Broads01

Both Richardsons and the smaller yards have pros and cons. Pros to Richardsons are prices a country mile lower than everywhere else and general efficiency and good service (very efficient, if not personal). Cons are nobody remembers me even though I've hired from them for years and queuing at reception with the rest of the crowd. Smaller yards, like Freedom who I went with in April, are friendlier, much more personal and more likely to remember you. On the flip side you get less boat choice and you can pay more. Thanks to Richardsons loyalty scheme, pricing and service, I was loyal to them for 10 consecutive visits 2012-2017. That would have continued had it not been for the much documented change in policy towards solo hirers which pushed me to Freedom for my hire in April.

I agree the Richardsons scheme is brilliant and the best of any of the operators in my view. I'm on my third batch of six trips now, having a had one of my breaks last year for next to nothing.

Welcome Topcat and I hope you enjoy Swan Roamer as much as my wife and I did. Thanks, Grace, for your kind comments. BrianW has also hired and written about Swan Roamer this year and has it booked for a second visit I believe.

Thanks Howard & Vaughan, I don't feel so bad now. We actually really liked the toilet but I agree with Vaughan it did seem to use a lot of water for each flush.

Back home now after my first bow thruster-equipped hire and I found them really useful. They're an excellent back up tool in certain situations and really helpful when I'd hoped they would be. Most handy thing I found was for stern moorings where I found a little dab of thrust was the best way to straighten the boat to a 90 degree angle (as opposed to the rudder hard over, burst of forward throttle method I'm more used to).

I felt like a twit last night and this morning. Not long after we moored at Wayford, the warning light for the toilet holding tank came on. I made the big mistake of telling Mel it would be OK when we really should have upped sticks and set off for Richardsons. Of course during the night the toilet became unusable so I learned my lesson there. Hence we set off earlier than planned this morning to return the boat. My next mistake was to return the boat to the wrong quay, doh! We'd departed from Kingfisher on Tuesday and I thought you always returned the boat to the same place. Not so this time, the handover sheet saying 'return to Swan Quay', hence having just reversed in to Kingfisher I was despatched around the corner. When the boat was refuelled I got a nice surprise - we'd used a miserly 29 litres. We'd done plenty of cruising hours since Tuesday but a combination of knife-through-butter smooth modern diesel (I don't know what make) and careful throttle had an impact it seems. Our journey home was straight forward and so another Broads trip came to an end. I'm really pleased to say Mel enjoyed herself a lot, the quality of the boat making a big contribution to that. I'm back on 1st September for a week with my mum and daughter aboard Contessa. I do like to keep varying the boat styles, horses for courses and all that.

Some pics from today

We've had a really good last full day, cruising via Womack then all the way up the Ant to Dilham and finishing up at Wayford Bridge. We intended to top up with water whilst at Womack Staithe but ended up leaving that till later - the boat filling up when we arrived was still doing so when we left almost half an hour later and there was at least one guy who'd been waiting for the hose all that time. The water pressure must have been very poor. We opted to leave water guy still filling up and set off back down Womack and then at the main river turned right to head to the Ant. Fortunately the water hose at Ludham Bridge was available and we made a brief stop there with the intention of taking a longer stop at How Hill. No such luck - it was just after midday and there wasn't a single mooring space to be had. There were wild moorings available further up but we decided we wanted a short walk so we carried on to Paddy's Lane and stopped there. I thought of my dear late father who always used to ask me when I told him about cruising the Ant "Did you do the triangle around Barton Turf?". My dad was always one to spend many cruising hours exploring every length of waterway possible. We had some lunch and then walked around to the village staithe where wherry Hathor had made it after we passed them punting on Barton. We opted to head for Wayford Bridge for the night and booked a table at the Wayford Bridge Hotel. Before that though there was time for a chug to Dilham which I last did with my Dad 5 years ago. Since then I've been frustrated by Wayford Bridge a few times so it was great to pass through today and reach Dilham. It was a tight turn around manoeuvre at Dilham, especially with boats moored at the Staithe and then we reached our night spot at Wayford (above the bridge) . Its a nice change from either trying to squeeze in at Sutton or opt for the boatyard. We're one of 7 Richardsons boats here. We enjoyed our meal at the Hotel. They catered for gluten-free very well and the highlight for me was the cheesecake dessert. On leaving the hotel, it was raining for the first time this week, how lucky we've been.

We loved the food and drink at The Lion. I need gluten-free and the menu is clearly marked with the options I can have which always makes life easy. Beer is the only alcohol I can't normally have (lucky I like cider then) except where gluten-free beer is available. I really like gluten-free beer but if a pub has it at all it tends to be in small, over-priced bottles. The Lion, however, sells a very rare commodity, gluten-free beer on tap and two different varieties at that. I had Redwell Steam which was absolutely lovely and to eat I had Haddock, battered in the same beer and superb. The service we received was excellent too. Our only grumble with the pub was we didn't like the decor much. It may just be personal taste but we found it too dark and the lighting insufficient. Also we'd have like to have seen fewer dining tables and more relaxed chairs. We'll definitely go there again though.

A bit grey for photos today but I have a couple.

I know all forward steer boats are poor for rearward view, but this one takes the biscuit. From the helm seat you can see less than half of the rear door window. To see beyond our rear starboard corner I have to leave my seat and either lean out of the other side or step on to the fore deck and look back.

It's been grey and cool today but no rain and after the continuous deluge I received on my last visit I was very grateful for that. We set off back downstream and by the time we were passing the common just before 10 the boat crowd from yesterday and disappeared bar the single privateer remaining. It was as if they all couldn't wait to reach their next overnight destination. It was a relaxing cruise back to Wroxham where we pulled in at the old Porter and Haylett yard for water. The boat has a water gauge and hence we didn't refill the water tank yesterday because the gauge kept showing as full. However, I had a panic yesterday evening as following Mel taking a bath the gauge had gone straight to empty! Thankfully we didn't actually run out but I'll make sure we top up again tomorrow, whatever the gauge reading. We crossed over to the Hoveton moorings to do a bit of quick shopping and then pick up the pilot. Whilst we waited for the pilot, I spotted a hire boat coming through the bridge without using the pilot. Later, after the pilot had taken us through and he asked me to sign against our boat name on his list, I smiled inside when I saw on the list the name of the boat I'd seen earlier and next to it, in capitals, 'NO PILOT'. Gotcha! I hope they get a firm ticking off. We thought about mudweighting then at Wroxham Broad or Salhouse but I was concerned it was too windy, hence we stopped for some lunch and a break at Wroxham Island. I noticed how stable the boat is when we were moored there with a fairly constant stream of boats hacking past. We didn't rock around as much as I expected. Shortly after setting off again we passed Salhouse Spit at which point we were overtaken by a day boat close on our left. No sooner had they passed than the helmsman made a sudden turn to his right across our bows and forced me to engage reverse rapidly. He aborted his manoeuvre when he realised and I held my hands up in disbelief as he turned to face me. He just looked away and carried on. Grrr! Our destination for the night was Thurne, where I write this. Its busy but there are still gaps and we're looking forward to a meal at The Lion which I've read nothing but good things about since it's refit.

I forgot to say, yesterday, as we were sat outside in Wroxham, we witnessed two incidents with hire boats. Firstly, a boat rammed forwards at 90 degrees in to the quay at a fair rate. He might have got away with it, I'm not sure. Secondly, another helmsman managed to reverse into the day boats next to the Wroxham Hotel. The guy running the day boats beckoned for him to come in to moor, which he duely did and a lengthy conversation followed. Vaughan and Susie remarked how entertaining it had been during the week watching what people get up to.

Ah I didn't realise the flooring was a Richardsons change. It's very nice actually, a more luxurious look than the standard Richardsons holly and teak.

Thanks for the write up, David. I like your detailed writing style and your photos. As someone who's hired solo on several occasions but for very different reasons to yourself, I hope this hire has given you confidence for the future. You mentioned the trip lifted your spirits and that's great. I hope it also gave you some solace and helped you remember some good times past.

Yep I kept to mid channel because there's little danger of a boat coming the other way!

Some pictures from today

Today has worked out beautifully well. In common with a few of our neighbours, we made the short run over to Ranworth Staithe to make use of spaces left by overnight boats departing. The view from the top of the church tower is one of my favourite views anywhere, not just the Broads and I enjoyed climbing up there as much as ever. Soon after returning to the boat we were off again, Wroxham bound. The weather was starting to warm and there were plenty of boats around of course. As we reached the end of Ranworth Dam we had to pause a minute or two for a gap in the steady Bure traffic. Is it me or does the Horning Ferry pub look increasingly tatty and uninviting on the outside? They now have a huge 'TF' sign outside which seems unnecessary and incongruous. In Wroxham, we'd arranged to meet with Vaughan and Susie who are currently renting one of the cottages opposite the Wroxham Hotel. They kindly provided us with our own private mooring outside their cottage! We spent a very pleasant couple of hours with them sat outside drinking some of their lovely French wine. Also visiting were Jill (of Barnes Brinkcraft fame) and her husband Pete, an old school friend of Vaughan's. I first met Vaughan and Susie at the meet last year and it was great to see them again. Jill and Pete were great company also. We said goodbye to all the folks and took the boat over to the pilot moorings. We soon had the pilot aboard and taking us straight through. The height gauge was showing something less than 7 foot so I asked the pilot how much clearance the boat actually needed (as opposed to what Richardsons tell you it needs). "About 6 foot 4, they'll go through all day long" was his surprising reply. We had a lovely sunny chug up to Coltishall. It was nose to tail on Coltishall Common with no space at all but fortunately we were headed for Coltishall Lock. We're there now and we're the only boat. The pubs at Coltishall, being on the bend as they are with the narrow river after give the illusion of being at the limit of navigation. I'm sure many hirers think that's as far as you can go (for many years I thought you could only go a few hundred yards beyond the Rising Sun). It makes the Lock mooring one of the quietest anywhere I think.

Some pics from yesterday

Even though the weather is warm it was windy yesterday evening and I noticed how air tight the saloon seems to be. The sliding canopies have thick draft excluding brushes all the way around and they're fitted so well you feel like you're in a saloon with a fixed roof. It's a huge contrast to the older sliding roof boats where you can feel the wind if you put your hands near the rails and at the top.

"Ooh, If you book something like this, I'll come again". That was Mel's reaction as we boarded Swan Roamer this afternoon. What a boat it is. By a country mile, it's the nicest boat I've ever had. It just oozes quality in the fit out and the attention to detail. I'll do a boat write up after the trip. We arrived at Richardsons just before 1 and the boat was soon ready. As per usual I couldn't wait to get away. It was a relaxed handover, a quick unpack and we were away about 2-15. The weather was cooler than yesterday but still lovely and Mel was enjoying herself too, feet up on the luxury sofa. We made relaxed progress down a busy Ant. How Hill was almost full as we passed but Ludham Bridge moorings much less so for some reason. We turned right at the bottom of the Ant and opted for Ranworth Island for the night (the lunch time crowd were no doubt filling the Staithe). We had food to cook on the boat tonight so it was ideal. By around 6pm it had filled up here too, just the one gap I think. I'll post some photos at some point when I get a decent signal.

Indeed Vaughan, Prince of Wales Road is particularly shabby, being a mixture of long-closed shop units and night clubs. We had a short walk yesterday evening though to a nicer area towards where The Lanes is. We had a good meal in Prezzo followed by a drink in All Bar One. Norwich seems relaxed and crowd-free for a city on a sunny Bank Holiday in comparison to the cities I'm more used to.

Ah Pyes Mill, one of the south Broads many pleasures and always my preference for a night mooring rather than the Staithe. Incidentally where is, or was, the mill exactly?

Me too Jean. It's like going back in time over 30 years for me as I did exactly the same here as a teenager.

It's been lovely weather in Norwich today. We spent most of the day just mooching about, taking in the shopping centre, the market (although most of it was closed), The Lanes and Elm Hill. The Yacht Station is significantly busier this evening with hire boats that have now had time to reach here after a Friday or Saturday start. There's only 3 or 4 spaces left.