Oh Dear

[Bob48]

to start , some very sad news . the Rising sun at coltishall is not as once it was , now on to some more interesting stuff . We hired our boat Majestic gem 2 from Richardsons and as normal everything was fine and dandy , we left the boatyard at about 2pm on the 22nd of September with high hopes of a fine week away , we we're not disappointed . the sun shone and shone. we headed for our first mooring , this time it was St BEnets abbey moorings , we had a grand evening  on our boat , the following day we headed to Womack  water , another fine clear day we saw a barn owl and managed to get a rather shaky video of him , we ate out at the Kings Arms in ludham , great food , friendly staff ,and a warm welcome . so thoroughly stuffed , we headed back to the boat .sunday morning and yet another fine warm day , we headed off to Salhouse broad , where the good lady cooked a fabulous sunday lunch of pork loin wrapped in stuffing and bacon with veg and mashed potatoes. one of our crew left us this evening ,  so that left 4 of us . Monday and off to Wroxham for passage to Coltishall , moored up here over night at Hoveton St John moorings , topped up on provisions from Roys , and then had a pint .Tuesday morning and things became incredible  firstlyour other friends got caught in traffic  on the A14 , so we were held up for an hour and a half , and our lad lost a pike  , 3 times , he was not happy at all . our friends arrived just before mid day and we headed for Coltishall. it was here that the incredible happened , for some time I had been telling everybody about how wonderful the rising sun was and that its' fish and chips could not be beaten , sadly this is no longer the case we were rather disappointed , the chips were quite obviously of the frozen kind and the fish was quite boney ,  the once fabulous onion rings were over cooked and dripping with oil that had not been changed for some while , a very sad  day indeed . Wednesday and we were off back to Wroxham where   we saw out first , and second otters' , we took a whole bunch of photos and managed some video footage as well . topped up on provisions at Roys and after calling the pilot for passage , we headed off to Ranworth , we arrived just before 3pm to a full ( surprisingly ) staithe , so I threw caution to the wind and went down to see if there were any moorings anyway , , fortunately as we swung about to leave a gentleman on another boat was just leaving so ,with careful throttle control we squeezed ourselves onto the mooring .( second time this year ) . we ate at the Maltsters this evening and we were not disappointed at all there was  steak and kidney puddings and veg , a hunters chicken dish , a lasagne that looked incredible , and a superb chicken and bacon salad , all good portions and very reasonably priced , still one of the top venues for food on the broads .

Thursday dawned grey and a little damp ,but not to worry it fitted our " last day " mood very well, we left Ranworth about 2 pm for the slow cruise back to Richardsons boat yard ,once moored up I had a glass of wine and reflected on the wonderful week that had been when , from the corner of my eye I saw a Fortune house Chinese takeaway menu , we  finished our week with a feast that could have easily fed 10 , that was two meals for two and cost £40.

all in al a great time was had by all , and so our thoughts now turn to May and our next trip aboard the fine little ship Crown Gem 4 also from Richardsons .

if you have been thanks for reading , stay safe .

Bob 

[Broads01]

Hi Bob. Glad you had a good week. Oh dear indeed, of all the Broads riverside pubs the Rising Sun has possibly one of the best locations and yet by your account they've messed up. Thanks for the info though, maybe just a drink there next time I'm in Coltishall. 

[Jbx5]

Hi Bob if you get to Coltishall next time you defiantly won't be disappointed if you have a walk (approx 10mins) to the Recruiting Seargent, superb food great service.

John

[Bob48]

12 hours ago, Jonzo said:

What did you think of the boat, Bob?

I've just booked her for next year..

Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
 

she is very comfy , galley is very usable , the sliding roof is heavy though , the sun roof is a bit stiff , but other than that she is a good boat and her engine even though she has a hydraulic drive is very quite and economical ( £150 deposit £103 returned , and we went all over the place), the minor issues I had with her will no doubt be put right long before you get aboard . 

[deebee29]

Glad you had a good time Bob, shame about the Rising Sun.

We couldn’t get through the Bridge a couple of weeks ago due to high tides (we were 7’)

[Broads01]

Tobago also has the single level, full width saloon instead of the narrower one and the single level walk through. I agree John, I think it's better like that. 

Yep those sliding roofs are enormous and hard work to move even with two people pushing from the outside. It was one of the niggles I mentioned to Richardsons on our return because I think cleaning and greasing the roof runners had been missed.