Primus

Morning Neil, Thanks very much for the mooring advice..as far as Pearsons I was meaning the Pearson guide book for the canals and not the boatyard ..The boat we booked is Sandhawk, it wasn't the boat we wanted at first as we wanted a 6 berth from them that we liked ( can't remember its name ), but by the time it came to book it had gone for our dates...We will be going from the 13/7 - 20/7 and are all really looking forward to it!!. I'll look into the GEO maps....Thanks again Dean

Hi All, Just a quick update...Boat is booked and we finally chose sanderson marine out of Reedham and we booked through Hoseasons.Got a fantastic deal in fact we are paying half of what we expected to pay out of Wroxham so delighted at that...No plans as such in terms of where we will end up as we are just going to relax enjoy and see what happens. 1 more question though...Can anyone recommend any good up to date guide books/maps for the broads? We use Pearsons for the canals and overall are very good, we would want the usual guide/tips on pubs,restaurants shops and good mooring spots included. Again many thanks to you all !! Dean

Admiral and Gordon, Again thank you for the input on the tide questions i knew i had come to the right site!!....Have just started looking at Boats on the south and have already had to rule out Maffett as their boats go from Fri-Fri and we have to go Sat-Sat due to work commitments but have seen a couple at Richardsons and at Freedom Boating so confident we'll get something that fits the bill....Just realised however that the 1st ashes game will be on day 4 when we arrive....Now to find a boat with Sky!! Dean

Hi All, Fisrtly thanks very much for all of your replies and advice and to let you know I will be doing my own leg work and research and not expecting you all to plan my trip for me I just like to ask the experts for their input!! Gordon: Thank you for you detailed advice very helpful however I have asked my friend about the issues again and he is far from over sensitive and stands by what he described. He did see 3 incidents of boat rage ( punches being thrown ) however he does say that they could have been related incidents as they were in the same night along the same stretch of water and this could have happened anywhere so he wasn't saying this was typical behaviour of the broads and he wasn't trying to put me off in anyway as he said he had a good time and would definately go again just not that time of year ( hence my original post ). Anyway back onto topic.We will definately now be hiring in the south and will look at all the companies mentioned here.However 1 thing we hadn't really thought about are the tides, I have no experience with this what so ever as last time I went only 2 people really drove the boat and i don't remember tides being an issue..So for a complete novice would this cause a problem?..I know I'll get some basic instruction but I have never even seen a tide chart (?) never mind read one but I'm also sure I'm not the 1st person with no experience to hire on the broads so I'm hoping it shouldn't be too troublesome...Am i putting too much though into this issue or should i just go with the flow ( pun intended )!! Again many thanks for the invaluable advice and I'm sure once i have booked the boat ( hopefully next week ) then I'll have a tonne more question!! All

Hi John and Mary-Jane, There will be me the Missus and a 17 year old with us but with the possibility of a 10 year old coming as well. We would be looking at July 13th-20th and hadn't looked at Thorpe. Originally looked at Wroxham as Barnes Brinkcraft had a boat we liked the look of but are open to suggestions. If you or anyone else can give any insight into routes/ideas then that would be very welcome. Thanks for your time in replying Dean

Jonzo, Thank you very much for your reply..We were looking at the northern broads and this is were we were concerned about.Our plan was to leave from Wroxham but we are now looking at the southern broads and possibly Brundall...Again thanks for the info..Much appreciated

Hi, We have been doing narrowboat/canal holidays over the last few years and have really got the boating bug. Looking at booking a week in July on the broads,did a trip approx 10 years ago which was a weekend stag do ( this 1 plans to be quieter and less rowdy as a family trip ). I mentioned my intentions to someone who did this 2 years ago and while he said they loved the broads and the scenery they expressed their reservations about the time of year we are going and it being like a bank holiday stuck on the M6 ( his words ). Now this person is a fellow canal boater ( he also works on the canals ) so is possibly used to the more slower steady trundling pace of life the canals bring so he could be biased but he did say he would definately do the broads again but he would go off season to avoid the amount of traffic/people he encountered.( he's really not as antisocial as he seems ) I don't remember it being overly busy when I went last time but this was at the end of september. His main points of concern were. Heavy boat traffic ( he was waiting to pull out of his berth at Marina and was waiting for over an hour as boat after boat went passed ).He said he had never seen that many boats on 1 stretch of water before. Found it difficult to moor up due to the amount of boats and boats were forced to moor up 3 boats side on 3 Boat rage incidents in 1 day more than he'd ever seen on the canals in total in 15 years. Pubs and waterside eateries were also really crowded even if it was possible to moor up close by. I asked if there was some sort of event happening that could explain it and he said there wasn't as he had asked other boaters but he was also told that it was a particularly busy week for whatever reason. Were his experiences ( now my concerns ) the norm for high season on the broads or is it nothing to worry about. Many thanks