DAVIDH

Wednesday 27th November It had been very mild overnight, but still thick cloud up above this morning. I've forgotten what the sun looks like! I wanted to get to Potter Heigham and back to Ranworth today, so I set off from Boulters around 10am, after filling up with water. I've got into a routine of listening to 5 Live in the morning, with Emma Barnett, who is like a Rottweiler, getting her teeth into some of the things the politicians say. She never lets an untruth pass by without challenge. In the afternoon, I listen to music from my phone, which is channeled through the radio speakers on Goosander. I can't get "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I out of my head at the moment. If you haven't heard it yest, just enter the name into Youtube and prepare to be surprised! I arrived at Potter and found I had to share the moorings with just one other boat. The water was very high, making the jump off Goosander, a little precarious. Bridgestones was calling, so after walking around Lathams to see what I didn't need to buy, I arrived in my favourite cake shop, spied the "cake showroom" and chose a dark chocolate fudge cake to accompany my latte. It was around 1.30pm on a Wednesday afternoon and the place was packed. You have to admire the operation. The owners have made a great business from a standing start just a few years ago. By 2pm, I was on my way again, heading from Ranworth. The rain had started to fall again, but the sounds from my phone were distracting enough to ignore it. It was just starting to get dark when I arrived at Ranworth. I moored on the front, with just one other boat in close proximity. The Maltsters provided my evening meal, where I had a sort of beef stew, followed by a dark chocolate and raspberry torte, with ice cream on the side. Very nice! By 9pm, I was suitable stuffed and heading back to Goosander for the night. Thurne Windpump Potter Heigham You can see how high the water was below. The task of getting from the moorings to the main road, was not easy. What can I say? It wasn't my fault guv, they forced me to eat it! Boats everywhere in Herbert Woods yard A hint of the weather to come, on the horizon Safely tucked up at Ranworth , with a lovely view of the Broad

Cockatoo, I must have been in the Yare at the same time as you. That's my red Clio in the car park. I was sat next to the window which overlooks that flooded bit!

Tuesday 26th Nov It's still very mild, if very dull. I am making my way back to Goosander's home base in Horning, as my team, Leeds United, are playing Reading tonight and the game is on Sky. I will take the car back to Wroxham and hopefully watch the match at The Kings Head. So after a cereal breakfast, I disconnected the 240v line and turned Goosander around at the space just before the Sutton Staithe boatyard. It's amazing how easy these manoeuvres are when nobody is watching! I decided to stop for lunch at How Hill, where the moorings were deserted apart from one other boat. The rain was keeping away so i decided to go walk around the trail. Sadly, much of it is closed off in winter, so i had to make do with a walk up to the house and then around the Secret Garden. The only people I met were what looked like a classroom of kids, who gushed passed me at "max" on the decibel scale, notebooks in hand. So back to the boat for lunch and then on past Ludham Bridge before tunning into teh Bure. By 3.30pm I was tied up and electrically connencted at Boulters, so time to relax before setting off for the match. I arrived Wroxham around 15 minutes before it started. Entering The Kings Head I could see the Leeds match was on the screen in the pool room so i headed there. I ended up watching the match with another Leeds United fan, a chap who was currently working in Wroxham. We won 1.0 with almost a last minute goal. How Hill, The Marshman's Cottage (He wasn't home!) Overflow car park at Horning

Monday morning. So it was time to leave Boulter's haven and out into the mighty Bure. Of course, there were no other boats out so I had the river to myself. The rain, which had fallen overnight had thankfully ceased. It really was quite mild but very grey. Lunchtime stop was Neatishead. There was just one other boat about half way down the dyke, so I opted to reverse in (much easier when nobody is watching). It was quite easy as the thrusters kept the stern alongside the moorings. I had planned to overnight at Sutton Staithe and have a meal at the hotel, so I did'nt go down to the White Horse. I stayed there until around 2pm. Whilst there a kingfisher perched on one of the escape ladders at the end of the quay. The image which follows is the nearest I could get to it. Still, it was a first for me to get one on film. Approaching Sutton Staithe, I was amazed to see 3 other boats on the moorings outside the Hotel. Thankfully, there was still room for one more, next to one of the electric posts, which I gratefully snaffled. I had a walk into Sutton whilst it was like and stumbled on the garden centre. It must have been 20 years ago since i was last there. They didn't remember me. Poor service nowadays. I was back at the boat by 4pm, as it was getting dark. The meal at the Sutton Staithe Hotel was good. I had liver, bacon and onions, with mash and veg. Then back to Goosander for the rest of the evening. Lots of cormorants around Neatishead staithe Sutton Staithe

I am currently on Goosander, so i thought I would try writing a true blog, rather than a recap when I get home. (it's Wednesday as I write) I arrived on Sunday around midday after the most traffic free journey i can remember. From Leeds. my fastest time was 4.5 hours, with a 20 minute stop en-route. This time, just 4 hours, I set off at 8am, but what with no holiday traffic, no tractors and perhaps many people still in bed, it was bliss. It took me an hour to unload the car and then load up the boat. Less choice of clothing for all weathers needed in winter, but more seasonal equpiment, such as a convection heater for use at moorings with electric posts. I had a meal at the Ferry, mainly because I didn't feel like trudging in the rain to The New Inn. Wasn't expecting much as the Sunday carvery was coming to a close, but was pleasantly surprised. The roast beef was tender, plentiful and not dried out as I had feared. Back to Goosander for the rest of the night. A few images of Wroxham, which I visited in he afternoon. Sure you will guess the location.

This is true to an extent. It's coming out now that Thomas Cook were inviting people to pay in full at the time of booking in return for a 5% discount. This was not just on their own holidays, but also on the holidays of other operators sold through their shops. Many of these operators are finding to their horror that though a 5K holiday had been paid for in full by the customers, only a deposit had been paid to them. It seems the money is not recoverable through the ATOL scheme and they are having to stand the losses. Most charter airlines have gone now - there are only a few European ones left. Jet2, Tui, Ryanair, Easyjet (who are about to re-enter the market as a holiday operator) are all low cost airlines which sell seats with or without accommodation. As such, their yield management systems set the prices, which as is patently obvious, are all over the place at any given time. So it's not possible to know if you got the best price without asking the person next to you. That probably happens on a tiny scale but I think generally, people have got used to the fact that prices fluctuate. It will probably work its way through boating as well, if they keep on discounting. I do think that some of the yards inflate their prices just to drop them. Brooms and Bridgecraft spring to mind. In the end, it has to be said that there are so many competing industries for your money, and everyone is looking for best value nowadays. Loyalty to a brand comes second to price in most cases nowadays. The boatyards are probably seeing these multi-thousand pound craft lying unused and thinking what can they do to entice the consumer away from the cheap deals overseas.

I think it may be a combination of both factors. Everywhere is expensive in August so if you are stuck to the school holidays, moving away from the Broads will just take you to somewhere equally expensive. I noticed that the August weeks did not sell out, though not to a disasterous level. September up to week commencing 21st is selling well, with in some cases, less available at this stage than what was left in the August weeks. So perhaps those that can, have deferred their plans until September and others have decided not to holiday at all not knowing what might happen to jobs etc. Interestingly though, I remember seeing an image on here of someone passing through Yarmouth recently and the Yacht Station was lined with double moored boats. Hope YnysMon (Helen) doesn't mind me copying the image below

Oh dear Fred, I seem to have upset you. Can you please explain what you mean by :

Thanks Timbo. If you take this to it's logical conclusion, we might as well all stop videoing/photographing anything unless you are sure you don't accidentally capture a human being, or at least, ask their permission to include them. As Jaws says, the multitude of CCTV cameras filming anyone and everyone passing by, seems to make a mockery of all this. Also, images on social media. Try telling Facebook that the image you uploaded is your property and cannot be flashed around the world.

Yes, all of this is common sense and the average drone flier is not going to want to infringe on someones privacy. Your link : https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/drones/ does reference letting people know you are recording, but if you read on, in certain circumstances, where that might not be possible, it advises you to use common sense. I take that to mean, don't deliberately get up someones nose with it (figurativey and literally). "Let people know before you start recording. In some scenarios this is going to be quite easy because you will know everyone within close view (for example, if you are taking a group photo at a family barbeque). In other scenarios, for example at the beach or the park, this is going to be much more difficult so you’ll need to apply some common sense before you start." To be honest, if it were the case that you are not allowed to video - at any distance - without permissions, even commercial pilots might as well throw their drones in the bin come 30th November!

Can you provide a link to this information please. I have looked at the new regulations but cannot see this. The rest of what your guy says is well reported but I can see no reference to permissions. https://www.heliguy.com/blog/2019/01/08/new-uk-drone-legislation-announced/ https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/uk-drone-laws-2019-3146402

Sorry Gregg, I think you are misunderstanding me. I can see you need permission to launch from somebody's land. But you said permission was needed from the people on the boats. That is what I am querying.

Where is this permission thing coming from. I don't see anything in the regulations for that, as (one would guess) the drone would not have taken off from the top of their boat? Sure it might be good practice in the conditions you set out, but cannot see it as compulsory.

There is no need to overfly anyone. The regulations say that you must not be within 50mtrs of people or buildings or within 150mtrs of a built up area. Yes, the height limit is 120mtrs but the drone can be at that height and still over 150mtrs from you. To illustrate, if the guy (who I am not condoning in any way, he should not be launching near people) chose to launch his drone at Salhouse, at 6am on a sunny morning, when nobody was about, he flew it over the water to a distance of 150mtrs but at a height of just 50mtrs, then a member of the public came past, he is not doing anything wrong. The graphic below is from the drone code, referenced by Oldgregg, and it states not to overfly. You could still be just over 150mtrs from a crowd at a height of 50mtrs and still be within the regulations. (I think)

It's well know I own one. I too have public liability insurance.

I have just updated the "Live Music & Other Events" page for the last time this year, which covers from now to the end of October. The Yarmouth Folk Group are returning to the Dog at Ludham Bridge in October, and The Norada at Potter Heigham is hosting another Comedy Night, for which tickets are available now. So as the boating season starts to draw to a close this year, these months may represent your last chance to take in some live entertainment. Its all listed HERE

Agree with all of that. The owners of the land have every right to restrict flying from there. I don't think however, unless I'm mistaken, that permission from the boat owners needs to be sought. The regulations just say not within 150 feet of people or within 150 metres of a built up area. (Again, just in the interests of accuracy)

Just in the interests of keeping this debate accurate, Salhouse is not in the no-fly zone.

I can remember mooring at Yarmouth between the bridge and the actual Yacht Station - the part that's now reserved for yachts, many years ago. We would always aim for a mooring there as it avoided paying the £10 charge to overnight. Of course, there were no rangers to tie the ropes for you so you had to guess the right amount of slack on your ropes. This particular night, I awoke and distinctly felt as though I was leaning to one side. I poured a glass of water and stood it on the table to see if it was my imagination - I had after all just awoken in the middle of the night. The spirit level glass told me it was not my imagination. I quickly got dressed and expected to see one of the ropes holding the boat tight against the mooring post. It certainly was. The boat wasn't out of the water but it had tightened the rope so much, it was difficult to untie. When I did eventually manage to loosen it, the boat dropped down about a foot, then bounced back up again, which must have been a shock for Doreen inside. I had to tell her all was OK and not to worry. I retied the rope appropriately, and retired back to bed, heart thumping and vowing not to make the same mistake again. I often think now that the £13 I pay to overnight at the Yacht Station, is the best value mooring on the Broads because of the expert rope tieing!

Do you think it's private or has someone found the mystical Barnes Brinkcraft public mooring?

Can't help but think what a great marketing ploy to attract people from the LGBT community (and those affected by racism) to your products, irrespective of how it can be policed.

This was an excellent series last year. The ingenuity, imagination and creativity of the contestants made for compulsive viewing.

Doreen had COPD and though it was by no means a medication, she (and others with the condition) used to find those Potters Menthol Throat and Chest sweets were a great help. Sucking on one of them would usually settle her cough.

It looks similar to Gala Girl at Summercraft, though not quite the same - doesn't seem to have the scrolly bits (technical term) on the roof. Maybe it's just the angle i'm looking at.

Yes, that irritates me as well. I guess it's just marketing. They can then use the word "discount" and hope it's picked up by the search engines and social media. And of course, everyone loves a discount - however sneakily applied.