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Fair Regent - Easter 2018


YnysMon

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16 hours ago, YnysMon said:

 

2018-03-28_IMG_3842.jpg.bd7c8c586f9b9c59b3f5532ab139ca52.jpg

This is a really lovely photo Helen, one for next year’s calendar competition surely? In fact I think that you and Jay could clean up between you and it’s only April. The rest of us are going to have to try really hard! :default_dry:

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Great photos and holiday tale Helen, many thanks for sharing with us :default_beerchug:

Shame about the Locks, I think they can struggle a bit out of season although should have been OK over the holiday. The Wherry is a real hidden gem, lovely unspoilt pub and as you say very friendly. It is possible to walk to it along the track from the Locks (as long as it's not flooded)! takes about 15 - 20 minutes from memory. 

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Hi Jean, Yes, I do start a log whilst I'm away as the days start to blur into one another by the time I get home.  This time I got a bit behind with it though, and then just started to note an outline to jog my memory!

Broads01 and Jean - I must admit that I go a bit overboard planning, but then part of the planning for holidays for me is part of the pleasure of anticipating the actual time away.  I went completely overboard this time.  Staring with the tide table I had planned out about 6 scenarios for cruising plans.  Of course we didn't stick with any of them to the letter, but it did give us a framework and enough familiarity with the tides to be able to adjust our plans without spending too much time going against the tide. Just as well given the lack of power from the engine.

Over the past couple of years I've also put together my own little guide of places on each river - what moorings are available, whether there's shore power, water, pump-outs, what amenities are there (shops etc.), places of interest to visit near each mooring, walks for the dog and, even more important, where to eat out that's dog friendly.  I update it with tips I pick up from here and other places such as Trip Advisor.

Graham took the camping chair with him as he often finds it more comfortable to sit in - so don't feel sorry for him!

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Hi Hylander,

I did plan out some meals in advance, though I didn't stick to the plan.  When we got to Roy's we didn't stick entirely to our shopping list either as we like to buy local food that takes our fancy.  I was also taking into account that the boat had a bigger fridge than some (in fact that's one of the features that influenced our choice).  I completely over-catered in that I took a quite a lot of tinned stuff that we didn't eat, but it will last until our next holiday anyway and it's good to be able to change plans and not worry about getting to a supermarket/butchers.

I've attached the meals ideas plan/shopping list that I had drawn up before this holiday.

Menus and shopping list March 2018 V2.docx

Helen

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Thank you Helen it is much appreciated.    Oh boy I thought I was the only person who wrote lists, well you would think so if you listened to my other half.    You are not a Virgo are you.      It is so good to see that I am not alone in taking the whole of Morrisons,  Tescos and any other supermarket I can lay my hands on with me.   I also take frying pan, sharp knife, knife sharpener (thanks to Geoffrey on Cooking on the Corsican)  wooden spoons, whisk, timer, can opener and my own knives and forks.     Yes I am nuts.

One more question - sorry - where did you get your oil radiator please?

 

 

 

 

 

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1 minute ago, ranworthbreeze said:

Hi Monica,

Tan also does lists.

You can pick up a small 600 watt oil filled radiator from Roys.

Regards

Alan

Not so strange after all then.    I am always given the impression I am the only one who takes everything with them.      

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Lists on list in our house.  Good job we have the Trafic van, all our stuff and Rosie wouldn't fit in a normal car.

We prefer to use our own electric heater, far less noisy!   The spare 'leccy' blanket that has become part of the boat list also works a treat.

Home from home all the way for us.  I never was one for 'camping'.  

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28 minutes ago, Hylander said:

Not so strange after all then.    I am always given the impression I am the only one who takes everything with them.      

You are not alone - by a long way! I make lists, before we go each time and then before we leave to make sure I don’t forget what to bring back up with me. When we hired I had a ‘Broads box’, as I know a lot of people do. It contained a lot of the gear you mentioned. I was never one for ‘making do’ - I never will be! Like Helen, I like to shop locally for food and there are some lovely butchers and grocers across Broadland. 

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We got the oil filled radiator from Argos, Argos cheapo special, but it actually packed in before our final night (luckily it was a lot more mild by then), so Graham took it back when we got home and got a refund.  He's now planning to get another - a Dimplex or other 'good' brand - before we go in October.

Glad I'm not the only one that's list-mad!  I also took a frying pan, pasta sized saucepan, baking sheet, sharp knife, timer, clippits, a couple of plastic storage containers for leftovers etc.etc.  We'll need a van soon too!

Jean - I meant to ask you - what's the storage like on Bronze Emblem in the way of cupboards for storing food etc.?

Hoping to post up accounts of our final couple of days when I get home this evening.

Helen

 

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Monday 2nd April (Bank Holiday Monday)

As I’ve already mentioned in the Members section, we hit a bit of a snag this morning.  We got up early as planned, but when we started the engine the oil warning light came on.  We quickly switched off and Graham went to check the engine.  Somehow there wasn’t any oil in the engine, though there seemed to be a lot of it on the outside.  We eventually figured that maybe when the engine was checked a couple of days ago the dip-stick wasn’t returned properly and securely.  Unfortunately, there was hardly any oil in the top-up bottle, so we had no option other than to call the engineer.

I checked the Skipper’s Manual for the contact telephone number for the engineer.  Strangely it had the same land-line number for both day-time and out of hours. I programmed the number into my mobile.  (Graham later pointed out that the handover folder we’d been given had a mobile number for the engineer – so why couldn’t they have updated the Skippers Handbook? Grrrr!)  I donned my waterproofs (it was raining persistently) and went off in search of a mobile signal.  I walked through Dilham village, joined the A149, through Smallburgh and was on my way to Stalham (still no signal) when I passed a farm house that I thought maybe had a light on.  I must have been spotted, as the lady of the house opened her door.  I ran across to ask if I could use their phone and was invited in.  Not only that, I was offered a cup of tea.  By this time it was ten to eight, and when I phoned the NBD number I just got the office voicemail message.  Luckily, they were opening in ten minutes time, so I had a nice chat about our various pets with the kind couple who had taken me in (in a very wet state – I left one of their kitchen chairs pretty wet) and after I did finally get through to NDB they even more kindly offered me a lift back to the boat.  Weren’t they lovely!  

:default_biggrin:

Once I got back to the boat I just had time for another cup of tea and some breakfast before the engineer turned up.  He checked the engine and said he needed to go back to the yard to get some more oil (shame the person in the office that took my message didn’t note that I said we were completely out of oil!). Ah well, he wasn’t long, and once he’d topped up the oil and completed his checks we were free to get off just before 10am. 

We set off in great trepidation, wondering what on earth we would do if we couldn’t get under the bridge.  One thing that did give us hope – the private boat that had shared the mooring with us started off downriver only shortly before us.  We thought their boat looked as though it had a similar air-draft to ours.  We came to a halt within sight of Weyford Bridge to watch them proceed very carefully through the bridge, with what looked like very little clearance.  The other private boat that had left Dilham mid-afternoon yesterday was moored just upstream of Weyford Bridge, opposite the house-boats.  It was the type of boat that would have had to retract their roof to get through the bridge, so maybe they were waiting for the rain to stop.  I'm still wondering days later if they got through okay or whether they got stuck there for a day or two.:default_sad:

Phew – we got through with an inch or two to spare.  Felt like dancing once we were safely though!

:default_party0010::default_party0018:

We cruised slowly down the Ant, which was much quieter than yesterday.  Wonder if a lot of people who had been out yesterday had handed their boats back?  There was a lot of space at How Hill and at the moorings upstream of Ludham Bridge.  We stopped at the latter and had some lunch (chicken salad again with new potatoes). 

No problem getting under Ludham Bridge today – much quieter.  The last of the party with eight Hunter’s boats were coming in to land on the moorings below the bridge – looked like a School/Youth party.  Hope they weren’t being put off by the rain!

2018-04-02_IMG_4130.jpg.8ec74ab756a37e5de4a3123258ad2e3b.jpg

We normally like to string out our holiday until the last moment, not minding getting up at dawn to travel back to the Boat Yard.  However, given the stress that we had earlier on today we decided that it would be a good idea to overnight in the NBD basin tonight, so we made our way in that direction.  We did have a stop at the Staithe for Horning Church, as we had plenty of time to get to Wroxham.  By the way, if you do stop at Horning Church Staithe, take care...it was pretty slippery!

2018-04-02_IMG_4134.jpg.c4510485fdd6f139581683bbad27bd5b.jpg

The path up to the church was a bit muddy, but luckily I was wearing my wellies and there was a handy large puddle to wash my feet in before going into the church.

2018-04-02_IMG_4157_Horning.thumb.jpg.ef4bee1d62f20dbe27028f59eaa4eddd.jpg

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As I walked back I came across this sign…

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Got to Wroxham around 4pm and I popped to Roy’s to top-up with wine for this evening and alco-free beer for Graham (Roy’s have a really good selection of the 0% stuff by the way – much better choice than most supermarkets). 

I think I may have been converted.  Staying in the Yard overnight was very peaceful and we were able to plug into their electric.  Might consider mooring in the yard/marina again in future. 

Helen

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Tuesday 3rd April

Handover morning (sob).  Had to pay just over £20 more for our fuel, but that wasn’t surprising given that we’d been as far as Norwich, Geldeston, Loddon and twice up the Ant, plus a bit of going against the tide. 

We took a very cross-country route back to MK, visiting some quite out-of-the-way village churches mostly in the Wensum Valley north-west of Norwich:

Ringland (rood screen, exceptional roof, some surviving medieval glass)

IMG_4183_Ringland.jpg.4aec73dd790b177f636f1259357153bb.jpg

IMG_4188_Ringland.jpg.9cffb248416873249ed36d73421407b8.jpg

Western Longville (rood screen and a really interesting display about Parson Woodforde)

Western-Longville-IMG_4310.thumb.jpg.9130113839805cab937a9b1904e0b018.jpg

Elsing (brass!...plus a very damaged rood screen)

Elsing-IMG_2734.jpg.6772ce2073ff8ca59cc7f21d5cf318d8.jpg

Mattishall (another rood screen)

Mattishall-IMG_2760.jpg.3ad342d8ff2c61836e523346bc019652.jpg

and Barnham Broom (unfortunately the church in Barnham was closed for renovation).  

There were a few hairy moments when the road approached bridges over the swollen Wensum, which looked like it was about to spill over onto the road in at least two crossing points, and there were a few roads elsewhere that were flooded – not too deeply fortunately. 

2018-04-03_IMG_4328.thumb.jpg.e863384e46950f3babb909d1a49cc79c.jpg

There was one single track road where it looked like the roadside bank was dipping down a bit too much toward the water level, so we reversed out of that one and took another road. 

When we got home Seren had a fine welcome, from Harry and our cat Swnyn.

2018-04-03_IMG_4330.thumb.jpg.93f7e3086067e70a96e79e0a78950c50.jpg

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3 hours ago, YnysMon said:

Jean - I meant to ask you - what's the storage like on Bronze Emblem in the way of cupboards for storing food etc.?

Wonderful write up Helen and I enjoyed seeing all your photos.

I can't remember too much about the storage but I think it's quite a small galley, small fridge with a freezer box, several cupboards but some of them obviously have all the pots and pans and plates and mugs and glasses in them. Best thing would be to take a look at the video on Ferry Marina's site. I tend to take enough food for maybe the first three or four days and then rely on finding some shops if we need anything. We tend to eat out half the time and eat tinned food or salads for the rest. I don't attempt proper cooking ... it's a holiday! If there's not much storage then I just pile things up on the worktop space! :)

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On ‎09‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 18:13, YnysMon said:

Monday 2nd April (Bank Holiday Monday)

As I’ve already mentioned in the Members section, we hit a bit of a snag this morning.  We got up early as planned, but when we started the engine the oil warning light came on.  We quickly switched off and Graham went to check the engine.  Somehow there wasn’t any oil in the engine, though there seemed to be a lot of it on the outside.  We eventually figured that maybe when the engine was checked a couple of days ago the dip-stick wasn’t returned properly and securely.  Unfortunately, there was hardly any oil in the top-up bottle, so we had no option other than to call the engineer.

I checked the Skipper’s Manual for the contact telephone number for the engineer.  Strangely it had the same land-line number for both day-time and out of hours. I programmed the number into my mobile.  (Graham later pointed out that the handover folder we’d been given had a mobile number for the engineer – so why couldn’t they have updated the Skippers Handbook? Grrrr!)  I donned my waterproofs (it was raining persistently) and went off in search of a mobile signal.  I walked through Dilham village, joined the A149, through Smallburgh and was on my way to Stalham (still no signal) when I passed a farm house that I thought maybe had a light on.  I must have been spotted, as the lady of the house opened her door.  I ran across to ask if I could use their phone and was invited in.  Not only that, I was offered a cup of tea.  By this time it was ten to eight, and when I phoned the NBD number I just got the office voicemail message.  Luckily, they were opening in ten minutes time, so I had a nice chat about our various pets with the kind couple who had taken me in (in a very wet state – I left one of their kitchen chairs pretty wet) and after I did finally get through to NDB they even more kindly offered me a lift back to the boat.  Weren’t they lovely!  

:default_biggrin:

Once I got back to the boat I just had time for another cup of tea and some breakfast before the engineer turned up.  He checked the engine and said he needed to go back to the yard to get some more oil (shame the person in the office that took my message didn’t note that I said we were completely out of oil!). Ah well, he wasn’t long, and once he’d topped up the oil and completed his checks we were free to get off just before 10am. 

We set off in great trepidation, wondering what on earth we would do if we couldn’t get under the bridge.  One thing that did give us hope – the private boat that had shared the mooring with us started off downriver only shortly before us.  We thought their boat looked as though it had a similar air-draft to ours.  We came to a halt within sight of Weyford Bridge to watch them proceed very carefully through the bridge, with what looked like very little clearance.  The other private boat that had left Dilham mid-afternoon yesterday was moored just upstream of Weyford Bridge, opposite the house-boats.  It was the type of boat that would have had to retract their roof to get through the bridge, so maybe they were waiting for the rain to stop.  I'm still wondering days later if they got through okay or whether they got stuck there for a day or two.:default_sad:

Phew – we got through with an inch or two to spare.  Felt like dancing once we were safely though!

:default_party0010::default_party0018:

We cruised slowly down the Ant, which was much quieter than yesterday.  Wonder if a lot of people who had been out yesterday had handed their boats back?  There was a lot of space at How Hill and at the moorings upstream of Ludham Bridge.  We stopped at the latter and had some lunch (chicken salad again with new potatoes). 

No problem getting under Ludham Bridge today – much quieter.  The last of the party with eight Hunter’s boats were coming in to land on the moorings below the bridge – looked like a School/Youth party.  Hope they weren’t being put off by the rain!

2018-04-02_IMG_4130.jpg.8ec74ab756a37e5de4a3123258ad2e3b.jpg

We normally like to string out our holiday until the last moment, not minding getting up at dawn to travel back to the Boat Yard.  However, given the stress that we had earlier on today we decided that it would be a good idea to overnight in the NBD basin tonight, so we made our way in that direction.  We did have a stop at the Staithe for Horning Church, as we had plenty of time to get to Wroxham.  By the way, if you do stop at Horning Church Staithe, take care...it was pretty slippery!

2018-04-02_IMG_4134.jpg.c4510485fdd6f139581683bbad27bd5b.jpg

The path up to the church was a bit muddy, but luckily I was wearing my wellies and there was a handy large puddle to wash my feet in before going into the church.

2018-04-02_IMG_4157_Horning.thumb.jpg.ef4bee1d62f20dbe27028f59eaa4eddd.jpg

2018-04-02_IMG_4139_Horning.jpg.cddcc49f9b042840bb21ecdcbcfcd85d.jpg

As I walked back I came across this sign…

2018-04-02_IMG_4137.jpg.1daa7ee759470db8db70562bb2c817b0.jpg

Got to Wroxham around 4pm and I popped to Roy’s to top-up with wine for this evening and alco-free beer for Graham (Roy’s have a really good selection of the 0% stuff by the way – much better choice than most supermarkets). 

I think I may have been converted.  Staying in the Yard overnight was very peaceful and we were able to plug into their electric.  Might consider mooring in the yard/marina again in future. 

Helen

I just have to say that you have documented your holiday really well and the pictures just add to what a great time you had. Personally I wouldn't choose to have a boating holiday in winter unless I owned my own boat, but you really enjoyed yourselves and captured the broads at their best. Very few boats, great views but on the down side, the much needed electric post to keep warm.:default_biggrin:

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Thanks for the feedback everyone. I know I go a bit overboard (a lot!) on detail. It’s for a selfish reason really as I love going back and reliving old holidays.

KaptinKev...yes we did have a few days which weren’t such nice weather, but we weren’t really cold at any time, the oil filled radiator was a really good idea of Graham’s. In fact, the best bits for me were when the rivers were really quiet. It’s made me think that a winter (rather than spring or autumn) break might be quite nice.  We’ve had a few July sailing holidays, but when we’ve done that the best (quietest) bits are always above ‘The’ Bridge! We were a bit shocked this time at how busy  moorings were on Easter Sunday!

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Loved it....

Lists, lists, everyone has to do a list , and then talk about it and imagine the holiday, the anticipation building, that's what lists are for. Anticipation.....

 

My lists used to (many many years ago) include pants x7 socks Pairs x7, jeans x2, shoes x2 and so on. Pre marriage I used to be ragged solid by the now SWIMBO about my so detailed lists. One year quite recently she forgot my pants and my shorts.... grrr lists indeed. We now pack separately.

Excellent holiday tale.

 

M&F

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Hi Helen,

 Many thanks for a really great write up, along with some really superb photo`s. It`s been a really fantastic read.

One thing that interest me, your pasta sauce made with bacon tomatos and onions?.  My family and i have been making sauce in the same way for about 50 years, and got the recipe off of a packet of spaghetti, you remember the long thin blue packs. I`ve since found out the sauce made with Bacon is called "Amatriciana", and is how i make it to this day. My recipe is -

Diced onion,

Chopped smoked back bacon,

Tinned chopped tomatos, along with any leftover fresh ones.

Olive oil, 

Chopped parsley, curly or flat leaf,

Basil, 

Tomato puree (to taste)

Paprika,

Knob of butter before serving.

I keep it really simple, and prefer to use fresh pasta as it cooks in a couple of minutes. I used to put red wine in it, but am now alcahol intolerent, so leave it out now.

Anyway, once again, thanks for a great write up.

 Cheers ............................. Neil.

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