-Assisting vulnerable people and children 5-Briefly,close to home for individual exercise, excluding group sports and activities but including exercising animals.

Back in 1997 my one an only hire from Alpha Craft was a then fairly new forward steer called Mustang, at the time having registration T556. I've always been bewildered as to why the same boat was later T559 and it's now in the database as such. http://www.broads.org.uk/wiki2018/index.php?title=Boat_Details&BoatId=7100

Thanks for the detailed write-up and photos Jean. I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves. I'm interested to know, what makes you favour Reflection over the larger Swancraft 2 berths? As you may remember, I've hired Roamer and it was brilliant.

I work from home 3 days out of 5 normally, so I'm fortunate in being set up for it and used to it but I know I'm in the minority. I'm due my first hire of the year from Waveney River Centre on 6th April. Whether that happens or not is still uncertain and seems largely dependent upon whether I can avoid the virus before then. WRC are still operating at the moment and have released a statement today https://www.waveneyrivercentre.co.uk/about/covid-19-coronavirus-statement/

I've also hired Grecian Girl, Contessa and a few other dual steers. It's true, the upper helm position is odd, particularly the ultra low wheel but the fun and advantages of a low level dual steer outweigh that in my view. There were 5 of us in Grecian and we had no issues with outdoor space. Air draft is brilliant at 6 foot 9 so Wroxham Bridge is doable some of the time and we cruised under Beccles also. On the down side, the cabins are small and when the crew were down below the helm seat felt lonely. Later in the year I've booked Alpha Phantom of the same design.

I think the policy makes a lot if sense and I wouldn't read anything into it about Richardsons' finances. Any successful business has to keep a tight rein on costs and it looks like they've decided it's a worthwhile saving.

To be fair, photos can be deceiving and in hindsight I may have made a snap judgement. Being aboard is the only way to judge a boat properly I feel. It reminds me how useful it is to get a look aboard a boat when you get the opportunity.

Mmm, that layout doesn't work for me at all. The dinette looks all wrong squashed into the bow and seems to have limited headroom and limited natural light. The other issue I have is on a boat of this size and cost I would want an island double bed.

The database needs saving, I absolutely agree. I'd also be willing to give some time. Although I have no experience of web development I build data applications for a living so I have skills in that area. I'd be happy to help with updating data and adding photos. I recall John (oldgregg) also expressed interest.