First Ever Time

[Wyndham]

31 minutes ago, bubba said:

 Are the fridges decent enough?

I'm probably going to jinx it here.

On our boat and all the boats I've hired the fridges have been as good as household ones. They are on the small side though.

[bubba]

12 minutes ago, Wyndham said:

Sat - north somewhere not, far from Richardsons.

Sun - Bimble around and then aim to be at Gt. Yarmouth for 5-30/6.00 pm for crossing Breydon (slack is 6.00pm) and on to a mooring, Reedham/ Hardley/Cantley.

Mon - off to Norwich for the day/night.

Tue - Bimble around and end up mooring within easy striking distance of Gt. Yarmouth.

Wed - Early start to arrive Gt Yarmouth 8-30/9.00 (Slack is at 7-20 but should be OK)

Thur - Head back up north wherever.

Fri - Bimble around and moor up close to Ricchos for the return Sat. morning.

I had to Google the term 'bimble'; I assume it is a southern word? :D

Thanks for the itinerary but your advice and that of others has convinced me Norwich isnt necessary on our first visit.

[DAVIDH]

Hi Bubba,

Regarding your travel time from Halifax, I live in Leeds and normally set off around 7 to 7.30ish to arrive in Wroxham or Brundall around 1pm. This includes a half hour stop en-route and around another half hour stop at the nearest supermarket to where I pick the boat up from to get "perishables" such as milk and fresh bread etc. The nearest supermarket to Stalham is Tescos - actually also in Stalham. Richardsons boatyard is below in the image

[TheQ]

For the record my fastest time Near Stalham to Rotherham 3.5 hours, My slowest 7 hours, it just takes an accident in the way....

Note the NDR is open, so you can reach Stalham either by going to Acle roundabout, then cutting across to Repps then up the A149 or you can come off at Postwick Along the A1270(NDR) and take the Wroxham road Roundabout and go up the through Wroxham to Stalham.

 If you are at a busy time on the roads use Acle, if it's quiet use the NDR. (mostly because of the traffic through Wroxham)

[vanessan]

As has been said, boat fridges are not too bad but the freezer (there usually is one) will be small. I usually have on board the part baked bread/rolls, biscuits for cheese and that sort of thing. You don’t actually need to moor outside of pubs, just be prepared to walk a little way to get to one. As I mentioned earlier, you can moor in hire boatyards free of charge so that would be Wroxham, Potter Heigham and Horning taken care of if you wanted to take advantage of pubs in those locations. Walk into Ludham from Womack Dyke if you are unable to moor at the staithe, a good pub there. Plenty of mooring at Acle. That gives you an idea of what can be achieved. You must be mind-blown by now bubba so I’ll shut up!

[bubba]

No, its all very helpful.

Another novice question...if there isnt an 'official' mooring available, can you just stop anywhere (within reason) and tie up to a tree?

[JamesLV]

Yes, providing it doesn’t say no mooring, or is private land, use common sense and you’ll be fine, just be aware of submerged tree roots etc

[grendel]

and use the rond anchors provided, they are like big hooks you sink into the bank, no tree needed, 

[bubba]

Great. Hopefully thats it now...until Saturday evening when on the boat ;)

[vanessan]

Just be aware there may not be anywhere to walk the dog as some banks are quite isolated with no footpaths. 

[grendel]

but there will at least be somewhere for the dog to uncross its legs.

the main unwritten rule about wild moorings (as they are called) is to leave them in the state that you would wish to find them.

[ranworthbreeze]

4 hours ago, bubba said:

Good morning, me and the family (including dog) are making our first trip to the area for a weeks boating on the Broads and we cant wait. Just a couple of questions though if anyone cal please help?

We are travelling from Halifax in West Yorkshire and cant get on the boat until around 4pm. It is with Richardson's - is there a chance it will be earlier than 4pm?

My wife wants us to set off at 4am for what, according to Google Maps, is a 4 hour journey. I think she has visions of heading down to Cornwall with miles and miles of crawling traffic. What is the journey like into Norfolk in the summer, especially on a Bank Holiday Weekend? I can just see us getting there for 8am and having to sit around for hours waiting for access to the boat.

We are also wondering what itinerary to do. I had been thinking about doing a return trip to Norwich (from Stalham) but is wondering whether that is a bit ambitious for our first trip. What are peoples thoughts? Does anyone have an intinerary that they could share?

Hello bubba,

Welcome to the forum, you are correct Halifax to Stalham is just over a four hour journey, but you may encounter  holdups on route and there are speed limits on most of  roads into Norfolk.

I would aim to get to the boatyard as already suggested by say 1.00 pm and see if you can  get onto the boat or drop your luggage off to make room for your shopping.

The cost on the trains in Norfolk is very good and you can get a deal on have four people traveling so as suggested it may be better going to Yarmouth, Norwich or Lowestoft by train.

Regards

Alan

[VetChugger]

I would also suggest you take a rubber mallet, like the old camping mallets for bashing in wooden tent pegs. Its often a tad difficult to set rhond anchors just by a swing and a stamp! (There really is no secret way of doing this!) Occasionally you may find one provided by the yard but ...........

[JamesLV]

1 hour ago, VetChugger said:

I would also suggest you take a rubber mallet, like the old camping mallets for bashing in wooden tent pegs. Its often a tad difficult to set rhond anchors just by a swing and a stamp! (There really is no secret way of doing this!) Occasionally you may find one provided by the yard but ...........

great shout, I was very glad I had mine at a very windy Thurne last year!

[scaniaman]

Welcome Bubba,if not going down south I moor at Wroxham and use the train to Norwich or Cromer. I also travel on the narrow gauge railway to Aylsham from the same station that usually gets the kids interested.

Paul.

[Chelsea14Ian]

5 hours ago, grendel said:

and use the rond anchors provided, they are like big hooks you sink into the bank, no tree needed, 

Just check there is enough water under the boat

[TostockTimonier]

  Take your time and have a great holiday.

[Lulu]

Warm welcome to the forum. Have a fabulous holiday 

[JennyMorgan]

I'm a Lidl fan, can't afford Tesco , so I can only go by hearsay but apparently you can save time by ordering from Tesco using your computer and either collect or have your order delivered to your boat or the yard. That should mean that you can get away from your moorings quicker. Any one tried it?

[quo vadis]

24 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

I'm a Lidl fan, can't afford Tesco , so I can only go by hearsay but apparently you can save time by ordering from Tesco using your computer and either collect or have your order delivered to your boat or the yard. That should mean that you can get away from your moorings quicker. Any one tried it?

Not when sober  

[BroadAmbition]

Actually there is a ‘secret’ way of getting Rhond anchors into hard  ground with no stamping or hammer. I’ll do a short video sometime for Robin to post up

welcome Bubba

Griff

[JamesLV]

26 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:

Actually there is a ‘secret’ way of getting Rhond anchors into hard  ground with no stamping or hammer. I’ll do a short video sometime for Robin to post up

welcome Bubba

Griff

It’s all about the angle?

[BroadAmbition]

Most definitely but to be precise the curve 

Griff

[WherryNice]

I usually knock the first rhond anchor in with the back of the other one....

[vanessan]

25 minutes ago, WherryNice said:

I usually knock the first rhond anchor in with the back of the other one....

But then what do you knock the second one in with?