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Advice Sought From Inexperienced Boaters On How Not To Be A Nuisance


Coryton

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This is my first posting, and I hope I've put this in the right place...

I have a 2 week family holiday planned in August in a hire boat on the Broads.

None of us have been there before - all we know is from Arthur Ransome.

Our boating experience is somewhat limited - a week of day boat trips on the upper Shannon, and a week in a cruiser on the Lough Erne.

We had a fantastic time on both occasions, found (almost) everyone very friendly, and managed not to get into any trouble.

I think that - at least on the Northern Broads - it will be a bit busier in August than Ireland was though.

I'd be interested in advice people here have that might not be obvious on how to enjoy ourselves without being a nuisance to those who know what they're doing and have to put up with hordes of beginners in hire boats...

We're not planning on mooring over any coots' nests.

 

 

 

 

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remember it is a holiday, take it easy and go with the flow (in many ways that is sound advice, try and plan your route to go with the tides rather than against them, you will save a lot of fuel).

Dont be afraid to ask for assistance with ropes / mooring most people are very helpful (and there are generally no Yarmouth sharks these days.

everyone was a beginner once.

if you want to plan eating out at a pub, phone ahead with plenty of notice to reserve a mooring at the pub, especially if it will be overnight.

depending upon your boat choice, you may not be able to get under all the bridges unless the tides are right, and in Particular Potter heigham bridge is not able to be passed - even in suitable boats most of the time (unless you hire from Martham boats whose boats pass potter heigham most of the time, and even if they dont they are the right side of the bridge.)

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We will be out in August. I generally take everything as slow as possible (around the speed limit when cruising-very slow when mooring etc), we have our own boat and would like to keep it! As in most areas of life, I have no idea how to stop being a nuisance, I think it’s in my DNA. I use the wind and tide to help with mooring and if it takes a couple of attempts that’s a few moments of experience I’ve gained. Others are usually happy to help if it’s very windy, but of course, in Norfolk in August ........  enjoy your holiday, relax and have a great time. 

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Welcome, the very fact that you are asking how not to annoy people means you are very unlikely to do so!

Take everything slowly and relax, take as many attempts as you need, laugh at mistakes and be proud of successes. You are set for a lovely holiday.

You'll get some instruction when you pick up your boat, don't be afraid to ask questions if something isn't clear.

Have a great holiday! :1310_thumbsup_tone1:

 

PS. There are still some Coots, don't forget to say "Coots for ever" when you see them :default_biggrin:

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We do. They are hiding in the flood alleviation schemes. 

Ok, welcome!  You can expect people will help when needed.

You can have fun following the Coot Club, lots of locations are recognisable, although it took me awhile to realise that 'The Outlaw in the Reeds' location is now Ranworth Island which was built after Ransome's time.

I doubt you need these suggestions for happy boating; 

1. Take it slowly

2. Keep radios down

3 Don't run you engine on moorings

 

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Second what has been said by others 

 

please don’t run engines excessively when moored , and certainly not outside of the permitted hours .

travel at a leisurely slow pace , the posted speed limits are not targets to achieve just the maximum permitted 

when mooring , remember to approach slowly and don’t feel ashamed to accept help if offered with your ropes to assist you especially at congested popular spots, even seasoned boaters are glad of assistance  

remember to wave at everyone like an idiot , especially children 

And please do introduce yourself to fellow NBN members you encounter (with a glass of decent malt)

But above all enjoy yourself and be prepared to become addicted 

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2 hours ago, Coryton said:

We're not planning on mooring over any coots' nests.

 

There are still coots around but I think August is not really the month for nesting so you’ll be ok. There are hullabaloos too, you’ll have no problem spotting them! :default_norty:

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11 minutes ago, vanessan said:

There are still coots around but I think August is not really the month for nesting so you’ll be ok. There are hullabaloos too, you’ll have no problem spotting them! :default_norty:

Oh we had a little fleet of them on Lough Erne travelling round together - one night moored next to them was enough and after that we gave them a wide berth when looking for a mooring for the night. 

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Plenty of hullabaloos tonight on the river. Buy the dvd of Swallows and Amazon's for ever which was the BBC series for the two books. Horning heavily featured! My experience of the Shannon was on a trip in 1965. There were rocks to avoid which was scary! Just take care, read up on places to visit etc. and enjoy this amazing landscape. August just watch for regattas when mad people sail up and down the river just like in the Coot Club (I'm one of them and my other boat had a 2 second cameo in the TV series)

 

Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

 

 

 

 

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10 minutes ago, w-album said:

Plenty of hullabaloos tonight on the river. Buy the dvd of Swallows and Amazon's for ever which was the BBC series for the two books. Horning heavily featured!

Ah that's a brilliant idea. I remember watching them when they came out...which was a while ago. I think the dog that played William ended up in Eastenders.

 

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I don’t think you’ll have any problems...sounds like you’ve had a lot more experience of river navigation than we had before our first visit. The thing about ‘being a nuisance ‘ applies everywhere. Some people are considerate, others don’t seem to care. Sounds to me like you’re on the ‘caring’ side. Enjoy the Broads!

Helen

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Welcome to the forum Coryton. :default_icon_wave:

I'm sure you'll have a great time. My advice would be ... don't try to plan every day, go with the flow, approach the moorings slowly and take all the help that is offered ... which is basically what everyone else has already said.

The holiday tales forum may give you some great ideas for possible routes and places to go. I'm guessing from your post that you're hiring from one of the boatyards on the northern side?

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Welcome to the Forum!

First and foremost enjoy yourselves! 'Slowly does it' is the key. 

I got a bit of advice from a very good friend of mine this last weekend over a bottle of beer at Potter Heigham. I think Kenneth Grahame may have said it first in the Wind in the Willows but it's still sound advice!
“After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working.” 

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36 minutes ago, SwanR said:

The holiday tales forum may give you some great ideas for possible routes and places to go. I'm guessing from your post that you're hiring from one of the boatyards on the northern side?

Yes - Herbert Woods.

Definitely planning on heading to the Southern Broads though.

The information on the internet makes crossing Breydon Water sound quite daunting, but I expect we'll manage it. Dealing with tides will be a new experience.

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If your holiday includes the first week of August,  keep an eye out for the thread I'll post on getting through Horning regatta. It will have the title "Navigating the northern rivers 3rd -9th August 2019"

The regatta has up to 100 sail boats on the river at a time, from the Swan inn for 1.5 miles  up river . So we do cause a lot of chaos to frighten the inexperienced.  But it is easy to pass through safely  if slow some times. 

If you put you dates of visit up I can post the dates of any other regattas on,  that you may wish to watch / go through / avoid.  There is more than one sailing event every single day of the school summer holidays. 

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Hello Coryton,

Welcome to the forum. As others have said take your time and go with the flow.

Being as you are planning to go to the Southern Broads, check on the tides tables for the times of low water going through Yarmouth and add up to an hour for the slack water, this will aid your passage under the two bridges. I usually go onto the Broads Authority website and use there tide table which gives you the height of the low water and it gives you a table of the variation of tides for other locations on the Broads. 

The Southern Broads will be slightly less busy than the Northern Rivers, to be honest I prefer the Southern Rivers, the rivers are wider, deeper, you may have a better chance of finding a mooring. 

Please let us know how you get on with your first visit to the Broads, we all had to do this and were all novices at some time. Do not be afraid of asking for help with stern mooring, it is better to hand over a rope to someone to aid you rather than trying to do it all under power.

I suggest that you visit the Richardson's website and have a look at their various instruction video's .

Regards

Alan

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16 hours ago, Coryton said:

I think that - at least on the Northern Broads - it will be a bit busier in August than Ireland was though.

Very much so. I was on Lough Erne exactly ten years ago this week with Manor House Marine, and it was MUCH quieter than the broads at the same time.

The navigation is also a lot less complicated than Lough Erne, where as you'll remember there was a need to have the charts and binoculars at hand all the time and look out for marker posts to avoid rocks and shallow areas. On the Broads you'll want a map to work out where you're going and roughly how long it will take and unless you're going onto the Southern rivers then that's about as complicated as it gets.

Speed limits are also very much a thing on the Broads whereas on the Shannon / Erne system they really didn't care.

I remember trying to be a good boy on the handover in order to get it done quickly, and the guy just told me to give it some beans so my handover was a quick ten-minute run flat out. It's not like that here!

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Hi Coryton,

As Alan  (Ranworth Breeze) says above, if crossing Breydon water, ALWAYS try to cross WITH the tide rather than against. We`ve often crossed Breydon against the tide, and it can almost double the time crossing, which also means double the fuel consumption.  Seeing as you`re going for 2 weeks in August, a trip to the southern rivers is recommended. However, seeing as you`ve never had to deal with tides, it is advisable to stick to the north rivers and broads for the first week to get experience of mooring AGAINST the tide which you should always do.  Especially on the southern rivers where because they are wider and deeper than the northern ones, the tide runs faster.  When you want to moor up and going WITH the tide, always (space permitting) go PAST the mooring, turn around and moor up against the tide. That way, you can use the tide to your advantage by keeping steerage way and as a brake when you need to stop.

It might sound difficult, but believe me (and others on here), it really is very  simple, after a little practice, that`s why i recommend you stay north for the first week.

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I forgot to ask, What boat have you hired, if it`s a high top, you will NOT be able to go further than Wroxham bridge, Wayford bridge, and Beccles Old bridge, where some of the prettiest and quieter less used parts of the Broads can be found.

I`m sure also if you ask for info on where to go, you will be inundated with advice.

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11 hours ago, oldgregg said:

Speed limits are also very much a thing on the Broads whereas on the Shannon / Erne system they really didn't care.

I remember trying to be a good boy on the handover in order to get it done quickly, and the guy just told me to give it some beans so my handover was a quick ten-minute run flat out. It's not like that here!

If I recall correctly it was 5 knots in "built-up" areas and no limit elsewhere. Once we got past the end of speed limit signs we could really push our hire boat up to nearly 6 knots...

We were with Manor House too. The boat handling part of the handover was somewhat brief - I don't think we had ten minutes to run flat out or otherwise.

I quite enjoyed the having-to-navigate part of the holiday. And the broad lough was...interesting on a breezy day.

It would have been useful if they'd told us what the air draft of the boat was though. Bridges weren't generally a problem but there was one route we didn't try because we didn't know if we'd get under a bridge or not.

11 hours ago, SPEEDTRIPLE said:

I forgot to ask, What boat have you hired, if it`s a high top, you will NOT be able to go further than Wroxham bridge, Wayford bridge, and Beccles Old bridge, where some of the prettiest and quieter less used parts of the Broads can be found.

It's a "Beam of Light" (an Aquafibre Diamond 43?) - 7 ft 2 inches air draft.

They say it won't do Potter Heigham (what does?), Beccles Old or Wayford.
Ludham and Wroxham are maybes.

I reckon there will be enough to see with where we can go, and it had the features we wanted unlike some that were a bit lower.

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