mbird

I've never done any canals as yet, but we are hoping to remedy that next year after a chat with some like-minded friends. The biggest problem seems to be deciding where to go, as the network is so extensive. We'd like some locks (not hundreds) and a lot of pretty countryside interspersed with interesting features like aqueducts or tunnels. Any suggestions?

Blimey Mark, that is quite a wake-up call. To be honest, I doubt very much that any of us really give hydrogen build up much of a thought! Glad to hear you are not badly hurt and managed not to get the acid in your eyes!

Welcome from me too. When we were based on the northern rivers, we regularly mudweighted in broads overnight. As Neil mentioned, Bridge broad is lovely and not used much for some reason so you could end up with it all to yourself overnight with only the sound of an occasional train to disturb the peace. My favourite mudweighting experience was on Barton Broad. We dropped the mud-plug just outside the channel that leads to Gays-staithe and Neatishead (don't worry, there is still enough depth as long as you are not too far from the channel). Around dusk the mist came down, and the following morning it was eerily still, and foggy. It was really quite surreal to feel so isolated, but the sun soon burned off the mist. A couple of tips if I may: 1. Always leave loads of slack on the mudweight rope. Don't just drop it in and tie it off. Ideally the rope should enter the water at 45 degrees or less to reduce the chance of the mudweight dragging if the wind gets up. The moor rope you leave out, the less the up and down motion of the boat will try to lift the weight. Obviously you need to just make sure that you won't hit anything if the boat swings round. 2. Personally I am not a fan of using two mudweights. A boat will naturally swing around to face the wind, so the boat is only presenting it's bows to it. If you are anchored both fore and aft and the wind is coming from the side of the boat you will be presenting a much larger surface area of the boat to the wind. If it were to get up overnight there is a strong possibility that both weight would end up dragging since the boat can't swing around. I like swinging around anyway, as you have a constantly changing view out of the window! It probably wouldn't matter much on a small boat like Petite Gem, but a larger one might get moved. 3. When you try to retrieve the mudweight it will be firmly stuck in the mud (if it's done it's job properly!). Don't break your bak trying to haul it up. Simply use the boat engine to gently move forwards to lift it out of the mud, then stop and pull it in. It will come up a lot easier!

Reedham bridge broke on Saturday evening, but apparently they couldn't get an engineer out until Monday. I bet it would have been a different story if it had broke in the open position like Somerleyton last week! I think it must have caused an issue for the NYA cruise in company returning from Southwold, who I think were the ones rafted on the waiting pontoon.

The obvious pub choice is the Yare! In my experience the food has always been pretty reasonable in both price and quality. The pub itself is a bit dingy inside, and the landlord never smiles, but you could do worse!! If you have a dinghy or a boat to get over the river, then Coldham Hall is the other favourite. A bit pricier, but better quality food and a lovely garden to sit in to watch the world go by. Good luck with the engine diagnostics!

Here we go again....

Well worth popping along to this. We went a couple of years ago when we lived in Caister and they had a good range of ales and ciders on!

It seems I only took one pic at the meet. I guess there were far more important things to do (chat, eat, drink....!) There was someone else trying to get in on the act though.. The weather was certainly a feature as well. This was Barton Broad, not the north sea! And some of the showers looked quite impressive....from a distance! But the sun did make an appearance on occasion!

When we had our first boat, I took it to Paddy's Land (Barton Turf) to let my wife practise mooring.

A great weekend despite some rather changeable weather! We're just home now after our short break aboard San Moritz, but I'll try to get some photos uploaded soon. Really good to meet some new faces and catch up with old friends. I must say the gazebo was a god send!!

Yeah, that was an odd one John! Sunshine one minute and then torrential thunderstorms with horizontal rain the next!

Bacon and rolls all bought for brekkie on Sunday morning!!!! I hope San Moritz has a large beer locker!

If you do decide to moor at Berney Arms, make sure you use spring lines due to the rise and fall of the tide as BB has already mentioned. You don't want to tie up at high tide only to find your boat hanging from the posts at low water! Also, make sure you fender up well for the same reason. We moored overnight there at Easter to have an evening in the pub. It's not too bad but can get a bit noisy if it's windy, with the waves slapping the hull. We tend to set half our fenders low so they are touching the water, and the others high so they are doing their job when the water is low. And ALWAYS come into a mooring against the tide. You'll need to do that pretty much everywhere on the southern rivers as tides are much stronger than oop North!

Goodo, I'll get some bacon sorted then!

I'll be bringing my Cadac gas thingy, that anyone who doesn't have their own BBQ is welcome to use. I was also considering buying a load of bacon and rolls for breakfast on Sunday morning. I would donate the bacon and rolls in exchange for a donation of £1 per roll to NBN funds. Would that be of any interest to anyone?

Several friends and us use a mobile mechanic chap. He has done some major rebuilding work on one of our engines and also had both gearboxes off to fit new drive plates. Always been happy with his work and prices. If you need his name and number, drop me a PM.

Bump up! Don't forget it's this coming weekend! Details of parking arrangements etc can be found on the website in the first post.

His name is Joe, if that helps?

I think he's from Rotherham Trev, and yes, I believe that is his boat on the front.

When I first moved to Norfolk, we used to have a Sunday roast there. It was very good indeed, but then we didn't visit for a while and it seemed to become less popular generally. Not sure what the reason was, but let's hope they make a success of it again. It's the only pub between Sprowston and Wroxham so should have plenty of passing trade!

There are many other small marinas in Brundall to consider. It's we'll worth a walk down there to have a look around. There are also a couple of vacant moorings at Reedham Marina (where we keep our boat) that are considerably cheaper than Tingdene. There is a station in Reedham for the train to Norwich, though it is about 15 mins walk.

You certainly wouldn't be disappointed with the quality of the Teak from Marine Teak. I have seen them and they are simply amazing.

There has never been anything set up. Might be worth a call to Brian Wards though, where you will get 10% off. When you say water tank, I'm not sure if you mean a cold tank, or the hot water calorifier? They certainly sell calorifiers, but not Surecal brand.

We are pleased to announce the Brian Wards of Brundall have joined our list of forum sponsors. The great news for members is that by speaking to the ever helpful Nick or Tanya, and stating you are a member of the NBN, you will automatically get a 10% discount! If ordering online, simply use discount code NBN to automatically get the 10% discount! To visit their brand new website and see the extensive range of stock, just click on the advert!

You need a GoLight then! http://www.golight.com/