Norfolk Lady Tales

[NorfolkNog]

6 hours ago, Mouldy said:

passed Mr and Mrs Nog moored at Reedham, however I don’t think they saw us as we chugged by

Ah, we left it a bit later to get the tide up the Bure so probably sleeping off the previous nights Humpty Dumpty!!! 

[NorfolkNog]

........left Reedham at approx 6.45 

[Mouldy]

I woke on Sunday to see sunlight streaming through the hatch above the fore cabin.  It had been raining overnight, so it came as a pleasant surprise.  Encouraged, I climbed out of bed, switched the hearing on and dressed.  Deb got up too and readied herself to take Harley for her walk.  After they’d gone, I decided to try my small drone, so got it ready and sent it up to take a few shots, whilst the weather was suitable.

Deb arrived back with the dog and we had a cuppa whilst we decided what to do and where to go.  I really wanted to cruise up the Ant, but with rain forecast and suspicions about the potential for not getting back under Ludham bridge, we decided to try for Ranworth.  We both wanted a shower, but didn’t want to run the engine for hot water.   It was about 08:45, so we cast off and headed slowly out of the Dyke and onto the main river.

Shortly after, we saw Lulu in Luna again, who were heading towards Potter.   Waved greetings were exchanged. It’s nice to see other Forum members out on the rivers.  As we progressed along the Bure, the level of boat traffic increased and it really looked quite busy.  Progress on the moorings at St Benets looks slow, though and it appears that they are only about one third complete.

I’m fairly certain that we passed another Forum member, PaulN, in his boat as we headed along the river and exchanged waves.  We were overtaken by a couple of boats as we approached the Ranworth turn, one one which turned down Ranworth Dam.  We turned left and followed him and we both had to squeeze past two Hunters yachts, who were heading up the Dyke in the opposite direction abreast and taking up most of the river.

I had been worried that there wouldn’t be sufficient space to moor, but as it turned out there was plenty.  I picked a spot along the side.  The cab rank was empty, but I didn’t fancy manoeuvring out later if the staithe filled up.  Not long after we’d secured the boat, it started to hail.  Light at first, but soon it was heaving it down and making a dreadful din as it rattled off the roof of the boat.

Deb had showered as we cruised from Womack Dyke to Ranworth, so I went for mine and was soon ready.  I emerged from the cabin when I’d dressed and was called to the stern where my wife was talking to another Forum member, Meg, who was there without her boat.  We chatted for a few minutes, until it started to rain again.  It’s good to actually put faces to names.

I cooked brunch of bacon, scrambled eggs, sautéed tomatoes, mushrooms and fried potatoes.  We’d been looking forward to it and it didn’t disappoint.  With the washing up done, it was time to decide where to head for to moor overnight.  I quite like Cockshoot, but the board walk that leads to opposite The Ferry Inn was in such a poor state last time we were there, there is nowhere to walk the dog, so we headed for Fleet Dyke.

The rain showers had been frequent and heavy, so we waited for a lull before casting off and chugged slowly back across the broad and back to the main river.  The available moorings at St Benets we’re full as we turned down Fleet Dyke and we soon found a good spot to moor.  With the boat secured we settled down for the rest of the afternoon.

Eventually, the rain stopped and much to my amazement the sun appeared.  I broke my cameras out for the first time this holiday and took a few shots of a couple of swans, a heron, some ducks and a grebe that were all in view around the boat.

A little later, the drone came out and I took a few more aerial shots of the area.  Dinner was to be chicken, with boiled new potatoes and broccoli spears and very tasty it was too.

The tv was on, but neither of us paid it much attention as we occupied ourselves reading until it was time for bed.

My tablet seems to have developed a fault and I can’t upload any photos.  They will be added when we get home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mouldy]

Just worked out that I can add drone and phone camera photos on my phone, but not from my camera, although they’ve been downloaded to the cloud.  Technology??

Heres a few anyway.

[snunn]

beautiful photos 
 

South Waltham Micks favourite and looks like you grabbed his very best spot

cannot wait to go back

[grendel]

probably the file extension, a lot of the tablet cameras have weird file extensions that are not recognised by the forum software. of course that all gets fixed when you download them normally.

[BroadAmbition]

Cracking photos, thanks for sharing 

Griff

[Mouldy]

2 hours ago, grendel said:

probably the file extension, a lot of the tablet cameras have weird file extensions that are not recognised by the forum software. of course that all gets fixed when you download them normally.

I took the sd card out of my camera and downloaded the photos to my iPad using an Apple card reader.  Usually works, but not this time.  I think the tablet, like me, is just getting old!! 😁

[grendel]

ah apple, i do know we have issues with some apple file formats.

[oldgregg]

iOS has been using the HEIF format for photos for quite a while now.

It's much more efficient than JPEG (roughly half the file size for the same image quality), but support for it is still a bit limited.

[ExSurveyor]

It explains why I can't upload photos from my huewawi phone unless I send them to another phone by whatsapp and have them returned. Very annoying.

[Mouldy]

4 hours ago, grendel said:

ah apple, i do know we have issues with some apple file formats.

It’s strange, as I can upload photos taken on my iPhone without a problem, as well as the drone shots, which are low definition versions transmitted by the aircraft to my phone whilst in flight.  I’ve yet to download the high def and RAW files that are stored on the micro sd in the drone itself.

As I said before - technology?

[oldgregg]

52 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

I’ve yet to download the high def and RAW files that are stored on the micro sd in the drone itself.

So those are just the JPG's off your phone? DJI's colour science really has moved on then! 

[Mouldy]

4 minutes ago, oldgregg said:

So those are just the JPG's off your phone? DJI's colour science really has moved on then! 

DJI Mini 2 - amazing piece of technology.  The pictures on here are straight from the camera, with no post processing.   I also have a DJI Mavic Air 2, but the Mini gets more use due to the freedom to fly almost anywhere without restrictions, although I do have my A2 Certificate of Competence to reduce the legal separation distance with the larger aircraft.

[oldgregg]

Yeah so it seems.

I haven't got my Mavic Pro anymore but I was always pretty underwhelmed with even the RAWs that came out of it, let alone the JPEG's.

I guess the Hassleblad acquisition has helped them with their core camera tech.

[Mouldy]

Slightly out of chronological order, as I’ve yet to post an account of yesterday, but there are times when the journey down The Bure from Stracey Mill to Yarmouth is enjoyable and this morning  was one.

[YnysMon]

Looks beautiful. I love doing that stretch on such mornings...the only slight snag being the reflection of the sun on the water. At least it's not constant though due to the bends in the river.

[Cal]

I love that stretch of river and the stretch from the Berney Arms up to Reedham.

[Mouldy]

Now, where were we?  I remember.  We woke to a grey, overcast morning on Monday.  Not wanting to run the engine for hot water, we deferred our showers until after weld set off for our intended destination a little later, so we had a leisurely breakfast of toast and marmalade.  It was about 09:00 when we cast off, heading for Womack Water for water and a visit to the butchers.

I was in no real hurry and we were passed by two or three craft on The Bure as we headed for it’s junction with The Thurne.  We were followed by a couple of other boats as we headed past Thurne Dyke, but otherwise the river was quite quiet.

I turned into Womack Dyke and passed Luna again, moored at the BA moorings, but didn’t see any sign of her crew.  There was plenty of space at the staithe, where we moored before helping a first timer moor alongside.  Deb had showered on the way, so I went for mine, before getting ready to walk into the village.

Deb tried to get bread from the new bakery neat the moorings, but they only had a couple of other items available.  First stop was the butchers for Tuesdays dinner.  I had a chat with the butcher, who took over from Rodney when he retired.  Fortunately, standards have been maintained and the meat is always of the best quality.  A quick visit to Throwers followed, for bread and a couple of other essentials, before we wandered back to the boat.

The weather had brightened up by now, so I flew the drone again for a few more aerial pictures, before we had a light lunch.  Our overnight stop was to be Acle, ready to re-cross Breydon on Tuesday.  Dinner had been booked at The Bridge Inn (an early birthday celebration for me), so we left Womack around 14:00 and cruised back along the dyke.  As we passed Luna, Lulu jumped up and spoke to us, so I slowed Norfolk Lady and we exchanged a few friendly greetings, before heading off for Acle.

When we arrived there, I stopped at Bridgecraft to top up with diesel.  The tank on our boat is pitifully small and I don’t like to let it get too low.  We topped up with £30 worth of fuel before moving across the river to moor on the new BA moorings.  The weather had brightened up a lot, but there had been a couple of really heavy showers to temper any thoughts that it was massively improving.

Our table was booked for 19:15 and we’d been advised to not be early or late, so we wandered over to the pub and arrived three minutes early!!  It did seem to matter and we were shown to our table.  Unbeknown to me, Coolcat (Jeff) was already there, so I missed the opportunity to speak to him.  We selected from the menu and the food was good.  Not having had a meal since December, like most of us to be fair, made the experience more pleasurable.  Sadly, after a starter and main each, we were both stuffed and had to decline a desert, so we returned to the boat a bit before 21:00, passing Goosander on the way and not realising that DavidH was on board!!

We stayed up until about 22:30 to allow some time for our meals to digest, so had a hot drink before heading for bed, just in time for the crew of the boat moored behind us to return from the pub and fire up their engine.   Grrrrrrr!!!  Fortunately, we were both tired and we fell asleep, listening to the thrum of a diesel engine ticking over nearby.

[SwanR]

More great photos. Love Womack Water. 👍

[DAVIDH]

The last but one image is fantastic. Really shows the place. Where did you launch the drone from?

[Mouldy]

20 minutes ago, DAVIDH said:

The last but one image is fantastic. Really shows the place. Where did you launch the drone from?

Just behind our boat.  If you look carefully at some of the images, you can see me in a bright blue t-shirt.  It’s a DJI Mini 2, so free from the majority of rules introduced at the end of last year regarding drones and their use, due to its light weight. 

[YnysMon]

Am I the only boater who has had the cheek to go and knock on the door of a neighbouring boat and point out that running the engine at past 10pm is not the done thing? (Not done recently though...I did that on the last night of a 2017 hire when we were moored at Womack Staithe.) It was a first nighter from guess which yard. Very apologetic, but said they’d been told to run their engine if using the heating.

[Mouldy]

8 hours ago, YnysMon said:

Am I the only boater who has had the cheek to go and knock on the door of a neighbouring boat and point out that running the engine at past 10pm is not the done thing? . . . . . . . . . . . .

Er, no!  I have done the same in the past, one night in 2014 when we were on board Royall Commander, moored on the BA mooring at Stokesby, I had to have a quiet word with the couple in the boat moored in front of us.  It was just after 22:00.  We were just finishing a game of crib whilst having a hot drink prior to settling down for the night.  There was a lot of noise from the couple who sounded as if they’d had a bevvy or two in the pub.  Once aboard the old tub, hired from one of the big yards on the northern rivers, the engine started and was filling our boat with noxious fumes.  I had to go to have a word and point out the error of their ways.

Had I still have been dressed when this occurred at Acle, I would have gone for a chat, but having just climbed into bed, trotting along to address them in my p-jays didn’t appeal.  They were lucky.

I did sort of get my own back when we cast off early the following morning, ensuring that I gave the engine plenty of revs to manoeuvre out of our mooring.

[Mouldy]

We were woken by the alarm on my phone at about 05:30 with sunlight streaming through the roof hatch.  The day of my 65th birthday.  Cheered by the sight of it, we reluctantly got up, pulled some clothes on and got ready to set off.  As usual, Deb took Harley for a walk and I set about the condensation on the windows with the window vac.

When she returned, it was still a little too early to cast off, so we made a cup of tea and waited a few minutes.  I’d allowed two hours for the journey to Yarmouth.  Although slack is the ideal time, due to the winds and tides, we’d been advised to go through within about 30 minutes of low water for the best chance of sufficient clearance at the bridges.  With the throttle set to little more than tickover and assisted by the falling tide, we were making 5mph, saving fuel to compensate for punching the current across  Breydon.

We took it in turn to shower as we headed towards Yarmouth.  Deb made some toast and marmalade which we ate on the move.  It was a glorious morning, although cloud could be seen on the horizon, but we made the most of it.  In less clement conditions, the trip between Stracey Mill and Yarmouth can be a chore, but on this day, was a joy.

As we neared Yarmouth we were passed by a few craft heading north, but saw no others heading towards Breydon.  We cruised through the yacht station at about 08:50 and passed safely under the bridges, which were showing 9’6”.  As predicted, as soon as we turned at the yellow post, we had to pile on more revs, but the ebbing current thankfully wasn’t as strong as I feared.

As we went under the bridge and the full view of Breydon opened, it was apparent that many craft were on the move, with several in view.  Whilst we crossed, we were overtaken by four or five, whose crews were clearly in more of a hurry than we were.

The crossing took just under an hour and we forked right, heading for Reedham.  The cloud was building, but the sun was still shining.  We had the sliding roof over the helm open and were enjoying the good weather whilst it lasted.

We arrived at Reedham, where I wanted to stop for water.   There were few boats moored and plenty of space, so I aimed for our favoured spot between the rangers hut and the boatyard.  Whilst passing under the bridge I’d checked the tide, watching the run of the river around the structures near the bridge.  It should have been rising, but appeared quite slack, so I didn’t turn into the current as I’d expected to do and went in as we were.  By the time the ranger had trotted along the quay, we were safely alongside.  He helped with the ropes, but couldn’t have been the same one as Mr Nog had fallen out with the previous week, as he was friendly and chatty.

With the water topped up, we were soon on our way, destination Pyes Mill. Helped by the current, which was now definitely rising, we were soon at the mouth of The Chet, one of my favourite rivers.  I was pleased to see that the space at the end of the moorings was available. Once safely moored, Deb put the oven on for lunch.  We’d bought a couple of pies from the Ludham butchers to heat and after an early start, we were quite peckish.

The cloud had thickened and it wasn’t long before the rain started.  We had lunch and waited for a break in the weather to head for the village.  With the path across the farmers field now closed, the route through the car park, along the lanes and the narrow footpath to the church is the only route, but we needed the Co-Op anyway, so no real issue.  With the required items found and purchased, we made our way back to the boat and settled in for the rest of the day.

Heavy showers fell throughout the rest of the afternoon, putting paid to my plans to send the drone up again.  Deb knitted (another grandchild on the way) and I read.  We passed a quiet and restful afternoon.  Later, I cooked dinner of grilled Barnsley chops, broccoli spears and new potatoes.  As ever, the meat from Ludham lived up to expectations and we had a very enjoyable meal.  The rain had stopped and it was a pleasant evening.  I hoped that the morning would bring some fine weather, so I could get a few more photos.

It had been a quiet birthday for me, but a good one, spent with the wife on our boat on the Broads.  Fortunately, no running engines spoilt the end to our day.  It would be a cruise back to the yard on Wednesday and then  back home.  We went to bed around 22:00 reflecting on a pleasant few days away.